60+ Free Premium WordPress Themes
Whether you’re just getting started with WordPress or you’re looking to try something new, setting up your site with a new theme can make all the difference.
And while the very best themes come from premium developers, you might not always want to shell out the bucks to try one on for size.
There are plenty of really great free themes available in the WordPress directory, don’t get me wrong. But it’s undoubtedly a mixed bag and unless you know what you’re looking for, you could wind up with a subpar theme at best.
That’s why it’s such a good idea to use free themes that are made by premium developers. Some of these themes can then be updated to a premium version—freemium, anyone? But even if you decide to forego the premium features, these free themes stand well on their own and can be used to build just about any kind of site you can imagine.
Let’s not delay the excitement any longer. Surely one of these free themes from premium developers ought to suit your fancy?
This article is 100% affiliate-free!
We will never take money to promote others, everything you read is genuine. Learn more.
Theme Junkie — BiancaA
Like to blog, include some photos, but keep things simple? Then BiancaA from Theme Junkie ought to suit your needs. This minimal theme includes an advanced control panel, search engine optimization, ad management, support, custom page templates, and custom widgets for social sites like Twitter and Flickr.
Theme Junkie — Delivery Lite
Start a magazine quick with Delivery Lite. This theme offers a simple design that won’t detract from your content, a mobile-friendly layout, and the ability to customize the logo and favicon if you want. It also includes a featured posts slider, pagination, four widgetized areas, two menus, and breadcrumbs.
WPShower — Portra
The Porta theme offers horizontal scrolling for displaying your best artwork or photography. It’s responsive and very simple, letting your work speak for itself. You can customize the fonts, colors, and more. You can also use a standard gallery to insert a portfolio on any post or page.
Graph Paper Press — Business
The Business theme from Graph Paper Press is designed with agencies and small studios in mind. It’s responsive and you can customize the logo, header, background color, menus, and more. It also includes a drag-and-drop slideshow interface.
Graph Paper Press — Onesie
If all you need is a one-page site, Onesie is a stunning choice. It’s a landing page that can be used for a business or event site. It’s responsive and easy to customize to include your logo, background image, and fonts. You can’t create posts or pages with it but it does the one page thing really well.
Themify — Basic
Basic is just that—basic. But that’s a really good thing, especially if you’re just starting out with WordPress. The layout is super simple, which gives you the freedom to customize the look and feel using the Themify options panel. This theme is responsive and includes a lightbox gallery, RSS, social icons, footer menu, 5 theme skins, child theme support, and more.
Obox — Minimal
The Minimal theme from Obox is just that—minimal, in that it lets you easily display your writing in such a way that it can be read with ease. It’s responsive, features an unobtrusive widget area, allows for customization, and includes a Portfolio section.
CyberChimps — Blox
Build a site fast using the drag-and-drop interface included with the Blox theme from CyberChimps. It’s built on Bootstrap, is responsive, and is optimized for touch screens. Select from several customization options as well like backgrounds, colors, sticky posts, and more.
CyberChimps — Radiant
Radiant is another CyberChimps theme that offers a drag-and-drop interface. It’s designed for setting up a site fast and since it’s built on Bootstrap, you know it’s going to be reliable. Select from custom colors, menus, and more.
CyberChimps — Parallax
Parallax is a free responsive theme from CyberChimps that looks great on any device and uses parallax scrolling to keep your site fresh, relevant, and visually interesting. Show off stunning photography as a background image and build each page using a drag-and-drop editor.
CyberChimps — Fresh Lite
This simple theme is drag-and-drop and responsive (of course), plus it offers a nice green and gray color scheme that can work with just about any type of site. The prominent slider at the top is a nice touch, too.
CyberChimps — Fine
The Fine theme offers all the same features as the other CyberChimps themes we’ve mentioned so far plus it’s SEO optimized, includes dynamic templates for each page, and multiple sidebar layouts so you can take control of your content.
CyberChimps — Eclipse
Responsive? Yes. Drag-and-drop? Yes. Eclipse follows in the footsteps of other CyberChimps themes but tacks on more features like a feature slider, a portfolio element, and robust page and sidebar options.
CyberChimps — Mobile First
As its name would suggest, the Mobile First theme is designed for viewing on mobile devices first and foremost. It’ll look great on desktops, too, but it was made with mobile in mind and that’s what makes it so particularly useful.
Themes Kingdom — Limpia
Clue your site visitors in to the fact that your site is going to launch in the near future with Limpia. This “coming soon” theme includes a responsive design, multiple colors, a white-labeled custom theme admin, MailChimp, countdown timer, and more.
GavickPro — Magazine
Build a magazine that still carries a familiar blog structure using the Magazine theme from GavickPro. With this theme you can change up the layout and it includes the Tabs and News Show widgets, a social API, tons of fonts, and WPML support.
GavickPro — Perfetta
Perfetta is perfect for websites for cafés and small restaurants, featuring interesting typography and prominent photography. It makes full use of the Theme Customizer and includes reveal animations for an added touch of style. It’s not super feature-rich but doesn’t need to be.
GavickPro — Portfolio
Display your latest works professionally without spending a dime on a theme. Portfolio from GavickPro is easy-to-use and includes reveal animations, responsive design, social icons and inks, share buttons, Disqus support, multiple color schemes, Google Fonts, and more.
Theme Horse — Interface
You can build a responsive business site in minutes with the Interface theme. It includes two site layouts, four post/page layouts, eight widget areas, six custom widgets, a featured slider, social icons, and the ability to customize the background, colors, fonts, and so on. It also supports WP-PageNavi and Contact Form 7.
Theme Horse — Ultimate
Ultimate is another business theme option from Theme Horse that offers a responsive design, multiple page layouts and widget areas, 5 custom widgets, a featured slider, and more. It also has a pretty extensive theme customizer for getting your site to look and function exactly as you want it.
Think Up Themes — Minamaze
Minamaze—because it’s minimal and amazing, get it? This theme offers a clean design with functional and attractive blog and portfolio layouts. It’s also responsive and includes 10 widgets, Google Fonts, SEO, retina-readiness, and free updates.
Think Up Themes — Engrave Lite
Engrave Lite sports a dark color scheme that lets your content truly stand out. It’s responsive, retina-ready, and SEO optimized for your convenience. Plus, it includes plenty of widgets and fonts to keep you customizing to your heart’s content.
Compete Themes — Tracks
Create a beautiful personal blog or photography site using the Tracks theme. It includes social media icons, comment controls, multiple layouts, and a logo uploader. Other features include sticky post and a responsive layout.
Compete Themes — Ignite
Ignite was made with blogs in mind. This responsive theme includes social media icons, two sidebar layouts, multiple fonts, custom background colors, and a logo uploader. A premium upgrade is available (of course) but you can easily build an eye-catching blog with just the free version.
Compete Themes — Drop
Drop is another theme from Compete Themes designed for blogging. It’s responsive and accessible, so your content can be enjoyed by the greatest number of people possible.
WPExplorer — Corporate
If you want to build a business site but don’t have the funds to invest in a premium theme, Corporate ought to do the trick. This theme is lightweight and professional, plus it includes custom post types, a slider, and staff support.
WPExplorer — Elegant
This theme is clean, precise, and easily adaptable to portfolio and business sites. It includes custom post types for portfolio items, staff members, and homepage features, a slider, and numerous theme customization options from colors to copyright text.
WPExplorer — Blogger
With the Blogger theme, you can create a blog that actually is nice to look at. It includes features like sticky posts, infinite scroll, password protection, and ad space. Feel free to upload a custom logo and swap out the menu and change your color preferences, too.
WPExplorer — Bizz
Here’s another theme from WPExplorer that lets you build a business or portfolio site quickly. It includes all the features we’ve discussed so far like a slider and custom post types and tacks on a few more as well like highlights and a paginated portfolio.
FREE EBOOK
Your step-by-step roadmap to a profitable web dev business. From landing more clients to scaling like crazy.
FREE EBOOK
Plan, build, and launch your next WP site without a hitch. Our checklist makes the process easy and repeatable.
WPExplorer — GoPress
This minimalistic magazine theme is lightweight and can be used for personal blogging, too. It includes featured images, a video post type, drag-and-drop widgets, and control over several theme customization options.
WPExplorer — WPTuts
The WPTuts theme makes it easy to set up a blog fast. It includes a lightweight design that keeps your site running fast, too. It has a featured posts slider, two post types, a header ad, Symple Shortcodes support, and more.
Simple Themes — Skeleton
Skeleton is a minimal, responsive WordPress theme build on the smpl framework that’s designed to give developers a starting point for building a fully-functional site. Some of its features include multi-level navigation, SEO, individual page layouts, multiple color options, and commented CSS.
ThemeZee — Anderson
Anderson is a magazine theme that sports a responsive design, a featured post slider, and plenty of theme options to keep you satisfied. It can be used for virtually any kind of site and includes support for the theme customizer, which lets you select sidebar layouts, social content, and post settings.
ThemeZee — Rubine
Thanks to Rubine, you can create a retina-ready magazine that displays your best content right up front. It can do this thanks to a featured content area on the homepage. The responsive design also means it’s highly readable on any and all devices.
ThemeZee — Dynamic News
Build a news-style website, blog, or magazine with Dynamic News. This theme features a bold design with bright colors and blocky font choices that definitely attract attention. It’s responsive and features a front page template you can outfit to look just like a magazine, with a featured post slider to boot.
ThemeZee — Smartline
Smartline is so called because it features “smart lines.” The layout is incredibly clean with minimal fuss. Build a regular ol’ blog or a magazine quickly thanks to widgetized templates on the front page.
Theme Grill — Esteem
Esteem is a responsive theme you can use for just about any purpose. It includes a slider, custom widgets, three blog posts, page templates, a custom header and background image, two page layouts, custom CSS, and free support.
Kadence Themes — Pinnacle
Pinnacle is just gorgeous, isn’t it? This theme is responsive and utilizes a flat design that’s both attractive and modern. It’s multipurpose and compatible with WooCommerce and includes support for the WMPL plugin.
Kadence Themes — Virtue Free
Virtue Free includes a ton of features, so many you’d swear it’s a premium theme. It’s built on Bootstrap, so you know it’s responsive and comes with a portfolio custom post type for displaying your best work. The theme options panel is also feature-rich and lets you select custom fonts, sliders, and layouts.
Kopa Theme — Xmax
Xmax is made specifically for magazines and offers plenty of layout, post, and widget options to satisfy all of your potential needs. It’s responsive, includes unlimited sidebars, includes social link support, and is child theme compatible for your convenience.
Kopa Theme — KARO
KARO looks really professional but can be used for a personal blog if you really want. It’s built on HTML5 and CSS3 and is responsive, plus it includes several layout options, sidebar layouts, social links, widgets, and a featured posts slider. It also includes free support.
Kopa Theme — News Mix
This responsive magazine theme lets you build a comprehensive news site in a matter of minutes. The layout is professional but still visually interesting. It also includes custom widgets, jQuery comment validation, and multiple layouts to choose from. Plus, the theme options panel is chock full of selections you can make.
Kopa Theme — Fast News
Fast News is a minimalistic, responsive theme designed for use on magazine sites. You can choose from different page layouts to suit the purposes of your content, unlimited sidebars, a post slider for displaying your top articles, and more.
Kopa Theme — Forceful
This magazine theme lets you pick from several different layouts, even on a page-by-page basis, to ensure you’re displaying your content optimally. It has all the features included in the other Kopa Theme selections we’ve discussed so far like a featured posts slider, social links, and support.
Kopa Theme — Circle
Circle is truly versatile. This theme can be modified for use as a blog, a magazine, or even a corporate site. It has a responsive design, several layouts, widgets, a post slider, child theme compatibility, and more. It’s also translation-ready.
Kopa Theme — Resolution
Here’s another theme that lets you create any kind of site you want thanks to a combination of multiple layouts, sidebar options, and theme customization options. It also includes custom shortcodes, and is compatible across multiple browsers.
Kopa Theme — Musica
In case you haven’t had enough magazine theme options yet, Musica gives you yet another candidate to choose from. This theme puts your content first, so your site visitors can read it with ease. It was built on Bootstrap, sports a responsive design, and includes plenty of shortcodes, elements, fonts, a contact form, and more.
Kopa Theme — Nictitate
Nictitate is just perfect for building a business website. The design is sleek and works well to convey a professional look for your brand. Include a portfolio with ease. It also includes a responsive layout, a visual shortcode generator, custom widgets, multiple sidebars, and plenty of theme options to keep you busy.
Kopa Theme — WP-Corporate
Give your site a professional look fast with the WP-Corporate theme. It’s responsive, mobile-ready, and built on HTML5 and CSS3. The portfolio page has two styles. Plenty of short codes are included along with Google Fonts, as well as 10 page templates. An Ajax/PHP contact form is also included.
ThemeAlley — Alexandria
Here’s a simple business theme that’s built with HTML5 and CSS3 and includes a dedicated home page layout. In fact, the home page has a welcome section, product or service text/icon blocks, and a testimonial section. It also comes with two color schemes, three footer widget areas, and a full-width page template.
MyThemeShop — Point
With this offering, MyThemeShop lets you build any kind of site you want. The layout is responsive and flexible. Select from several site layouts, colors, backgrounds, and more in the theme customizer. It also includes a related posts widget and RTL support.
Catch Themes — Catch Box
Catch Box is a simple boxed theme designed for professional and personal use. It was built using HTML5 and CSS3 and includes custom menus, multiple color options, featured sliders, a custom header, custom backgrounds, social links, and more.
Catch Themes — Catch Kathmandu
If you need a lightweight, responsive theme that still has some visual appeal, you might want to check out Catch Kathmandu. This theme is easy to customize using the theme options panel. It features custom menus, a custom header, multiple post formats, and a full-width layout.
Siteturner — Now We're Talkin
This mobile-first theme is responsive and well-suited for personal and professional websites. More than anything else, it’s eye-catching with a prominent slider and a theme options panel that lets you specify the layout, colors, and backgrounds you want.
Siteturner — Why Hello There
Build a magazine or a blog with Why Hello There. This theme offers support for the Flexslider so you can easily highlight your most recent or best content. The fixed header is a nice feature, too. There are plenty of color and font options to choose from in the customizer as well.
Siteturner — Jump Right In
Jump Right In is aptly named—with it you can jump right into developing a business site. It’s responsive and lightweight and features a design perfect for corporate and artsy sites. Plus you can change the background, change your color options, and modify the layout, too.
The Theme Foundry — Make
Make is a drag-and-drop theme that can be used to build any kind of site you want. While you can upgrade it to a developer version, the free version is chock full of features, too. A single click can add columns, banners, products, and downloads to your site. It also includes several Customizer options, support, and documentation.
For more options, be sure to check out our list of free themes here, our ultimate guide to free WordPress themes, and our posts about free high-quality WordPress themes and free responsive WordPress business themes.
Tags:
Brenda Barron Brenda is a freelance writer from Southern California. She specializes in WordPress, tech, and business and founded WP Theme Roundups. When not writing about all things, she's spending time with her family.