State of Shopify Themes 2026
Theme adoption, performance benchmarks, and migration trends based on 59,139 Shopify stores tracked by CommerceRank. Data collected March 2026.
Key Findings
Stores Tracked
59,139
As of March 2026
#1 Theme
Dawn
6,392 stores (11% of all)
Free Theme Avg Speed
63
vs 57 for paid themes
Using Custom Themes
28%
16,414 stores on bespoke themes
Theme Market Share
Top 10 Shopify themes by number of tracked stores, with average PageSpeed performance. Data from 59,139 stores as of March 2026.
| Rank | Theme | Stores | % of All Stores | Avg PageSpeed | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Dawn | 6,392 | 11% | 65/100 | Free |
| #2 | Debut Legacy | 5,975 | 10% | 64/100 | Free |
| #3 | Prestige | 1,535 | 3% | 58/100 | Paid |
| #4 | Impulse | 1,487 | 3% | 57/100 | Paid |
| #5 | Brooklyn Legacy | 1,192 | 2% | 58/100 | Free |
| #6 | Minimal Legacy | 1,185 | 2% | 59/100 | Free |
| #7 | Supply Legacy | 1,117 | 2% | 60/100 | Free |
| #8 | Venture | 1,055 | 2% | 64/100 | Free |
| #9 | Unknown | 982 | 2% | 58/100 | Paid |
| #10 | Horizon | 904 | 2% | 63/100 | Paid |
* Legacy themes (Debut, Brooklyn, Minimal, Supply, Narrative) are OS 1.0 and no longer available for new stores.
Performance Analysis
PageSpeed performance data from 16,286 tested stores. Scores are mobile PageSpeed Insights ratings.
Free vs Paid Themes
5,866 stores tested
5,997 stores tested
Free themes outperform paid themes by 6 PageSpeed points on average. This reflects paid themes trading performance for additional promotional and editorial features.
Performance Distribution
Only 1% of Shopify stores score 90+ on mobile PageSpeed. 28% score below 50 — a significant opportunity for performance improvement.
Legacy Theme Situation
Online Store 1.0 themes (Debut, Brooklyn, Minimal, Narrative, Supply) are no longer available for new stores and no longer receive active development.
10,580
stores still on legacy themes
18%
of all tracked stores
OS 1.0
missing sections everywhere, app blocks, metafields
Legacy theme risk
10,580 stores (18%) are running on OS 1.0 themes that limit access to modern Shopify features. Debut alone accounts for 10.7% of all tracked stores. These stores cannot use app blocks, sections everywhere, or native metafield display without migrating to an OS 2.0 theme.
Fastest Theme: Craft
Among major themes with 100+ tested stores, Craft averages the highest PageSpeed score in our database.
Methodology
Data collection: CommerceRank tracks 59,139 Shopify stores via the CommerceRank API. Stores are scanned monthly for theme, product count, and performance data.
Performance testing: PageSpeed scores are measured using Google PageSpeed Insights API on mobile. Scores represent the mobile performance score (0–100). Not all stores have been tested — 16,286 of 59,139 stores have performance data.
Theme classification: Bespoke and custom themes (stores not using a Shopify Theme Store theme) are classified separately and excluded from theme-specific performance averages.
Data freshness: This report reflects data as of March 2026.
Analyse your store
See how your store compares against these benchmarks.