OceanWP is one of the fastest SEO-friendly themes available on the WordPress directory right now. Whether you want to open a store with WooCommerce or make use of ‘freemium-friendly’ goodness, this theme does it all!
Backed by the trust of over 700K users, this theme is marketed as the only true free WordPress theme with premium features. But does it hold up to this claim?
Keep on reading to find out!
OceanWP Theme: At a Glance
| Price | $35/year for 3 sites $49/year for 6 sites $79/year for 50 sites |
| Theme | 70 pre-made designs (13 in the free version) |
| Native Support for eCommerce | Available |
| Free Plugin Extensions | 21 plugins compared to 9 extensions supported in Astra |
| Pros | – Beginner-friendly interface – Fast load times – 14-day trial period – Plenty of free extensions – Works with any page builder SEO-ready Best-in-class customer support |
| Cons | – Building pages for bigger websites can be tiresome as it relies on 2D checkboxes to select options. – Having an unknown developer, or so-called ‘international development team’ is not that trustworthy Ocean – Extra free extension is required if you want to access the setup wizard |
OceanWP WordPress Theme Review
With their latest update in the ecosystem, OceanWP rolled out Ocean Breeze, which is full of new templates, blocks, royalty-free images, etc. When utilized as a part of a page builder framework like Elementor or Divi, OceanWP is an excellent free WordPress theme. Additionally, Ocean WP is really quick and has a plethora of handy options.
Page Speed
Unlike most WordPress themes that are loaded with lots of bloatware and unnecessary features, OceanWP features a light yet robust UI, which means that websites based on this theme open up really fast. This is important because Google uses page loading speed as one of the metrics when ranking websites on SERP.
The average load time value lies between 115-550ms, which makes OceanWP faster than 96% of the websites.
Beginner Friendly Layout
When designing OceanWP, the developers set ‘ease of use’ as one of their topmost priorities, and this is indeed reflected in its highly responsive design. Compatible with all kinds of devices regardless of screen size, OceanWP lets you control the content, hooks and scripts, that too on a per-page basis. It even supports multiple languages.
When starting out, you need a theme that easily lets you modify the overall aesthetic without having to mindlessly go through menus for hours. Using the theme demo system and additional settings under the WordPress visual editor, you can easily import any theme and customize it.
Easy Setup
Once you download the theme from WordPress, you will be prompted to install three plugins: Ocean Extra, Elementor and WP Forms. Type in OceanWP in the WordPress dashboard, followed by installing the theme into your system.
Out of the three plugins available, installing the OceanWP plugin is quite important as it gives you access to some key features like widgets, meta boxes, scripts, import/export options and much more. As for the setup, it can be handled by a 3-step configuration wizard that guides you along each and every step of the process.
Choose a demo > Import the demo > Personalization (adding your logo, slogan, colors, etc.)
All in all, the installation process is quite easy and free of any computational gimmicks that tend to rattle beginners. The only caveat here is that some free theme demos require premium extensions to function.
eCommerce Capability
In order to solidify users’ earning potential, OceanWP features a robust WooCommerce integration which will let you play with the ‘customizer panel’ and toggle the intricacies of the catalog & check-out page without being a coding ninja.
‘Quick view’ allows visitors to have a closer look at featured products straight from the product page. There is an off-canvas filtering theme panel allowing you to display your product catalog in its entirety.
You also get a dedicated meta box in the editor, which lets you tweak settings for every post on your page. All these features let you keep track of cross-sells, modify checkout options and set selling options as per your requirements.
Free vs. Premium Version
In order to maximize speed and avoid any bloatware, the developers decided to go with a minimalistic theme architecture that is as light and fast as possible. That said, for users wanting to unlock the full potential of this theme, there are multiple free and paid add-ons to meet your specific needs.
You get seven free themes and thirteen premium extensions which include: Full screen, Cookie Notice, Instagram, Portfolio, Popup Login, White Label, Woo Popup, Ocean Hooks, Sticky Footer, Elementor Widgets, Sticky Header, Side Panel and Footer Callout.
Each of these extensions retails for $9.99 a year, or you could go for an extension bundle that includes all the themes for $34.99 a year.
| Category | OceanWP Free | OceanWP Premium |
| Price | Free | $35/year for one site $79/year 50 sites |
| Fullscreen | <i class="bi bi-check-circle"></i> | Present |
| Modal Window & Posts Slider | Present | Present |
| Cookie Notice and Popup Login | Absent | Present |
| Portfolio Showcase | Absent | Present |
| Woo Popup | Absent | Present |
| Social Sharing | Present | Present |
| Demo Import | Present | Present |
With OceanWP, you already get plenty of features in the free version. The premium version adds on some paid extensions for tech-savvy users, such as a customizable popup login, cookie notice, footer call-out and full screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now that you have an idea of whether or not this theme is ideal for your requirements, here are a few common questions debunked for more clarity.
Which is Better, Astra or OceanWP?
Both of these themes provide plenty of features and are priced competitively. While Astra pulls ahead in design quality, OceanWP brings more customization options to the table. As for the free variants, Astra is definitely the better pick since OceanWP requires paid plugin extensions to function properly.
Does OceanWP Require Elementor?
No, neither the pro nor the free version of OceanWP requires you to have Elementor. Furthermore, all the widgets in the pro extension function flawlessly with both free and pro versions of Elementor.
Which is the Best Theme for WordPress Users?
Going by the popularity charts, some of the best WordPress themes include Divi, Ultra, SeedProd, OceanWP, Astra and Soledad.
Final Verdict
So is this theme perfect? No, in fact, no theme is, but is it value for your money? ABSOLUTELY! Whether you are new to page builders or a seasoned developer, you will definitely appreciate the fast workflow, custom PHP templates, CSS snippets and customization options.
With a minor caveat of some premium extensions and Ocean demo import plugin being required in the free demos, this theme strikes the perfect balance between advanced features and user-friendliness.
But hey! Don’t just take our word for it before you try it on your own website once. If you like it, you are welcome; if not, there are more than a gazillion options in the sea.
Head over to https://gofreethemes.com/ to find out more. Thanks for reading!