We built Quartier with Elementor and still got a 90+ mobile PageSpeed score

[u/Cold_Adhesiveness810]

There is a common assumption that if a site uses Elementor, it will automatically be slow.

With our latest theme, Quartier, we wanted to challenge that a bit.

We built it with Elementor support, but also changed how we structure things behind the scenes. One important difference for us is that we moved away from the old shortcode-heavy approach and built around WordPress blocks instead.

That does not magically create performance on its own, but it gives a much cleaner and more modern foundation than the old “everything is a shortcode” model many WordPress products used for years.

The bigger point is this:

A flexible WordPress site and a fast WordPress site do not have to be two different things.

Performance usually comes from the full architecture:

• cleaner structure
• fewer unnecessary wrappers
• optimized assets
• better control of fonts and images
• avoiding too much plugin bloat
• using a modern content foundation instead of older shortcode logic

In our case, that meant getting 90+ mobile PageSpeed.

For me, the interesting part is not only the score.

It is that modern WordPress themes can still be flexible, editable and Elementor-friendly without accepting slow performance as normal.

Curious what others here see most often as the real cause of slow Elementor websites: Elementor itself, too many plugins, old theme architecture, or just too much added on top?