Magento 2 is a powerful eCommerce platform with rich functionality. However, the performance and developer experience of its default frontend theme—Luma—has been a pain point for many developers and store owners. In response to these challenges, the Hyvä Theme was introduced as a modern, performance-focused alternative. While both themes are used for building storefronts, they are fundamentally different in architecture, performance, and usability.
This article provides a comprehensive comparison between Hyvä and Luma to help you understand their strengths, weaknesses, and which one may be better suited for your Magento project.
Architecture and Technology Stack
1. Luma Theme
The Luma theme is the default theme provided with Magento 2. It is built using Magento’s traditional frontend stack, which includes:
- Knockout.js: Used for data-binding and dynamic content rendering.
- RequireJS: Module loader for JavaScript dependencies.
- LESS: A CSS preprocessor used for styling.
- UI Components: Magento’s custom system built with XML, JS, and HTML templates.
Luma relies heavily on layout XML files and UI components that are highly structured but also complex and difficult to customize. It also uses a large number of JavaScript files, many of which are render-blocking.
2. Hyvä Theme
Hyvä was created to address the limitations of the Luma theme by stripping away most of Magento’s default frontend stack and replacing it with a modern, lightweight alternative:
- Tailwind CSS: A utility-first CSS framework that is easy to use and maintain.
- Alpine.js: A lightweight JavaScript framework for UI interactions (like Vue.js, but much smaller).
- Minimal or no Knockout.js / RequireJS / UI components.
By removing the bloated frontend dependencies, Hyvä simplifies the development process and significantly boosts performance.
3. Performance
Performance is one of the biggest advantages of Hyvä over Luma.
Luma Performance
Luma’s performance is typically poor due to:
- Heavy JavaScript (1.5MB+).
- Hundreds of CSS and JS requests.
- Slow rendering and time to interactive (TTI).
- Poor Core Web Vitals, which negatively impact SEO and user experience.
Even with full page caching (FPC) and CDN optimizations, Luma often scores 40–60 on Google PageSpeed Insights.
Hyvä Performance
Hyvä is designed from the ground up for speed and efficiency:
- Minimal JS and CSS.
- Optimized Tailwind utilities.
- Very fast TTFB and LCP (Largest Contentful Paint).
Stores built with Hyvä commonly achieve 90–100 PageSpeed scores, passing all Core Web Vitals metrics with ease.
4. Developer Experience
Luma
The developer experience with Luma can be frustrating:
- Complex system of UI components, Knockout templates, and JS mixins.
- Deep XML layout hierarchies.
- Styling via LESS is slow and lacks modern developer ergonomics.
- Difficult to debug or override components.
Customization in Luma often means diving into multiple files and systems, which increases development time and error rates.
Hyvä
Hyvä greatly improves the developer experience:
- Simple structure: PHP (PHTML), Tailwind CSS, and Alpine.js.
- Easy to override or extend templates.
- Tailwind offers clean and maintainable CSS without needing to compile large files.
- Faster builds, fewer bugs, and lower complexity.
Developers can focus more on building great UI rather than fighting the theme’s architecture.
5. Extension Compatibility
Luma
Luma is the standard frontend stack for Magento 2. As such:
- Almost all Magento extensions are fully compatible.
- Frontend features like AJAX carts, layered navigation, and sliders just work.
This is a key reason why many merchants stick with Luma, despite its shortcomings.
Hyvä
Hyvä does not support all frontend extensions out of the box. Many Magento extensions rely on Knockout.js or UI components that Hyvä eliminates. To use such extensions with Hyvä, you may need:
- Hyvä-compatible versions (many are available from vendors).
- Or custom “compatibility modules” that rebuild the frontend components using Hyvä’s stack.
The good news is the Hyvä ecosystem is growing rapidly, with many popular extensions already adapted.
6. Cost
- Hyvä: Requires purchasing a license (one-time per project, ~€1,000 EUR).
- Luma: Free and open-source, included with Magento 2 by default.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Hyvä Theme | Luma Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | Very fast (minimal JS, better Core Web Vitals) | Slow (heavy JS, poor PageSpeed scores) |
| Frontend Tech Stack | Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js | RequireJS, Knockout.js, LESS |
| Learning Curve | Easier (modern stack) | Steeper (outdated stack) |
| Development Speed | Faster (less bloat) | Slower (complex dependencies) |
| Customization | Clean and developer-friendly | Complex and often hard to override |
| Magento Compatibility | Needs Hyvä-compatible extensions | Compatible with most default Magento extensions |
| Mobile Optimization | Excellent | Basic, not fully optimized |
| License | Paid (one-time fee per project) | Free (open source) |
Conclusion: Which One to Choose?
The Hyvä theme is a modern, lightweight, and high-performance alternative to Magento’s default Luma theme. While Luma remains the standard and offers broad extension compatibility, it comes with significant drawbacks in speed, maintainability, and developer experience.
Hyvä, on the other hand, offers:
- Faster load times.
- Simpler architecture.
- Better SEO and UX.
- Easier development workflows.
Although it requires a license fee and may involve some extra setup for compatibility, Hyvä is quickly becoming the go-to choice for Magento 2 stores focused on performance and long-term scalability.