Astra Theme: Installation, Free Features, and Astra Pro Plans Compared
The Astra theme is a free WordPress theme made by Brainstorm Force that lets you change colors, typography, the header and the footer in the Customizer without code. I installed Astra 4.14.1 on a WordPress 7.1.3 site, checked the free features and starter templates, and compared them with the official pricing table to sum up when you need Astra Pro.
Of the 146 items in the official comparison table on the Astra dashboard, only 3, including the header and footer builder, have a check in the free column. Ten items, including colors, typography and spacing, are marked as limited features in the free column.
1️⃣ Installing the Astra Theme and Live Preview: Checking Before You Activate
According to the WordPress.org theme directory, the Astra theme has more than 1 million active installations and a 4.9 rating (6,542 reviews). Version 4.14.1, released on October 15, 2026, runs on WordPress 5.3 and PHP 5.3 or later.
You might expect the site's look to change as soon as you install a theme, but installing alone leaves the screen as it is; the theme applies only after you activate it. Search for Astra under Appearance › Themes › [Add Theme] and click [Install]; once installation finishes, the card shows [Activate] and [Live Preview].
Clicking [Live Preview] opens your current posts and pages with Astra applied, with the Astra settings panel on the left. The panels are ordered Global, Header, Post Types, General and Footer, and [More Options Available in Toolkit] at the top is a box promoting the paid Toolkit.
Values changed on this screen don't reach the site until you click [Activate & Publish]. Once activated, [Astra] is added to the admin menu, and the dashboard's Quick Settings take you to Site Identity, Header Builder, Footer Builder, Colors, Typography, Buttons, Blog Options and Layout. It's like trying clothes on in the fitting room before heading to the checkout.
2️⃣ Astra Free Features: Global Colors, Typography and the Header Builder
Even after you pick a theme, the site's first impression is set in the Global panel and the Header Builder. The Global panel is split into four sections, Typography, Colors, Container and Buttons, and the values you set there apply to the whole site.
The Global Palette in the Colors section has four options, Default, Oak, Viola and Dark, and below it you set the colors for Accent, Links, Headings, Body Text and Borders separately. Choosing Dark changes the preview's background and text color together, even before publishing.
The header works by placing elements in a builder split into three rows, top, main and bottom; at first the main row holds [Site Title & Logo] and [Primary Menu]. On the dashboard comparison table, too, the drag-and-drop header and footer builder has a check in the free column.
Even the free version's header can hold one button, two HTML elements, search and social icons. Multiple buttons, mega menus and a sticky header are checked only in the paid columns of the official comparison table.
3️⃣ Astra Starter Templates: Free Templates and the Plugins Installed with Them
A full-site template fills an empty site quickly, but it doesn't suit a site that already has posts and menus, because the import brings in pages, menus and settings as well; for a live site, you import page- or section-level templates instead.
The templates come in a separate plugin, Starter Templates; once you install and activate it, a [Starter Templates] screen is added under the Appearance menu. On the first screen you choose between [AI Website Builder] and [Classic Starter Templates], and if you pick Classic, you then choose a page builder: the block editor or Elementor.
Choosing the block editor opens a template list with categories such as Business, Local Business, E-Commerce and Blog. In the list as of October 16, 2026, 88 of the 133 block editor templates are free and the other 45 carry the [Premium] label. For Elementor, 168 of 387 are free.
After clicking a template, you first set the logo, font pair, color palette and light or dark style, then pick the features to install alongside it in the next [Select features] step. Page Builder and Contact Form are locked with gray checks, and in the install list below, Spectra Blocks and SureForms are marked with an asterisk.
Starter Templates 4.7.8 requires WordPress 6.6 and PHP 7.4 or later. If you leave the default selection, the install list shows four plugins, including SureRank and SureCookie.
4️⃣ What Astra Pro Adds: Free vs Astra Pro and the Toolkit Plans
Astra's paid version looks like a product that unlocks a single theme feature, but the plans are split into the theme add-on Astra Pro and Toolkit, which bundles block and Elementor add-ons and premium templates. According to the official pricing table, Addon Only, which buys Astra Pro alone, costs $69 a year for up to 3 sites.
The official [Free Vs Toolkit] comparison table on the dashboard compares Free, Essential Toolkit and Business Toolkit across 146 items. Premium support, white label, mega menu, sticky header, custom header, footer and 404 page, and blog layout options have an X in the free column.
Four items are checked only in the Business Toolkit column: SureFeedback, OttoKit Pro, ZipWP Pro and SkillJet Academy. In the free column, colors, typography and spacing, plus the WooCommerce, LearnDash and LifterLMS integrations, are marked [Limited Features].
| Item | Astra Pro (Addon Only) | Astra Pro + AI | Essential Toolkit + AI | Business Toolkit + AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-year price (annual billing) | $69 | $99 | $199 | $279 |
| Regular price (renewal) | $69 | $149 | $299 | $429 |
| Number of sites | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1000 |
| Astra Pro | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spectra Pro · Ultimate Elementor Addons | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Premium starter templates | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SureForms Agency | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| AI site generation | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refund period | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days |
The values in the table are annual prices from the official pricing page. The first-year prices of the three plans with + AI are discounted, and they renew at the regular price from the second year. Every plan includes a 14-day refund, and Addon Only is also offered as a lifetime license for a one-time payment of $249.
5️⃣ Sites the Astra Theme Suits: How to Choose Between Free and Pro
The free version is enough for sites like blogs and company profiles, where the header and footer builder and the global colors and typography set the look and the content is built in the block editor.
Going by the official comparison table, you'd choose Astra Pro if you need mega menus, a sticky header, custom layouts or WooCommerce shop page features. If you also want premium starter templates and Spectra Pro, Essential Toolkit is the fit, for up to 10 sites.
The WordPress theme selection guide measured the transfer size of the official demos, opened under the same conditions on August 31, 2026, at 143.2 KB for Astra and 17.8 KB for GeneratePress. A site that has to keep page transfer size as small as possible would start by comparing lighter themes.
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