When building a WordPress site, choosing the right theme is essential for creating a visually appealing, functional, and fast-loading site. While we always believe Divi to be the best all round theme, we do understand that not everyone has the budget to get started with it. Free WordPress themes provide an accessible way to get started without sacrificing quality. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the top 12 free WordPress themes, highlighting their key features, performance, and reasons to consider upgrading to their premium versions.
If you’re just getting started with WordPress, we also have a guide on how to create a website on WordPress.
How We Picked the Best Free WordPress Themes
We evaluated these themes based on four core factors:
- SEO-Friendliness: Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for driving organic traffic. The themes we selected are optimized for SEO, helping your content rank higher on search engines.
- Performance: Speed matters. We picked themes that load quickly, which improves user experience and search engine rankings.
- Credibility: Each theme on this list comes from a reputable developer with frequent updates and good support, ensuring long-term reliability.
- Ease of Use: From beginners to advanced users, these themes offer user-friendly options for customization, allowing you to create a professional-looking site without needing coding skills.
The Best Free WordPress Themes
1 Astra
Best For: Overall versatility
Loading Time: 412ms
Best Features: Fast loading, pre-built templates, integration with page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder
Astra is one of the most popular WordPress themes because of its versatility and speed. It offers lightweight, fast performance and can be customized for almost any type of website—whether it’s a blog, an eCommerce store, or a portfolio. Astra also integrates seamlessly with popular page builders, allowing for easy drag-and-drop customization. The theme comes with a library of pre-built templates that are ideal for beginners.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version of Astra starts at $49/year and offers additional customization options, advanced typography, header sections, and enhanced WooCommerce integration.
2 OceanWP
Best For: eCommerce sites
Loading Time: 734ms
Best Features: WooCommerce compatibility, SEO optimization, fast load times
OceanWP is a popular choice for eCommerce sites due to its deep integration with WooCommerce. It also comes with responsive design options and SEO-friendly features out of the box. OceanWP provides excellent flexibility with page builders like Elementor, enabling quick site setup. It also supports RTL languages, making it a great choice for international businesses.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $44/year and includes premium extensions for advanced features like sticky headers, WooCommerce pop-ups, and more demo sites.
3 Kadence
Best For: Customization options
Loading Time: 720ms
Best Features: Drag-and-drop header/footer builder, advanced typography, responsive design
Kadence is known for its easy customization features, allowing users to build unique websites without touching a single line of code. The theme comes with a drag-and-drop header and footer builder, along with many starter templates to choose from. Kadence also focuses on performance, making it a fast-loading theme.
Upgrade to Premium: Premium starts at $149/year and unlocks more advanced design options, including dynamic content layouts, mega menus, and premium plugins.
4 Neve
Best For: One-page websites
Loading Time: 568ms
Best Features: Lightweight, mobile-first design, AMP compatibility
Neve is a super-fast, lightweight theme ideal for one-page websites and portfolios. Its mobile-first design ensures that your site looks great on all devices, and it’s also AMP-compatible for even faster load times. Neve offers a wide array of pre-built demos that you can import with a single click, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to get their site up and running quickly.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $139/year and includes access to more demo sites, blog layouts, and WooCommerce enhancements.
5 GeneratePress
Best For: Lightweight blogs and websites
Loading Time: 403ms
Best Features: Fast performance, modular design, extensive customization options
GeneratePress is renowned for its speed and clean design. It’s a lightweight theme that’s perfect for bloggers or anyone looking for a simple yet highly functional site. GeneratePress uses a modular approach, so you only enable the features you need, keeping your site streamlined and fast. The theme is also highly customizable, with plenty of layout, color, and typography options.
Upgrade to Premium: Starting at $59/year, the premium version adds advanced modules, such as WooCommerce controls, hooks, and more extensive site library templates.
6 Botiga
Best For: Modern eCommerce stores
Loading Time: 678ms
Best Features: Sleek design, WooCommerce support, multiple product styles
Botiga is an excellent theme for creating modern and stylish eCommerce stores. It integrates perfectly with WooCommerce, offering clean and minimalist product layouts. The theme allows you to choose between various product styles and listing designs, ensuring that your store looks professional right from the start.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $79/year, offering additional product layouts, mega menu, and advanced customization options for WooCommerce just to name a few.
7 Woostify
Best For: WooCommerce stores
Loading Time: 946ms
Best Features: Optimized for WooCommerce, AJAX-powered filters, fast performance
Woostify is designed specifically for WooCommerce, making it a top choice for online stores. The theme is optimized for speed and SEO, which is critical for eCommerce. It includes features like AJAX-powered product filtering and real-time search results, ensuring a smooth shopping experience for users.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $49/year and offers enhanced product filters, wishlist features, and more layout options for your store.
8 Sydney
Best For: Business websites
Loading Time: 985ms
Best Features: Full-screen slider, customizable layout, header image options
Sydney is a clean, modern theme ideal for business websites. It comes with plenty of customization options, including a full-screen slider, customizable headers, and access to Google Fonts. Sydney is also fully responsive and works seamlessly with Elementor for fast site building.
Upgrade to Premium: Starting at $79/year, the premium version includes additional customization options, layout controls, and extra support.
9 Hueman
Best For: Blogs and magazines
Loading Time: 1124ms
Best Features: Responsive design, flexible layout options, high readability
Writeup: Hueman is an excellent theme for bloggers and online publications. It offers a highly responsive design with multiple column layouts, making it ideal for sites with a lot of content. Hueman also focuses on readability and user experience, providing a clean interface with lots of customization options.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $49/year and includes more header options, design features, and premium support.
10 Blocksy
Best For: Modern blogs and portfolios
Loading Time: 1170ms
Best Features: Gutenberg-ready, customizable, and mobile-first design
Writeup: Blocksy is a versatile theme that is fully compatible with Gutenberg and perfect for building modern blogs and portfolios. It offers a customizable interface with multiple layout options, ensuring your content is displayed in the best possible way.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $69/year and unlocks access to custom headers, mega menus, and more.
11 Zakra
Best For: Small businesses and startups
Loading Time: 790ms
Best Features: Lightweight design, flexible layouts, WooCommerce support
Writeup: Zakra is a lightweight and responsive theme that’s perfect for small businesses, startups, and even personal blogs. It comes with multiple demo sites that can be easily imported and a host of customization options. Zakra is also WooCommerce-ready, making it a great choice for eCommerce.
Upgrade to Premium: Premium starts at $69/year and adds more customization options, premium demo sites, and additional WooCommerce features.
12 Mission News
Best For: News and editorial websites
Loading Time: 1178ms
Best Features: Clean layout, responsive design, multiple post formats
Writeup: Mission News is tailored for news and editorial sites, offering a clean, content-focused layout that enhances readability. It supports multiple post formats, making it easy to publish articles, videos, and other media. The theme also features a responsive design to ensure your news site looks great on all devices.
Upgrade to Premium: The premium version starts at $49/year and provides more layout controls, advanced typography, and additional support.
FAQs
Can I customize these themes without coding skills?
Yes, all the themes listed here offer user-friendly customization options without the need for coding.
Are these themes regularly updated?
Yes, each of these themes comes from reputable developers who provide regular updates.
Do these themes work with page builders?
Most of the themes here are compatible with popular page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder.
Are these themes mobile-friendly?
Yes, all of these themes are responsive, meaning they work well on mobile devices.
Do I need the premium version for basic functionality?
No, the free versions of these themes are fully functional. However, premium versions unlock more advanced features.
Conclusion
Choosing the right theme can set the tone for your entire WordPress site. Whether you’re creating a blog, an eCommerce store, or a portfolio, these free WordPress themes offer an excellent starting point. They’re fast, SEO-friendly, and customizable, and if you ever need more advanced features, each has a premium upgrade option.
Take the time to choose one that fits your style and functional needs, and you’ll be on your way to building a successful site.