OceanWP Theme Review: Overrated or Genius? (Updated 2025)

Ease of Use

My rating for OceanWP’s ease of use is 3/5.

Here’s why:

• The process of installing the Ocean Extra plugin can be problematic with the chance of encountering an error or an unresponsive page.
• Activating the pro version isn’t intuitive and requires going back to the OceanWP website, which could be inconvenient.
• The absence of a setup wizard means new users have to figure out the customization options on their own.

OceanWP does a lot of things right but still leaves room for improvement in making the process smoother and more intuitive.

Installation Process

Installing OceanWP (both the free and paid version) requires two steps:

1. Installing the OceanWP theme
2. Installing the Ocean Extra plugin

Search for “oceanwp” when adding a new theme (it’s available in the theme repository) and install and activate.

⚠️ Note: If you’re currently on the OceanWP website, you can also download the theme from there and upload it to your site.

After activating the theme, you will be prompted to also install their free and actually required plugin) — Ocean Extra.

Click the button that will take you to the next page:

There are 2 things that can happen after clicking the button:

• You will get an error message
• Nothing (the page would seem like it froze)

According to OceanWP, this happens due to low memory limit or when the upload limit is not large enough.

In case nothing happens, you can try to:

• Refresh the page (this worked for me)
• Manually install the plugin by searching it from the plugin repository when adding a new plugin

If you don’t install the plugin, you won’t be able to use OceanWP’s features.

Once the plugin is installed and activated, you will then be able to see OceanWP as one of the navigation links in the sidebar panel.

If you go there, you will see a greeting from OceanWP. All you have to do here is click the allow and continue button.

Activating the Pro Version

If you bought the pro version and you’re wondering how to activate it, well, you wouldn’t find it anywhere on the theme options.

What you need to do here is:

• Go to OceanWP and log into your account
• Go to the downloads section on your account

From there, pick an add-on that you want to install to your site and remember to save the license key that they will provide.

It will look like this:

Go back to your website and upload the plugin.

Click the install now button:

Activate the plugin.

You will then be redirected to a page where you can enter the license key:

• Enter the license key into the field
• Click the activate license button

That will then automatically activate the pro status of your OceanWP theme.

Theme Setup

Before, OceanWP had a setup wizard that would walk you through the essential steps in building your website.

It looked like this:

There’s nothing like that setup wizard now (I searched through all the clickable elements in case they just hid it somewhere).

What you get now are quick settings that will take you to specific control settings quickly:

For example, if you click the go now button under the logo option, the theme customizer will open and bring you directly to the logo settings:

Features

I would give the features of this theme a rating of 4/5.

Here’s why:

• OceanWP provides a plethora of customization options in the customizer, including things I didn’t expect would be there.
• While the extensions add functionality, they come in the form of separate plugins (which could potentially slow down your site and make it a bit cumbersome to manage).
• If you’re a fan of the Gutenberg editor, you will find fewer template choices compared to Elementor.

Overall, the OceanWP theme offers a robust set of features that can cater to both novice and experienced website creators.

Core Features

Here are the core features of OceanWP:

1. OceanWP Panel

OceanWP comes with a lot of customization options and bonuses accessible in the theme panel menu (some of them require downloadable add-ons).

Here’s a list of those I haven’t mentioned yet:

Feature	Functionality
Ocean Images	Import images and icons from Flaticon and Freepik right inside the WordPress dashboard
Integration	SVG support, Google Maps, Google reCAPTCHA, MailChimp, and Adobe Fonts
Elementor Widgets	OceanWP Elementor widgets that you can use when building a page
Gutenberg Blocks	Additional Ocean Gutenberg blocks that work perfectly with the default WordPress editor
Extra Settings	Enable/disable meta box settings (like post and page) and WordPress widgets (like about me, contact info, etc.)
Admin Settings	Disable edit links on blog archive pages, regenerate local Google CSS files, and disable Ocean notifications
White Label	Makes OceanWP appear as your own within the website, complete with a custom name and logo

If you’re interested in Ocean Images and Icons, you need at least the middle-tier OceanWP pro plan (business).

I was able to enable the module and the sources (see below), but I couldn’t browse the images unless I upgraded further.

Another note here is that if you want to use Elementor widgets, make sure to install the Elementor plugin first.

I tried enabling it without Elementor first, and the panel just kept on loading 😅 though I can still click elements on the page.

The following settings need their respective downloadable add-ons:

• Elementor Widgets
• Gutenberg Blocks
• Pro Demos
• White Label

2. Live customizer options

At first glance, the customizer options in OceanWP might seem a little underwhelming — that is until you see the individual pages.

Here’s the outermost level of the customizer:

Doesn’t seem like much, right?

Well, if you dig deeper into those settings, you will realize that OceanWP did a good job in including a lot of customizer options.

Some examples of those I found notable — starting with the typography:

You can configure the whole typography settings starting from the headings to the blog post entry title down to the footer menu.

Inside the general options, you would see unique options that are normally not found in the customizer settings:

• Scroll to top
• Forms
• 404 Error Page
• Theme Icons
• SEO Settings

Going over to layouts, the blog entries settings allow you to easily set up custom image width and height.

For single post layout, you can also change the full-width content manually — as in adding your own number in px.

What I like the most about the single post layout is the fact that related posts are already included and that you can adjust how many to include.

It’s one of the things that I find a little complicated in other themes since unless you use page builders, your only choice is to use a plugin to place related posts. 😥

All in all, I like the vast number of customizer options that are available in the OceanWP theme (it makes the complication in installation and setup “almost” worth it).

3. Extensions

From the name itself, these plugins extend the functionality of OceanWP’s core.

Free users get 7 free extensions:

1. Stick Anything
2. Modal Window
3. Posts Slider
4. Custom Sidebar
5. Product Sharing
6. Social Sharing
7. Ocean Extra

Meanwhile, pro users get an additional 14 extensions like:

• Full Screen
• Cookie Notice
• Popup Login
• White Label
• Woo Popup

You will be able to download all of them from the downloads page inside your OceanWP account (on their website):

All the extensions have their own users and I can attest to how they could extend the theme’s functionality beyond its core features.

The only downside I see here is that they’re in the form of plugins. So needing more of them means you have to install more plugins to your website.

⚠️ Note: Free users can purchase individual premium extensions from the OceanWP website. They’re expensive though so better get a pro plan instead.

Site Templates

OceanWP offers a rich array of over 200 modern templates that are ready for use with Elementor and Gutenberg.

If you go to the install demos section in the OceanWP main theme panel page, you can see the templates divided between Elementor and Gutenberg:

There are more site templates available for Elementor as there are only around 20 site templates for Gutenberg.

This is probably why there are only three unique categories for Gutenberg site templates:

1. Business
2. One Page
3. Ecommerce

As for using these templates, it’s actually quite easy.

⚠️ Note: You need to download the pro demos add-on to use any of the pro demo sites. The Ocean demo import plugin isn’t necessary anymore for the free demos.

Simply click on the import button of the template you want to use (you can also see a live preview of that template):

This will then open a small window that lists out the required plugins for that template.

You need to install and activate the required plugins before you can go to the next step.

In the next step, you will be asked what elements you want to import.

Make sure to select those you want to import before you click on the install this demo button:

After clicking on the install button, wait for a while until the import process is underway. You can see what the theme is currently installing while you wait.

Once the installation is complete, you will be able to see the results:

All in all, the templates available span a broad spectrum of categories such as restaurants, portfolios, business, e-commerce, and more.

The process itself is also easy — although you might actually end up installing more plugins than you may have already planned. 😅

Reliability

I would rate the overall reliability of the OceanWP theme as 3.8/5.

Here are my reasons:

• OceanWP consistently rolls out updates to ensure compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress and WooCommerce, which is a strong indicator of its reliability.
• While OceanWP is fast, it falls slightly short when compared to competitors like Astra (more HTTP requests and a slower load time indicate room for improvement).
• Although promptly addressed, the existence of a security vulnerability is a concern (this indicates that there might be a need for more proactive security measures).

Despite the negatives, the score is a bit high thanks to its regular updates, active maintenance, and robust security measures.

Performance

As of the latest update, OceanWP has more than 700k+ downloads from the theme repository, with a 5/5 rating.

In terms of speed and performance, OceanWP is fast, but it’s generally slower (though not by much) compared to other, more optimized themes.

For example, one comparative test put OceanWP against Astra (with the base themes only), with Astra having a slight advantage.

Here are the results:

Theme	Load Time (seconds)	HTTP Requests	Bytes In (KB)
Astra	0.490	7	39
OceanWP	0.615	15	127

⚠️ Note: Always remember though that there are more elements that can influence the speed and performance, like the images used, scripts, as well as web hosting.

OceanWP seems to have double the amount of HTTP requests than what Astra requests — fewer requests generally contribute to faster load times.

Based on the data above, Astra appears to be more optimized in terms of speed, requests, and data usage.

👉 Related: Astra Theme Review: Popular Choice or Just Overhyped?

Updates and Maintenance

Keeping your website up-to-date and well-maintained is crucial for its performance and security.

Fortunately, OceanWP and its extensions are actively maintained, with regular updates to ensure compatibility and to introduce new features or fixes.

Here’s a glimpse into the updates and maintenance scenario of OceanWP:

Aspect	Description
Regular Updates	OceanWP is actively maintained and updated for compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress and WooCommerce. Notable recent update: Version 3.5.0.
Extension Updates	The Ocean Extra extension also receives regular updates to enhance functionality. Notable update: Version 1.4.9 introduced a new widget for news and updates.
Security Maintenance	Security vulnerabilities are promptly addressed. An issue discovered in 2023 was quickly patched in version 3.4.2.
Rollback Feature	If a new update causes issues, OceanWP offers a rollback feature to revert to an older version until the problem is fixed.
Upcoming Improvements	OceanWP is planning an update to introduce a new, more user-friendly panel called Ocean Starboard.
Documentation	Comprehensive guides and documentation are available to help users understand updates, troubleshoot issues, and utilize new features.

OceanWP’s commitment to regular updates is a strong indicator of its reliability and compatibility with WordPress and WooCommerce.

Although there were vulnerabilities, the prompt response shows that OceanWP takes user security seriously, which is crucial for any website owner.

Support

I would rate the overall support of the OceanWP theme as 4.3/5.

Here’s why:

• OceanWP provides a wide range of support options, from a knowledge base and support tickets to direct emails and a help button on their website.
• With an active official support forum and a dedicated Facebook community, you’re never alone as you can get peer-to-peer assistance and learn from others’ experiences.
• The information regarding premium support isn’t immediately clear, especially concerning which plans include this feature.

OceanWP excels in providing a rich and varied support ecosystem that caters to different needs and preferences.

However, it falls short in offering real-time support and could improve the clarity of its premium support offerings.

Getting in Touch With Support

Fortunately, getting in touch with OceanWP isn’t a problem — it’s designed to be user-friendly and accessible.

Here’s a table that neatly organizes the various ways you can get in touch with OceanWP’s support:

Support Channel	Description	Best For	Additional Notes
Knowledge Base	An extensive documentation that provides immediate answers to common issues.	Quick solutions to common problems.	Most immediate and cost-effective way to resolve issues.
Support Tickets	If the knowledge base doesn’t resolve the issue, you can submit a support ticket through various methods like a designated section or customer account.	Detailed help for complex issues.	May take some time for a response but usually provides a thorough solution.
Direct Email	You can directly email the support team for assistance.	Personalized support.	Good for issues that may require back-and-forth communication.
Help Button	A Help Button is located at the bottom corner of the OceanWP website for quick support.	Instant assistance for quick queries.	Most convenient for quick and straightforward questions.
OceanWP Panel	This panel includes a Help section with links to documentation, video tutorials, and shortcuts to official WordPress forums and OceanWP Facebook groups.	A consolidated resource for multiple types of help.	Good for users who prefer a range of options in one place.
Support Policy	Outlines what kind of support is provided for different OceanWP products and distinguishes between free and paid support.	Understanding the scope and limitations of support services.	Important to read to set your expectations of the support you can receive.
Community Forums	You can seek help from the OceanWP community on WordPress.org where other users and developers may assist you.	Peer-to-peer assistance and learning from others’ experiences.	May not be official support but can provide valuable insights.
Social Media	You can engage with OceanWP on their official social media channels for additional support or to be directed to the right resources.	Keeping up to date with new features and getting tips.	Not for urgent issues but good for general advice and news.

If you’re lost, OceanWP actually created a handy support page on their website.

They also have a separate knowledge base article on how to get support.

By the way, OceanWP also seems to offer priority support services in 2 tiers:

• Professional at $29 for 3 months
• Ultimate at $99 for 1 year

The services include having your support tickets answered first, email ticketing support, theme, and extension setup assistance.

But overall, OceanWP provides a variety of ways to get support, from self-service options like the knowledge base to direct channels like support tickets and email.

In addition, they have structured their support to cater to different user preferences, whether you prefer to find answers on your own or need direct assistance.

Community and Forums

The OceanWP community is a robust and engaging environment that provides various forums and platforms for users to interact, seek help, and share knowledge.

Here are the key components of the OceanWP community and forums:

Community Platform	Description	Best For	Additional Notes
Official Support Forum	OceanWP maintains an official support forum on WordPress.org for technical discussions, troubleshooting, and learning from the community.	Posting queries, sharing solutions, and interacting with other users and developers.	This is a hub for all technical discussions related to OceanWP and is an official channel for support.
Facebook Community	A dedicated OceanWP Facebook Community provides an informal setting for discussions around the OceanWP theme and associated plugins.	Casual interactions, sharing experiences, and seeking or providing help.	This is a more relaxed and informal setting but still very resourceful for users.
Social Media Channels	OceanWP is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. These platforms provide updates, announcements, and a space for community engagement.	Staying updated on the latest from OceanWP and engaging with the community.	Not primarily for support, but good for news, tips, and general community engagement.

But if you post a question on their official support forum on WordPress.org, would you get a reply?

One look at the forum would give you a positive reply.

After checking out the first few pages, there’s only one unreplied post.

Although when I opened the topics with no replies section, I saw some posts that were not answered yet (most of them are posted only an hour ago).

My opinion here is that nobody knows the answer to the unanswered questions since I can see that most of the posts are answered.

Pricing

I would rate the overall Pricing of OceanWP at 3.5/5.

Here’s why:

• OceanWP offers a variety of pro and ecommerce plans catering to different needs—from small businesses to agencies (this flexibility is valuable for a diverse user base).
• The presence of separate pro and ecommerce plans can make the pricing structure seem a bit confusing.
• The cost of individual premium extensions doesn’t offer good value compared to the full pro plan.

The wide range of pricing options ensures that there’s something for everyone, from freelancers to agencies.

However, there’s room for improvement in simplifying the pricing structure and making individual extensions more appealing.

Free Plan

OceanWP has a free WordPress theme version that allows you to test things out:

The array of features available in the free plan can cater to both beginners and advanced users who only need those features for their website.

Here’s an overview of what you can expect from the free version:

Feature	Description	Additional Notes
Rich Customization Options	Allows you to tailor almost every aspect of your website.	Great for ensuring a personalized user experience.
WooCommerce Integration	Provides seamless integration with WooCommerce, a popular eCommerce plugin on WordPress.	Ideal for setting up an online store.
Responsive Design	The theme is fully responsive, adapting to devices of all sizes.	Works well on mobile phones, tablets, and desktops.
eCommerce Ready	Besides WooCommerce integration, the theme provides the necessary tools to set up your online store.	Adds another layer of readiness for eCommerce endeavors.
Advanced Mega Menu	Comes with an advanced mega menu feature, useful for sites with a lot of content or products.	Enhances navigation and user experience.
Right to Left (RTL) Language Support	Supports languages that are written from right to left.	Expands the global reach of your website.
Ocean Extra Plugin	A complimentary plugin that adds extra features to the OceanWP free theme.	Enriches the website-building experience without the need for additional plugins or custom codes.
Many Available Demos	Provides demo sites that you can import and use as a starting point for your website.	Some premium extensions might be required even in free demos.
Documentation and Support	Extensive documentation is available to help you understand the features and how to use them.	Ensures a smooth experience even for WordPress beginners.

OceanWP’s free version is a robust choice for individuals looking to start their website without any upfront investment.

The variety of customization options, ecommerce readiness, and additional features through the Ocean Extra plugin make it a versatile choice for different types of websites.

⛔ Warning: Unfortunately, there may be some functionalities, like in the free demos, where premium extensions are required.

Pro Plans

OceanWP’s pricing may come off as a little confusing since they basically have 2 types of paid/premium plans:

1. Pro plans
2. Ecommerce plans

Starting with the pro plans — which basically translate to access to the premium extensions (the basic difference between free and premium plans).

Below is a comparative table that outlines the basic differences between the OceanWP Pro Plans:

Feature	Personal Annual	Business Annual	Agency Annual
Price (Standard/Discounted)	$54 / $38	$89 / $53	$159 / $95
Number of Sites	3	6	50
Premium Features	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free Localhost / Staging / Test Licenses	Yes	Yes	Yes
Premium Product Updates (Duration)	12 Months	12 Months	12 Months
Customer Support (Duration)	12 Months (Basic)	12 Months (Premium)	12 Months (VIP)
Free Extensions	7	7	7
Premium Extensions	14	14	14
Royalty-free Images & Icons in Demos	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free Demos	17	17	17
Pro Demos	210	210	210
Elementor Sections Library	Limited (20+ items)	Full (100+ items)	Full (100+ items)
Exclusive Online Content	No	Yes	Yes
Access to Webinars	No	Yes	Yes
Private Support Group	No	Yes	Yes
OceanWP Partner Benefits	No	No	Yes
Featured in Newsletter/Website	No	No	Yes
One-Time Payment	No	No	No

All the pro plans come with premium features, free and premium extensions, and customer support for 12 months.

They also come with lifetime equivalents with the following prices respectively:

• $155
• $214
• $382

The business and agency annual plans come with exclusive online content, access to webinars, and a private support group.

Ecommerce TB Pro

The ecommerce premium plans are more of an add-on to the pro plans that allow you to optimize your online store.

Think of the ecommerce plans (officially, they call it ecommerce treasure box premium add-on) as alternatives to Shopify or any Woo builders.

Here are the ecommerce plans:

Feature/Plan	Store Plan	Entrepreneur Plan	Shopping Plus Plan	Shopping Mall Plan
Price (yearly)	$34	$38	$53	$95
Number of Websites	1	3	6	50
Customer Support	12 Months Basic	3 Months Professional + Store Plan features	12 Months Premium + Entrepreneur Plan features	12 Months VIP + Shopping Plus Plan features
Templates Library	30+	Same as Store Plan	50+	Same as Shopping Plus Plan
Exclusive Features	Sticky Header, Woo Popup	OceanWP WooCommerce Course on Udemy for Free	Images & Icons Import, Exclusive Freepik Discount, Access to Unique Online Content, Access to Exclusive Webinars, First to Know News & Updates, Join Private Support Group	Become OceanWP Partner, Get Featured in Newsletter, Get Featured on oceanwp.org, Dedicated Partners Slack Channel, OceanWP Partners Badge
Additional Support/Features	–	–	–	OceanWP Partners Badge, Dedicated Partners Slack Channel, Get Featured on oceanwp.org, Get Featured in Newsletter

The store plan is the most basic and cost-effective, suitable for individuals managing a single website.

The shopping mall plan offers the most extensive support and partnership benefits, ideal for businesses managing a large number of websites​.

According to OceanWP, all active bundle license holders could claim their loyalty discount award for the ecommerce plans.

Premium Extensions

I mentioned earlier:

Free users can purchase individual premium extensions from the OceanWP website. They’re expensive though so better get a pro plan instead.

Each premium extension costs $29.99:

The discounted price for the most basic pro plan is only $38.

This is probably a gimmick from OceanWP to discourage people from buying premium extensions alone and go directly to the pro plans.

After all, who would pay almost $30 for a single extension plugin when you can get them all by adding $8 more, right? 🤯

Money Back Guarantee/Refund Policy

OceanWP has a money-back guarantee/refund policy in place.

Here’s a detailed breakdown based on the information from different sources:

Aspect	Description	Additional Notes
Refund Policy Duration	Provides a 14-day refund policy starting from the day of purchase.	Day one starts from the day you make the purchase. Refund requests submitted after 14 days will not be processed.
Conditions	Full refund within the 14-day period if you experience issues with any of the extensions.	No refunds will be given after the 14-day period.
100% No-Risk Money-Back Guarantee	Offers a 100% No-Risk Money-Back Guarantee for new purchases of OceanWP extension add-ons.	If not satisfied within 14 days following your purchase, you can submit a refund request to get 100% of your money back.

The 14-day window for a refund is strict, and it’s crucial to note that the countdown starts the day you make the purchase.

Fortunately, the policy covers not just the OceanWP theme but also its extension add-ons, making it a comprehensive refund policy.

Final Thoughts

OceanWP is a highly customizable WordPress theme that makes a strong impression with its extensive features and options for personalization.

Although the installation process could be smoother, the theme redeems itself by offering ongoing reliable updates and a comprehensive support system.

While it might not be the fastest theme in terms of page load times, its performance is more than adequate for most needs.

The pricing plans are flexible, catering to both individuals and businesses, but could benefit from a more simplified structure.

All in all, OceanWP offers a well-rounded package for anyone looking to create a tailored website experience, backed by dependable support and reasonable pricing.