Leading Premium WordPress Theme Providers Compared

Leading Premium WordPress Theme Providers Compared

Have you ever looked at your WordPress theme and thought, “Eh, this isn’t that great…” There are a lot of excellent free themes for WordPress, but if you can’t find one that’s working great for you, you may want to consider a premium one.

One of the many reasons to love WordPress is the easy availability of various readymade themes to help you give your website or blog a unique look.

In fact, a search for “wordpress themes” on Google returns over 154,000,000 results (whew!).

However, searching for WordPress themes on Google is not the best solution, and this is where premium theme providers come into play. Premium themes can turn things around and make you look at your site and say, “Wow! Now THAT’S impressive.”

They can oftentimes be a great addition to your WordPress site in terms of looks, functionality, support, updates, and more.

In this article, I’ll be taking a closer look at 10 premium theme makers for WordPress that can help brush-up your site.

They include:

WooCommerce

Elegant Themes

StudioPress

WPZOOM

Graph Paper Press

Organic Themes

Superb Themes

CSSIgniter

DevPress

AF Themes

But first…

Why Use a Premium Theme

The benefits of using premium themes over free ones are many. Often, even the best free themes are found lacking in features as compared to premium ones.

Not only do premium themes have cleaner code and better features, but they also come with proper support and documentation to help you out just in case something does not work.

Naturally, if you are serious about your WordPress site and your budget allows for it, you should consider a premium theme.

However, when it comes to picking a premium theme, the choices can be overwhelming. There are several theme makers out there — both good and bad.

So, how does one decide which provider to trust? This is precisely what I’ll attempt to answer in this article.

I’ll be going over some good options for you. Also, I’ll be including pricing, features, and several benefits.

By the time you read through this, you’ll hopefully have a better idea if a premium theme is right for you. And if so, where to go to purchase it and get your WordPress site improved and awesome.

Breaking it Down…

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is, arguably, the leading theme provider when it comes to premium eCommerce WordPress themes. Some years back, WooCommerce also used to offer themes for CMSs such as Expression Engine, though of late they have been focusing primarily on WordPress.

Woo Commerce

Apart from themes, WooCommerce also offers a good selection of extensions.

And what exactly does their collection consist of? As of now, they cover practically anything that you would need to specifically get set up with an eCommerce store. You’ll find a large variety of premium themes that will fall into your category of what you feature.

The general pricing for individual themes varies and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. Though if you are opting for WooThemes, a Club Membership makes much more sense and also gives you access to all the themes. There is also a selection of free themes to choose from.

WooThemes offers extensive documentation, support videos, and also has its own help desk for your queries.

Pricing:

  • Club Membership: $199 annually
  • Individual Themes: Free to $39+

2. Elegant Themes

Elegant Themes is another extremely popular provider. It may also be the most budget-friendly. They also offer a number of plugins that work well with their premium themes.

Elegant themes

Elegant Themes claims to have over 683,000 customers, making it extremely popular.

They specialize in offering the complete package, beyond just themes. This includes website packs, product updates, support, and more.

There is not an option to select just one theme, though you will not really miss that option either. You can choose between an annual or lifetime membership that gives you 800+ pre-made layouts, story-driven blog post templates, and regular updates.

Pricing:

  • Developer Membership: $89 per year
  • Lifetime Access: $249 one-time (no annual fee)

3. StudioPress

StudioPress is well known for its Genesis Framework. In fact, StudioPress offers both free and premium themes, though you will need to purchase the Genesis Framework for the free child themes as well.

Studiopress

The collection of themes is huge, and it is backed by another plethora of themes released by the community. Genesis Framework is well known for its customization tweaks, and Studio Press’ collection of themes will not disappoint you either.

The Genesis Framework itself costs $59.95 for a quick and easy building of a WordPress site.

In terms of support, there is a separate help section for theme buyers, and pre-sales questions can be sent using the contact form on the website. There are also tutorials for customers as well as certain code snippets.

Pricing:

  • Pro Plus All-Theme Package: $499.95

4. WPZOOM

WPZOOM has a slightly smaller collection of themes as compared to the likes of WooThemes or Elegant Themes. As of now, WPZOOM offers over 40 themes (including some free ones).

WPZoom

In spite of having fewer themes, WPZOOM seems to be growing well and has established a reputation for itself in the premium themes market. The support options are plenty, including pre-sales FAQ, documentation, tutorials, and forums. WPZOOM also has its own Customization Team that can help you get the most out of your themes.

Their pricing scheme is one of the most clearly defined out there. You can get an All Themes Package, All Themes Package Basic, and All Themes Package PRO. Each one contains access to all 40+ themes and offers support.

Pricing:

  • All Themes Package: $99 per year
  • All Themes Package Basic: $129 per year
  • All Themes Package PRO: $139 per year

5. Graph Paper Press

Graph Paper Press creates WordPress themes and eCommerce plugins especially meant for photographers and creative artists. Currently, GPP offers over 40 themes (including some good free ones, such as MixFolio).

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Graph paper press

Apart from WordPress themes and plugins, Graph Paper Press also offers hosting solutions for its users.

In terms of the theme collection, as mentioned above, the primary target audience includes photographers and other artists. Naturally, the themes belong mainly to the “portfolio” genre.

The pricing is rather simple: there are various plans. You can get the Basic, Professional, or Lifetime. They all include access to all the plugins, automatic updates, and tech support. All are monthly (except for the Lifetime membership).

Pricing:

  • Basic: $8.25 per month
  • Professional: $12.42 per month
  • Lifetime: $399 one-time payment

6. Organic Themes

The sixth theme provider on our list, Organic Themes, currently has 42 responsive and 8 free themes. It is a well-known name, which is perhaps most famous for its Structure theme.

Organic Themes

You can purchase single themes for $69 a year, or opt for access to all themes for $99 a year. There’s also a developer option. Detailed documentation, resources, and tutorials are available for customers.

Pricing:

  • Developer: $249 per year
  • All Access: $99 per year
  • Single Theme: $69 per year

7. Superb Themes

Just like many other providers on this list, Superb Themes also offers both themes and plugins. The collection of themes have numerous choices to choose from that will fit any topic that your WordPress site is based on.

superb-themes

Support is offered via a contact page.

The pricing is simple: you can either go for the Business Subscription, which costs $67 annually and has access to 30+ premium themes, or the Lifetime Acess which is one payment of $199 and has access to all premium themes.

Pricing:

  • Business: $67 annually
  • Lifetime: $199 One-time payment

8. CSSIgniter

CSSIgniter offers over 80+ premium WordPress themes and 24/7 support. It’s great value for what all they include and the themes are impressive.

They cover a variety of topics and areas and aren’t focused on just one (e.g. photography). You can view live demos for each theme and they give a nice display of them in their gallery.

CSSIgniter

The pricing is only $69 for complete access, however, they often times offer promotions (e.g. it’s currently $48). That includes unlimited site usage, premium support, automatic updates, and more. They’re all very compatible with your favorite plugins and trusted by over 100,000 customers.

Pricing:

  • Single Theme: $49
  • Standard Club: $69
  • Developer Club: $79
  • Lifetime Club: $249

9. DevPress

DevPress primarily offers themes built using the Hybrid Core framework. Almost all the themes are responsive and light-weight. The number of themes in the collection is not high.

They’re very simple to set up and use and they also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.

DevPress

The pricing is very standard. You can buy individual themes (and several are offered for free) or get the entire theme collection for $69.

Support is offered only using the support ticket system.

Pricing:

  • Free or $69 for all themes

10. AF Themes

AF Themes craft some pretty amazing themes. Not only that, but they also have templates and plugins, too.

It’s nice to be able to preview all of the themes and their site gives you a nice feel for how it will look with your site. They also offer chat, ticket support, and detailed information on what all is included (e.g. preloader option).

AF Themes

In regards to pricing, each theme is sold individually. The price depends on the number of site licenses with each theme and starts at around $59 for one site.

Pricing: 
  • $59 and up (depending on the number of site licenses)

Conclusion

There you have it — a comparison of some of the top premium theme providers!

They all have different values and offers, so it really comes down to what exactly you’re looking for with your theme.

All of them have one form of support or the other, however, some seem to go above and beyond with theirs (e.g. 24/7 support with CSSIgniter).

Also, most of the premium theme providers offer membership clubs for buyers. If you are looking for just one theme for your blog or website, a membership might not appeal to you. However, if you need access to multiple themes, you can opt for a club membership.

Another useful pricing model is the Lifetime Membership, which requires you to pay a fixed amount upfront and gets you lifetime membership benefits. As noted above, Elegant Themes follows this Lifetime Membership model and the pricing is $249 one-time.

Including a premium theme can add that extra element of functionality, style, design, and more that will make your site have the look it deserves.

Keep in mind, with any of the themes, prices are subject to change — so be sure to find out on their individual sites. I noticed many special offers and discounts as well (which will constantly be different).

With good themes, there is an opportunity for amazing hosting and premium plugins. We offer both (and much more) here at WPMU DEV.

Also, keep in mind that if your premium theme doesn’t have 24/7 support, we do, and can help you get it set up, answer any questions, and get your WordPress site up-and-running in no time. Be sure to check out what all we can offer and try us free for seven days.

So what are you waiting for? Trade-in that clunky old theme for a premium one today and you AND your visitors will be saying, “This is great!” about your WordPress site in no time.

Which is your favorite provider when it comes to premium themes? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!

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James Farmer CEO of Incsub, WPMU DEV, CampusPress & Edublogs

N. Fakes Nathanael Fakes is a blog writer and cartoonist at WPMU DEV. He’s worked with WordPress for over a decade. Beyond WordPress, he’s a published author, syndicated cartoonist, and donut enthusiast. Connect with Nate on Instagram and learn more about his work on his comics website.