WordPress theme comparison
Lightning vs Variations
At a glance
- Lightning has more active installs: 100K+, against 10K+ for Variations.
- On a typical day, Lightning is downloaded about 451 times, Variations about 36.
- Variations is rated higher: 5.0 out of 5 from 11 reviews, against 4.8 from 12 reviews.
- Lightning was updated more recently: Sep 9, 2026, against Jan 14, 2026 for Variations.
- Lightning has been around longer: since 2015, against 2023 for Variations.
Line by line
Lightning leads on 4 of 5 comparable lines.
| Metric |  Lightning |  Variations |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank | #28 | #42 |
| Active installs | 100K+ | 10K+ |
| Downloads, last 30 days | 19.3K | 1K |
| Rating | 4.8(12) | 5.0(11) |
| Last release | 2 months ago | 9 months ago |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.4 |
From WordPress.org's public data, refreshed every night. Downloads are WordPress.org's official daily figures for the last 30 days.
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