Definition
Luma is the default frontend theme that ships with Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. Built on Knockout.js, RequireJS, and LESS, Luma was introduced around 2014 and remains the default storefront on most Magento installations. It is increasingly considered legacy in favour of Hyvä for new builds.
Why Luma exists
Luma is the reference theme that Magento (Adobe) ships with every Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce installation. It demonstrates every Magento storefront feature working end-to-end and serves as the base most merchants' custom themes inherit from.
Luma's design-era constraints
Luma was built around 2014-2015, when the Knockout.js + RequireJS frontend stack was modern. By 2020 the trade-offs had aged poorly: heavy JavaScript payload (typically 2-4 MB per page), slow Time-to-Interactive on mobile, and a frontend pattern current engineers find hard to read and slow to develop on. Mobile Lighthouse scores on Luma stores typically sit between 30 and 55.
Luma vs Hyvä — the practical difference
Hyvä replaces Luma's rendering layer with a modern stack (Tailwind CSS + Alpine.js) while keeping the rest of Magento (admin, orders, products, integrations) untouched. A Luma → Hyvä migration is a frontend swap, not a full replatform. Typical results: mobile Lighthouse moves from 30-55 to 80-92, JavaScript payload drops ~5x, frontend velocity improves because the tools are conventional.
When to stay on Luma
Three honest cases: (1) Replatforming off Magento entirely within 12 months. (2) Heavily customised Luma frontend on a low-traffic store where migration cost exceeds conversion lift. (3) Magento version not yet supported by Hyvä and the upgrade itself is too risky to combine.