Relax, relax. I know there is plenty of fish in the sea, and it is difficult to pick one just by judging it from above the water. Yes, you’re right; I am talking about the best LearnDash themes only and not seafood. Well, I will compare the best LearnDash themes available in the market; these plugins are the best when it comes to building your dream LMS website. Other fishes in the sea offer you slow loading pages, complex and difficult learning user interface, and basic designs with minimum features.
Yup, I know you wouldn’t want to mess up the learning experience of your potential customers. Rather than trying and regretting after using “people’s” recommended LMS theme, read this article and choose what best fits your requirements. So, without further ado, let us begin with the comparison of the three best LearnDash themes that I personally think have a future with your Learning Management System!
Before getting started with the actual comparison, let me clear out the parameters to you. We will be visiting each LearnDash theme and reviewing them on the basis of these parameters. Remember, we are taking the parameters which are necessary for running a flourishing learning management system.
Parameters on which I’ll compare the best LearnDash themes
1. The page loading speed
Have you ever been forced to close a website because of the slow page loading time? Don’t worry; you are not the only person; we all do it! The page loading speed is the first impression your users will have about your website. Hence we included it in the topical list of comparable points!
2. Design and User-friendliness
The design and user experience trend changes just as the night changes. Who would spend more time on a website that is clumsy, complex, and hard to browse through? I won’t, and I am sure you guys won’t be interested either. Hence, we concluded that the design and user-friendliness of the LMS website create a huge impact on the overall performance.
3. Features Provided
Design and page loading speed is important, but at the end of the day, you will decide on the features that the theme provides you. The preferable features required in an online course-selling website are course building, support, creating quizzes, creating student profiles, and much more.
With the premise or battleground being ready. Let us move forward with discovering the elephant in the room.
Reign vs. BuddyBoss vs. Astra – Who’s Faster?
Nowadays, the number of eLearning possibilities has increased, as has the number of distractions. Speed is one of the major factors that keep pupils from succumbing to any of them.
Yup. If you want your students to interact with your information, you must guarantee that your courses, webpages, and lessons, among other things, load quickly. Because learning is a virtual process, it is critical to encourage interaction in two ways to keep students engaged.
This implies that your website must load swiftly and smoothly, with minimal delays.
Let’s take a look at where our three LearnDash themes stand in terms of speed.
|
Page Tested |
Reign | BuddyBoss |
Astra |
| Home Page | 74 | 48 |
53 |
1. Reign LearnDash Theme
2. BuddyBoss LearnDash Theme
3. Astra LearnDash Theme
The “WBCOM” Breakdown (Our Opinion)
Although 47 is a considerable score, we will keep the BuddyBoss theme aside cause Astra and Reign are way ahead of it. Reign and Astra are both top-notch LearnDash LMS themes. They fight toe to toe, and no one’s really falling behind.
I will not indirectly delay, wasting time to tell what I think as this isn’t a diplomatic question that cannot be answered. If I’d pick one for my personal learning website, I’d choose Reign because it is an all-in-one theme that supports many WordPress plugins and add-ons. It loads faster and leaves a better impact on the audience. On the other hand, the Astra LearnDash theme is not that fast. (You can compare it to Reign being Flash, and Astra being the “run a marathon, it would be nice” saying, person.)
Reign vs. BuddyBoss vs. Astra: Who’s More Fashionable
It is a win-win situation for students. Developers and business owners are trying so hard to develop fashionable websites with user-friendly interfaces. Students of today’s generation love fancy editing and clean UI.
Hence, it is important for a business owner to make his course selling website unique and engaging. Let us discuss some of the necessary features every eLearning theme must have:
- Focus Mode
- User-friendly interface with clean design
- Good use of color combination and font
Let’s have a discussion on each theme’s high and low points.
1. Reign LearnDash Theme
Reign, with its LearnDash-focused theme, includes a single course layout, Udemy single course layout with a teachable single course layout as well a LearnDash Profile. It efficiently displays your course’s content by using full-width and boxed-width display options, as well as reader-friendly layouts that increase students’ engagement and retention.
You can set up your dream LMS within a couple of minutes with Reign.
2. BuddyBoss LearnDash Theme
BuddyBoss is a social-centric theme. Therefore, it places a strong emphasis on improving students’ learning experiences through social networking.
To stick with this idea, In keeping with this notion, it has stunning designs for Student Profile and Forum pages, as well as crisp iconography and retina-ready photos.
The design for Lessons and Courses isn’t as beautiful, but the eCommerce template is pretty conventional.
Also Read: BuddyPress 2018 Survey
3. Astra LearnDash Theme
To be clear, Astra is not an educational theme but rather a multi-purpose WordPress theme that includes a starting template for LD.
That means you’ll have to develop your LMS from scratch or use one of the premium or free Starter Templates to get started. These templates have a plethora of adjustable choices for the Courses pages, the single page for each course, and other areas. These themes might assist you in creating a website that reflects your personality and style.
The “WBCOM” Breakdown (Our Opinion)
Three themes are incredibly responsive and mobile-friendly, which is critical for students who study on many devices nowadays.
The issue is that Astra takes a more rigorous approach with its build-your-way-up function, which may not be the best option right now.
So, let us understand that Reign and BuddyBoss are the major competitors in this section. But, if I had been asked to pick one, I would go with Reign because it offers futuristic designs. It is a design that is not that colorful but also isn’t vague.
RPower: Who’s More Feature-Packed
The design and load speed might be effective factors, but what’s an LMS without exceptional features? I’m sure you will agree on this with me.
For instance, at the time of choosing a washing machine for your home, you’ll look for one that has powerful features.
In the same way, now let us have a discussion about which theme offer’s the best functions for an LMS website.
Reign LearnDash Theme
When it comes to creating an LMS, the features in the Reign Theme are fairly robust. Look at this:
- Social Network-like Facebook and Twitter.
- Sell online physical and digital products.
- Fully Customizable
- Dark Mode or Dark Theme to switch the user’s experience.
- Reign provides you with multiple layout options for BuddyPress Pages.
- Alluring and enticing ready-to-use Elementor section and pages.
- Customize and personalize every page of your site by adding relevant widgets.
- Reign provides plenty of branding options to give you your own touch.
Astra LearnDash Theme
As was already noted, Astra offers LearnDash-compatible eLearning templates. Let’s look at Astra’s main characteristics:
- You may modify your website to your preferences using advanced styling choices.
- It has a mode that prevents interruptions and a customer dashboard that let users keep track of their orders.
- Additionally, it offers a straightforward payment process so that users may buy the courses with only a few clicks.
- Additionally, it shows progress bars that show pupils where they are in the course.
But in contrast to Reign or BuddyBoss, Astra lags far behind in terms of the essential eLearning features.
BuddyBoss LearnDash Theme
BuddyBoss continues to put social networking first. Listed below are a few of its key attributes:
- In order to make it simpler to connect to social apps, it offers WordPress social logins to your LMS.
- With all BuddyBoss plugins and bbPress extensions, it integrates seamlessly.
Includes a Facebook “Wall” feature that displays all of the student’s activity and enables them to follow one another’s updates. - Additionally, it has a Media option that enables students to submit photographs and tag them.
But BuddyBoss is a fundamental motif when it comes to the other administration-focused features of the LMS. In essence, it’s a tool that will let students engage with one another, but it won’t make your job as the site’s owner any easier.
Also Read: Most Popular Website Speed Test Tools
The “WBCOM” Breakdown (Our Opinion)
The fact that Astra is a multi-purpose theme makes it obvious that it lacks some of the most crucial eLearning features, such as sophisticated choices for managing students and reporting on quizzes, instructor management settings, etc.
Themes like Reign and BuddyBoss, on the other hand, work with most features and are more suited to giving students an exciting educational experience.
In general, it’s preferable to select LearnDash-based themes like Reign and BuddyBoss over generalist themes like Astra.
Battle Finishes! So, Who’s the Winner?
Reign, Astra, and BuddyBoss Theme – all three are solid themes for creating your dream LearnDash LMS. Therefore, the theme you pick will entirely depend on the needs of your LMS.
Are you looking to create a speedy, active, full-featured, and dynamic LMS with a large number of students, instructors, and courses? Consider Reign.
Are you looking for a simple but fast LMS that lets you design and sell your own courses and are satisfied with the features that come standard in LearnDash? – Go for Astra.
Are you looking for an intuitive LMS in which you wish to promote student interaction and debate? Consider BuddyBoss. And, if you’re still confused, feel free to reach out to us by commenting below. I’d love to help.
Have a great time learning, and remember to tell us which one you prefer!
Intersting Reads:
Paid marketing VS Organic marketing: What do you choose?
