In another post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WordPress themes and what makes themes unique, then make sure to check out our article here: An Overview of WordPress Themes
In this article, we show you where you can look for free and paid themes for your site. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poor coding.
As we’ve explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a special type of web template that is used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many skilled website designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of high quality themes designed for many purposes and needs.
Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: Too Much Information … Where To Begin?
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like the following:
- best WP themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for churches (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of 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 get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different article. For now, please note that we will only focus on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your website.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be licensed for use as Premium (paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories & Theme Development Firms
There are mostly two kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first place is in WP theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme houses.
WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are big aggregators of themes. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
Some of the larger theme stores don’t just sell WordPress themes. They can also sell WordPress plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme design companies can develop both free and commercial WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design and development companies.
Most commercial or independent theme companies 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best themes for your website.
Where To Find A Great WordPress Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free WordPress Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to search for WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason why, is because –as some free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.
The WP directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with high standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Search For Free Themes Inside Your Own WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP admin panel with just a couple of clicks.
Use The WP Theme Filtering
WordPress provides a filtering function inside the admin area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …
This makes it easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly orange colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will work across all devices (e.g. the laptops, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to view your information) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …
… and find only themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and offer 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 WordPress themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and it’s unrealistic to expect the developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes ask for donations to help cover their support costs.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than a year since any changes were last made, then we advise you to think twice about using it, as WordPress is frequently updated and these changes can create conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website 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 premium themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for your site and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WP themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to premium themes.
Paid 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, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and well known WordPress theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers 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 images above to see all themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and administration sites, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for video galleries, writing professionals, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites about travel, classifieds, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for fashion blogs, dining out, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. home sales, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shopping, trades or professionals (repairers, dental practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, parenting 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)
Browse thousands of great themes in the ThemeForest themes marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to browse more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can browse thousands of quality premium WP 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 directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium-quality WP 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 browse hundreds of WordPress themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Magazine or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial theme development firms.
Commercial Theme Vendors
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see all themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs eye-catching themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offers a membership option that allows members access to all themes in their growing WP theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in 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 see all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework consistently updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that themes remain always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.
This is because themes built using the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the framework and gives your site its unique design.
If this sounds way 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 one low price allows you to receive unlimited support and updates, and you can install your themes on unlimited domains.
For more details, click here: StudioPress.
(click on the images above to browse more themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a few more useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website is using (including parent and child WP themes).
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the site.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site runs on WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website is WP-driven: Was My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell
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 has been built on WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about this tool go here: Is Your Web Site Built With WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A tactic that is commonly used by many hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute modified themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress.org directory, or use established and reputable sites.
If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may contain malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of your WP theme files. This plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and presents you with a report with the results …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WP free and paid themes useful.
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