In a previous post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to know more about the benefits of using themes and what makes WP themes so revolutionary in terms of website design, then make sure to check out our post here: An Overview of WP Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where to search for free and paid themes for your WordPress site. You will also learn about the different types of WP theme resources and get tips on how to ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid dealing with problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a unique kind of web template used on WordPress-powered blogs and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many skilled web designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional WP themes covering an extensive range of applications.
Where To Find Responsive WordPress Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
If you were to open up Google and search for the following:
- best responsive themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for musicians (type in whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the search listings.
So, to help you save time and make things easier, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different post. To keep things simple, let’s just be covering the topic of finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your blog.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Marketplaces & Theme Shops
There are mostly two kinds of places where you can find themes. The first place is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme houses.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are big aggregators of themes. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
Some of the bigger theme stores don’t just sell WordPress themes. They can also sell WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme stores typically create both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of designer, to large theme design companies.
As you will see, many commercial theme developers sell themes exclusively on their own web sites, but some will also list their themes in marketplaces and directories, or even create a free or “lite” version of their themes for free directories .
Let’s now show you where to find the best themes for your website.
Where To Find Great WordPress Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WordPress Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to find WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as many free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress.org directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also relies on a review team comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find Themes Inside Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and start using it directly from inside your WordPress admin panel with only a couple of mouse clicks.
Use Theme Feature Filters
WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a pink colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the post where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ PCs, smartphones and tablets) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and bring back only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside of using free WP themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover costs of providing support and updates, bug fixes, etc..
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than a year since any updates were last made, then think twice about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively new, it’s a good idea to start with a free theme until you have a better idea of the kind of site design that would work best for your site before spending any money on a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and for converting your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to premium WP themes.
Premium WP Themes
If you are looking for themes with stunning web design, or professional quality yet highly affordable WordPress web design themes with a distinctive look, unique customizable options and great support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WP Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,500 premium themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to view more ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about employment opportunities, buy & sell, social directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, nightlife, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for catalogs, trades or professionals (repairers, dentists, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, green living sites or blogs … even themes you can use if your site is still under-construction!
When you purchase WordPress themes from ThemeForest, you will receive email notifications when a new update is available for your theme …
(ThemeForest sends you theme update notifications)
Go here to find quality premium WordPress themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can browse thousands of quality premium themes from independent theme creators.
As stated on their website …
“Creative Market is a platform for handcrafted, mousemade design content from independent creatives around the world.”
Creative Market doesn’t just sell WordPress themes in its marketplace, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great premium themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view all themes at Mojo)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium WordPress themes where theme vendors are strongly encouraged to provide customers with lifetime support and upgrades.
According to their website …
“Mojo is a marketplace where anyone can find, rate and buy quality themes & templates in one trusted place.”
Like Envato and Creative Market, Mojo doesn’t focus exclusively on WP themes, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium WP themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s look at commercial and independent theme vendors.
Commercial WP Theme Stores
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to browse more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs great themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their WordPress theme collection.
(click on the images above to view more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes creates amazing WordPress themes for e-commerce. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to browse all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many website developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes are always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you may have made to your theme.
This is because StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this sounds too technical, there’s no need to feel concerned about it. StudioPress themes are very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing StudioPress themes is that you pay one low price to receive unlimited support and updates, and you can install your themes on unlimited domains.
For more details, click here: StudioPress.
(click on the above images to see more StudioPress themes)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That.com
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme a website is using.
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the site uses.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a website was built using WordPress: How To Check If Your Site Was Built With WordPress
Using this tool is very simple. Just enter the site’s domain name into the field and click the search icon or hit “Enter.” The tool will not only confirm if the site is powered by the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any WP plugins detected.
- To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about this tool go here: How To Check If Your Web Site Was Built With WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker - WordPress Plugin
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A strategy that is commonly used by a number of hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber-crime is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org repository, or use established and reputable theme download sites.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could contain malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WordPress theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and then presents you with a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin Site)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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