Are you one of those sad souls struggling with Magento Website Speed?

And unable to decide between Hyvä Theme and PWA, which one would be better to invest in?

Well, the feeling is kind of mutual.

I experienced the same feeling when I recently decided to build a house. And I had 2 different locations for that in mind, each one had unique benefits.

So I can relate to you that it’s like being in 2 tempting worlds, as each offering has its own irresistible charms.

And investing in the wrong one can turn your moment of absolute bliss into a regrettable experience. And I’ve no intention to scare you with this, my only purpose is to help you make the best choice for your Magento business.

So, slow down before you do something that you’ll regret. What I can suggest you do is to do some good research on “What’s Good” and “What’s Bad” depending upon your business requirements.

And if you’re lazy enough to not roam across various web pages to do research, I’ve brought all the information here in this blog for you. I’ve included almost every factor you may need to check before you choose between Hyvä Theme and PWA for your next Magento project.

For even lazier people we’ve added a Table of Content below to drive them directly to an answer to “Where to Invest? Hyvä or PWA?” 😉

So, keep reading…

Before I finalized my house location, I asked myself some basic questions, regarding what will be the impact of buying land in that specific locations.

And while choosing between Hyvä and PWA we should do the same and question ourselves;

• What are they?
• What are their capabilities?
• Which is better suited for my business?
• Which one of them is better for investment?

Let’s get started with…

What is Hyvä Theme?

Hyvä Theme is a powerful frontend for Magento 2 that allows you to build lightweight and fast-loading eCommerce websites.

If you want to give a new and refreshing face to your existing Magento store, then you can do that by implementing Hyvä Theme. 

When you build a new eCommerce store or revamp your existing online store using Hyvä Theme, you can expect the best performance and user experience for your shoppers.

What is PWA?

A progressive web app (PWA) is a web-based application that utilizes service workers, manifests, and other web-platform features, along with progressive enhancement techniques, to provide users with an experience similar to that of using native apps. 

It does not require installation like native mobile apps, yet it operates, feels, and provides users with experiences similar to native apps. It also works offline and provides a seamless experience on desktop and mobile devices.

So, now that we’ve understood Hyvä and PWA, we can start learning their capabilities.

Capabilities of Hyvä theme & PWA:

For your information, I would love to reveal that Hyvä and PWA are not like those old people who started life decades ago. They were recently introduced to everyone in 2020 and 2015 respectively. And even in this smaller period, they took no time in becoming the popular talks of the online town.

And now to choose the best for your business type I’m going to compare Hyvä and PWA on the basis of their functionalities, strengths, performance, time to market, pricing, and target businesses.

So, Sit back & hold your seat, as we’re ready to delve into their capabilities now!

Hyvä vs PWA: Unique Functionalities

For Hyvä, I’ve added the following as its unique functionality.

1. Enhanced Performance

Hyvä Theme has removed heavy-weighted Javascript libraries (RequireJS and KnockoutJS) and has included lightweight with a single JavaScript framework called Alpine.js. It has also eliminated all CSS frameworks and replaced them with Tailwind CSS, reducing CSS output. 

In short, they require lesser code compared to the default Magento theme, the Luma theme, which eventually helped in boosting the performance.

2. Less Complex

Hyvä theme was built from scratch on a blank canvas to match the level of perfect speed. It has removed each source that took a long time to respond. And right above I told you that Hyvä requires lesser code, and lesser code means lesser complexity.

3. Better Experience for Developers

Hyvä themes provide a simplified development experience for developers. It uses the PHP templating system that’s already part of Magento, and it’s designed to make coding easier and faster than other Magento frontend themes. Hyvä themes allow Magento developers to quickly build beautiful and flexible frontend themes for Magento using frameworks like TailwindCSS and AlpineJS which is the only learning curve for the developers.

4. Lesser Dependencies

With Hyvä, you have to count on only 2 resources to load your website; which is TailwindCSS and Alpine.js. These technologies work together seamlessly to provide you with the ultimate loading experience.

5. SEO-friendly

Google’s Search Console has a Core Web Vitals report that measures loading, interactivity, and visual stability. Hyvä Themes passes all three tests, which can help you improve rankings, lower bounce rates, and increase conversions due to its faster loading speeds.

PWA has several functionalities to add here:

1. Native App-like experience

PWA provides a native app-like experience by utilizing modern web technologies to create an immersive user experience that closely resembles that of a native app. This includes features such as offline functionality, push notifications, and smooth animations, resulting in a seamless experience that feels like a native app without the need for a separate download or installation.

2. Device Agnostic

PWAs are web-based applications that are highly connected, hosted online, and can be accessed on any device, regardless of the operating system. This ensures a consistent user experience, whether the user is accessing the application on an iOS or Android device. Additionally, developing PWAs eliminates the need for developers to create multiple apps for different mobile platforms, resulting in significant savings in time and effort.

4. Push Notifications

PWAs allow users to receive real-time updates and alerts, even when the website is not open in their browser or device. This feature provides a seamless and convenient user experience, while also enabling businesses to engage with their audience in a timely and relevant manner.

5. Splendid Security

PWA provides enhanced security features such as HTTPS encryption, service workers, and manifest files, ensuring that data is transmitted securely and reducing the risk of security breaches. These features also enable PWAs to work offline and keep user data safe even when there is no internet connection.

6. Reliable & Speedy Webpage Loading

PWA offers a seamless browsing experience by utilizing caching, background data fetching, and smart resource allocation. This means that users can access your website quickly, even with poor connectivity or on low-end devices, without compromising on the user experience.

7. Search Engine Indexing

There is no direct effect of PWA on SEO; but PWA enhances page load speed, facilitates user engagement, improves security that contributes to improving overall SEO rankings. As a Magento PWA owner, you don’t need to follow any different set of rules to improve SEO, it is more or less the same as a traditional Magento eCommerce store.

Hyvä vs PWA: Performance

You know the importance of high performance, and speed, as the first impression of your website on visitors, is heavily influenced by how quickly it loads and performs.

And as we’re discussing Hyvä vs PWA; which are hyped for their speed, Performance is crucial to look after.

Performance of Hyvä Theme:

We have already discussed above that Hyvä Theme has become hyped for its lightning-fast load speed across all devices, and its commitment to loading within 2 seconds.

So how is that possible? How did Hyvä bring 2 seconds page load speed on Magento? Let me answer that.

Hyvä relies entirely on TailwindCSS and Alpine.JS instead of heavy-weighted javascript libraries.

Tailwind CSS gives you a smaller CSS file size, which makes it a better alternative to pure CSS. And on the other hand, AlpineJS has done the same with JavaScript.

However these frameworks operate at a low level, they are elegantly flexible with improved performance and minimal file size. With them, you can explore endless creative possibilities with great performance.

Our clients saw a massive improvement in load speed after we implemented the Hyvä theme for them, the below numbers describe it all.

• Imaginfires, UK’s leading Bioethanol Fireplaces Suppliers aka our client saw a 296% increase in site speed after we implemented the Hyvä theme for them.
• Top Jordian Cellular Network Provider Umniah, also our client, Increases site speed by 224% with help of the Hyvä theme.

Performance of PWA:

Along with providing a Native-app experience, PWAs are also known for their speedy browsing transitions, and most technical people would agree with that.

This is achieved through a combination of techniques. For example, PWAs use cache data to store content from frequently accessed pages, such as images, so that they can be loaded quickly without having to fetch them from the server every time. This improves the page load time and makes the browsing experience smoother.

The implementation of PWA resulted in a significant increase in load speed for our clients, as evident from the numbers below.

• Jollyes, the largest pet superstore in the UK saw a 104% increase in site speed after the implementation of PWA on their website.

Hyvä vs PWA: Time to Market:

Everybody says “Web Development Takes Time”! 

Even when I decided to build my house, the builder had the same answer.

But you chill! I’ve done my research to answer how much time the Hyvä and PWA projects require to get fully developed. Let’s have a closer look.

Hyvä: Time to Market

Hyvä themes are designed to be simple and easy to modify, which helps developers save time when creating and customizing website designs. By using a minimalistic approach, Hyvä allows developers to focus on each part of the UI and make changes quickly and easily. 

This means that the development team can create and customize themes faster. The easier the theme is to develop and modify, the less time the development team needs to spend on it, and the faster the website can be launched.

PWA: Time to Market

Developing a Progressive Web App (PWA) in general is faster than creating a native app because you only need to create one version of the code that works on all devices and operating systems. This saves time and effort compared to building multiple versions for various devices. 

However, the time it takes to develop a website with a PWA or a Hyvä theme depends on:

• the agency’s experience with the technology,
• the number of functionalities required, and
• the complexity of the project.

But when we compare Magento store development time with Hyvä and the same with PWA, Hyvä can offer fast development than PWA.

For example, if you build two stores with the same features, one with a Hyvä theme and the other with a PWA, it will take twice as long to develop the PWA Magento store as it would to build the Hyvä Magento store. 

We have over ten years of experience in Magento development and can confidently say that a website with a Hyvä theme can be developed in just 8 weeks, while a PWA may take around 13 weeks.

Hyvä vs PWA: Pricing

We, humans tend to never buy a single thing without checking the price for it, or the cost following it.

Whether it’s about deciding between a perfect land for your house or Hyvä and PWA for your eCommerce store development; checking after the price is necessary. As we can’t randomly invest in anything.

Hyvä: Pricing

Hyvä Theme comes with a price tag of €1000 as a lifetime license.

By taking this package, you gain entry into a comprehensive Magento ecosystem that comprises an array of resources, such as exclusive access to Slack space, comprehensive documentation, Hyvä Github sources, compatible extensions, and community support.

The additional development cost with the Hyvä theme may be around $15,000 to $25,000, for the basic store with no complex functionalities. As the complexity of a project increases, it is common for its associated cost to escalate as well.

PWA: Pricing

On the other hand, PWA doesn’t have a specific license cost to showcase. Progressive Web apps can be developed in many ways such as using Magento PWA studio, Alokai (Formerly Vue Storefront), and other solutions.

However, the development cost to build PWA with no complex functionalities may range from $30,000 to $45,000 depending on the need of your project.

Hyvä vs PWA: Target Businesses

What if you invest in the wrong area for your house?

The daily hassle will be enough to make you cry your eyes out.

And to not let that happen while choosing between Hyvä and PWA, I’ve shared my knowledge on business types and sizes targeted by them.

Hyvä: Target Business

Hyvä themes is a perfect match for Small to Medium businesses, and even larger entities can reap its benefits to some extent. It is faster and easier to implement, and even developers can easily work with it. This also helps to keep the cost of building the website lower.

However, it may not be the best choice for bigger companies that already have an established online store with more complex needs. This is because Hyvä is yet to be completely compatible with Adobe Commerce.

PWA: Target Business

On the other hand, PWAs are perfect for medium to larger enterprises. They are designed in such a way that they work well even with slow internet speeds. This makes them a great option for large enterprises with lots of products and customers who use mobile devices. 

Since PWAs work well with slow internet speeds, they are also suitable for businesses with customers living in rural areas or places with poor internet connectivity.

That being said, there are many cases where a PWA can be beneficial for small businesses as well. For example, a small business with a mobile-first strategy can benefit from a PWA that provides a seamless mobile experience to its users.

But a little reminder, PWAs don’t have a fixed budget as Hyvä theme so the circumstances can also stand where small businesses may not have sufficient funds to implement PWA solutions.

Where to Invest? Hyvä or PWA?

Finally, the time has come for me to reveal that, where you need to invest between Hyvä and PWA.

Okay, so, we’ve checked most of the areas and we also know that both the Hyvä theme and PWA are able to build decent Magento websites, better load speed, and improved user experience.

But as we can’t consider both at once, so we’ll help you pick the best option for your Magento store development based on various factors including your business needs.

You may find us biased for Hyvä, but we still want to say that Hyvä Theme is the most speedy solution for Magento eCommerce businesses and has a faster time to market. So if you’re a small to medium-sized business owner who is looking to enter the market quickly, with a limited budget but with a blazing-fast website speed, look no further than Hyvä theme. It’s definitely a match!

But…But…But…

In another case, if you’re a medium to large-sized business, looking to avail better performance, speed, and other benefits of PWA, also budget is not the concern, then, you can get yourself a PWA.

Also, we want to add: if your Magento Store sales are impacted only because of store speed; there is no need to implement PWA. Hyvä Theme will do your work.

This means that your decision will completely depend on your unique business requirements. That is what is necessary for your business and what your users require.

So now, Tell me what you’re looking to invest in. Hyvä? or PWA?

I’m waiting in the comment section for your reply 🙂

PS: We offer Hyvä Theme Integration Services and Magento PWA Development services. Whether you’re looking to go with Hyvä Theme or PWA, you can always get our developer’s support to do something magical for your Magento store. Contact us today.

Thanks for Reading!