If you are creating WordPress websites for clients or for yourself, the first thing you need is theme. The free themes from the WordPress repository may not feel adequate most of the time. In such a case, looking for a good quality premium theme is the best option.
But where to start? If you search google for WordPress themes, there are numerous theme providers. The sheer number of choices available is overwhelming to any beginner stepping into the WP world. Also, the information is scattered.
So, I thought making a list of theme providers can be useful so that you can find all the options at one place. And I have used the following factors to assess a provider.
- the quality of designs
- customisability
- number of themes available as a bundle/multipurpose
- pricing - single theme, bundle license/demo sites (in case of a multipurpose theme), etc.
- support options available when you need some help
- popularity - based on the number of downloads on WP & estimated website rankings
Of course, there are already lots of reviews published by reputed WordPress experts which helps you a lot in selecting a theme. If you are still confused, then this article may help you.
Note: To be honest, I couldn't try each and every shop listed here. Most of the opinions are based on initial impressions only, except a few like GeneratePress. So take it like that.
These are the top 9 WordPress theme providers I have picked from the above list...
1. Themeforest
Themeforest with Avada as the top-selling theme
Themeforest, a part of Envato, is a little different from other shops. It is like a marketplace where developers can sell themes and get a commission for each sale. However, that doesn't mean the quality of their themes suffers. Envato has a strict review process in place that demands high standards for coding and theme design.
Currently, Avada is the top-selling theme on Themeforest with close to half a million sales. At present, TF has more than 11k themes on offer, way more than any of the other theme shops.
Pros of Themeforest
- Thousands of themes in their collection
- Great for finding low-cost themes
Cons of Themeforest
- Since it is a marketplace, the quality of support depends on the theme developer
- Some themes are outdated/not maintained
2. Elegant Themes
It won't be fair if I don't include Elegant Themes on the list. They have been selling themes since 2008. Moreover, their Divi theme and page builder is well-acclaimed among WordPress users.
Elegant Themes has an attractive pricing package starting at $89 which gives you access to the Divi theme, Divi builder, and all of their premium plugins. Overall, if you are a fan of Divi, then getting a membership is a value for money.
Elegant Themes offers theme bundles
Divi also offers several demo sites, which you can import to your site after installing the theme. After that, you can use the Divi builder to customize it on the front-end.
3. GeneratePress
A performance oriented and seo-friendly all-in-one theme
GeneratePress is a well-coded and lightweight multipurpose theme popular in the WordPress repo. The premium license which gives access to additional modules costs $49.95.
Its creator Tom Usborne is very cautious about performance. The theme files are minimal and lightweight which helps to reduce load times significantly compared to other themes. Although the free version is quite basic, more features are available as modules in the pro license.
As a multi-purpose theme, GeneratePress also gives ready-made demo sites that are compatible with popular page builders like Beaver Builder and Elementor.
If you are looking for a lightweight theme, then GeneratePress may be the only theme that you may ever need. Earlier I had used it on this blog but later switched to Astra Pro, as the latter offers a few features that I wanted.
Overall, these are the highlights of GeneratePress:
- Multipurpose yet lightweight
- Great for SEO
- Clean and minimal designs
- Good Support: Their support forum is an ocean of information. You can find answers to most of your questions there.
4. WP Astra
Astra is lightweight and compatible with popular page builders
WP Astra is a newer multi-purpose theme released in 2017. However, within a short span of time, it has become highly successful. Like GeneratePress, Astra also takes performance seriously. They have even avoided jQuery for better performance. On their website, they claim that the theme is lighter than 50KB when gzipped.
Both Astra and GeneratePress have many things in common. Both have a modular architecture when it comes to features. You can enable or disable individual features. Also, both have a lightweight base and offers demo sites.
So both are often compared against each other. Many of the features overlap between the two themes. However, in my opinion, Astra's starter sites are a bit ahead.
- You might also like: Astra vs. GeneratePress: a detailed comparison
Price: Starting at $59, Astra is a bit pricier that GP. Both offers license for unlimited use.
The free version of the Astra theme has over a million active installations on WordPress. The company behind the theme is Brainstorm Force. They also create other premium plugins like Schema Pro.
5. ThemeIsle
ThemeIsle has good quality free and premium themes
ThemeIsle is another provider who had a fairly recent entry into the WordPress theme marketplace. Starting in 2013, they were initially a traditional theme shop selling around thirty different premium themes and a handful of free themes.
But lately, they had a revamp, and now they focus only on a handful of themes:
- Neve
- Hestia
- Zelle
Zelle is a premium theme while Neve and Hestia are freemium. Neve, their flagship theme has overs 200k installation from WordPress theme directory. Hestia is also just behind that with 100k+ installations.
Another advantage of Neve is its huge demo sites library. As of now, there are over hundred of them. And these sites are also compatible with page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder.
So, overall, ThemeIsle themes have a lot of things in common with Astra and GeneratePress we discussed above. But there are also a few differences. The price for the premium version starts at $86. Check out my review to learn more about Neve.
6. StudioPress
StudioPress is the company behind the Genesis Framework. So there is no need for doubts in terms of quality.
Genesis Framework is a product of StudioPress
Their collection includes themes developed by third parties also. According to their pricing plan, you get access to all the StudioPress themes plus the Genesis framework if you sign-up for a hosting plan with WPEngine - a managed WordPress hosting solution.
The price of individual themes is in the range of $99 to $130. However, if you want only the framework, you can get that at a fraction of the cost.
So, if you are interested in creating Genesis themes or child themes, you should definitely try StudioPress products. The framework is capable of providing a strong foundation for any themes you build.
7. MyThemeShop
MyThemeShop has a good collection of SEO-optimized themes
MyThemeShop proudly boasts about having 5 lakh+ customers right at the top of their website. Since they offer a free plan, you can sign-up and try their free themes right away. The free plan comes with 18 free themes. So you can easily join and try them before paying for a premium membership.
With a premium membership, you get all the 125 themes in the shop for $108 a year. You can also choose to buy a single theme for $35.
Most of MyThemeShop themes belong to blogging, business and magazine categories. Apart from that, WP Review Pro plugin will be useful if you are blogger writing product reviews.
If you are looking for SEO optimized and fast WordPress theme for blogging, take a look at their theme collection. However, I feel that most of their themes lack the feel needed for artistic websites.
8. CSSIgniter
CSSIgniter offers a bunch of themes from various niches for a cheaper price
If you are looking for hotels or travel websites, you should check out CSSIgniter. SixtyOne and Santorini are some of my favorite resort themes. Cousteau Pro is another theme well-suited for travel bloggers and tour operators.
Like MyThemeShop, CSSIgniter website also lacks a slick feel which is evident from their website. The overall design looks a bit... old, in my opinion. That doesn't mean that their themes are not good. In fact, they have a collection of good themes suitable for several niches.
Apart from that, their pricing is also on the cheaper side. You can get all the 76 themes for just $69.
9. Themify
Ultra multipurpose theme is the flagship product of Themify
The multipurpose theme Ultra is the highlight product of Themify. The ready-made website skins they provide with Ultra can make your job a lot easier while setting up the theme. These skins include parallax and full page scroll effect also.
Themify has 48 themes on offer including Ultra. At $89 for all themes, the pricing is quite similar to that of Elegant Themes. In addition to that, Themify also gives the option to buy single themes at $59.
In addition to blogging, business, and other common niches, Themify catalog includes themes for photography, multimedia, restaurants also. So, if you need a modern-looking website for creatives, Themify has something to offer.
10. Athemes
Athemes has been around since 2013 and they currently have around twenty themes in their collection, both free and freemium.
Sydney and Airi are currently their flagship themes. Sydney is also one of the themes recommended by Elementor. The free version of Sydney has 100k+ installations. The price for the premium version is $59.
11. Theme Fusion
Theme Fusion is the creator of Avada, the most popular WordPress theme sold on Themeforest. I had already included Themeforest above, but as the #1 selling theme, I thought I should mention Theme Fusion once again.
They launched in 2012, and Avada currently has 600k+ sales and 4.76/5 rating. It's not just a theme, but a powerful website builder that you can use to create any kind of layouts and designs.
12. ThemeGrill
ThemeGrill has been providing free and premium WordPress themes since 2014. ColorMag, their most popular theme, has 100k+ installations.
Currently, their collection has nineteen themes. The price for a single theme is $69, which allows using the theme on one site.
13. Theme Junkie
Theme Junkie is another old-school theme shop where you can find nearly 80 premium themes, and nine free themes. Most of the themes are niche-specific.
The price for their membership is $99, which gives access to all the themes with one year of udates and support. I didn't find an option to buy individual themes, though.
14. ThemeFuse (Brizy layouts)
Formerly a theme shop, ThemeFuse seems to be now focusing more on their page builder - Brizy. The site is also being redirected to the Layouts page on Brizy's website.
So, if you use Brizy to design your pages, then you should look at their layout collection as well. There are currently forty of them now. Brizy also has a premium version, which costs $49 for the Personal plan.
15. PixelGrade
Pixelgrade has a collection of 20+ high quality niche themes. Most of them are for blogging/magazine websites, suitable for bloggers, publishers, and writers. There are also a handful of photography themes best for wedding, portfolio, wildlife, fashion, etc.
Design-wise, Pixelgrade's themes are one of the best I've found so far. They really stand out from other generic themes. The price varies for each theme.
16. Engine Themes
Engine Themes is a bit different from other theme creators. They only sell app themes. That means, if you want to create a job listing, property listing, forum site, etc., then you might find suitable theme at Engine Themes.
However, their collection is not that big. As of now, they are selling only eleven themes. The price for any single theme is $89.
17. Flothemes
Flothemes is a high-end provider who sells only photography themes. Currently, there are eight themes in their collection.
Most of the designs are minimal and classic. So, they suit well for wedding and event photography websites. Each theme also comes with different style kits, which allows customizing the default looks. The themes also support FlexBlock, a custom page builder from Flothemes.
With these levels of quality, the price is much higher than most of the other premium themes. Mono, one of their popular themes, sells at $279. You get lifetime updates for this price but the support is available for one year only.
18. ThemeTrust
ThemeTrust is a collection of twenty premium WordPress themes. Each theme includes several pre-built designs that you can import to your site. These designs are also made to work with page builders like SiteOrigin and Visual Composer.
In my opinion, their designs feel a bit generic. But if what you are looking for is a minimal theme, then ThemeTrust may offer something.
19. Graph Paper Press
Graph Paper Press is another place where you can find products to create a photography-related website. Their collection include 46 themes now. There are also a handful of plugins like Sell Media and Subscription, which allow licensing your creative works.
The price starts at $99, which gives access to all the themes in their collection.
20. Organic Themes
Founded in 2009, Organic Themes have always tried to follow a minimal design philosophy in their themes. Currently, their collection has over 40 themes.
These themes are also compatible with the Organic Builder Widgets plugin, which brings page builder-like functionality within the WordPress Customizer.
The price is $99/year, which gives access to all the themes.
In addition to selling themes, Organic Themes also provide other services like hosting and WordPress maintenance. The hosting service is provided in association with Pressable, a managed WordPress hosting company.
21. Anariel Designs
If you are shopping for a theme for a charitable organization, a blog, or a restaurant, then check out Anariel Design. They have some niche themes crafted for such purposes. The designs are mostly minimal and straightforward, which fits well for non-profit organizations and personal bloggers.
There are eighteen themes available now. The starting price is $59 which unlocks all the themes along with updates and support for six months. There is also a lifetime plan which costs $199.
22. Artisan Themes
Artisan Themes is a small shop with just five WordPress themes:
- Pepper+
- Indigo
- Modules
- Binder PRO
- Nayma
From starting in 2011, they have been focusing on creating high quality WordPress products. In addition to these five themes, there are also 60+ ready-to-import demos that work with one of these themes.
The price for any one theme is $129, which also gives access to the related plugins.
23. Maestrel
Maestrel, formerly Hotel WP, sells themes and plugins for hospitality website. Their product catalog is simple, with just two themes and a booking plugin.
The price for the booking plugin is $49, while a single theme costs $69. If you are creating a website for hotels, homestays, or rentals, then you might find Maestrel useful.
24. SKT Themes
SKT Themes is one of the largest theme shops out there in terms of the no. of themes they sell - over 250. The price for a single theme is around $35 - $50.
25. Hermes Themes
Like Maestrel I have mentioned above, Hermes is another provider that sell WordPress themes for hotels. Their collection contain 17 highly-specific themes suitable for a variety of hospitality websites.
The price for a single theme is $129, while for $275, you get access to all the seventeen themes in their collection.
26. Meridian Themes
Started in 2015, Meridian Themes provide ten premium themes and a free theme - Meridian One. The price is $59 per theme.
Wrapping It Up
So far I have listed some of the top theme providers available today. After that, I have selected a few from the list based on quality, reviews, my own likings. Choosing a premium theme can be a difficult task for anyone starting with WordPress. I hope that this article helps you make that task easier.
If I missed any good quality theme provider which you have experience with, you can mention it in the comments. I will check it and include it in the list.
