Best WordPress Themes in 2023

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So, you’ve stalked other websites and gathered some design inspiration, your brain is overflowing with ideas, and you’re ready to design your blog.

But there’s just one tiny problem…

You have no clue how to apply those ideas to your own site.

Or maybe you already tried and ended up with something completely different.

Just like that Pinterest recipe you tried the other day.

Expectation vs. reality cake

Don’t worry, I’ve been there too.

When I was starting out, I used a random free WordPress theme someone recommended and ended up having a hard time customizing it.

I had to install several plugins and add some code to make it look somewhat decent.

Good news is, choosing a great WordPress theme can make this process easier, and without you having to learn how to code.

The themes we’ll cover in this blog post are not only nice-looking, but fast and lightweight, which is crucial for better user experience and Google rankings.

We’ll also look at some of the most underperforming themes.

Here are the best WordPress themes for blogs we’ll cover in this post:

  1. GeneratePress Premium
  2. Kadence Pro
  3. Artisan Themes
  4. Genesis Framework
  5. Astra Pro

Here are the best FREE WordPress themes we’ll cover in this post:

  1. GeneratePress
  2. Kadence
  3. Astra
  4. OceanWP
  5. Twenty Twenty

Contents

  1. Why your WordPress theme matters
  2. Best WordPress themes
  3. Free vs. premium themes
  4. Best free WordPress themes for blogs
  5. Most underperforming WordPress themes
  6. List of best WordPress templates by category

Disclosure: You should always assume that pretty much every link on this site is an affiliate link, and if you click it and buy something you like, I’ll earn some money to help me buy a DeLorean, build a time machine, and travel back to the 90s so I can watch Hey Arnold! and eat Dunkaroos again.

Why Your WordPress Theme Matters

Choosing the best WordPress theme for your blog isn’t only about looks and features.

You must also take in consideration speed, security, responsiveness, and support.

Site Speed

  • In 2018, Google announced that page speed was a ranking factor in search engine result pages (SERPs), especially in mobile searches.
  • Most people leave a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
  • Your host and theme are the two elements that affect your site speed the most.

Security

  • 6% of hacking attacks are caused by WordPress themes and 5% by a vulnerability on the hosting platform.

Responsiveness

  • More than 50% of people consume content on their phones.
  • Google has mentioned the importance of making your site mobile responsive.

Support

  • As a beginner blogger, you’re going to need all the support you can get, trust me.

Best WordPress Themes

1. GeneratePress Premium

GeneratePress is my favorite theme for both beginner bloggers and experienced developers.

It’s a theme that provides the tools that 90% of users need to build a light, lean, and fast loading site.

It’s not a theme that focuses on adding a ton of unnecessary features that cause code bloat and slow page speeds just to impress newbies and get them to purchase it.

Great performance and quality support are what made GeneratePress so popular and a favorite among DIYers and coders.

In fact, most people who buy these “all-in-one” expensive themes promoted by “six-figure” bloggers end up moving to cheaper, easier-to-use, and better themes like GeneratePress.

Divi to GeneratePress comment

And yes, I use GeneratePress on both of my websites.

GeneratePress theme homepage
GeneratePress

Pros of GeneratePress Premium:

  • Beginner-Friendly. Their documentation, easy-to-navigate customization options, quality support, and engaged community are what make GeneratePress one of the best WordPress themes for blogs. They’ve also been around for more than 6 years, which means you can google almost any question you might have and find an answer.
  • Compatible with Page Builders. GeneratePress works seamlessly with drag-and-drop page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder. In fact, they have several premade templates made using those page builders.
  • Premade Templates. If you’re a beginner, building a website from scratch can sound a little scary. Good news is, GeneratePress has a Site Library with more than 50 premade templates you can choose from. After choosing a template, all you have to do is replace their content with yours and you’re set.
GeneratePress Site Library
GeneratePress Site Library
  • Reliable. It’s not uncommon for developers to stop maintaining a theme to move on to other projects. After a theme is no longer maintained, users will start running into compatibility issues with newer versions of WordPress and plugins. GeneratePress has been in the game for over 6 years, so you can be confident that they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
  • Astounding Support. It doesn’t matter if you’re using the free or paid version, Tom and his team will do anything to make sure that you’re satisfied (must be a Canadian thing). As a beginner blogger, finding tools that offer great support will make your life easier.
GeneratePress Forum 1
  • Don’t Need It? Won’t Load It. A problem with all-in-one themes is that they add a lot of features to appeal to everyone. This results in a larger theme that takes longer to load. Not only that, but they don’t even give you the option to disable things you aren’t using. GeneratePress doesn’t load things you don’t need.
  • Cheap for What You Get. At $59, GeneratePress Premium is cheaper than other popular but underperforming themes listed for more than $90.

Cons of GeneratePress:

  • The Free Version is Very Limited. To get the most out of GeneratePress, you really need to upgrade to the paid version.
  • Sole Developer. GeneratePress is not backed by a big company. It’s just Tom and a small team. So, if something ever happens to Tom, we might be in trouble.

Pricing

The premium version is $59 for one year of updates and support and 500 websites.

Want to explore more? Check out my full GeneratePress review.

2. Kadence Pro

Kadence Pro is my second choice after GeneratePress. The theme is well-coded, fast, and has a ton of features.

The best part about these features is that they’re super easy to use and can be accessed through WordPress’ default customizer.

Kadence Theme
Kadence Theme

Pros of Kadence Pro

  • Wide Variety of Features. Kadence Pro has a lot of great features. For example, you can build custom 404 pages, add blocks or page builder content anywhere into your site with hooked elements, header addons, mega-menus, and more.
  • Fast Theme. Even with all the features it includes, Kadence Pro manages to keep loading times pretty low.
  • Beginner-Friendly. Kadence has all its features built into WordPress’s default customizer in a way that’s easy to navigate. This means that you don’t have to learn how to use a different interface.

Cons of Kadence Pro

  • Might Have Compatibility Issues with Page Builders. Some people seem to be having issues with Kadence and some of Elementor’s widgets.

Pricing

Kadence Pro has a cost of $59 for one year of updates and support and unlimited sites.

3. Genesis Framework

Okay, first thing you need to know is that Genesis is not a theme, but a framework.

It’s like the foundation for building a house (the house being the theme).

After you’ve installed the Genesis Framework, you’ll need to install what’s called a “child theme” on top of it.

The Genesis Framework is well-coded, fast, and reliable, but… it’s not beginner-friendly.

Therefore, I don’t recommend it if you’re just starting out.

Genesis Framework homepage
Genesis Framework

Pros of the Genesis Framework:

  • Very Fast. Speed is one of the main reasons people decide to go with Genesis. As I mentioned earlier, having a fast theme is a must if you want to keep your visitors happy, reduce bounce rate, and rank better in Google.
  • Well Supported. They’ve been around for over 10 years and are well supported by the Genesis team and their community.
  • Great Developers Love It. If you’re thinking about hiring someone to build your website, you won’t have any trouble finding a great developer willing to work with Genesis.
  • Well-Coded. Another reason many users prefer Genesis is that it has a clean code with almost no bugs, which makes it super secure.
  • Mobile Responsive. Both the Genesis Framework and its child themes developed by them are responsive. This means that your blog will look great whether you’re viewing it on desktop, tablet, or mobile.
  • Plenty of Child Themes. They have over 60 child themes on their Site Library.
Genesis Child Themes
Genesis child themes
  • Support and Tutorials. Since Genesis has been around for over 10 years and it’s a fan favorite, you can google almost any question and find an answer. They also have plenty of tutorials and a nice support forum that’s checked daily by their staff.

Cons of the Genesis Framework:

  • Not Beginner-Friendly. Genesis is more for developers or users who know what they’re doing. If you can’t find a child theme that perfectly fits your needs, you might have a hard time customizing it if you don’t know CSS and PHP. An option that might make it easier to customize without knowing how to code is using a page builder like Elementor or Beaver Builder.

Pricing

You can get the Genesis Framework plus a child theme for a one-time payment of $99.95 – $129.95 (depending on the theme you choose) with one year of support.

4. Artisan Themes

Do you feel like every premade template out there looks kind of the same?

Well, if you want to stand out, Artisan Themes might be what you’re looking for.

Not only are their themes eye-catching and beautiful, but also lightweight and fast.

Artisan Themes was created by Mai and Javier, two talented artists and WordPress experts from Argentina.

They currently have 5 different themes, each of which comes with 10-15 premade templates you can choose from.

Artisan Themes homepage
Artisan Themes

Pros of Artisan Themes:

  • Artisan Modules. Instead of using page builders that create code bloat and slow your site, they use their own builder.
  • Modules Added to WordPress Editor. Their theme “modules” are automatically added to your WordPress editor, allowing you to add extra features to your site. Look at them as a fancier and easier-to-use version of WordPress’ default editor, Gutenberg. You have several modules, such as call-to-action, testimonials, carousel slider, slogan, featured post, and quote posts slider.
  • One-Click Import Pages. You don’t need to build pages from scratch. Your theme will come with a catalog of pre-designed pages built with modules, so you can import the one you like, replace the content with yours, and be done immediately. You can import landing pages, about pages, magazines, home pages, and more.
  • Complete Websites. They have an extensive collection of complete sites you can import with just one click. Again, all you have to do is replace their content with yours and you’re done.
  • Mix & Match Pages. Another cool thing is that they let you import pages with different styles. For example, you can have a different style for your home page and about page. With other themes, you’re typically bound to one design across your entire site.
  • Looks + Performance. Mai and Javier’s Artisan Themes are well-coded and lightweight, even with all their features and beautiful designs. Typically, developers have to sacrifice their theme’s performance for features and nice designs.

 Cons of Artisan Themes:

  • A Little Expensive. Of course, a beautiful and top-performing theme like this comes with a hefty price tag. At $129, they’re more expensive than other WordPress themes out there. But if you want to stand out from the crowd without having to come up with your own design, it might be a good investment.
  • Only One Website. Unless you purchase their pro membership, you can only use one theme on one website. Most developers typically allow you to use their themes on unlimited sites.

Pricing

Artisan Themes has a cost of $129 for one year of support and updates.

5. Astra Pro

Next on our list of the best WordPress themes is Astra Pro.

Astra Pro has a lot of great features and good loading times, however, it seems to be slacking when it comes to support.

Several people have been complaining about it and have even decided to move away from them.

Astra Theme homepage
Astra Theme

Pros of Astra Pro:

  • Pretty Fast. Astra is one of the fastest themes available.
  • Popular Theme. It’s a very popular theme, so you’ll easily find answers to your questions on Google or their forum.
  • Reasonably Priced. At $59 per year for unlimited websites, Astra Pro is decently priced. They also have a mini agency bundle that includes even more templates and one page builder addon for $276.
  • Tons of Import-Ready Websites. With more than 100 ready-to-import websites, Astra has one of the largest Site Libraries. All you have to do is pick a design, import it, and replace its content with yours.

Cons of Astra Pro:

  • Some Free Themes Have Better Features. Other free themes like Kadence have more features and the same or even better performance. In fact, I recommend the free version of Kadence over Astra Pro.
  • Support. There have been several complaints about their support being careless and taking too long to respond to tickets.
Astra Theme Comment 1
  • Many Bugs. Users always seem to complain about their websites breaking after every Astra update.
  • New to the Game. Astra came to the scene in 2017 and took the world by storm (over 1 million downloads). However, the fact that they’re new and already falling behind other themes is somewhat worrisome. Who knows how reliable the theme will be a few years from now?

Pricing

Astra Pro has a cost of $59 for one year of support and updates for unlimited websites.

Free vs. Premium WordPress Themes

I’m not a fan of the things some six-figure bloggers tell their audience to get them to buy stuff.

RMD profits meme

But one thing they’re right about (even if their intentions are completely different) is that you should invest in a premium WordPress theme.

While having a premium theme isn’t always better than having a free WordPress theme, it’s almost always the case.

Having a good premium WordPress theme is a great way to ensure that your website is safe and performing at its best.

If you’re serious about growing your business and making an income online, a premium theme is a good idea.

Here are a few issues with most free WordPress themes:

  • Limited Customization. Free themes often lack good customization features. This means that you’ll have to install bloated plugins or add random codes you find on Google to customize it. Adding bloated plugins or a lot of weird codes without knowing what you’re doing can slow your site and make it more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
  • Lack of Support. Another issue with free themes is the lack of support. And if you’re a beginner blogger, you’re going to need all the help you can get. This doesn’t mean that every premium theme has good support or that every free theme has bad support. For example, Astra is a premium theme that has been receiving a lot of support complaints. Whereas the GeneratePress team offers quality support even to those using their free version.
  • No Updates. Developers of free themes don’t have much motivation to keep improving and supporting their themes. Without the theme being updated, you’ll eventually start running into compatibility issues when newer servers, WordPress, or plugins are updated. This will break your site and force you to move to a different theme.

My Recommendation:

If you’re going to use a free theme, I recommend you at least get a free one that has a premium version you can upgrade to later.

Best Free WordPress Themes for Blogs

Most of the themes listed here are just the free versions of the premium themes I mentioned above, therefore, I won’t go into much detail about them.

All the performance, SEO, and security features from the premium versions apply to the free ones.

The only difference is the ability to customize them. As I mentioned above, free themes often come with fewer customization options than premium ones.

1. GeneratePress (free)

Most of the things we covered about GeneratePress Premium apply to the free version as well.

Those with the free version still get great support and a fast and lightweight theme that’s mobile and SEO friendly.

The only problem with the free version is that’s very limited when it comes to features.

2. Kadence

If you’re going to stay with a free theme forever, I think I’d choose Kadence over GeneratePress, since it has a lot more features.

However, if you plan on upgrading to a premium theme in the future, I think I’d go with GeneratePress.

They’re both great, so it’s really up to you. Either one of these is a solid choice.

3. Astra

The free version of Astra is lightweight, fast, and very customizable when compared to other free WordPress themes.

However, a lot of premium users have been complaining about their support, so I can’t imagine how much worse the support for the free version is.

4. OceanWP

OceanWP is a well-coded, fast, and lightweight free WordPress theme with great features and page builder support.

You also get great support from their team even if you’re using their free version.

The only downside is that OceanWP adds too many options inside the customizer settings, which can be a little overwhelming if you’re a beginner blogger.

Users often say that it looks cluttered.

5. Default WordPress Themes (Twenty Twenty)

People are often quick to move out of “default” things, but WordPress’s default themes aren’t bad at all.

They’re not the greatest, but they’re still well-coded.

Their designs look a little simple and generic, but you can change things around and really make them your own.

Nowadays, many themes add tons of flashy features and colors that can distract the user from the actual content or make it more difficult to read.

Twenty Twenty is a minimalistic WordPress theme that takes into consideration user experience.

The theme has an easy-to-read font and an automatic color contrast adjuster to make sure that people with vision impairments can easily read your content.

All you have to do is pick your brand’s colors and they automatically adjust to a nice contrast.

Most Underperforming WordPress Themes

1. Divi

Divi is one of the most popular themes among beginner bloggers, however, this doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best.

There’s no doubt that Divi is a powerful theme with lots of features, but those features come at the expense of performance and ease of use.

Many six-figure bloggers promote it as a “beginner-friendly” theme just because of their huge recurring affiliate commission.

They also tell you that free themes are slower and you must pay for a premium one, however, as you’ve seen on this post, some free themes can easily outperform premium ones.

Pros of Divi Theme:

  • Beautiful User Interface. Divi’s user interface is probably one of the nicest ones I’ve seen. They definitely earn the name “Elegant” with all their beautiful colors, transitions, and animations.
  • Beautiful Pre-Made Designs. They have over 800 pre-made designs, more than 100 full websites, and are always adding beautiful new designs. Definitely one of the most extensive site libraries out there.
  • Cheap Lifetime Access. Their one-time payment of $249 for lifetime access is pretty good considering their yearly access is $89 per year. So, if you really like Divi and plan on using it for a while, consider getting the lifetime access.
  • Plenty of Customization Options. Divi gives you control over almost any customization you can think of, it’s honestly pretty awesome.

Cons of Divi:

  • Not Beginner-Friendly. When I was going to engineering school, I used to draw most of the problems before solving them. This made them easier to visualize and understand. Therefore, whenever I hear something has a visual editor, I get excited. However, when it comes to Divi, their visual editor is a little more difficult to navigate than it should. You need to click on several buttons and scroll to get to the settings you want to tweak. They also use plenty of icons, so it’s hard to distinguish which one does what. It’s like you need to bring a cheat sheet with you whenever you want to edit something.
  • Difficult to Switch Themes. Divi uses a lot of shortcodes to achieve their designs. Therefore, when you decide to switch themes, you’ll have to pay for a plugin like *Shortcode Cleaner Pro* to remove the shortcodes from the back-end of your site. After removing those shortcodes, you’ll have to rebuild your site from scratch. Lots of six-figure bloggers will tell you to use it because it’s “easier” for beginners, and just switch later when you’re more experienced. But switching themes and having to build your site from scratch doesn’t sound fun or easy at all. But don’t worry, I’m sure they can recommend someone who can do it for you and earn themselves some more affiliate commission.
  • Large and Slow. Out of the box, the theme takes 1 second to load, that’s without any plugins, images, or blog posts. To put that into perspective, GeneratePress loads under 200 ms out of the box. While you can try to optimize it for speed, it just won’t be as fast as other great themes that are optimized as well.
  • Every Feature Loads. Divi has a ton of features, but chances are you won’t even use half of them. What happens to the rest? Well, Divi still loads them even if you’re not using them. And this, again, can will slow your site.
  • No Renewal Discount. You will be able to renew at the price that you join with.

Get Started with Divi

Don’t get me wrong, Divi is a powerful theme with tons of cool features, but if you’re a beginner, it might not be as easy-to-use as other bloggers claim it to be.

The Divi Builders is also great, but it falls behind others like Elementor and Beaver Builder.

2. Avada Theme

Avada is another “all-in-one” and popular theme that’s poorly coded, slow, and bloated.

Yes, you get a ton of features, but as I’ve mentioned before, more isn’t necessarily better.

All the unused features will cause unnecessary bloat and slow your website.

Pros of Avada:

  • Tons of Prebuilt Websites. They have more than 50 pre-built websites you can simply import, replace their content with yours, and be done.

Cons of Avada:

  • Expensive (One Site Only). Avada costs $60 per website and only includes support for 6 months. If you want additional support, you have to pay an extra $80 per year per website. Almost every developer allows you to use their theme on multiple sites and include 1 year of support at no extra cost.
  • Not Beginner-Friendly. Avada has its own way of accessing customization options, so you need to learn how to navigate its interface. It’s not like other themes that have their features built into WordPress’ default customizer. I’ve seen several people complain about the shallow learning curve, however, some believe it’s still easier to use than Divi.
  • Difficult to Switch Themes. Just like Divi, Avada also has its own page builder called Fusion Page Builder, which uses a lot of shortcodes. So if you want to switch to a different theme in the future, you’ll have to build your site from scratch.

3. ThemeForest (X Theme)

Their themes have an incredible amount of code and they keep adding features to make their themes “multi-purpose,” which just ends up making them slower.

Several people are also complaining about them not standing behind their refund policy.

You can do a simple Google search for “ThemeForest reviews” and see it for yourself.

Another issue is that they only give you support for 6 months and you have to pay extra to extend it.

4. Envato Themes

Even though they seem to have a few better-looking themes than ThemeForest, they’re still poorly coded, bloated, and slow.

If you look for “EnvatoMarket reviews” on Google, you’ll find pretty negative reviews.

But they’re a part of EnvatoMarket, so it’s really no surprise.

5. Jupiter X Theme

Jupiter X Theme is another theme that’s poorly coded, bloated, slow, and not SEO-friendly.

There are several people complaining about compatibility with different plugins and page builders like Elementor.

List of Best WordPress Templates by Category

Now that we’ve covered a few of the best WordPress themes, let’s look at some of the templates you’ll find inside their site libraries.

All of the templates listed are from GeneratePress, Artisan Themes, and the Genesis Framework.

So they’re all lightweight, fast, mobile responsive, and SEO-friendly.

I also separated them by category, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t use a feminine style template for a finance blog.

Ready?

Let’s get started!

  1. Best neutral WordPress themes
  2. Best WordPress themes for blogs
  3. Best WordPress themes for feminine blogs
  4. Best WordPress themes for a food blog
  5. Best WordPress themes for a finance blog
  6. Best WordPress themes for eCommerce
  7. Best WordPress themes for business
  8. Best WordPress themes for mobile apps
  9. Best WordPress themes for photographers
  10. Best WordPress themes for magazine and news sites

Best Neutral WordPress Themes

1. Split – GeneratePress

Split Template

Split is a site designed by GeneratePress that can be used for any type of website, such as lifestyle blogs, fitness, finance, photography, business, agency, and travel.

It has a huge hero section with a call-to-action and a beautiful and readable font throughout the site.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

2. Pop – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

Pop Artisan Template

Pop is a beautiful and modern design great for any type of website. It uses a dark theme style with bright accent colors to make your content pop.

» Check out Pop by Artisan Themes

3. Slideout – GeneratePress

Slideout Template

Slideout is a simple, yet captivating, site that has a fixed side bar that opens a slideout area with your navigation menu.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

4. Arctic – GeneratePress

Arctic Template

Arctic is perfect for those looking to build a simple site that focuses on performance and user experience.

The site comes with no plugins and minimal CSS to keep things light and loading fast.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

5. Mellow – GeneratePress

Mellow template

This is actually one of my favorite sites from their Site Library.

It has a very captivating and interesting design while still remaining minimalistic.

I love how the blog posts overlap with the hero section, the small bar that highlights the current page, and the button above the navigation menu.

This is another great site you can use to build any type of website.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

6. Classic – GeneratePress

Classic is a clean and lightweight design that displays your blog posts on the homepage.

Classic GP Template

» Build your site with GeneratePress

7. Catalyst – GeneratePress

Catalyst template

Catalyst has a bold hero section with an optional top bar call to action button. It’s a simple design perfect for any type of website.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

8. Sider – GeneratePress

Sider

Sider is another lightweight and fast site that can be used to build any type of website you want.

Instead of having your regular boring navigation menu at the top, you’ll have a beautiful navigation bar on the left of the page.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

9. Lifestyle – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Lifestyle Artisan Template

This is a great site for a personal lifestyle blog or magazine. It has a beautiful header slider with a bar at the bottom that highlights the current category.

» Check out Lifestyle by Artisan Themes

10. Colors – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

Color Artisan Template

This is an extremely eye-catching and colorful website that’ll definitely help your visitors remember your brand.

It can be used for any type of website you want, such as blogs, lifestyle, and fitness.

» Check out Colors by Artisan Themes

Best WordPress Themes for Blogs

11. Blog – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Blog Indigo Artisan Template

Don’t like how cluttered other blogs look?

Well, the Blog site from Artisan Themes has a clean look with tons of white space to make your content easier to read.

» Check out Blog by Artisan Themes

12. My Blog – Binder Pro Theme (Artisan Themes)

My Blog Artisan Template

My Blog has a unique style that removes distractions and makes your content the main focus of your site.

This will help keep visitors engaged and allow them to spend hours consuming your content.

» Check out My Blog by Artisan Themes

13. Diary – Nayma Theme (Artisan Themes)

Diary Artisan Template

Diary from Artisan Themes will let you share your personal style and travels in a clean and beautiful way.

Check out Diary by Artisan Themes

14. Vinyasa – GeneratePress

Vinyasa template

Vinyasa is a great site for those with a yoga, Pilates, or wellness studio.

It has two eye-catching buttons on the right of the navigation menu you can use to highlight your classes.

The rounded corners used throughout the site gives it a soft and calm vibe.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

Best WordPress Themes for Feminine Blogs

15. Avery – GeneratePress

Avery template

This is a beautiful feminine website designed by Mike Oliver that can be found on GeneratePress’ site library.

This is great for personal or lifestyle blogs that cover a wide range of things, such as travel, fashion, inspiration, motivation, money tips, and personal stories.

Many feminine blogs use a lot of script typefaces to add some “style” to their designs. However, this often ends up making the website difficult to navigate and read.

Instead, Avery uses a beautiful serif font for the headings and a clean sans serif for the body.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

16. Feminine – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Feminine Artisan Template

Feminine is a beautiful, minimal, and lightweight site perfect for female entrepreneurs, freelancers, or bloggers.

» Check out Feminine by Artisan Themes

17. Liberte – GeneratePress

Liberte template

This is a clean and modern website perfect for freelancers, bloggers, and writers.

This site on the GeneratePress library was built using the free version of Elementor.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

18. Her – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Her Artisan Template

Her is a minimalistic, lightweight, and fast website perfect for coaches, lifestyle bloggers, advisors, or any other type or solopreneur.

» Check Her by Artisan Themes

Best WordPress Themes for a Food Blog

19. Tasty – GeneratePress

Tasty GeneratePress template

Tasty is a simple recipe site with tons of white space to help keep visitors focused on your delicious recipes.

It has an eye-catching top bar where you can add your social networks for visitors to follow you.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

20. Foodie – Binder Pro Theme (Artisan Themes)

Foodie Artisan Template

Foodie is a colorful, modern, and lively theme with tons of white space perfect for food lovers or a lifestyle blogger.

» Check out Foodie by Artisan Themes

21. Recipe Blogger – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Recipe Blogger Theme - StudioPress

Recipe Blogger is another beautiful site that has a clean and minimalistic layout perfect for displaying your recipes and food photos.

22. Foodie Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Foodie Pro Theme - StudioPress

Foodie Pro is a minimal and lightweight site that sits on top of the Genesis Framework.

It comes with a lot of flexibility, styles, colors, and typography options.

Best WordPress Themes for a Finance Blog

23. Finance – GeneratePress

Finance template

Beautiful, lightweight, and fast website perfect for any financial or accountancy website.

This site was built using the free version of Elementor.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

24. Corporate – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Corporate Template - Artisan Themes

Corporate is a clean website template by Artisan Themes perfect for businesses and finance blogs. I personally love the minimalistic design with tons of white space.

» Check out Corporate by Artisan Themes

25. Sharp – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Sharp Template - Artisan Themes

Sharp has a massive hero header perfect for a call to action. It also has a “features” area that you can use to display all the topics covered in your finance blog.

» Check out Sharp by Artisan Themes

26. Executive Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Executive Pro - Genesis Framework

Executive Pro is great for more serious financial blogs and business websites. It’s a very basic design that uses a carousel to display your products and services.

27. Enterprise Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Enterprise Pro - Genesis Framework

Enterprise Pro is somewhat similar to Executive Pro. The difference is this theme includes your logo and search bar above the main navigation menu.

It also has a hero header instead of a carousel.

28. Corporate Pro – Third Party (Genesis Framework)

Corporate Pro - Genesis Framework

Compared to the two previous themes, Corporate Pro has a more modern and fun feel to it.

Best WordPress Themes for eCommerce

29. Niche – GeneratePress

Niche GeneratePress theme template

Niche is a great site for those looking to start an eCommerce store. It has a very minimalistic design to help keep visitors focused on your products.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

30. Shop – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Shop Indigo Artisan Template

Shop by Artisan Themes is actually one of my favorite shop sites.

The frame look definitely gives it a unique and modern touch perfect for any high-end online store.

» Check out Shop by Artisan Themes

31. Imprint – GeneratePress

Imprint template

Imprint is a minimalistic site found in the GeneratePress Site Library.

It was designed for selling posters, prints, and single image products. It has kind of a nice Pinterest vibe to it.

Very eye-catching and clean, which helps keep attention on your products.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

32. Merch – GeneratePress        

Merch template

Merch is another one of my favorite WooCommerce sites.

This site greets your visitors with a beautiful hero section, different product categories, and your favorite or best-selling products.

It’s definitely for those who are not a big fan of minimalist sites.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

33. Shop – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

Shop Modules Artisan Template

This is a beautiful site for online shops that welcomes visitors with a banner and product category pages on the site’s homepage.

All the category pages are already created for you and setup on the menu, all you have to do is replace the content with yours.

» Check out Shop by Artisan Themes

34. Prime – GeneratePress

Prime Template

Prime is a WooCommerce site that resembles Amazon’s navigation and product display.

This is great for keeping your visitors focused on your products without too many eye-catching design elements.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

35. Marketer – GeneratePress

Marketer GP Template

The Marketer template from GeneratePress is great for those with affiliate sites.

The Marketer template from GeneratePress is great for those using affiliate marketing to monetize their blogs.

It makes your blog posts about affiliate products the main focus of your website.

It also has a widget on the sidebar that allows you to highlight your best-selling or favorite products.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

Best WordPress Themes for Business

36. Service – GeneratePress

Service template

Service is a great site for businesses looking for a clean and modern way of displaying their services, projects, and client testimonials.

It uses some slight angles to help visitors differentiate between different sections of content.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

37. Article – GeneratePress

Article Template

Article is a minimalistic site that’s great for writers and small businesses.

I love how this design has a lot of white space, which makes it very pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

38. Navigation Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Navigation Pro Theme - StudioPress

This theme has very bright colors that will grab your visitors attention and keep them engaged.

You can use it for any type of business, such as food, fitness, and law.

39. Winning Agent Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Winning Agent Theme - StudioPress

Winning Agent Pro is a beautiful site with warm colors that can easily build trust with your visitors and make you look professional.

40. Monochrome Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Monochrome Theme - StudioPress

A website with a clean, simple, and modern look that’s also lightweight and fast. Tons of white space to help with readability.

41. Mai Reach – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

Reach Theme - StudioPress

Beautiful and minimal theme with tons of white space and some curved corners to help users differentiate between sections.

42. Dev – GeneratePress

Dev Template

The Dev site designed by Mike Oliver for GeneratePress is a clean and modern site perfect for agencies and development studios.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

43. Agency – GeneratePress

Agency Template

Agency is a beautiful theme with a huge hero section where you can add a call-to-action to encourage your visitors to learn more.

You can showcase your services, recent projects, and testimonial from satisfied clients.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

44. Vibe – GeneratePress

Vibrant template

Vibe is an eye-catching website perfect for studios, agencies, and freelancers who want to showcase their services.

This site in the GeneratePress library was built using the free version of Elementor.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

45. Digital Agency – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Agency PepperPlus Artisan Template

Digital Agency is a clean and modern website perfect for a digital services agency.

Their neutral colors and clutter-free layout will make your work definitely stand out.

» Check out Digital Agency by Artisan Themes

46. Blue Agency – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Blueagency Artisan Template

Blue Agency is a very modern and elegant site with unconventional layouts perfect for high-end agencies.

» Check out Blue Agency by Artisan Themes

47. Travel – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Travel Artisan Template

This site is a lightweight and beautiful site for travel agencies.

Travel greets visitors with a beautiful slider, a module to showcase your features, and a portfolio to introduce vacation packages.

However, it can be used for any other type of service retailer company.

» Check out Travel by Artisan Themes

48. Grill – GeneratePress

Grill GP Template

A simple, fast, and lightweight site for restaurants to help them showcase their menu and directions.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

49. Java – GeneratePress

Java Template

Java is a clean and modern site ideal for any restaurant, café, or coffee shop.

You can easily share your story with visitors and showcase your menu.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

50. Bakery – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Bakery Artisan Template

This is an elegant website with a dark theme that gives it a professional and high-end look.

Bakery from Artisan Themes is perfect for any restaurant, bakery, café, or coffee shop.

» Check out Bakery by Artisan Themes

51. Green Market – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Green Market Artisan Template

Green market was designed for food markets; however, it’ll perfectly suit any other type of business or store.

» Check out Green Market by Artisan Themes

Best WordPress Themes for Mobile Apps

52. Outfit App – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Outfit App Artisan Template

This a perfect website for those looking to showcase how their app works, its main features, and user photos.

» Check out Outfit App by Artisan Themes

53. App – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

App Artisan Template

App is a clean, minimalistic, and fast site perfect for apps or digital products.

It has a modern-looking homepage with explaining cards and features presentation, a blog page, and a support page with a FAQ section.

» Check out App by Artisan Themes

Best WordPress Themes for Photographers, Artists, and Designers

54. Photography W – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

Photography Module Artisan Template

Photography W has a cooler and more creative style than other photography or design websites.

Its unconventional placement of the menu will definitely make visitors remember your brand.

» Check out Photography W by Artisan Themes

55. Photographer – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Photographer Artisan Template

This is a modern and minimalistic design perfect for photographers or studios who want their work to stand out.

The amount of white space, choice of typography, and layout make this theme very elegant and professional.

» Check out Photographer by Artisan Themes

56. Abstract – GeneratePress

Abstract Template

Abstract is a clean, modern, and minimal portfolio site for freelancers, photographers, artists, and designers to showcase their work.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

57. Landscapes – Nayma Theme (Artisan Themes)

Landscapes - Nayma Theme by Artisan Themes

Landscape is another beautiful and modern theme by Artisan Themes that serves photographers, designers, and all kinds of artists.

It uses a portfolio section as a homepage, has an about page with a custom sidebar, and beautiful contact page.

» Check out Landscape by Artisan Themes

58. Pixel – GeneratePress

Pixel Template

Pixel is a beautiful, yet lightweight, site perfect for photographers to display their work on different galleries.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

59. PH Photographer – Nayma Theme (Artisan Themes)

PH Photographer - Nayma Theme (Artisan Themes)

PH Photographer makes your stunning photos the center of attention. It also allows you to choose between three different home gallery layouts.

» Check out Photographer by Artisan Themes

60. Creative – Pepper+ Theme (Artisan Themes)

Creative Artisan Template

Creative is a modern and minimalistic website for any content creator, designer, consultant, or entrepreneur.

It has some slightly angled lines to help users differentiate between sections as well as a ton of white space to improve readability.

» Check out Creative by Artisan Themes

61. Portraits – Modules Theme (Artisan Themes)

Portraits Artisan Template

Portraits is a perfect site for photographers, designers, and artists.

It has a tiny menu to help your content pop and be noticed without any distractions.

» Check out Portraits by Artisan Themes

Best WordPress Themes for Magazine and News Sites

62. Read – GeneratePress

Read Template

Read is a magazine-style blog you can find in GeneratePress’ site library.

It has a very organized design with each category listed right below the hero header and before your articles.

It has a beautiful font that lets the reader know they’re reading a magazine blog.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

63. Rumour – GeneratePress

Rumour Template

Rumour is a dark theme style news/magazine layout blog with minimal CSS to help you keep your site lightweight and fast.

The dark theme really makes it stand out from most news/magazine sites available.

Rumour greets your visitors with a section highlighting two of your best posts or news, your brand’s story, and a list of all your posts.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

64. Dispatch – GeneratePress

Dispatch template

Dispatch is a magazine style site found in the GeneratePress Site Library and designed by Flint Skin.

It comes with a featured content slider built using the free version of WP Show Posts.

» Build your site with GeneratePress

65. Magazine – Indigo Theme (Artisan Themes)

Magazine Artisan Template

This is one of my favorite magazine sites.

It has a very modern look that highlights latest posts by categories, authors, or any other way you want.

I love how it doesn’t look as cluttered as other magazine-style websites. Definitely very organized and easy to read.

» Check out Magazine by Artisan Themes

66. Simple Mag – Binder Pro Theme (Artisan Themes)

Simple Mag Artisan Themes Template

Beautiful site that uses a huge posts slider on top of the homepage to feature your latest content.

They have category pages already on your navigation menu as well as your advertising options set in place.

» Check out Simple Mag by Artisan Themes

67. Vintage Mag – Binder Pro Theme (Artisan Themes)

Vintage Mag Artisan Template

Are you more of a retro kind of person?

Vintage Mag will make your visitors feel nostalgic and help you connect with them on a deeper level.

» Check out Vintage Mag by Artisan Themes

68. Fashion Mag – Binder Pro Theme (Artisan Themes)

Fashion Mag Template

This beautiful fashion style magazine site already has the editorial categories set up on the site’s menu as well as advertising banners so you can start monetizing as soon as possible.

» Check out Fashion Mag by Artisan Themes

69. News Pro – StudioPress (Genesis Framework)

News Pro Theme - StudioPress

Next in our list of the best WordPress themes for magazine and news websites is News Pro from StudioPress.

This child theme goes on top of Genesis and has a very stylish way of displaying news articles.

It has an eye-catching, yet simple, navigation to help your visitors understand your site.

Tips for Choosing the Best WordPress Theme for Your Blog

1. Choose One with the Features You Need

It’s a good idea to make a list of the elements you want on your website so you can choose a theme that has them.

This will make designing your blog super easy.

2. Don’t Go for Multi-Purpose Themes

Multi-purpose theme might seem like a good idea, I mean, you get everything, right?

Well, yes… but you also get a lot of unused features that cause bloat and slow your website.

Most of the “best WordPress themes for blogs” promoted by six-figure bloggers are these kinds of underperforming themes that aren’t that easy to use.

When looking for a theme, make sure to pick one that has exactly what you need.

3. Aim for Popular Themes

Okay, popular themes aren’t always the best themes…

But!

Popularity is a good sign that you’ll find a lot of people who have dealt with any issues you might have or might be able to help you design your site how you want.

4. Choose Something Neutral

Many beginner bloggers don’t really know what they want to blog about.

Others tend to switch niches after a year when they’ve really found what their audience is mostly interested in.

If you’re unsure of what you want, I suggest you start with a neutral design that works with any type of website you want to make.

Final Thoughts on the Best WordPress Themes

While free WordPress themes aren’t always better than premium ones, that’s very often the case.

Even if you find a design you like from another free or underperforming theme, chances are you can recreate it in a better framework without knowing how to code.

I highly recommend you start with either GeneratePress or Kadence.

It’ll be the best now and in the long-run.

Chris

Christian Coulson

Christian is an industrial engineer who's used his knowledge and experience to grow 7Sigma Physiques—his fitness coaching business and blog with thousands of monthly readers.

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