There are hundreds of WordPress theme providers, and each has up to hundreds of free and paid themes. Therefore, choosing the right theme for your site can be an impossible task. Especially, if you have no experience.
Worry no more!
Over the years, we have tested many of the best and most popular WordPress themes and have found that a few stand out from the rest providers. We have now made our findings availabe for our readers.
In this article, you will find the 7 best WordPress themes in 2024 ranked by our experts in the website development field.
What are the WordPress themes?
WordPress themes are prebuilt website templates that allow you to install a website design in a matter of minutes. Change images, text, and colors to match your brand, and you have a working website. You may also let web design agencies customise the theme to better suit your brand identity.
Types of WordPress Themes
There are free and paid themes, and both have pros and cons you need to know before you decide which one to choose.
Free themes
WordPress has over 11000 free themes you could potentially choose to install for your website and be done with it. But should you choose a free theme, this is the question you should ask. Let me explain.
There are enormous disadvantages to free themes. They are often so limited in the features and design options, meaning it’s almost impossible to create a good-looking or functional website unless you know how to customize it with a code. If that’s not you, choose paid themes.
Paid themes
Paid premium themes are designed to allow maximum design options, even if you are completely a beginner. Each part of the website layout and elements are easily customisable, making website development as easy, fast and effective as possible.
The best premium WordPress themes all have common traits:
- High Performance
- Ease of use
- Lightweight code
- Highly customizable
Comparing the cons and pros of free and paid themes
| Free Themes | Premium Themes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | Free | Enhanced features and functionalities |
| Accessible to all users | Professional design and aesthetics | |
| Regular updates | ||
| Exclusive customer support | ||
| Unique and customizable designs | ||
| High speed & performance | ||
| Cons | Limited features and customisation options | Cost involved in purchasing the theme |
| Less unique | ||
| Limited or no support from developers | ||
| Low performance issues |
Are premium WordPress themes really worth the pay?
Yes, WordPress themes are worth the pay because they make your life so much easier. They are professionally designed and have functions that allow you to easily manage your site without restrictions like free themes.
We believe they are actually too cheap, especially if you compare them with custom website development.
Three large pizzas are what your premium theme usually costs. It’s true. It’s not much, but the time and headache you save is worth many times that.
You may also want to read:
7 best WordPress themes
- Astra
- StudioPress
- Divi
- Flatsome
- Hello Elementor
- OceanWP
- GeneratePress
Astra themes
Astra themes are lightweight, fully customizable, and suited for blogs, businesses, and eCommerce websites.
They have over 250 starter templates, which is one of the largest collections of premium WordPress themes.
Astra themes make designing your site super easy. Change menus, layouts, footer designs, and custom widgets. I would say it is easier than with any other theme.
Not to mention that Astra comes with easy integration with WooCommerce plugins like cart, checkout, product quick view, and many others – Allowing you to build successful online store.
Key Features:
- Known for its lightweight and fast-loading themes.
- Excellent library of pre-built website templates.
- User-friendly designs and layouts good for beginners, and hooks and filters great for even advanced customization.
StudioPress themes
StudioPress themes are professional designs and one of the best WordPress themes we have come across. There is a total of 10 StudioPress themes that you could choose from, each more beautiful than the other.
Studipress themes are known for their lightweight code and super-fast Genesis framework.
The best part is that WP Engine, a premium hosting company recently bought the StudioPress and has made their themes free of charge when you purchase their hosting. What used to cost around €120 for a theme and Genesis framework is free.
In addition, they have a Genesis Pro page builder (paid) that would extend the control of blocks and layouts, allowing you to build a website even faster.
The only real con we have found with StudioPress is that there is a bit of a learning curve to understand Genesis, but with so much information available online, it is nothing to worry about.
Key features:
- Robust and secure Genesis framework, known for its solid security features, helping keep WordPress sites secure.
- Lightweight, fast and SEO-friendly code.
- Responsive design for optimal viewing on various devices.
Divi theme by Elegant Themes
Divi is yet another very popular WordPress theme designed by a company called Elegant Themes. They have over 23000 5-star reviews on Trustpilot alone, which shows the popularity of the theme.
This theme is also known for its 1 click demo importer sites like many others in our list. But with hundreds of ready-made layouts for many niches and industries, it is an ideal option for small to medium businesses or personal brands.
In addition, it has the ultimate page builder that makes your site drag and click, which means you can move elements and layouts around and add new sections with full control.
Key features:
- Drag-and-drop page builder for intuitive design.
- Global elements and styles for unlimited design possibilities.
- Extensive module library for various simple and advanced functionalities.
Flatsome theme
Flatsome is another fast WordPress theme, perfect for online shops or business websites.
It is a multipurpose theme, which means, aside from just a theme, it has focused on enhancing WordPress and the WooCommerce experience by developing its own plugins. All these plugins are from the same provider, making the site fast-load and responsive to enhance user experience. To name a few: improved mini cart, ajax filtering widget filtering and sorting, and much more.
In addition, Flatsome themes come with over 300 pre-defined layouts and sections, allowing you to create a beautiful site without any coding experience.
We have also used Flatsome many times in various projects and never regretted the decision.
Key features:
- Optimized for e-commerce and WooCommerce.
- Drag-and-drop builder for customization.
- Pre-built elements and sections for quick site-building.
- Live preview of the theme options panel.
Hello Elementor theme
Our next favorite WordPress theme is Hello Elementor. It utilizes an Elementor plugin to allow you to create websites using a drag-and-drop page editor.
Elementor makes your site fully customizable. You can easily change each layout, header, and footer. As with others, you need the premium version to have that flexibility.
Elementor has over 100 design widgets induced 24 WooCommerce specific widgets. It gives you the ability to design websites and stores that stand out from the competitors.
Key features:
- Lightweight and fast.
- Minimalist theme designed for Elementor page builder.
- Provides a blank canvas for complete design freedom
OceanWP
Another best WordPress theme in our list is OceanWP that also comes with a multipurpose function. It’s developed to give users complete control over design features and options. Also, it is lightweight and highly compatible with the most popular WordPress plugins.
You can easily integrate the theme with the Elementor page builder, and is highly recommended. So you can turn your theme into a page builder and harvest the full potential of the OceanWP theme capabilities.
What sets them apart is unbeatable WordPress customization & styling options. Effortlessly change fonts, elements, layouts – you name it. Custom templates, 1 click Google fonts integration, and much more.
Key features:
- Highly customizable and responsive.
- WooCommerce compatibility for online stores.
- Demo import for quick website setup.
GeneratePress theme
Last but not least theme in our list is GeneratePress. It is lightweight, fast, and perfect for sites of all sizes.
GeneratePress takes website design to the next level with an innovative block-based theme builder. It means you can drag and drop fully designed dynamic elements, allowing you to have total freedom to create whatever you wish.
It provides unlimited options, from page templates to custom hero sections and anything in between. It lets you create what you need without touching the code unless you are comfortable with it and need it. Another great WordPress theme we have come across and highly recommend.
Key features:
- Lightweight and fast performance.
- Modular design for optimized loading times.
- Accessibility-focused and mobile-friendly.