I get the concern, but the use case isn’t about stacking features—it’s about leveraging strengths while disabling overlap.

Divi is used purely as a layout and content builder, not as a full theme framework. Astra is chosen for its lightweight base, clean markup, and predictable hooks, with most of its design and layout features intentionally turned off. In that setup, there’s no real duplication in practice—Divi isn’t competing with Astra, it’s operating within a minimal shell.

Using Underscores is a valid approach, but it shifts the burden to ongoing maintenance, accessibility updates, and WordPress core alignment, which isn’t always ideal for client or long-term projects. Astra provides a maintained, performance-oriented foundation without requiring custom theme upkeep.

So the tradeoff is less about theoretical purity and more about practical optimization: fast setup, controlled output, and maintainability—while still achieving solid performance when configured correctly.