Last year, WordPress was being used to power 72.4 million websites on the Internet. That was around half of all live sites at the time. Of all the websites using a content management system now, 59.8% of them are being run using WordPress. And their market share is continuing to grow! These are crazy stats for one of the greatest and simplest content management systems I’ve ever used.
WordPress is increasingly popular because literally anyone can use it. It started off merely as a blogging platform but has really evolved into a magnificent content management system. It comes with some of the best plugins and contributors make some great plugins to go along with it. You can create your own social network with WordPress. You can create your own web stores, affiliate programs, streaming sites and so much more. And even if you don’t want something as robust, you can create your own piece of the web with WordPress.
Of major importance is how you dress your WordPress. As you may know, you can download themes made specifically for WordPress that will give you the look you desire. It can be a portfolio, a shop, a photo site — it can all be done with WordPress. There are tons of sites out there that make these themes. Today, we’ve got a little guide to get you started with the places you can find and download or purchase some amazing themes.
Free
FThemes
The greatest selling point of FThemes is that all their WordPress themes are responsive. They have over 400 free themes, all of which are solid for those of us beginning with WordPress. Some digging will allow you to find a good variety of themes, all of which have some good features that easily editable.
SiteGround
SiteGround is a web hosting company that offers a few WordPress themes. They aren’t mind-blowing beautiful themes, but they are great for the beginnings of a blog.
Site5 Themes
Site5 Themes are my personal favorite free themes. Site5 is a WordPress hosting site, so in an attempt to promote themselves they make some of the best WordPress themes. Their themes are easily editable with lots of custom features and are also organized really well for those who are familiar with editing code. Site5 is definitely a must-see if you are looking for free WordPress themes.
Web2Feel
Web2Feel is more of an aggregate site with lots of free themes. As you see, they show a bunch of FabThemes, but if you continue to scroll through their library, there are other themes available. Web2Feel tries to put a bunch of free themes in one convenient place.
Rock-Kitty
At first glance, you’d think Rock-kitty would have themes that aren’t that great, but after some real digging, you’ll find out these are some pretty solid themes. They don’t come with tons of features, but are created to welcome any other widgets and extensions you want to add.
FreeThemeLayouts
FreeThemeLayouts is what you’d normally look to get when searching for free WordPress themes on Google. They don’t have a ton of high quality things, but they do have some basic themes that could work based on the industry and purpose of the site.
SM Themes
All of the themes over at SM Themes are free, however, you do have the option to purchase an upgradeable license. If you get the free download, it’s basically for personal use and has a couple sponsored links in the code. If you are savvy enough, the links won’t matter too much to you. The themes are still on the generic side, however, the features in the backend make it something worth looking past. These are great themes to build upon if you know how.
WordPress.org
WordPress supports their users by creating a community for them. In this community, you can download plugins, other extensions as well as themes. This is one of the better places to find WordPress themes, especially ones with a great look to them. There’s a ton of different people who contribute to these things which means there’s much variety to be seen.
FabThemes
FabThemes is where you go if you need a relatively simple and generic layout. While they have different styles, they all seem to be typical of the style (i.e., portfolios, business pages, etc.). They are nicely designed and seem to be easy to make small changes to, however they’re not overly robust.
ZebraThemes
Don’t be alarmed when you go to download a free theme at Zebra Themes. They have a “Purchase” button for anyone who wants to buy an extended license which comes with added support. The free version obviously does not, but these themes are great if you need a basic fix. They are also responsive, have some custom widgets, shortcodes and more.
Free + Premium
WooThemes
WooThemes has been around for a while now and has really made a claim to fame with their WooCommerce extension. They have mainly premium themes, but a few of them are available for free download. All themes include the WooFramework which makes it very easy to make changes. Premium themes are available starting at $99. You can also join the Theme Club with access to all themes for as low as $29/month.
WPZoom
WPZoom is much like WooThemes where they have free and premium themes. WPZoom basically makes all their themes with the WPZoom Framework, which also claims easy customizations. Their premium themes start at a $75 license, with subscriptions starting at $19/month.
Yithemes
Yith is somewhat like some of the free websites we’ve seen that offer free and premium licenses for each theme. The difference with Yith is they have extensively better features for their premium themes. The free versions are just the theme with very little customizations, while the premium themes have lots of features such as extra color schemes, Google fonts, frameworks and much more. Their themes start at $59.
Wpshower
Wpshower takes pride in creating some of the cleanest, simplest themes available. They don’t overadvertise the fact they have free themes available, so you do have to take a look at all of them to find out which ones are free and which are premium. The selling point of their themes is the wonderful design of each one.
Moon Themes
Moon Themes is the place to shop if you are on a budget. They have a good balance of free and premium themes, all of which are fantastic and look great. Best of all, their premium themes start at $5 and have some very comparable features to themes that sell for more.
Towfiqi
Towfiqi has created free and premium themes that come in lite and pro versions. This is great if you just want to try something out and purchase it later for the premium features. These premium features include more color schemes, fonts, and more.
WPExplorer
These people over at WPExplorer have put together a really great brand of all things WordPress. They have free themes that you have to register to download, but you can also purchase them for $25 and they’ll come with free support. They sell their premium themes on some popular marketplaces (which we’ll go over below), so their prices vary, but start around $45.
Premium
Themezilla
Themezilla is one of my favorite places to purchase themes because they come from one of my favorite designers, Orman Clark. He’s got quite the eye for design and creates themes that are beyond easy to customize. They also come with some great features like ad management, a variety of page types and so much more. Their themes start at $59 for a single license and $199 for an entire year.
Kriesi.at
Kriesi claims they don’t just make WordPress themes, they’re designing the user experience for you and your customer. That’s a bold claim, but they seem to back it up with some really great themes that seem to solve solutions while looking good. Themes begin around $45.
MOJO Themes
MOJO Themes is an open marketplace that allows WordPress designers and developers sell their themes to buyers. It’s easy to browse through different styles of themes to find what you’re looking for. The price for themes at MOJO vary, but start around $49 for full themes and as low as $16 for things such as countdown pages.
Templatic
Templatic has created a niche in making themes with a specific purpose. While most developers make generic or one-size-fits-all themes, they’ve found out some of the reasons people need themes. If you have a very specific need, I’d recommend checking out Templatic first. Their themes start at $39 for a single license and a theme club for $299.
ThemeForest
If you have not heard about ThemeForest, then you’re in for quite a treat. ThemeForest is another popular marketplace where different people sell different types of themes. This is a great site if you are looking for a theme and just need to scroll through a bunch of ideas. ThemeForest sets the prices but they typically begin around $35 or $40. The more expensive they are, the more features they have.
Creative Market
Creative Market is another marketplace just like ThemeForest that offers many different types of themes from different authors. Creative Market is a bit cheaper than the former marketplace, starting some themes as low as $25.
Themify
Themify has created an astounding framework that allows you to drag and drop your changes into a Themify theme. For anyone of any level, this is an amazing feature for their themes. Even if you do not want a theme, you can purchase the Drag and Drop Builder plugin for $39, which is the same price as most themes at Themify.
Graph Paper Press
Graph Paper Press creates themes specifically for photographers, artists, bloggers and entrepreneurs. They’re very creative portfolio themes that are easily customizable and help individuals create a brand and build their business. Their theme subscription starts at $125 for the year or $299 for life. Single licenses start at $75.
ThemeFuse
ThemeFuse creates wonderful themes for businesses that are out of the box with great support and lots of customization options. ThemeFuse has single licenses affordably starting at $49, but also has a subscription option for $17/month.
Subscription only
Press 75
Press75 is a subscription based WordPress theme site that allows you access to all of their current and forthcoming themes. Their themes are pretty solid, clean and simple to understand. They have a yearly subscription at $75 and a lifetime for $275.
Elegant Themes
The people over at Elegant Themes seem to really take time when creating their themes. They are wonderful crafted and come at an affordable price of $39 for all themes. They also have subscriptions available that include plugins for their themes.
Strictly WP
They seem to be a newer group of developers, as there are only a handful of themes. However, they offer a very affordable option for all of their themes. Subscriptions start at $9 a year. Their themes are absolutely usable and come with features such as being responsive, custom styling options and social media integration.
Conclusion
Where you decide to get your themes is obviously going to be based on your needs and how you operate as a designer. Some of us can get one solid theme and edit that for different websites and uses. Others need to have access to several themes in order to make several different websites.
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