Is the Hub theme secure?

The theme has a history of security issues, including a critical authorization flaw that allowed unauthorized users to reset an entire website [1]. While the developers release patches, the theme's complexity creates a large attack surface, requiring users to be diligent about applying updates immediately.

How does Hub perform on Core Web Vitals?

Out of the box, Hub often struggles with Core Web Vitals, particularly on mobile. Its extensive use of JavaScript and animations can lead to high Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Interaction to Next Paint (INP) scores, negatively impacting user experience and SEO [3], [4].

Will I need expensive hosting for a site using Hub?

Yes, professional-grade managed hosting is highly recommended. Community feedback and performance data indicate that the theme's performance is significantly worse on shared hosting, which can lead to slow page load times [3].

Is Hub compatible with the latest versions of WooCommerce and Elementor?

Compatibility can be fragile. While the theme is designed to work with them, updates to WooCommerce have historically broken Hub's custom templates [5], and conflicts can arise between Hub's custom widgets and Elementor Pro's native features [6].

What are the most common issues after a Hub theme update?

According to the official changelog, core interactive widgets like accordions and tabs frequently require fixes after updates [5]. Additionally, users have reported that changes to the theme's licensing system have caused activation issues [9].

Is the Hub theme easy for my clients to use?

It presents a mixed experience. The visual editor is intuitive for basic content changes, but the overwhelming number of options in the backend can confuse non-technical users, potentially increasing your post-handoff support workload [10], [11].

How good is the support for the Hub theme?

The official support provided on ThemeForest is highly rated (4.88 stars) and is generally responsive, with a stated goal of answering queries within one business day [12].

Hub - Theme Scout

Overview

Safe to use

Hub is a feature-rich and highly popular multipurpose theme that offers extensive design options and fast support, making it suitable for agencies. However, it is held back by significant performance issues out-of-the-box, a history of security vulnerabilities, and fragile compatibility with essential plugins like WooCommerce and Elementor.

Pros

Highly-rated and responsive official support
Extensive library of demos and templates
Centralized settings for rapid development

Cons

Poor out-of-the-box mobile performance
History of critical security vulnerabilities
Fragile compatibility with WooCommerce/Elementor

Analysis

Hub is a visually impressive and immensely popular multipurpose theme on ThemeForest, attracting agencies and freelancers with its vast library of over 90 pre-built websites and more than 1000 section templates. It offers deep customization through its integration with Elementor and WPBakery, and its official support team is highly rated for being fast and helpful. For developers looking to build complex, feature-rich websites quickly, Hub provides a powerful and flexible toolkit.

However, this power comes at a significant cost to performance and stability. Out of the box, the theme struggles with modern web performance standards, often producing slow load times and poor Core Web Vitals scores, especially on mobile devices. Achieving good performance requires substantial optimization efforts and investment in premium managed hosting, making it a poor choice for projects on a tight budget or those hosted on shared servers.

Furthermore, the theme’s complexity introduces considerable risk. It has a documented history of critical security vulnerabilities and its compatibility with essential plugins like WooCommerce and Elementor is often fragile, with updates frequently causing conflicts that break key site functions. While the developers are active in releasing patches, this reactive approach makes Hub best suited for experienced developers who can manage its maintenance demands, rather than for beginners or clients seeking a simple, set-and-forget solution.

Performance

Core Web Vitals (mobile)

Metric	Mobile	Desktop	Target
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)	`8.42`	`1.43`	< 2.5s

The theme's main demo scores 64/100 on Google PageSpeed Insights for mobile, tested on https://originalhub.liquid-themes.com/ on 2026-02-05. This score is heavily penalized by a very poor Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) of 8.42 seconds, which aligns with community reports of high LCP scores due to feature density and heavy script usage [3].

When performance is acceptable

This theme is a safe choice if the project includes a budget for premium managed hosting and dedicated performance optimization, as user reports confirm this is necessary to achieve acceptable load times [3].

Performance concerns

Exercise caution if the website will be deployed on standard shared hosting, as the theme's heavy use of JavaScript for animations and interactive elements can lead to poor Core Web Vitals and a sluggish user experience [3], [4].

Avoid if performance matters

Avoid this theme for projects where excellent out-of-the-box mobile performance is a critical requirement, as the official demo's LCP score of over 8 seconds indicates significant optimization work is needed.

Tested URL: https://originalhub.liquid-themes.com/. View PageSpeed Insights report.

Client Handoff

4.0

out of 10

How easy it is to hand this theme off to a client without ongoing developer support.

Score breakdown

Criterion	Rating
Panel complexity	overwhelming
Documentation quality	good
Learning curve	days

When it works well

This theme is safe to hand off if the client is technically proficient or has an ongoing support and maintenance contract with your agency to manage the theme's extensive options.

Use caution when

Use caution when handing this theme to clients with limited technical skills, as the sheer volume of features and templates can be overwhelming and will likely lead to increased support requests [10], [11].

Avoid if

Avoid this theme for projects where the client needs a simple, low-maintenance website that they can manage entirely on their own without dedicated training or ongoing professional support.

Scout recommendation

Hub is best suited for agency-led projects where the development team can manage its complexity and the client has a budget for a maintenance plan. The vast feature set is powerful but creates a steep learning curve for end-users.

Alternatives: Kadence, GeneratePress, Blocksy

Pricing

$59

Base price

Standard Commercial

License type

6 mo

Support included

Available plans

Plan	Price	Type	Includes
Regular License	$59		Single site, end users not charged
Extended License	$2,600		Single site, end users can be charged

Plugin Compatibility

3

Plugins tested

3

With issues

Plugin	Category	Status	Notes
WooCommerce	E-commerce	Partial support	Updates to WooCommerce have frequently broken Hub's custom product page templates and other features, requiring rapid patches from the theme author.
Elementor	Page Builder	Partial support	The theme's custom elements and loop grid implementations can conflict with Elementor Pro's native features, causing issues with image loading and taxonomy filters.
WPML	Multilingual	Partial support	A known issue can cause translated templates on WooCommerce shop pages to "stick" and display incorrectly due to conflicts with AJAX loading.

Thoroughly test all key plugin integrations on a staging server before and after theme updates, especially for e-commerce and multilingual sites, as compatibility can be fragile.

Community Feedback

12 discussions analyzed

Timeframe Last 24 months

Analyzed Feb 2026

Pain points

Critical authorization flaw allows unauthorized site resets security

Show description

Multiple plugins and themes from LiquidThemes were found to have a missing capability check on an AJAX function, allowing any authenticated user to reset the entire WordPress site.
The developer has patched the vulnerability, and users must update the theme and associated plugins immediately.

Verified 25%

Critical Wordfence Threat Intelligence [1]
Unauthenticated file upload vulnerability in related AIHub theme security

Show description

The AIHub theme, also by LiquidThemes, had a critical vulnerability allowing unauthenticated users to upload arbitrary files, which could lead to remote code execution. While not the Hub theme itself, it points to potential security practice issues.
A patch was released for the AIHub theme in version 1.3.8.

Verified 25%

Critical WPScan [2]
High Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores on mobile devices performance

Show description

The theme's heavy reliance on extensive animation scripts and numerous template blocks often results in high LCP scores that exceed Google’s 2.5-second recommended threshold on mobile devices.
Requires aggressive optimization, including script deferral, image optimization, and use of high-performance hosting.

Common 60%

Major Fatlab Web Support [3]
Poor Interaction to Next Paint (INP) scores from heavy JavaScript performance

Show description

The extensive use of JavaScript for visual effects and interactive navigation components can lead to high input latency, resulting in INP scores above the 'Good' threshold of 200ms.
Users may need to disable certain theme features or use asset optimization plugins to reduce JavaScript execution time.

Common 60%

Moderate OneUpWeb [4]
Conflicts with Elementor Pro's native loop grid feature plugin compat

Show description

Users report issues where images in Elementor's loop grid do not load correctly after a taxonomy filter is applied, indicating a conflict between the theme's configuration and Elementor's functionality.
This is an ongoing issue that may require custom code or waiting for a patch from either the theme or plugin developer.

Occasional 35%

Moderate GitHub (Elementor Issue) [6]
WooCommerce updates frequently break theme templates plugin compat

Show description

Recent major updates to WooCommerce have required multiple, rapid patches from LiquidThemes to fix issues like broken product pages and non-functional sticky Add-to-Cart buttons.
Users must stay vigilant with theme updates after updating WooCommerce and may need to delay WooCommerce updates until the theme is confirmed compatible.

Frequent 80%

Moderate Hub Official Changelog [5]
Template rendering issues on multilingual WooCommerce sites with WPML plugin compat

Show description

On multilingual sites, the theme can fail to switch templates correctly when changing languages on WooCommerce shop pages, causing the wrong language's layout to persist.
Troubleshooting involves checking caching configurations and ensuring both the theme and WPML are fully updated.

Occasional 35%

Moderate WPML Support Forum [7]
Licensing system changes cause activation failures updates

Show description

Users have reported that changes to the theme's licensing and activation system can cause conflicts, leading to failures when trying to activate or deactivate the license, particularly during site migrations.
Requires contacting support to resolve license conflicts.

Occasional 35%

Moderate CodeCanyon (BookingHub) [9]
Core interactive widgets are fragile and break after updates updates

Show description

The official changelog frequently mentions fixes for core widgets like accordions and tabs, suggesting these elements are sensitive to browser updates and core WordPress changes and can break unexpectedly.
Requires diligent application of theme updates and testing of interactive elements after each update.

Frequent 80%

Minor Hub Official Changelog [5]
Vast number of features can overwhelm clients handoff

Show description

While powerful for developers, the sheer volume of features, demos, and templates can be overwhelming for clients, leading to a steep learning curve and potentially higher support needs post-handoff [10], [11].
Agencies should provide tailored documentation and training for clients, focusing only on the features they will need to use.

Common 60%

Moderate Darrel Wilson [10]
Requires expensive hosting for acceptable performance cost

Show description

User testimonials and performance data indicate that the theme performs poorly on standard shared hosting, often requiring a move to more expensive managed WordPress hosting to achieve acceptable page load times.
Budget for premium hosting from the start of the project.

Frequent 80%

Moderate Fatlab Web Support [3]
Can create duplicate content paths requiring SEO management seo

Show description

The theme's custom post types and mega-menu generators can inadvertently create duplicate content paths (e.g., /women/shoes and /shoes/women), which requires aggressive canonical tag management to avoid SEO penalties.
Requires careful configuration of permalinks and use of an SEO plugin to set canonical URLs correctly.

Common 60%

Minor ResultFirst [8]

Analysis based on user reviews, support forums, and technical reports to identify recurring issues and praise.

FAQ

: The theme has a history of security issues, including a critical authorization flaw that allowed unauthorized users to reset an entire website [1]. While the developers release patches, the theme's complexity creates a large attack surface, requiring users to be diligent about applying updates immediately.
: Out of the box, Hub often struggles with Core Web Vitals, particularly on mobile. Its extensive use of JavaScript and animations can lead to high Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Interaction to Next Paint (INP) scores, negatively impacting user experience and SEO [3], [4].
: Yes, professional-grade managed hosting is highly recommended. Community feedback and performance data indicate that the theme's performance is significantly worse on shared hosting, which can lead to slow page load times [3].
: Compatibility can be fragile. While the theme is designed to work with them, updates to WooCommerce have historically broken Hub's custom templates [5], and conflicts can arise between Hub's custom widgets and Elementor Pro's native features [6].
: According to the official changelog, core interactive widgets like accordions and tabs frequently require fixes after updates [5]. Additionally, users have reported that changes to the theme's licensing system have caused activation issues [9].
: It presents a mixed experience. The visual editor is intuitive for basic content changes, but the overwhelming number of options in the backend can confuse non-technical users, potentially increasing your post-handoff support workload [10], [11].
: The official support provided on ThemeForest is highly rated (4.88 stars) and is generally responsive, with a stated goal of answering queries within one business day [12].

Sources & Methodology

Data confidence: HIGH (15 analytical sources, 15 total)

This analysis is based on a combination of official documentation, marketplace data, independent reviews, user-reported issues in public forums, and performance testing of the official theme demo.

[[1]] Wordfence Threat Intelligence — review_site
[[2]] WPScan — review_site
[[3]] Fatlab Web Support — review_site
[[4]] OneUpWeb — review_site
[[5]] Hub Official Changelog — Official docs
[[6]] GitHub (Elementor Issue) — social
[[7]] WPML Support Forum — forum
[[8]] ResultFirst — review_site
[[9]] CodeCanyon (BookingHub) — marketplace
[[10]] Darrel Wilson — review_site
[[11]] ClearBrand — review_site
[[12]] ThemeForest Support — marketplace
[[13]] Fluid Checkout — Official docs
[[14]] ThemeForest Marketplace — marketplace
[[15]] ThemeForest — marketplace

Analysis date: February 5, 2026

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