TheGem and X-Store are both sold through the same marketplace and are therefore direct competitors. That is certainly the case since both themes can be used for the construction of very nicely looking webshops. TheGem vs X-Store, which is the better theme? We start with TheGem which does not mean it would be better.
TheGem Theme
TheGem has been around since the end of 2016 and has been around for a while. Many of the best-selling themes on Themeforest came out around this time. In the corner of my eye I quickly saw that the theme comes with 2 page builders, which is beautiful. Let’s start quickly with this review.
TheGem's Rating
An average rating of 4.86 out of 5 is very high. On the Themeforest marketplace, the highest rating of the Impreza Theme is 4.89 if I remember correctly. So very satisfied buyers, we can expect something from this theme.
TheGem's Loading Speed
All top themes load quickly today, and no theme can be left behind without losing sales. The results shown below from a GtMetrix speedtest for TheGem, gives a 98% score. Certainly not bad, but many themes score 100 and also for “Structure” the score is better, but there are competitors with better scores. These kinds of high scores are always achieved with a good cache plugin.
Two Page Builders included
TheGem Blocks
TheGem Blocks is basically a database of ready-made blocks, sections, that you can use anywhere on your website. The number of 500+ is very large. Only the best themes offer this kind of service. In addition, TheGem also offers full site demos in all kinds of niches.
Full Website Demos
Without counting them, TheGem has at least 150 full site demos. You can put a complete website on your domain in one go and you can adjust everything to your own style with your favorite page builder.
Portfolios
TheGem is also the right place for portfolios. It’s not a special portfolio theme, but TheGem is all-round. Below is a small example of a beautiful 4-column layout. The theme has 20+ different portfolio and gallery styles.
More Styles: Blog, Widgets, Headers
As you can see below, TheGem has made a beautiful index with what they have to offer in this area. People, this is a complete theme suited for any type of website.
TheGem's Header- & Footer Builder
You can build your header yourself without any technical knowledge with everything you want on it and in it. It won’t cost you hours either, the header and footer builder in TheGem works very quickly and everything is 100% understandable.
Webshops with TheGem
The latest version of TheGem comes with 6 completely new full demo websites. This is in addition to the large number of demos that were already available for shops, of course. A good theme works perfectly with Woocommerce, has all possible professional options for shops and offers countless shopping demos. TheGem has it all.
Woocommerce Builder
The TheGem also features a Woo Builder that allows you to customize product pages and pages such as check out and cart without having to know anything about it.
Premium Sliders included
I personally think they are a bit out of fashion, but other designers are still very enthusiastic about them, Sliders. If you like a header with spectacular slideshows, it’s good to know that TheGem has 2 of the best slider plugins in it for free.
TheGem Review Conclusion
There is of course much more to tell about TheGem, read more on their own site if you are interested in more info. As far as I’m concerned, TheGem is a great theme, especially if you use Elementor, my favorite page builder. The builders of the theme have thought of everything, no important things are missing and the theme loads very quickly. Recommended.
Let’s continue this X-Store vs TheGem comparison with the X-Store Theme.
The X-Store Theme
In this XStore review we investigate why this theme has risen so quickly in the rankings. In their own words, the XStore theme is the perfect theme for building webshops. Unfortunately, it’s sold through the infamous Themeforest marketplace, but I’m not going to count any negatives for that. That wouldn’t be fair.
XStore Theme's Rating
An average rating of 4.85 out of 5 is of course brilliant. There are therefore only a handful of themes that score a better rating than the XStore theme. Users of the theme are therefore very satisfied with it, good to know.
XStore Theme: Loading Speed
I grabbed a random page from their demo for the test. The loading times are more than good. I assume that a very good cache plugin is installed on this demo, it almost has to be.
XStore Theme Review Demos
The XStore theme gives you more than 110 demo websites. They are practically all editable with one of the two very good page builders that you get, namely Elementor and WP Bakery. That is a number that exceeds that of most themes. Also keep in mind that most of them are layouts for shops which makes it all the more beautiful.
XStore Page Builders
I mentioned it before in the chapter “Demos”, you can choose from 2 page builders. The Elementor Pagebuilder which is definitely the better one but you don’t have the full version available unless you order it with it which isn’t a bad idea. Elementor is my favorite page builder. In addition, you have the full version of WP-Bakery with the XStore theme with even a plugin that provides many more widgets in the plugin. I must say, a very neat package that is offered here.
XStore Theme Free Plugins
What immediately struck me while writing this XStore theme review was the huge number of extra plugins that you get completely free. Together they are worth over $500 if you were to buy them. What I have to say in all honesty is that themes such as Divi do not need all those plugins because all that functions are already present in the theme itself.
XStore Theme Elements
The number of design elements or widgets that you have available in the page builder is very large. You can count them yourself, and that’s not all.
The theme’s website does not indicate whether it is for Elementor or WP-Bakery.
But I assume the latter because in the previous chapter I saw the extra plugin “Massive addons for Visual Composer” which is the old name for WP-Bakery is.
XStore Theme HeaderBuilder
The Header Builder is a great thing and looks good. Many themes now come with all these gadgets that have in principle been invented piece by piece by “the king of themes”: Divi.
XStore Single Product Builder
Plugins used to have this feature, nowadays every self-respecting theme is equipped with a decent WooBuilder. Everyone has special requirements for their shopping layout, so nowadays I wouldn’t work with a theme that lacks this.
XStore Theme Review Conclusion
This is already the end of this XStore Theme review. There is much more to say about it, but I want to keep the review short and sweet. More info is of course available via the button above on their own website. I have to say, all the points discussed are beautiful and there is actually very little missing from this theme. The only flaw I see is the way it is sold. The Themeforest marketplace requires themes to require a separate license for each of your websites. This gets expensive quickly. Someone with multiple websites would do well to work with Divi or Astra where they conduct the “Unlimited Website Usage” policy.
X-Store vs TheGem Conclusion
I like X-Store better, it is just way better overall. But also, these themes want to see a separate expensive license for every website you want to build with it. This will quickly cost you a lot of money. You are better off with Astra or Divi that can be used on an unlimited sites and are also even better and more stable themes.