WordPress Theme Markets You Should Try: Premium and Free WordPress Themes at ThemeForest, WooThemes, Elegant Themes…
Hello there, fellow blogger! I’m going to take a wild guess right now and assume that you own a blog based on WordPress, the awesome blogging platform that uses WP.me as well ;). If I’m right, this blog post might be very useful to you. As you know, everything is about first impressions. Meeting new people, job interviews and – blogs aren’t an exception. When a random person stumbles upon your blog, he or she probably won’t bother much reading it (at first). It’s all about the design of the blog. You want to keep that random person and transform them into a regular reader, right?
To accomplish that, you willl need a great theme for your blog. There are many free WordPress themes out there. However, premium themes give you a lot more features and a better design for just a handful od dollars. Today, we will go through some of the best WordPress theme marketplaces out there. Your blog needs to be pretty!
ThemeForest
ThemeForest.net is one of the largest theme marketplaces around. It has not only WordPress themes, but also PSD templates, sliced HTML/CSS templates and themes for systems like Magento, Joomla, Drupal, Shopify and others.
Themes are high-quality work and they are sorted into different categories so you won’t have any problems finding the right one. There is a live preview option on almost every theme, and prices are around $30. Once a month, ThemeForest gives away one theme for free, so make sure to drop by regularly.
WooThemes
WooThemes is a collection of themes made by world’s finest designers and their themes are known to be packed with all kinds of features. They currently have over 90 different themes, some of which are free for download.
If you buy one theme, you will get two more for free. Or, if you choose a developers package, you will get three of them for free. WooThemes makes sure to publish two new themes per month so as long as your subscription is active, you will have access to the newest themes for your blog.
If you want to buy a single theme, the price will be $70 for the standard package or $150 for the developers package which includes a layered Photoshop file. There are also two other subscription options for $125 start-up free and $15/month you will have access to all of WooThemes themes. If you’re a developer and need the Photoshop files, it will cost you $200 and there will be a $20/month fee.
Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes is a relatively small WordPress theme marketplace where you can get access to all of their themes with only $39 per year. Themes on Elegant Themes are exactly as they sound – very elegant.
Every theme comes with ePanel, a custom made settings page for fine tuning every detail of the theme. Every theme is easily localized to any language, which is great for those of you who are not very technical and do not want to mess around theme files.
StudioPress
StudioPress relies on Genesis, their custom made theme framework. It allows you (and them) to have themes that are SEO optimized and well written, no matter how the design looks like. It’s kind of a foundation for all the other themes they’re offering. Packed with a lot of widgets that you can add to your blog, themes from StudioPress might be just the thing you’re looking for.
Prices for StudioPress start at $24.95 if you already own the Genesis framework (which costs $59.95). Otherwise, you will have to pay $79.95 for a theme with the Genesis framework. You could also pay $299.95 and get Genesis framework and access to all of the themes.
Template Monster
Template Monster is probably one of the oldest marketplaces of this type. Dating back to 2003, Template Monster grew from Flash and HTML templates to a home of an infinite number of themes for different sites and content management systems. There are 1200 themes only for WordPress!
With Template Monster’s detailed search functionality you will find your way through all these themes and easily pick the one you like. You can also pay to get your theme set up on your blog. If you really like a theme a lot and don’t want anyone else to have it, you can buy it out. The regular price for themes goes for $60-$70, but the buyout price varies from $2000 to over $4500.
NattyWP
NattyWP is a small scale theme market, offering 35 premium and six free WordPress themes. But NattyWP offers you more than just the themes. Do you need a place to host your WordPress blog? Or do you need some customization on your current theme? Contact NattyWP and they would be glad to help you.
NattyWP has several subscription packages where you can get access to all of the themes for 3, 6 or 12 months for $75, $90 or $125. If you don’t need a subscription to all themes, you can buy a single theme for $25 and get one for free. There is also a developers licence, for $300/year.
Graph Paper Press
Graph Paper Press is not your average theme market. They will provide you with the best minimalist WordPress themes you can find. Specialized in themes for photographers, videographers, designers and artists alike, Graph Paper Press knows how to help you present your artwork on the web.
They have several pricing models, including the free one with limited access to their free themes. If you want them to give you support with themes, you will have to pay $49/quarter or $99/year. Developers will have to pay $299.
ThemeLab
ThemeLab is a site where you can get 118 free WordPress themes, or if you need more a custom solution which you can order. There are no premium themes on ThemeLab, just custom ones so that your blog won’t have the same design as any other.
Beside the themes, ThemeLab also has tutorials on WordPress that could help you manage your blog more professionally.
WordPress.org
Yes, even WordPress has its own marketplace. With almost 1400 free themes, WordPress makes sure that its bloggers have the best free themes in one place. They are nicely sorted and you can easily download them and install into your WordPress installation.
Hint: if you’re using WordPress Dashboard to look for themes, this is the place you’re actually checking out.
If you yet haven’t found a theme that suits your needs, you should try one of these sites as well:
