9 Best WordPress Themes for 2025 (Free and Paid)

When it comes to building a WordPress website that doesn’t just look good today but can also hold its own tomorrow, staying power becomes paramount.

For Hongkiat.com readers-web designers, developers, and creatives who value innovation-this is especially true.

BestWordPress Themes

If a WordPress theme doesn’t look 2025-ready, doesn’t offer built-in flexibility, or hasn’t been actively maintained, it’s bound to cause headaches down the road.

Whichever design or theme you choose should be able to evolve alongside your business (or side project), not hold it back.

But with 5,000+ free and paid WordPress themes (and counting) on the market, it’s easy to feel lost.

So which ones really shine if you aim to stay ahead of the curve?

Below, we’ll take a look at the best WordPress themes (free and paid) in 2025-each one tested, refined, and backed by robust design capabilities.

The Best WordPress Themes for 2025 Include:

UiCore PROBethemeBlocksy
LithoUncodeAvada
Total ThemeWoodmartPro Theme + Cornerstone Builder

These themes feature intuitive page builders, beautiful designs, and the flexibility that developers crave. If you’re looking to streamline your workflow while ensuring your sites look next-level, read on.


Key Takeaways

  • Focus on Future-Proofing: Themes must be actively updated and sport a contemporary look. That way, you won’t need to rebuild your site a year from now just because the theme is stuck in 2019.
  • Thousands of Options-But Only a Few Will Do: With so many WordPress themes available, the real standouts for 2025 are those like UiCore PRO and Betheme, thanks to their extensive feature sets and design adaptability.
  • Look for Developer-Friendly Features: A good theme in 2025 isn’t just about drag-and-drop. It’s about customization, easy mobile editing, high performance, and reliable support-all crucial for developers managing multiple sites or advanced features.
  • Why These Themes Shine: Themes like UiCore PRO offer niche benefits such as agency-focused structures, while something like Betheme is famed for its multipurpose approach. Each suits a slightly different developer need, so you can choose based on your unique project.
  • Support & Feedback: Themes with dedicated support-like Litho-often spark glowing reviews. This makes a difference when troubleshooting complex builds or rolling out advanced features.

What Sets These WordPress Themes Apart?

These top themes share defining traits that can streamline your development process and enhance your site’s UX.

  • Ease of Use: Pre-built demos are fantastic, but only if they’re simple to edit. If you’re spending hours in a confusing backend, that’s a red flag. Themes highlighted here pride themselves on intuitive interfaces and well-documented builder tools.
  • Multiple Builder Options: From WordPress’s native block editor (Gutenberg) to powerhouse plugins like Elementor, different developers have different preferences. These themes typically support multiple major page builders, ensuring you don’t have to alter your workflow.
  • Flexible Customization: These best WordPress themes for 2025 come loaded with website demos, yet remain highly flexible. Tweak layouts, adjust color schemes, or integrate custom scripts-whatever your vision, you won’t be locked into a cookie-cutter style.
  • Forward-Thinking Design: “2025-ready” means not just looking modern but ensuring sites can adapt to future design trends. The multipurpose demos included with each theme should remain fresh and relevant for years to come.
  • Mobile Editing: A significant portion of web traffic comes from mobile devices. While nearly all top-tier themes boast responsive design, the page builder’s mobile editing features are vital. You need an easy way to refine how your site appears on various screen sizes.
  • Performance: If a theme or builder loads slowly, everyone loses-developers spend more time waiting, and visitors bounce. Each theme here scores well on performance tests, so you can focus on building your site rather than dealing with speed issues.
  • Reliable Customer Support: Even pro developers appreciate a guiding hand when deadlines loom. Whether it’s a ticket-based system, knowledge base, or community forum, these themes are backed by active support teams.

Quick Reality Check

It’s tempting to think finding a perfectly matched theme is a walk in the park. While the process can be straightforward with proper research, choosing a future-ready theme is crucial to avoid unexpected redesigns. Keep these points in mind:

  • Make a Strong First Impression: Your site should look professional and stand out in a crowded online space. Every theme mentioned here can help you achieve that when used effectively.
  • Future Readiness Is Non-Negotiable: As web standards shift, so do theme requirements. A theme that’s frequently updated and built on flexible code can evolve right along with your business-or your personal brand.

The Themes at a Glance

In creating this list, we considered:

  • Performance & Adaptability
  • Developer Tools
  • Business Owner Requirements for 2025 and Beyond

All of these future-proof themes feature clean code, top-notch responsiveness, and SEO-ready structures.

Why These Themes Excel

  • Performance: Comprehensive demo libraries to launch site projects quickly
  • Ease of Use: Intuitive drag-and-drop builders for pages, headers, footers-even WooCommerce
  • Adaptability: Design blocks, templates, developer-friendly layouts, and more
  • Ongoing Support: Responsive help desks, thorough documentation, and video tutorials for quick problem-solving

Your Next Steps

Based on the context of the article discussing WordPress themes and their features, I’d complete the last point like this:

  • Preview Themes & Builders: Take time to explore each theme’s demos. See if their builder tools align with your typical workflow, whether that’s Elementor, WPBakery, or another preferred editor.
  • Match Templates to Project Specs: If you want to see how a theme might look for an eCommerce site versus a personal portfolio, explore the pre-built websites and templates. These provide insight into the theme’s range and design capabilities.
  • Pick One That Feels Right: Ultimately, the best theme is the one that keeps pace with your vision and offers the right balance of features, customization options, and ease of use for your specific needs.

1. UiCore Pro: WordPress Theme for Gutenberg and Elementor

A powerful yet creative-friendly theme built for Elementor users, offering an expansive library of templates. Ideal if you need quick setups with high design flexibility.



This video features UiCore Pro’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

UiCore Pro’s impressive array of blocks, widgets, and page sections allows you to customize every nook and cranny of your website.

Its standout feature is its huge library of website templates, template blocks, and inner pages. A beautiful example is Slate, a UiCore Pro top 10 downloaded demo in 2024. Slate would provide an ideal template for creating a services-oriented startup. New demos/pre-built websites are added to the existing library of 60+ pre-built websites monthly.

Other features you will love:

  • Next-Gen Theme Options: Provides total control over your site’s look and feel
  • Theme Builder: Does the same for the static elements of your website
  • Premium Widgets: 250+ premium widgets that take the place of plugins you might otherwise need to generate traffic to your site
  • Admin Customizer: Allows users to personalize the admin panel’s look and feel to suit their preferences
  • White Label Option: Ideal for anyone interested in customizing UiCore Pro to conform to their own brand

Primary users include Agencies, Architects, Online Shop owners, Startups, and SaaS providers.

Check Out UiCore Pro

Current Rating: 4.6 on Trustpilot

User Review: “I’ve tried over 20 different premium WordPress themes. The ones from UiCore are the best of all of them! Not only are there a lot of features but also the demos and support are top-notch.”

2. Betheme: Fastest Theme of Them All

A top-tier multipurpose theme boasting 700+ pre-built sites. It’s speedy, feature-rich, and perfect for developers juggling various client projects or design styles.



This video features Betheme’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

With Betheme it’s possible to build virtually any type or style website quickly. That is good news for busy web designers, web developers and businesses seeking an online presence.

Betheme’s standout feature (one of several) is its outstanding library of 700+ responsive and fully customizable pre-built websites, and each is just a click away. New demos are made available every month.

How would one of these pre-built websites help you get a project off to a quick start? Try the Be Gadget example, a top downloaded demo in 2024. If you are thinking of opening a small online shop you might be able to put it to immediate use.

Other cool features include:

  • Superfast BeBuilder: Completely rewritten for enhanced speed and performance, making site building faster than ever
  • WooBuilder: Includes 40+ WooCommerce demos, allowing quick and easy creation of online stores
  • Customizable Layouts: Offers flexible layout options for portfolio, blog, and shop pages
  • Tools for All Users: A Developer Mode and a Query Loop Builder for developers, Popups for Marketers, and a WooCommerce Builder for sellers
  • Five-Star Customer Support: Betheme’s customer service center ensures five-star treatment

Check Out Betheme

User Review: “Their ‘template’ is a very sophisticated graphical framework. I have been using their solution for many years, I have purchased many licenses to build websites and online stores for clients located all over the world, and it is the best graphic framework for WordPress that I have used throughout my professional career.”

3. Blocksy: Popular WooCommerce Theme

Lightweight and Gutenberg-friendly, Blocksy is a smart choice for minimalists aiming for modern WooCommerce sites. Expect faster loading times and easy customizations.



This video features Blocksy’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

Blocksy’s standout feature is its Header Builder that enables you to craft a header that exactly fits your brand. Header elements offer a range of customization options that allow you to design user-friendly and engaging headers. Blocksy is fully integrated with WooCommerce and is an ideal choice for shop owners and web designers with business and marketing clients.

  • Starter Site Example: Would you be interested in an idea or example to help initiate a project for a startup business? Blocksy’s Biz Consult starter site example might be just what you need. Be sure to view the live video to get the full effect
  • Monthly Pre-Built Sites: New pre-built website selections are released monthly
  • Easy Customization: Every part of a Blocksy-designed site will lend itself to easy customization
  • Developer-Friendly Tools: Blocksy’s functionality extending hooks, filters, and actions make it developer friendly
  • WooCommerce Integration: Blocksy is fully integrated with WooCommerce and is an ideal choice for shop owners and web designers with business and marketing clients
  • Top-Notch Support: The average ticket resolution time is less than 24 hours. Documentation and selections of YouTube videos are readily available

Check Out Blocksy

Current Rating: 4.97 on WordPress.org

User Review: “Well done guys, 5 stars is a must have, not just because my website passes Google’s PageSpeed Insights, and all is ‘green’… everyone who is having a website with old generation builder like WPBakery, Divi, Thrive, Elementor etc. should give it a go. Try Blocksy, try Gutenberg and try awesome blocks to make your new website solid and friendly in Google Core Web Vitals. Enjoy!”

4. Litho: Modern and Creative Elementor WordPress Theme

An Elementor-compatible theme with fresh demos and robust customization options. Great if you’re into dynamic effects, unique animations, and bold visual elements.



This video features Litho’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

Litho is an all-purpose theme that can be used for any type of business or industry niche, whether the need is to create a website, a portfolio, a blog, or all the above.

Features include 37+ ready home pages, 200+ creative elements, and more than 300 templates, all of which can be imported with a single click. Are you in need of a template of an idea for a startup site? Litho’s Home Startup example could be just what you need to get your project underway.

Litho has plenty more to offer, including:

  • Integrated Header-Footer Builder: Choose from pre-built layouts or design custom headers and footers tailored to your needs
  • Client-Specific Features: Designed to meet the needs of digital agencies, businesses, bloggers, shop owners, and more
  • Portfolio Features: Cool portfolio-build features that include attractive hover styles
  • Plugin Compatibility: Compatibility with most well-known free and premium plugins, including WooCommerce

Support includes online documentation, YouTube videos, and installation and update guidelines. Average support ticket time less than 24 hours.

Check Out Litho

User Review: “I have purchased more than a couple themes through ThemeForest and by far, the support that I received from the ThemeZaa team has been the best I have ever gotten. For all of the questions that I had, they always went the extra mile to ensure everything was resolved. Keep up the great work!”

5. Uncode: WordPress Theme for Creatives

A design-focused theme spotlighting pixel-perfect layouts and smooth UX. Fantastic for creative portfolios or visually engaging projects.



This video features Uncode’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

Uncode does not advertise a main feature, and its primary client or target use would be any person, enterprise, or niche.

  • Demo Popularity: Uncode’s demos are extremely popular with its users. They often provide the ideas and inspiration that needed to get a project underway
  • User Showcase: Uncode even highlights sites its users have created based on these demos
  • Featured Demo: Take for example Uncode’s Creative Marketing demo, one of the most popular downloaded demos in 2024. It’s a real attention-getter featuring a clever hover effect and could be just what you are looking for to introduce yourself or your business!

The topical range of available pre-built designs is exceptional. New pre-built website releases take place every 3 to 6 months.

Other popular features include:

  • Enhanced Frontend Page Builder: Comes with 85 meticulously designed modules for a streamlined and efficient building experience
  • Wireframes Plugin: Includes access to a selection of 750+ wireframes
  • Exceptional Support: First-rate support (ticket resolution less than 24 hrs.), plus there is a support group on Facebook

Updates are continuously released based on customer demands.

Check Out Uncode

Current Rating: 4.89

User Review: “I’ve used many themes so far, but Uncode beats all of them IMHO and the new update is mind-blowing! You can create any kind of design, any kind of site. It’s a wonderful solid theme with tons of options and settings. I’m very happy with that! A big thank you!”

6. Avada WordPress Theme: #1 Best Seller

One of the most popular WordPress themes around, backed by a powerful front-end builder. Versatile, scalable, and well-suited for eCommerce or complex sites.



This video features Avada’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

They have plenty to say with Avada as it is the #1 best-selling WordPress theme of all time with 750,000+ satisfied customers; more than enough to suggest that theme, often referred to as the Swiss Army Knife of WordPress themes has everything going for it.

Avada Business pre-built website is a professional and fully customizable template. It is one you could easily use for showcasing corporate services or creating an awesome online presence for any business.

Avada is responsive, speed-optimized, WooCommerce ready, and lets you design anything you want the way you want to without touching a line of code.

Ideal for anyone from the first-time web designer to the professional with its:

  • Responsive Framework: Ensures your website adapts perfectly to any screen size or device
  • 1-Click Demo Importer: Quickly import pre-built demos
  • Pre-Built Websites: 85+ professionally designed pre-built websites
  • Live Visual Drag and Drop Builder: Build and customize your site with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface
  • Advanced Theme Options: Capability to customize anything
  • Extensive Design Library: 400+ pre-built web pages together with more than 120 design and layout elements

Avada is eCommerce enabled. You can expect to receive 5-star support from Avada’s support team while having ready access to free lifetime updates, its extensive video tutorial library, and its comprehensive documentation.

Check Out Avada

Avada has over 24,000 5-star reviews on ThemeForest. Current Rating: 4.77


7. Total: Easy Website Builder for All Levels

True to its name, Total delivers an all-in-one solution-a balance of simplicity and flexibility. Users can drag-and-drop their way to unique websites without steep learning curves.



This video features Total’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

Any website-building project type can benefit from using Total due to its superior flexibility, clean code, and its multiplicity of time-saving website building features.

Total’s standout feature is its easy page builder for DIYers. Total also features comprehensive selections of developer-friendly hooks, filters, snippets, and more.

  • Flexible Page Builder Integration: Total uses WPBakery as its page builder as it considers it to be the superior page builder for WordPress. If you happen to be an Elementor fan, Total has built in integration with both Elementor and Gutenberg
  • Extensive Design Features: Other features include dynamic layout templates, boxed and full-width layouts CSS effects (animations), custom backgrounds, sticky headers, mobile menu styles, and more
  • Robust Design Resources: Total gives you more than 100 builder elements, 90+ WPBakery patterns, and 50+ premade demos to work with. The inspirational demos provide an excellent way to get a project off to a fast start. The Biz for example is a sweet little one-page website that could be used as the basis for starting a business

Check Out Total

Current Rating: 4.86

User Review: “This theme is all round the best one I came across. I have been working with Total for about 10 years now. Highly customizable, there simply is nothing that isn’t possible. And AJ is great for support if needed. I really love this theme which gets better with every update. Good work!”

8. Woodmart: Popular Multipurpose WooCommerce Theme

A WooCommerce-centric theme with advanced shop layout features and built-in performance optimizations. Perfect for devs who want to launch stylish, fast-loading stores.



This video features Woodmart’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

A first glance at the Woodmart site can be a revelation in that you’re apt to experience an array of content sections that appear to have been created exactly the way you would like to be able to do it when you are having a good day.

Woodmart’s standout feature is its custom layout builder for shop, product cart, and other client-centric features that include “Frequently Bought Together” and “Dynamic Discounts.”

  • Store-Focused Design: Much of what Woodmart offers is directed toward in-store design, but there are client-specific features as well including a White Label option, and social integrations for Marketers
  • Scalable Store Solutions: Whether your goal is to create a small store, or a multivendor marketplace site, Woodmart has what you need to make it a success
  • WooCommerce-Based: Fully integrated with WooCommerce, so you won’t need additional plugins to build your store

Woodmart’s Mega Electronics demo is a great example of the realism you can expect. Substitute your content and you have your store. A new selection of demos is released every month.

Check Out Woodmart


9. Pro Theme + Cornerstone Builder: Most Advanced WP Theme

A developer’s playground pairing a powerful theme with the Cornerstone front-end builder. Expect regular updates, a code-friendly envir

onment, and freedom to experiment.
This video features Pro Theme’s top-rated template. Click to explore it.

As these features are maintained at a high degree of usability Pro Theme’s standout feature is the constant flow of updates and features this theme can place before its users.

These features:

  • Comprehensive Family of Builders: Includes a Header Builder, Page Builder, Footer Builder, Layout Builder, Blog Builder, Shop Builder, and more
  • Design Cloud: Access a rich collection of design assets
  • Max Service: Includes a wealth of premium plugins, templates, and multiple custom-designed websites from a leading personal brand agency that designs websites for various leading brands and celebrities
  • Demo Collection: An excellent collection of demos like this Konnect example that can be used to kick off an online store project
  • Extensive Support Resources: Support materials that feature a support manual, YouTube tutorial videos and a Forum

Updates are released every two weeks.

What is the ideal website project type that Pro supports? The answer is simple: Anything.

Check Out Pro Theme

User Review: “Performance-wise, Pro is one of the fastest themes on the market, both in the back end and in the front end. This is thanks to the modern lean architecture. Themeco made sure it was as SEO friendly as possible. To this day, it has never had a single security breach!”

Why the Right WordPress Theme Matters

A WordPress theme sets the visual and functional foundation of your website.

In 2025, it’s not enough for a theme to look good on desktop alone.

It needs to:

  • Work seamlessly with top page builders like Elementor, Gutenberg, or WPBakery
  • Offer high-quality prebuilt templates, so you can launch quickly and efficiently
  • Support mobile editing, ensuring visitors have a smooth experience on any device
  • Provide reliable speed and overall stability, essential for keeping bounce rates low and user engagement high
  • Feature dedicated support, so you won’t spend hours troubleshooting an issue that could be resolved in minutes

Spotting a Future-Ready Theme

Much like staying current with design trends and coding best practices, succeeding in WordPress means choosing a theme that’s actively maintained and flexible enough to adapt to technological changes.

A top-tier theme won’t restrict you to specific layouts or color schemes. Instead, it will let you experiment with everything from parallax effects to dynamic animations-without compromising performance.

Testing the Waters

Before committing, test-drive a theme’s builder tools and explore its templates. This hands-on approach reveals how well each theme matches your project’s requirements-whether you’re creating a personal portfolio, a sleek eCommerce shop, or something more experimental.

Making the Final Call

Ultimately, the best theme is one that supports your vision and has the performance capabilities to power your boldest ideas. With the right choice, you’ll avoid costly re-platforming later and can focus on innovation.

If you’re overwhelmed by the 5,000+ WordPress themes available, don’t worry. By focusing on builder compatibility, mobile responsiveness, speed, and reliable support, you’ll quickly identify the ideal themes to power your projects through 2024 and beyond.

WordPress ThemeQuick OverviewTop Feature
UiCore PROBest WordPress theme for ElementorPre-built website templates for rapid design and customization
BethemeFastest WordPress and WooCommerce theme700+ pre-built websites, robust BeBuilder & WooBuilder for eCommerce
BlocksySuperior for WooCommerce design with free versionDeep WooCommerce integrations and minimal bloat for fast-loading shops
LithoHighly customizable themeDiverse demos and advanced customization options for unique frontends
UncodeWooCommerce Theme for CreativesCreative layouts and minimal codebase for enhanced performance
Avada#1 Best-Selling ThemeBuilt-in speed optimizations and robust eCommerce functionality
Total ThemeEasy Website Builder for all levelsSuperior flexibility and clean code for customizing any layout
WoodmartPerfect for shops and startupsCustom shop layout builder and performance optimizations for better UX
Pro Theme + Cornerstone BuilderAdvanced theme with powerful real-time frontend builder for developersRegular updates and code-friendly environment for advanced customization

The post 9 Best WordPress Themes for 2025 (Free and Paid) appeared first on Hongkiat.

Tight Mode: Why Browsers Produce Different Performance Results

Tight Mode: Why Browsers Produce Different Performance Results

Tight Mode: Why Browsers Produce Different Performance Results

Geoff Graham

2025-01-09T13:00:00+00:00
2025-06-20T10:32:35+00:00

This article is sponsored by DebugBear

I was chatting with DebugBear’s Matt Zeunert and, in the process, he casually mentioned this thing called Tight Mode when describing how browsers fetch and prioritize resources. I wanted to nod along like I knew what he was talking about but ultimately had to ask: What the heck is “Tight” mode?

What I got back were two artifacts, one of them being the following video of Akamai web performance expert Robin Marx speaking at We Love Speed in France a few weeks ago:

The other artifact is a Google document originally published by Patrick Meenan in 2015 but updated somewhat recently in November 2023. Patrick’s blog has been inactive since 2014, so I’ll simply drop a link to the Google document for you to review.

That’s all I have and what I can find on the web about this thing called Tight Mode that appears to have so much influence on the way the web works. Robin acknowledged the lack of information about it in his presentation, and the amount of first-person research in his talk is noteworthy and worth calling out because it attempts to describe and illustrate how different browsers fetch different resources with different prioritization. Given the dearth of material on the topic, I decided to share what I was able to take away from Robin’s research and Patrick’s updated article.

It’s The First of Two Phases

The fact that Patrick’s original publication date falls in 2015 makes it no surprise that we’re talking about something roughly 10 years old at this point. The 2023 update to the publication is already fairly old in “web years,” yet Tight Mode is still nowhere when I try looking it up.

So, how do we define Tight Mode? This is how Patrick explains it:

“Chrome loads resources in 2 phases. “Tight mode” is the initial phase and constraints [sic] loading lower-priority resources until the body is attached to the document (essentially, after all blocking scripts in the head have been executed).”

— Patrick Meenan

OK, so we have this two-part process that Chrome uses to fetch resources from the network and the first part is focused on anything that isn’t a “lower-priority resource.” We have ways of telling browsers which resources we think are low priority in the form of the Fetch Priority API and lazy-loading techniques that asynchronously load resources when they enter the viewport on scroll — all of which Robin covers in his presentation. But Tight Mode has its own way of determining what resources to load first.

Chrome Tight Mode screenshot

Figure 1: Chrome loads resources in two phases, the first of which is called “Tight Mode.” (Large preview)

Tight Mode discriminates resources, taking anything and everything marked as High and Medium priority. Everything else is constrained and left on the outside, looking in until the body is firmly attached to the document, signaling that blocking scripts have been executed. It’s at that point that resources marked with Low priority are allowed in the door during the second phase of loading.

There’s a big caveat to that, but we’ll get there. The important thing to note is that…

Chrome And Safari Enforce Tight Mode

Yes, both Chrome and Safari have some working form of Tight Mode running in the background. That last image illustrates Chrome’s Tight Mode. Let’s look at Safari’s next and compare the two.

A screenshot comparing Tight Mode in Chrome with Tight Mode in Safari.

Figure 2: Comparing Tight Mode in Chrome with Tight Mode in Safari. Notice that Chrome allows five images marked with High priority to slip out of Tight Mode. (Large preview)

Look at that! Safari discriminates High-priority resources in its initial fetch, just like Chrome, but we get wildly different loading behavior between the two browsers. Notice how Safari appears to exclude the first five PNG images marked with Medium priority where Chrome allows them. In other words, Safari makes all Medium- and Low-priority resources wait in line until all High-priority items are done loading, even though we’re working with the exact same HTML. You might say that Safari’s behavior makes the most sense, as you can see in that last image that Chrome seemingly excludes some High-priority resources out of Tight Mode. There’s clearly some tomfoolery happening there that we’ll get to.

Where’s Firefox in all this? It doesn’t take any extra tightening measures when evaluating the priority of the resources on a page. We might consider this the “classic” waterfall approach to fetching and loading resources.

Comparison of Chrome, Safari, and Firefox Tight Mode

Figure 3: Chrome and Safari have implemented Tight Mode while Firefox maintains a simple waterfall.(Large preview)

Chrome And Safari Trigger Tight Mode Differently

Robin makes this clear as day in his talk. Chrome and Safari are both Tight Mode proponents, yet trigger it under differing circumstances that we can outline like this:

ChromeSafari
Tight Mode triggeredWhile blocking JS in the is busy.While blocking JS or CSS anywhere is busy.

Notice that Chrome only looks at the document when prioritizing resources, and only when it involves JavaScript. Safari, meanwhile, also looks at JavaScript, but CSS as well, and anywhere those things might be located in the document — regardless of whether it’s in the or . That helps explain why Chrome excludes images marked as High priority in Figure 2 from its Tight Mode implementation — it only cares about JavaScript in this context.

So, even if Chrome encounters a script file with fetchpriority="high" in the document body, the file is not considered a “High” priority and it will be loaded after the rest of the items. Safari, meanwhile, honors fetchpriority anywhere in the document. This helps explain why Chrome leaves two scripts on the table, so to speak, in Figure 2, while Safari appears to load them during Tight Mode.

That’s not to say Safari isn’t doing anything weird in its process. Given the following markup:


  
  
  

  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  

…you might expect that Safari would delay the two Low-priority scripts in the until the five images in the are downloaded. But that’s not the case. Instead, Safari loads those two scripts during its version of Tight Mode.

Safari deferred scripts

Figure 4: Safari treats deferred scripts in the with High priority. (Large preview)

Chrome And Safari Exceptions

I mentioned earlier that Low-priority resources are loaded in during the second phase of loading after Tight Mode has been completed. But I also mentioned that there’s a big caveat to that behavior. Let’s touch on that now.

According to Patrick’s article, we know that Tight Mode is “the initial phase and constraints loading lower-priority resources until the body is attached to the document (essentially, after all blocking scripts in the head have been executed).” But there’s a second part to that definition that I left out:

“In tight mode, low-priority resources are only loaded if there are less than two in-flight requests at the time that they are discovered.”

A-ha! So, there is a way for low-priority resources to load in Tight Mode. It’s when there are less than two “in-flight” requests happening when they’re detected.

Wait, what does “in-flight” even mean?

That’s what’s meant by less than two High- or Medium-priority items being requested. Robin demonstrates this by comparing Chrome to Safari under the same conditions, where there are only two High-priority scripts and ten regular images in the mix:


  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Let’s look at what Safari does first because it’s the most straightforward approach:

Safari Tight Mode

(Large preview)

Nothing tricky about that, right? The two High-priority scripts are downloaded first and the 10 images flow in right after. Now let’s look at Chrome:

Chrome Tight Mode

(Large preview)

We have the two High-priority scripts loaded first, as expected. But then Chrome decides to let in the first five images with Medium priority, then excludes the last five images with Low priority. What. The. Heck.

The reason is a noble one: Chrome wants to load the first five images because, presumably, the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is often going to be one of those images and Chrome is hedging bets that the web will be faster overall if it automatically handles some of that logic. Again, it’s a noble line of reasoning, even if it isn’t going to be 100% accurate. It does muddy the waters, though, and makes understanding Tight Mode a lot harder when we see Medium- and Low-priority items treated as High-priority citizens.

Even muddier is that Chrome appears to only accept up to two Medium-priority resources in this discriminatory process. The rest are marked with Low priority.

That’s what we mean by “less than two in-flight requests.” If Chrome sees that only one or two items are entering Tight Mode, then it automatically prioritizes up to the first five non-critical images as an LCP optimization effort.

Truth be told, Safari does something similar, but in a different context. Instead of accepting Low-priority items when there are less than two in-flight requests, Safari accepts both Medium and Low priority in Tight Mode and from anywhere in the document regardless of whether they are located in the or not. The exception is any asynchronous or deferred script because, as we saw earlier, those get loaded right away anyway.

How To Manipulate Tight Mode

This might make for a great follow-up article, but this is where I’ll refer you directly to Robin’s video because his first-person research is worth consuming directly. But here’s the gist:

  • We have these high-level features that can help influence priority, including resource hints (i.e., preload and preconnect), the Fetch Priority API, and lazy-loading techniques.
  • We can indicate fetchpriority="high" and fetchpriority="low" on items.


  • Using fetchpriority="high" is one way we can get items lower in the source included in Tight Mode. Using fetchpriority="low is one way we can get items higher in the source excluded from Tight Mode.
  • For Chrome, this works on images, asynchronous/deferred scripts, and scripts located at the bottom of the .
  • For Safari, this only works on images.

Again, watch Robin’s talk for the full story starting around the 28:32 marker.

That’s Tight… Mode

It’s bonkers to me that there is so little information about Tight Mode floating around the web. I would expect something like this to be well-documented somewhere, certainly over at Chrome Developers or somewhere similar, but all we have is a lightweight Google Doc and a thorough presentation to paint a picture of how two of the three major browsers fetch and prioritize resources. Let me know if you have additional information that you’ve either published or found — I’d love to include them in the discussion.

Smashing Editorial
(yk)

How To Design For High-Traffic Events And Prevent Your Website From Crashing

How To Design For High-Traffic Events And Prevent Your Website From Crashing

How To Design For High-Traffic Events And Prevent Your Website From Crashing

Saad Khan

2025-01-07T14:00:00+00:00
2025-06-20T10:32:35+00:00

This article is sponsored by Cloudways

Product launches and sales typically attract large volumes of traffic. Too many concurrent server requests can lead to website crashes if you’re not equipped to deal with them. This can result in a loss of revenue and reputation damage.

The good news is that you can maximize availability and prevent website crashes by designing websites specifically for these events. For example, you can switch to a scalable cloud-based web host, or compress/optimize images to save bandwidth.

In this article, we’ll discuss six ways to design websites for high-traffic events like product drops and sales:

  1. Compress and optimize images,
  2. Choose a scalable web host,
  3. Use a CDN,
  4. Leverage caching,
  5. Stress test websites,
  6. Refine the backend.

Let’s jump right in!

How To Design For High-Traffic Events

Let’s take a look at six ways to design websites for high-traffic events, without worrying about website crashes and other performance-related issues.

1. Compress And Optimize Images

One of the simplest ways to design a website that accommodates large volumes of traffic is to optimize and compress images. Typically, images have very large file sizes, which means they take longer for browsers to parse and display. Additionally, they can be a huge drain on bandwidth and lead to slow loading times.

You can free up space and reduce the load on your server by compressing and optimizing images. It’s a good idea to resize images to make them physically smaller. You can often do this using built-in apps on your operating system.

There are also online optimization tools available like Tinify, as well as advanced image editing software like Photoshop or GIMP:

GIMP

Image format is also a key consideration. Many designers rely on JPG and PNG, but adaptive modern image formats like WebP can reduce the weight of the image and provide a better user experience (UX).

You may even consider installing an image optimization plugin or an image CDN to compress and scale images automatically. Additionally, you can implement lazy loading, which prioritizes the loading of images above the fold and delays those that aren’t immediately visible.

2. Choose A Scalable Web Host

The most convenient way to design a high-traffic website without worrying about website crashes is to upgrade your web hosting solution.

Traditionally, when you sign up for a web hosting plan, you’re allocated a pre-defined number of resources. This can negatively impact your website performance, particularly if you use a shared hosting service.

Upgrading your web host ensures that you have adequate resources to serve visitors flocking to your site during high-traffic events. If you’re not prepared for this eventuality, your website may crash, or your host may automatically upgrade you to a higher-priced plan.

Therefore, the best solution is to switch to a scalable web host like Cloudways Autonomous:

Cloudways

This is a fully managed WordPress hosting service that automatically adjusts your web resources based on demand. This means that you’re able to handle sudden traffic surges without the hassle of resource monitoring and without compromising on speed.

With Cloudways Autonomous your website is hosted on multiple servers instead of just one. It uses Kubernetes with advanced load balancing to distribute traffic among these servers. Kubernetes is capable of spinning up additional pods (think of pods as servers) based on demand, so there’s no chance of overwhelming a single server with too many requests.

High-traffic events like sales can also make your site a prime target for hackers. This is because, in high-stress situations, many sites enter a state of greater vulnerability and instability. But with Cloudways Autonomous, you’ll benefit from DDoS mitigation and a web application firewall to improve website security.

3. Use A CDN

As you’d expect, large volumes of traffic can significantly impact the security and stability of your site’s network. This can result in website crashes unless you take the proper precautions when designing sites for these events.

A content delivery network (CDN) is an excellent solution to the problem. You’ll get access to a collection of strategically-located servers, scattered all over the world. This means that you can reduce latency and speed up your content delivery times, regardless of where your customers are based.

When a user makes a request for a website, they’ll receive content from a server that’s physically closest to their location. Plus, having extra servers to distribute traffic can prevent a single server from crashing under high-pressure conditions. Cloudflare is one of the most robust CDNs available, and luckily, you’ll get access to it when you use Cloudways Autonomous.

You can also find optimization plugins or caching solutions that give you access to a CDN. Some tools like Jetpack include a dedicated image CDN, which is built to accommodate and auto-optimize visual assets.

4. Leverage Caching

When a user requests a website, it can take a long time to load all the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript contained within it. Caching can help your website combat this issue.

A cache functions as a temporary storage location that keeps copies of your web pages on hand (once they’ve been requested). This means that every subsequent request will be served from the cache, enabling users to access content much faster.

The cache mainly deals with static content like HTML which is much quicker to parse compared to dynamic content like JavaScript. However, you can find caching technologies that accommodate both types of content.

There are different caching mechanisms to consider when designing for high-traffic events. For example, edge caching is generally used to cache static assets like images, videos, or web pages. Meanwhile, database caching enables you to optimize server requests.

If you’re expecting fewer simultaneous sessions (which isn’t likely in this scenario), server-side caching can be a good option. You could even implement browser caching, which affects static assets based on your HTTP headers.

There are plenty of caching plugins available if you want to add this functionality to your site, but some web hosts provide built-in solutions. For example, Cloudways Autonomous uses Cloudflare’s edge cache and integrated object cache.

5. Stress Test Websites

One of the best ways to design websites while preparing for peak traffic is to carry out comprehensive stress tests.

This enables you to find out how your website performs in various conditions. For instance, you can simulate high-traffic events and discover the upper limits of your server’s capabilities. This helps you avoid resource drainage and prevent website crashes.

You might have experience with speed testing tools like Pingdom, which assess your website performance. But these tools don’t help you understand how performance may be impacted by high volumes of traffic.

Therefore, you’ll need to use a dedicated stress test tool like Loader.io:

Loader.io

This is completely free to use, but you’ll need to register for an account and verify your website domain. You can then download your preferred file and upload it to your server via FTP.

After that, you’ll find three different tests to carry out. Once your test is complete, you can take a look at the average response time and maximum response time, and see how this is affected by a higher number of clients.

6. Refine The Backend

The final way to design websites for high-traffic events is to refine the WordPress back end.

The admin panel is where you install plugins, activate themes, and add content. The more of these features that you have on your site, the slower your pages will load.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to delete any old pages, posts, and images that are no longer needed. If you have access to your database, you can even go in and remove any archived materials.

On top of this, it’s best to remove plugins that aren’t essential for your website to function. Again, with database access, you can get in there and delete any tables that sometimes get left behind when you uninstall plugins via the WordPress dashboard.

When it comes to themes, you’ll want to opt for a simple layout with a minimalist design. Themes that come with lots of built-in widgets or rely on third-party plugins will likely add bloat to your loading times. Essentially, the lighter your back end, the quicker it will load.

Conclusion

Product drops and sales are a great way to increase revenue, but these events can result in traffic spikes that affect a site’s availability and performance. To prevent website crashes, you’ll have to make sure that the sites you design can handle large numbers of server requests at once.

The easiest way to support fluctuating traffic volumes is to upgrade to a scalable web hosting service like Cloudways Autonomous. This way, you can adjust your server resources automatically, based on demand. Plus, you’ll get access to a CDN, caching, and an SSL certificate. Get started today!

Smashing Editorial
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