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Expanse produced the fastest mobile Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in a controlled benchmark, at 1.23 seconds. Broadcast was fastest on desktop, at 0.33 seconds. Those results come from 204-plus Lighthouse audits of 17 themes in a clean Shopify development store, so they are a useful baseline—not a promise for a customized, app-heavy shop.
The benchmark’s direct answer: “fastest” depends on the metric
Deepak Jangra’s September 3, 2026 benchmark tested 17 Shopify themes on a fresh development store. Using LCP as the primary speed measure, Expanse led mobile at 1.23 seconds, while Broadcast led desktop at 0.33 seconds. Expanse’s reported desktop LCP was 0.57 seconds; Broadcast’s mobile LCP was 1.34 seconds.
That split matters. A theme can win on LCP without having the smallest page, fewest requests or lowest Total Blocking Time (TBT). “Fastest Shopify theme” is therefore not one universal ranking. You need to specify the device, page, metric and store configuration.
What was tested
The 17 themes
The comparison included Broadcast, Dawn, Craft, Spotlight, Studio, Origin, Sense, Refresh, Expanse, Horizon, Impact, Be Yours, Impulse, Prestige, Symmetry, Palo Alto and Motion. The benchmark identifies some as free and others as paid.
#1 Best Overall
Pages, devices and runs
Each theme was loaded on the homepage and a standard product page, at both mobile and desktop viewports. The development store contained 13 demo products and no third-party apps. Because the store was password-protected, the author used Lighthouse CLI with a custom Node.js script rather than relying on a publicly reachable URL.
For every page and viewport, three consecutive Lighthouse runs were made. The highest and lowest readings were discarded and the middle result was retained. Across 17 themes, two pages, two viewports and three runs, that produces 204 individual audits (17 × 2 × 2 × 3).
What the automation provides
The published workflow includes a script, aggregated CSV output and raw HTML and JSON reports. That makes the procedure inspectable: you can see each run instead of relying only on a single headline score. The median approach also reduces the effect of one unusually slow or fast run, although it does not turn a lab baseline into a field study.
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| Theme | Mobile Lighthouse score | Desktop Lighthouse score | Mobile LCP | Desktop LCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expanse | 100 | 100 | 1.23 s | 0.57 s |
| Origin | 100 | 100 | 1.74 s | 0.52 s |
| Broadcast | 99 | 100 | 1.34 s | 0.33 s |
In the combined mobile/desktop table, Expanse and Origin both recorded 100/100 scores, while Broadcast recorded 99/100 mobile and 100/100 desktop. The benchmark reports average scores of 96 for mobile and 98 for desktop across the tested set.
Mobile LCP order at the top
- Expanse: 1.23 seconds.
- Broadcast: 1.34 seconds.
- Symmetry: 1.50 seconds.
Those are LCP results, not a claim that every other metric follows the same order.
Why LCP, TBT, CLS and page weight tell different stories
LCP measures when the largest visible content element becomes available, so it closely reflects how quickly the main product or hero area appears. Lighthouse’s overall performance score combines several signals; a perfect score does not mean two themes deliver the same amount of content with the same network cost.
Rank #3
| Theme and view | Lighthouse score | LCP | CLS | TBT | Page size | Requests | Fully loaded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expanse mobile | 100 | 1.23 s | 0.001 | 89 ms | 0.20 MB | 222 | 2.26 s |
| Origin mobile | 100 | 1.74 s | 0 | 33 ms | 0.07 MB | 163 | 1.74 s |
Expanse reached the main visual sooner in this mobile run, but Origin transferred less data, made fewer requests, had lower TBT and finished loading sooner. If your definition of “fast” is a quick first impression, Expanse wins this comparison; if it is minimal network activity or total completion time, Origin has advantages. The benchmark does not provide a complete metric table for every theme, so a precise all-metric ranking would overstate the evidence.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Does a paid Shopify theme load faster than a free one?
No categorical conclusion is supported. Expanse is a paid theme and led mobile LCP, but free themes including Origin, Dawn, Craft, Sense, Spotlight, Studio and Refresh also scored highly in the baseline. A theme’s implementation, default sections and asset loading matter more than its price label alone.
What Expanse costs and includes
Shopify’s official listing showed Expanse at $420 USD, with Archetype Themes as the developer and version 10.0.1 dated August 21, 2026. The listing positions it for large-inventory stores and names product filtering, quick buy, product recommendations, image galleries and high-resolution images among its features. Price and version can change, so verify the listing when making a purchase decision. Those features describe capability; they do not independently prove a speed advantage.
When paying can still make sense
A paid theme may reduce development work if you genuinely need merchandising features, multiple product templates or large-catalog navigation. It can also be a poor fit if those features remain enabled but unused. Choose the functionality your store needs, then measure the resulting configuration rather than assuming the paid option is faster.
How to reproduce the 204-audit workflow
You can reproduce the logic without treating the published numbers as a guarantee for your store. Keep the test conditions consistent; changing images, sections or apps changes the question you are answering.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →- Create a clean development store. Populate it with a fixed catalog—in this benchmark, 13 demo products—and keep third-party apps out of the baseline.
- Install one theme at a time. Record the exact theme version and leave equivalent content and settings in place for every candidate.
- Test the same two URLs. Run the homepage and a standard product page for each theme.
- Use both viewports. Collect separate mobile and desktop Lighthouse results; do not merge them into one score.
- Run three consecutive audits per page and viewport. Keep the median after discarding the high and low readings.
- Save raw reports and a structured summary. Store Lighthouse HTML and JSON output alongside a CSV containing theme, page, viewport and every metric.
- Compare more than the score. Review LCP, CLS, TBT, page size, request count and fully loaded time, then inspect the page visually for missing or delayed content.
Lighthouse CLI is particularly useful when a password-protected development store cannot be tested through a normal public URL. A custom Node.js runner can iterate through the themes and pages, but the exact script should match your store’s authentication and URL setup rather than being copied blindly.
Best Value
Why your live store will score differently
The benchmark intentionally measures a stripped-down foundation. Real stores commonly add high-resolution banners, analytics and advertising pixels, reviews, chat, subscriptions, personalization, wish lists and other app scripts. They also change section order, product media, fonts and collection content. Each addition can alter LCP, TBT, CLS, request count and total bytes.
Important differences to control
- Images: A compressed demo image and a large hero photograph do not represent the same workload.
- Apps and scripts: Removing apps for a baseline hides the cost they add in production.
- Theme settings: A carousel, video background or extra recommendation block can create more work than the default template.
- Geography and network: Lighthouse lab conditions are not the same as a shopper’s device, connection or location.
- Content volume: More products, variants and sections can increase HTML, JavaScript and image requests.
Use the published figures to compare foundations under identical conditions. For a buying decision, create a representative demo with your own hero image, product media, sections and essential apps, then test that version.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How much does theme speed affect SEO?
Performance contributes to user experience and to Google’s page-experience signals, but a Lighthouse score is not an SEO ranking guarantee. Search visibility also depends on content quality, relevance, technical accessibility, internal linking and many other factors. The practical goal is to avoid preventable delays for shoppers and crawlers, especially on mobile, rather than to chase a perfect lab number at the expense of required store functionality.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesTrack field performance after launch where possible, and treat lab tests as a repeatable diagnostic. A theme that scores 100 in a clean store can still produce poor real-user results after heavy media and app scripts are added.
Can you make an existing Shopify theme faster?
Often, yes. Switching themes is not the first or only remedy. Start by measuring the current theme with the same homepage and product-page setup, then change one factor at a time.
Practical optimization sequence
- Audit installed apps. Remove unused apps and disable storefront scripts that are not required on every page.
- Reduce media cost. Resize and compress hero and product images, use appropriately sized variants and avoid loading below-the-fold media immediately.
- Trim unused theme features. Turn off sections, animations and widgets that do not support a real merchandising need.
- Check layout stability. Reserve space for images, banners and embeds so they do not shift content after it appears.
- Re-test after each change. Keep the same device, page, run count and median method so improvements are attributable.
- Consider custom development. If the theme’s architecture loads large features on every page, targeted custom work may improve it without a full migration.
A migration is justified when the current theme cannot provide necessary design or merchandising functions without excessive code and scripts. Otherwise, optimization preserves your existing templates, content and customer familiarity.
A decision framework for choosing among the 17 themes
| Decision question | What to examine |
|---|---|
| Is mobile LCP the priority? | Start with Expanse’s 1.23-second baseline, then test your own content and apps. |
| Is desktop LCP the priority? | Broadcast led the reported desktop result at 0.33 seconds. |
| Do you need a low-complexity foundation? | Compare page size, request count, TBT and fully loaded time, not only the score. |
| Are you evaluating free versus paid? | Compare required features and your measured configuration; price alone does not predict speed. |
| Are you keeping your current theme? | Audit apps, media and unused features before considering migration. |
| Will the store use advanced merchandising? | Confirm that filtering, quick buy, recommendations, galleries or other built-ins are needed before accepting their potential overhead. |
Common mistakes when interpreting the results
- Calling one theme the universal winner: Expanse wins the reported mobile LCP comparison; Broadcast wins desktop LCP.
- Equating 100 with identical performance: Expanse and Origin both scored 100 on the listed runs but had different LCP, TBT, size, requests and completion times.
- Assuming paid means faster: Several free themes also performed strongly.
- Copying a demo score to a live store: The benchmark excluded third-party apps and used controlled demo content.
- Testing only once: Consecutive runs vary; retaining a median is more informative than selecting a lucky result.
- Ignoring functionality: Removing every feature may improve a score while making the store less usable or less effective at selling.
Bottom line
For the benchmark’s stated conditions, choose Expanse if your definition of fastest is the best mobile LCP, and choose Broadcast if desktop LCP is the deciding metric. Do not treat either result as a guarantee. Build a representative test store, measure the metrics that matter to your shoppers, and keep only the theme features and apps that earn their performance cost. As the benchmark author puts it, “Your mileage will vary. These scores represent the absolute baseline performance of a theme.”
Quick Recap
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