Hyvä Theme goes open-source: How it’s changing Magento for good

How Hyvä is transforming the Magento experience

Hyvä was created to solve Magento’s biggest headache: slow, bloated frontends. Traditional themes and many headless setups often suffer from poor Core Web Vitals, huge JS bundles, and lengthy build times.

Hyvä tackled this by rebuilding the Magento frontend from scratch using TailwindCSS and AlpineJS, dramatically improving speed, simplicity, and flexibility. This held so many benefits, like:

• 90+ PageSpeed scores out of the box
• Reduced build and maintenance costs
• Better SEO and conversion performance
• Happier Magento developers and merchants

Now that the Hyvä Theme will be open source, anyone can start using it for free!

What’s new from Hyvä

According to Hyvä’s announcement on November 6, 2025:

• The core Hyvä theme will be freely available on GitHub and through free licence keys (up to five per account or fifty per agency group).
• Released under the Open Software License (OSL) and Academic Free License (AFL), it offers full freedom to modify, distribute, and extend.
• Free access to the Hyvä theme includes the Community Slack channel, third-party compatibility modules, in addition to developer documentation.
• Over 1,000+ Magento extensions are already Hyvä-compatible.

In short, Hyvä has made its performance-first foundation available to everyone while maintaining optional premium products for those who want to go further.

Explore additional features with Hyvä Checkout and more

Although the core theme will be free, Hyvä’s ecosystem continues to add serious value through premium additions that will power up your Hyvä theme even more:

• Hyvä UI: A ready-to-use library of UI components for faster, more consistent design.
• Hyvä Checkout: A conversion-optimised, flexible checkout experience.
• Hyvä Commerce: Adds enhanced functionality to Magento stores.
• Hyvä Enterprise: Brings full Adobe Commerce compatibility.

So, while the entry point will be open source, those extras can take your store from fast to powerful.

Benefits of switching from Luma to the free Hyvä theme

If your Magento site still runs on the Luma theme, this is your cue to rethink. With Hyvä now open source, the cost barrier is gone, and what remains is a chance to dramatically improve page load speed, accessibility, SEO signals and conversion rates.

If you're thinking of an upgrade or replatform project, Hyvä’s performance-first approach can deliver:

• Faster sites that meet Core Web Vitals with ease
• Leaner, easier-to-maintain codebases
• Lower development costs over time
• Better ROI and a shorter payback period

Case studies from brands like Volkswagen and Dunkin’ show measurable results, from conversion lifts to improved UX. And our most recent Magento case studies for Emmark and Universal Biologicals illustrates how powerful the theme is and what incredible results that came out of the projects.

Why the free Hyvä theme is a win for Magento agencies

For Magento agencies, developers, and their clients, Hyvä’s move to open source is such a serious move forward in eCommerce. With this one one decision, it removes a long-standing cost barrier that often made eCommerce companies hesitate to adopt a performance-first Magento frontend.

What used to require paid licences and additional approvals can now be explored freely, experimented with, and implemented across multiple projects. This means less friction, more creativity, and far more freedom in how you plan, scope, and deliver Magento builds.

It also opens the door for smaller retailers to compete on the same technical level as enterprise brands, and gives agencies more flexibility to allocate budget where it truly adds value.

• More budget can go toward design, UX, CRO, or SEO instead of theme licensing.
• Faster development means lower initial build costs and quicker handovers.
• Open collaboration for developers, agencies and their clients. without steep learning curves.
• Stronger ROI tracking that aids better performance data and conversion metrics to back it up.

For our Magento developers, delivery and project managers, this aligns perfectly with how we approach Magento projects. Build faster, perform better, and measure everything.

Where to start with moving and upgrading to a Hyvä theme

If you’re considering whether now’s the time to make the move, it’s worth taking a structured approach. The open-source release means you can test, learn, and plan without upfront commitment. So, even a small proof-of-concept can show real value fast. Here’s how to get started:

• Audit your current Magento store: Benchmark load times, conversion rate, and Core Web Vitals.
• Test Hyvä: Spin up a sandbox environment and review extension compatibility.
• Reallocate budget: With licence fees gone, put the savings into UX, accessibility, and SEO.
• Plan migration milestones: Define phases for development, QA, and launch.
• Track impact: Monitor the difference in page speed, engagement, and conversions post-launch.

Need help putting these steps into action? We’ve helped our clients on Magento move from painfully slow, outdated frontends to fast, conversion-driven Hyvä builds, and we're transitioning some of our clients currently using our Magento support services to upgrade their theme.

Get expert help from a trusted Hyvä partner

We're a certified Hyva Bronze partner, and have helped our clients make the transition for a better, faster, Magento experience. If you'd like some help with making a firm decision on switching to Hyvä, our team can help you figure out the best way forward. Get in touch and explore what’s possible.