Progressive Web Apps are taking the e-commerce world by storm, promising faster load times, better user experiences, and improved engagement.
To encourage stores to catch up with the trend, Adobe released Magento PWA Studio, a powerful tool for those who want to build a PWA from the ground up. It offers flexibility and control but comes with a steep learning curve and significant development time.
That’s why Tigren introduced TigrenPWA – a Freemium Magento 2 PWA theme – a perfect solution for those who want to launch their PWAs quickly.
In this post, we’ll dive deep into a side-by-side comparison of the Venia demo from Magento’s PWA Studio and TigrenPWA, examining their features, ease of use, and overall performance.
Contents
Comparing Magento 2 PWA Studio Demo (Venia) with Tigren’s Magento 2 PWA Theme
Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo): This is a robust set of tools to facilitate the PWA storefront development and maintenance for Magento 2 websites. Helping people to imagine the results after creating a PWA, Magento offers the Venia PWA demo.
Magento 2 PWA Theme by Tigren (Our demo): TigrenPWA theme is developed based on Magento 2 PWA Studio’s tools, ReactJS and GraphQL. It comprises a well-designed PWA storefront and APIs to connect core functions on Magento 2 backend to the new storefront. With the Magento 2 PWA Studio base, Tigren’s PWA theme inherits all essential features but gets many improvements and enhancements.
A. Features Comparison
As mentioned before, the TigrenPWA theme was built in the PWA Studio cornerstone. Therefore, it acquires all the great features and high-stand code from Magento.
However, Magento PWA Studio has both pros and cons.
On the one hand, it is the most reliable PWA platform for Magento websites and is updated frequently with Magento versions.
On the other hand, PWA Studio is still in the development process. There is a great deal of “coming soon” features in its road map.
Consequently, many Magento core functions are currently missing in the Venia storefront. Another weak point of Magento’s official PWA development tool is the monotonous theme design.
Realizing all the advantages and disadvantages of PWA Studio Magento, we have done an enormous amount of work to enhance its design and functionality.
In short, all of the Magento core features supported by PWA Studio are also available in TigrenPWA theme. At the same time, we try to add and improve many functions including:
Enhanced customer sign up page My account navigation Enhanced account dashboard Enhanced account profile page Enhanced address book Enhanced order history & order details Enhanced wishlist Product comparison Email to friend | Category grid/list mode Category display type (static block/product list) Improved special price display Tax display with associated price Detailed summaries in cart & checkout pages Password strength bar Print order Print comparison list Improved product image zoom Product customizable options Related products Merge and minify CSS Custom script from backend configuration Logo configuration | Customizable footer from a CMS block Editable promotion message from a CMS block Improved form validations Category description display Reorder Up-sell products Cross-sell products SEO improvements URL Rewrites Product add-to-cart from search result pop-up Cart clearing option on the cart page Preloaded fonts More supported image types and fonts Lazy load page builder components |
B. Page Details Comparison
We will go through each page on the PWA demos (e.g., the home page, category page, product page, shopping cart page, checkout page…) to make a detailed comparison.
1. Homepage

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Like Magento 2’s default themes (Luma and Blank), the Venia PWA theme offers a basic design with minimal elements. While the current home design has improved since its initial release (which lacked even a banner), many Magento stores may find it too simplistic to use as-is.
The Venia theme is meant to demonstrate the functionality of a Magento website integrated with PWA, not to serve as a ready-to-use design. Merchants should understand that heavy customization will be needed to make the storefront visually appealing and suitable for their brand.
Now, let’s break down what Venia’s home page includes:
- A currency switcher (USD/EUR)
- A banner slider
- Three small category banners
- Two additional banners with descriptions
- A product slider
- A simple footer
While the homepage design is functional, it lacks the visual impact to impress shoppers. The most significant drawback is the product slider above the footer. The product images are too large and crowded, and the slider navigation (a grey bar) is not aesthetically pleasing.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
As we’ve explored the home page of the PWA Studio Magento 2 theme, its weaknesses are quite apparent. If that design doesn’t meet your expectations and you’re looking for a more impressive Magento PWA storefront, check out the TigrenPWA theme for Magento 2.
The TigrenPWA theme not only includes all the features of Magento PWA Studio but also offers a polished, visually stunning store interface:
- Language & currency switchers (GBP/EUR/USD).
- A full-width banner slider with modern design trends, including effects on the banner title and buttons, and automatic image changes. Plus, the built-in Banner Manager plugin makes it easy to update banners from the backend.
- Four category banners with a white-fading hover effect.
- Two product sliders (New Arrivals, Bestsellers) featuring a zoom-in hover effect. Hovering over product images also reveals wishlist and comparison icons.
- “Today’s Deal” product slider to boost sales with attractive pricing. Store owners can easily manage displayed items from the backend.
- Three additional banners with unique styles.
- A brand slider above the footer.
- Newsletter subscription section in the footer.
- Top-up floating popup.
Bottom navigation (on mobile): The TigrenPWA theme adds bottom navigation on mobile, making it look and feel like a native app.
2. Category Page
Grid Mode:

Category Filter:

List Mode (Tigren Only):

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Many users have noted that Magento PWA Studio provides a well-designed homepage but falls short on the other pages, which often look like poorly adapted versions of its mobile design. What’s your take?
On the category page of the Venia PWA theme, you’ll find three large columns of products, filter and sort buttons, and a pager.
Typically, on most Magento websites, the navigation and filter options are located in the left sidebar of the category page. However, in the PWA Studio theme, these options are hidden and only appear when users click “Filter.”
Another issue is that the multi-filter function doesn’t work correctly. Although you can select multiple product attributes in the filter column simultaneously, the results are incorrect after clicking “See Results.”
It seems that the multi-filter functionality is still a “coming soon” feature for Venia.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
Now, let’s explore how the TigrenPWA theme improves upon the Magento PWA Studio demo, offering a better user experience.
To start, a category banner clearly indicates the type of products on the page, enhancing the visual appeal. If you prefer not to use it, you can easily disable it in the backend.
We’ve also added a filter column to the left sidebar, similar to most Magento sites, making navigation more convenient. The multi-filter functionality works smoothly, allowing users to refine their search effortlessly.
Additionally, customers can choose between Grid and List product display modes, with the total number of items displayed beneath the category banner. The desktop version includes a pager, while the mobile version features infinite scrolling for easier navigation.
Finally, there’s a banner on the category sidebar, beneath the filter column, for promoting special items or collections.
In summary, while the TigrenPWA theme retains the three product columns from the Venia theme, we’ve resized them and added user-friendly elements, resulting in a significantly enhanced design.
3. Add To Wishlist/Compare (Tigren Only)
Wishlist & Comparison Icons:

Comparison Result Popup:

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
“Add to wishlist” and “add to compare” are two Magento core features, but these are missing strangely in the Magento PWA Studio demo.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
Since the “Add to compare/ wishlist” are two familiar and useful functions in Magento e-commerce websites, we appended them to the TigrenPWA theme.
When the users hoving the product image (on the product list), it will show the wishlist and comparison icons.
It requires customer logins in order to add products to the wishlist.
For product comparison, the users can add up to 3 items to the list (without login), and there is a comparison floating popup above the top-up one.
4. Product Page

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Like other Magento PWA Studio demo pages, the product page has a simple design with a few core elements such as product images, name, price, attributes/ options, SKU, description, and add-to-cart button.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
In the product of TigrenPWA theme, there are more added-value components, for example, wishlist, compare, email to a friend, social sharing, product details, and product reviews.
More importantly, there is a Related product block (“More Like This” to encourage customers to buy more and more.
5. Shopping Cart Page

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Venia theme’s cart page includes an item list, options to move items to favorites/ edit/ remove from cart, shipping cost estimation, coupon code, gift card application, and the order total.
Nonetheless, the functions of “move to favorites” and “edit item” are not working properly.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
In essence, TigrenPWA’s cart page has similar elements to that of Venia PWA. However, we provide a more eye-catching design, and all of the built-in functions work.
Moreover, we put a related product block on this page, which can be used for upselling or cross-selling.
6. Checkout Page

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
The checkout page of the PWA Studio demo is easy to follow and fast to complete. Two options are: sign in for express checkout or checkout as a guest (and create a new account quickly after checkout).
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
Since Venia’s checkout flow is already good, we don’t change anything but upgrade the design.
7. Customer Account
My Account (Tigren Only):

Account Information:

Order History:

Address Book:

My Wishlist (Tigren Only):

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Customers will usually manage all of their private information and orders on one page on Magento websites. More specifically, on a regular My Account page, there are different sections: My Account, Account Information, My Orders, My Downloadable Products, Address Book, and My Wish List.
However, PWA Studio split these sections into different desolate pages with little information on each page for unknown reasons.
What’s more, there is no My Account page, which led to confusion for many of us.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
There is a big difference between the Magento PWA Studio Venia theme and TigrenPWA theme when it comes to customer account pages.
We did not divide the My Account into smaller pages but provided a complete My Account page as usual.
The users can easily update their account information, view history orders, check subscription options, change addresses, etc. in different tabs on a single page.
8. Search Page
Search Bar:

Search Result Page:

Search No Result Page:

- Magento 2 PWA Studio (Venia demo):
Similar to the category page in the Venia demo, there is no filter column on the sidebar of the search page. And the search no result page appears with a lot of white space.
- Magento 2 PWA Theme (by Tigren):
In the search result page of the TigrenPWA theme, there is a fixed navigation and filter column so the customers can filter the search results and quickly find out what they want.
Besides, the no result page also is designed with carefulness. It shows users a search bar, encouraging them to try again.
9. Other Pages (Tigren Only)
Advanced Search Page:

Orders & Returns Page:

The Advanced Search page helps visitors look for a certain product throughout the site in no time.
Meanwhile, the Orders & Returns Page allows guests to check the status of their orders, print invoices, and track shipments by providing an accurate Order ID, Billing Last Name, and Email Address/ ZIP Code.
It’s a pity that both of these two sites are removed from the Magento PWA Studio demo.
In the TigrenPWA theme, we re-created the Advanced Search and the Orders & Returns pages to maintain their benefits for Magento stores after being upgraded to Progressive Web Apps.
Final Words
To sum up, Magento 2 PWA themes by Tigren can outweigh Magento 2 PWA Studio demo (Venia) in most aspects, from the design to functionality.
Mass customization is compulsory if you want to use the Venia theme, especially for the desktop view. Conversely, Tigren’s Magento 2 PWA theme is a comprehensive solution to convert your website to a PWA.
Last but not least, Progressive Web App is a breakthrough; the sooner you make it yours, the better.
Read more: Magento PWA Studio Vs Vue Storefront – Comparison & Advice