The best WordPress themes: free and premium

WordPress is by far the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. A large part of its popularity has to do with the many different designs it offers, also called themes or templates. With a WordPress theme, you can completely change the design of your website with just a few clicks. The numerous WordPress themes differ not only in design but are also suitable for different web projects.

This article was last updated in July 2021.

WordPress is not only the most popular CMS, but also one of the most popular open-source projects. The community creates WordPress plugins and themes to support the CMS. Also known as WordPress templates, the designs range from minimalist landing pages to extensive websites.

The free WordPress themes can all be downloaded from WordPress.org or from your website's dashboard.

If you're looking for a simple theme that's easy to use, HelloElementor is a great solution. The template has a lightweight design and provides both good performance and an uncluttered look for blogs and smaller websites. The theme is designed to work in conjunction with Elementor Page Builder. This is a plugin that provides you with an alternative editor that allows you to change the look of the website using drag & drop.

Features:

• simple, elegant design
• fast speed
• works with Elementor Page Builder

GeneratePress can also be used with Elementor Page Builder but is also compatible with other editors. This WordPress theme presents your content to readers as elegantly as possible, and most importantly, as quickly as possible. Similar to other themes in this list, the team surrounding GeneratePress prefers to work with small file sizes, which leads to fast loading speeds. Besides the free theme, there is also a premium version with additional features on the official website.

Features:

• high performance
• compatible with many different page builders
• customisable - also suitable for online shops

E-commerce makes its own demands when it comes to website design. The WordPress theme Astra makes light work of the challenges that online shops sometimes bring with them and also offers some interesting ideas. First and foremost, the template has a very slim design. This guarantees a fast-browsing experience that customers want when shopping online. Offering high performance and many other elements, the theme also supports you with search engine optimisation (SEO). The many customisation options round off this template nicely. With the theme you can create not only powerful web shops, but also blogs or other small projects.

Features:

• designed to be combined with WooCommerce
• minimalistic & fast
• optimised for search engines
• premium add-ons available

Another theme to help your e-commerce business take off is Storefront. It is especially popular among users of WooCommerce, the comprehensive online shop extension for WordPress. It's not surprising though, since it was developed by the WooCommerce team. All the features of the shop plugin and its many add-ons can be implemented with this WordPress template. Besides the product pages, you can of course also create an about us page and other useful subpages with Storefront.

Features:

• specially developed for WooCommerce
• also combinable with add-ons
• various customisation options

With Inspiro, you can create websites that showcase both images and - this is what makes this template special - videos very well. You can play videos from YouTube, Vimeo, or from your own server. In principle, this can also be done in other themes by integrating them with the Gutenberg editor, but Inspiro displays videos in a nicer layout on your website. Video backgrounds can be easily integrated, for example in headers or footers. The manufacturer WPZOOM also offers a paid version with greater functionality.

Features:

• gallery functions for photos and videos
• various video features
• combinable with WooCommerce
• page builder

You can also add video backgrounds to your website with Colibri WP by Extend Themes. But the WordPress template has even more interesting features - the theme comes with different design elements and 35 pre-made content blocks. Moreover, you can also create your own blocks by simply dragging and dropping different objects. This means the theme technically becomes a page builder.

Features:

• many templates
• video backgrounds
• page builder

The free WordPress theme OceanWP is characterised above all by its high customisability. Whether you want to create a simple blog, a compelling corporate website, or an online shop with many features, OceanWP allows you to realise any web project. In order to do this, you can work with different page builders. The development team has also prepared the theme for search engine optimisation.

Features:

• can be adapted to different projects
• works with many page builders
• set up for search engine optimisation

Especially for those new to WordPress, the free themes are a good way to quickly get started on the web. For long-term and professional projects, however, it is worth looking at paid themes. These are usually created by design agencies and have a unique look so your website can stand out from the crowd.

Artists, photographers, and media designers will be especially thrilled at how well Kayn shows off their work. The minimalistic design does not distract from the actual content of the website but rather highlights each portfolio. In addition, the theme contains dynamic navigation elements, functions for search engine optimisation, and many design options.

Features:

• perfect for portfolios
• elegant design
• search engine optimisation
• professional web design elements
• large colour selection and many fonts included

Price: £ / one-off payment

Most blogs have a clean, but somewhat uninspired layout. The WordPress theme Neubau by Elmastudio offers a more interesting way of presenting content. Just like in a magazine, articles are displayed above one another and next to one another. This gives the blog a more dynamic look. You can customise each post and easily add elements like quotes and text boxes. Therefore, this theme is suitable for passionate hobby bloggers as well as professional editors. Photographers can also use Neubau to present their portfolio.

Features:

• magazine design
• options for adjusting posts
• set up for multilinguism

Price: £ / one-off payment

Running a server costs energy and even more so if elaborate applications are being hosted. The SuperbThemes team tries to change that with EcoCoded. The theme's source code is built so lightweight that hardly any processing power is required from the server. The slim WordPress template is also available for free, but search engine optimisation features and the option to customise each design element are only available in the premium version, for example.

Features:

• resource-saving source code
• fast loading times
• search engine optimisation
• very adaptable

Price: ££ / one-off or annual payment

Foodica is primarily aimed at website operators who deal with the topic of food in all its glorious forms. Large format images with slider functions ensure that dishes and food are presented in a tasty way. In addition, there are many different display options and colour schemes. Since bloggers are usually dependent on advertising revenue, Foodica already has preset placeholders for advertisements. A small webshop is also part of the theme's scope, which can be used to sell merchandise, for example.

Features:

• prepared image presentation
• many customisation options
• placeholder for advertisements
• integrated online shop

Price: £££ / one-off or annual payment

With the Eimear theme by WebMan Design, you can give your online shop a very modern and interesting design. Decide how many products should be next to each other and how they should be arranged. What's great is that you do not have to use only square thumbnails with this theme. The design template has a mask for the small thumbnails, which loosens up the look of overview pages. The developer of the WordPress theme also places special emphasis on accessibility. The theme is therefore completely aligned with WCAG 2.1.

Features:

• developed for e-commerce
• compatible with WooCommerce
• more relaxed look
• special thumbnails
• accessibility

Price: £££ / one-off payment

If you choose the very popular premium theme Divi, you get a small website builder. You can drag and drop elements and with a few clicks you can customise the entire look - without having to master CSS. If you want to create new pages, you can choose from several templates and then easily customise them to your liking. Divi works perfectly with WooCommerce and also has various marketing measures included. The split testing is very useful because it enables you to compare the impact of different designs.

Features:

• website builder
• multiple page templates
• marketing features
• compatible with WooCommerce

Price: £££ / one-off or annual payment