We compare two of the most popular WordPress themes for the construction of websites of the moment here. Inspiro and Sydney have free- as well as a pro versions. Sydney vs Inspiro, which is the better theme? We start with Inspiro which does not mean it would be better.
The Sydney Theme
In this Sydney theme review I will quickly show you the best features of this popular theme. The Sydney theme is made by aThemes, a company that only develops good themes. It is therefore certainly not surprising that the theme has a very good rating. Let’s start with that right away…
Sydney's Rating 4.9/5
In the image below you can see that the numbers Sydney gets are more than good. The average rating is 4.9 out of 5, with which the theme scores in the top compared to other themes. Sydney has a free and a pro version, both versions are discussed here.
Sydney Theme Speed
Having a fast loading website is a must these days. Visitors stay longer on your site and you are found better in Google. That is why themes are becoming faster and faster in recent years, otherwise they will not sell well. With Sydney you can take a deep breath because the theme is one of the fastest sites out there.
Sydney Theme's Demo Websites
Six months ago I wrote an article about Sydney for another website of mine. I see that in that short time, 8 extra demos have been added. The Sydney demo websites are well constructed and very well maintained.
Sydney Theme & Webshops
The number of demos for webshops is still 2, they should work on that as soon as possible in my opinion, that is below average. The standard Sydney shopping theme is beautifully minimalistic and can be used for just about anything. A good shop can certainly be built with Sydney, because all possible shopping features are available so that shops look professional and have all the gadgets such as quick view, ajax cart and wishlist.
If my theme were recommended by Elementor, I would also put it on the site everywhere. This gives a lot of confidence to the theme because that means something. It also means that the theme will work perfectly with the Elementor page builder.
Sydney Theme comes with Schema
More and more sites have Schema built in as it offers great benefits for your site when it comes to being found in Google. The Sydney theme also has this. Rich snippets help Google understand your pages better and often display them in search results in special ways. If you are a Schema enthusiast, check out Schema Pro which I also use on this website.
Sydney Theme Integrations
A theme is usually automatically compatible with most plugins, but there are some commonly used more complicated plugins that definitely require theme customization. The Sydney theme is completely prepared for these plugins. Think, for example, of the Google AMP plugin, which is free and necessary to offer Accelerated Mobile Pages. Other Plugins are Polylang, WPML and LMS. Sydney has so much more to offer then I can explain in this review.
Sydney Theme Review Conclusion
Sydney Theme review, my opinion: The Sydney theme is recommended by Elementor for a reason, it is a very nice theme to work with. That applies to the free and pro versions. The pro versions have a standard price for good themes, $69. You can use the theme on an unlimited number of sites for this. However, an even better offer is $99 for all themes from aThemes. You immediately have the popular Botiga and Airi theme + about 20 less well-known themes.
Let’s continue this Sydney versus Inspiro Review with the Inspiro Theme.
The Inspiro Theme
Let’s start this Inspiro theme review. Inspiro is a WordPress theme that focuses on video and photo editing. It has a modern design. Inspiro has many features, including a fullscreen area for Vimeo, YouTube, and self-hosted video backgrounds, Page Builder integration, and is ideal for displaying your video portfolio. The theme can be used with WooCommerce as well as popular Page Builders like Beaver Builder and Elementor.
Inspiro's Rating
Since the last time I wrote a review for Inspiro, there are now a lot more people who gave a rating. However, the average remains high, 4.7 out of 5 is a very good rating. Especially since Inspiro is very focused on video features, something that perhaps not everyone understood immediately and therefore some give a very bad rating.
Video Functions
As for the special video features that Inspiro offers, below is a list of features for the free version and the pro version, because there are big differences between them.
You can see that all video features are in the pro version, but nothing in the free version. If you are looking for a free theme with video functions, we can say that Inspiro is not suitable. What the pro version offers is beautiful, but don’t be alarmed by the price for a license of 79 dollars per website per year. For this you have practically the best theme there is for WP, the Divi theme. And not for 1 website, but for unlimited sites.
Video Backgrounds
As shown below, videos in the header can be used as background. Other great features are video on hoover, videos in portfolio items and video lightboxes. One of the best features is the video autoplay on mobile and tablets.
Portfolio with video BGs
Below is an example of a Portfolio page design. You can hover over each item to see a preview of the video or image.
Inspiro & Elementor
Inspiro theme review: Demos
The Inspiro theme has a series of very nice demos and for various niches. Demos or also called starter sites can be installed with 1 click via the backend of your WordPress. Inspiro has a small 35 demos for the free and pro version together, including demos for shops and of course photography.
Inspiro: Headers
Inspiro doesn’t have a real header builder like the top themes but with 1 click you can install other types of headers. Different headers on different pages, everything is possible.
Image/Video overlay
Another wonderful tool is the gradient overlay customizer pictured below. This is one of the features that immediately struck me while writing this Inspiro theme review. You can create beautiful effects and give your website a professional look.
Inspiro Theme Review Conclusion
As the last part of this Inspiro theme review, I give my overall opinion. The free version of Inspiro has virtually no features and I would never use it. The pro version is good for website photographers, film makers and other people who want to use videos all over their site. The pro-theme can be called downright expensive, so I have my reservations about that too.
Sydney versus Inspiro Conclusion
To start with, Inspiro and Sydney are both very good themes. Both are suitable for building web shops, blogs, portfolios or corporate sites. Inspiro and Sydney work with Elementor and even more page builders, the choice is yours. Overall, these themes are very compatible and there is no real winner. The choice is yours.