Hello Elementor Theme Review: Who Should Use It and When?

Elementor is mainly known for its popular page-builder plugin. However, you might be considering the Hello theme that extends the plugin, enabling you to build template parts like headers and footers. Our Hello Elementor theme review can help you make the right decision for your site.

The Hello theme is free, lightweight, and easy to use. It can be a great benefit to existing Elementor users who are looking for a solution for site-wide customization.

👉 In this post, we’ll take a closer look at when you might want to use the Hello Elementor theme. Then, we’ll get started with our in-depth Hello Elementor theme review. Let’s jump right in!

When to use the Hello Elementor theme

Elementor Website Builder – More than Just a Page Builder

Author(s): Elementor.com

Current Version: 3.20.3

Last Updated: April 4, 2024

elementor.3.20.3.zip

92%Ratings 5,000,000+Installs WP 6.0+Requires

Page builder plugins like Elementor offer an easy way for beginners to design content like WordPress posts and pages. Elementor specifically gives access to an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, which enables you to build your pages visually.

In an attempt to provide full-site customization, many page builders (along with Elementor) have introduced their own themes. This way, you can use Elementor to customize all parts of your site, such as archive pages, headers, and footers. As such, it gives existing Elementor users an easy way to gain more control over their sites’ design.

Since Hello Elementor is a very stripped-down theme, it’s also lightweight. Therefore, it’s a great option if you’re looking to power up your website performance by improving your loading times.

However, it’s important to note that unless you use Elementor (and especially Elementor Pro for its Theme Building features), there isn’t much you can achieve using the Hello Elementor theme. It’s a very basic theme that relies on the user’s customizations.

So, unless you’ve installed the Elementor page builder, you’ll be stuck with an empty template. Plus, you won’t find many integrations or built-in features.

Hello Elementor theme for WordPress: A complete review

Now that you know a bit more about the theme we’ll be reviewing in this post, let’s get underway with our detailed Hello Elementor theme review.

1. Ease of use 🖱️

To kick-start this Hello Elementor theme review, let’s take a look at how easy the theme is to use. Once you activate it in WordPress, you can choose to get started with a site kit or a blank canvas.

Most of this functionality is actually powered by the Elementor plugin, not the Hello Elementor theme itself.

It’s also important to note that many of the site kits are only available with Elementor Pro:

For beginners, the site kits can be useful since you’ll get a professional-looking website with just a few clicks. Better yet, you can preview the demo first and make sure it displays smoothly across multiple devices:

You’ll need to create an Elementor account to apply the design to your site.

Unlike most other WordPress themes, you won’t really customize your site using the Customizer with Hello Elementor. Instead, you’ll use Elementor’s visual builder to customize pretty much every area of your site.

2. Templates ⚙️

When you activate any theme in WordPress, you’ll usually get access to a range of templates to design key web pages like your homepage, blog, and more. However, you’ll need the Elementor page builder plugin installed in order to access the Templates tab in your WordPress sidebar.

Here, you can create and manage full-page templates and website sections like your header and footer:

There are many reasons to create templates for your website. For example, you can export templates, store them for future use, or archive old resources you no longer need. However, if you’re using the free version of the plugin with the Elementor theme, you’ll only be able to create very simple designs.

This is because the theme works together with the page builder plugin. Therefore, free customers only have access to basic widgets like headings, images, and buttons:

If you want to build more complex templates (or template parts) with forms, galleries, and menus, then you’ll need to upgrade to Elementor Pro.

What’s more, you’ll find a Theme Builder tab listed beneath the Templates section. This is one of the stand-out features of using Hello Elementor with the plugin, and yet it’s only available to paying customers:

So, if you want to design recurring website parts like custom 404 pages, product pages, and more, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

3. Speed 🎿

Next up in our Hello Elementor theme review is speed. When you choose a theme that’s laden with tons of design elements and built-in features, your website can become bloated and slow. Therefore, since Hello Elementor only offers the bare essentials, you can expect speedy performance.

We conducted a simple page speed test to measure the performance of the Hello Elementor theme. As you can see, Pingdom generated a performance grade of 97 out of 100 from six locations, including North America, Australia, and Asia:

However, remember that Hello Elementor is not a standalone theme, which makes these performance numbers a little misleading.

To actually create your site, you’ll need to install the Elementor plugin. And if you want access to more complex widgets (other than simple headings and images), you’ll also need the Pro version of the plugin.

Therefore, it’s important to note that every piece of software you add to your site weighs it down. So, if you’re interested in using Hello Elementor to its full potential, bear in mind that you’d need to install additional plugins, which might slow down your site.

If you’re really focused on performance, you might actually be better off using a theme that relies on the native WordPress block editor instead of Elementor. Some good options to consider are “Neve + Otter Blocks,” “GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks,” and “Kadence Theme + Kadence Blocks.”

4. Customization options 🔧

Limited customization options really let down our Hello Elementor theme review. Without the page builder plugin, you’ll be left with an empty template. However, even with the free version of the Elementor plugin, the customization options are limited.

If you head over to the WordPress Customizer to edit the theme, you’ll find very few theme settings that you can tweak. As with any theme, you can change your site details, homepage settings, and menus:

However, there’s not much more to it than that. The only feature worth mentioning is the Header & Footer area.

If you try to customize these template parts, you’ll be reminded to install the page builder plugin:

Once activated, click on Start Here in the Customizer. This will redirect you to the Elementor editor, where you can choose between the default, inverted, or centered header layout:

Additionally, you can adjust the content width and apply a background color or image. Meanwhile, you’re also able to change the color and typography of your site title and tagline.

The settings for the footer are pretty much the same. However, you can also show/hide the copyright notice and show/hide your menu. Plus, you can apply unique colors and fonts.

If you used a different WordPress theme, you would only be able to customize these areas with Elementor Pro. But with Hello Elementor, you can still customize your header and footer, even with the free version of Elementor.

5. Compatibility 🔌

To sum up our Hello Elementor theme review, let’s take a look at compatibility. Of course, the Hello theme, as stated by the Elementor team, “works in pure harmony with Elementor’s popular page builder plugin.”

However, the team doesn’t include that, without the Elementor page builder, the plugin isn’t really useful. For example, you’ll need access to Elementor widgets in order to build templates and template parts to customize the layout.

What it also doesn’t mention is that the free version of the page builder still isn’t sufficient. Unless you want to design super simple layouts, you’ll need to upgrade to Elementor Pro.

The Hello Elementor theme also integrates easily with WooCommerce (though again, you’ll want Elementor Pro for its WooCommerce-focused widgets). But the theme doesn’t offer built-in integrations with any additional plugins, which is a notable drawback.

Conclusion 🧐

👉 To recap, here’s our Hello Elementor theme review:

💡 To see some other performance-focused options, you might want to check out our roundup of the fastest WordPress themes.

Do you have any questions about whether to use the Hello Elementor theme? Let us know in the comments below!