30+ Gorgeous Free and Premium WordPress Themes Killing It

If you haven’t updated your theme this past year – or in even in recent years, gasp! – it’s probably about time you reviewed your site, checked out the current trends, and thought about how your design could be better.

Because great designs aren’t just about flashy animations. With a well-thought-out design, you not only grab your visitors’ attention, but you have a better show at increasing your conversions and improving your SEO.

So to get you started here’s my round-up of the best freemium and premium themes of this year, all of which feature fresh designs, follow the latest trends, and also take into account classic functionality, like responsiveness and compatibility across desktop and mobile devices.

Some themes are demos, which are one of a few fixed layout options for a particular theme, while others are more flexible and built on a theme framework.

Without further ado, let’s take a look. Keep reading, or use these links to jump to any specific theme in this post:

• Reign
• TH Shop Mania
• Enfold
• BeTheme
• Jupiter
• Bridge
• Newspaper
• Uncode
• Flatsome
• Salient
• The7
• Impreza
• Kalium
• Total
• Oshine
• NewsPaper
• Twotone
• Marquee
• Obsidian
• Encore
• Parasponsive
• Archi
• Empathy
• Photolog
• Expo
• Full Frame
• Awesome
• Oren
• Extra
• Aspire Pro
• Altitude
• Kallyas
• Alona
• Sleek

Reign

Use the Reign theme by Wbcom Designs to transform your site into a well-organized social marketplace. The theme is fully compatible with BuddyPress and Dokan plugins, and additional plugins like WC Vendors, WCFM, and EDD.

TH Shop Mania

TH Shop Mania by ThemeHunk is a fast and responsive WooCommerce multivendor WordPress Theme.

This theme is specially built for page builders, You can use your preferred page builder to create a flexible and professional eCommerce shop website.

It comes with premium features like Advanced Woo Cart, Multiple Single Product Page, Multiple Checkout Pages, Advance Search, Unique Header Layouts, Off-Canvas Sidebar, Sticky Header Effects, Distraction Free Cart, and more.

Enfold

Enfold has many demos you can import in a couple clicks including the Startup Business demo. It features bold colors, sticky navigation and parallax to create a cohesive design.

BeTheme

The BeArt layout for BeTheme has page sections stacked on top of one another and each of them sports a bright and bold background with complementing pops of color coming from the content. It creates a fun and artful design for anyone who needs a site that stands out and reflects their creativity.

Jupiter

Jupiter’s Opitulus has a single color background that’s carried on throughout the home page and site. White text is displayed to contrast the choice of background and it successfully unifies all the content on the page. It’s an old design choice that has been given new life and a modern twist.

Bridge

The Chequered Blog demo of the Bridge theme offers a lot of opportunities to prominently display images as well as text with its grid layout. This kind of layout also helps keep visitors engaged since there’s a lot to look at and click while also letting you showcase multiple items. It’s a suitable and trending way to replace image sliders.

Newspaper

Speaking of sliders, many news themes feature them at the top in order to display the most popular stories, but since sliders don’t work, many designs are using a grid layout instead, like the Newspaper theme. With this design, posts are more click-worthy and prominently displayed, especially with the colorful category headers that are included.

Uncode

Uncode’s Portfolio Metro offers a unique approach to eye-catching design with its white background and large, striking black text that draws in your focus at the top of the page. Most themes feature a full-width image, video or colorful background above the fold, but this theme doesn’t and yet it works. What follows is a grid layout without padding for a striking design with needed pops of color that complete the look.

Flatsome

Flatsome is an eCommerce theme featuring an image slider for those who are keen to include one on their site in order to display many of their products. It also has many ways to display products from large to small thumbnail images.

Salient

The Salient theme’s blog demo includes quite a few demo layouts including their Blog layout. It has full-width featured images and a trending masonry grid without padding to display all the featured images for your posts on the home page.

The7

The7 theme has a photography layout that features a full-page image slider and thumbnail images of all the items in the slider’s queue which isn’t typical, but makes for a more user-friendly experience. It’s a great theme for photographers or anyone who needs to place images front and center on their site.

Impreza

The Agency demo of the Impreza theme has a full-width video background that angles at the bottom to form an arrow, beckoning visitors to scroll down and view the rest of the page. You can also display your portfolio in a popular grid format without padding.

Kalium

The Agency demo for the Kalium theme features a soft gray background and typewriter-style typography as well as a masonry grid for displaying your portfolio. Your text also takes the spotlight at the top of the front page to showcase your message in an eye-catching way. These style choices combine old school with new school for an overall contemporary design.

Total

The Total theme’s demo has a mostly flat design save for a few small animations. It can also display posts and portfolio items in a grid and comes with an image slider. It’s a great fit for personal or business use and for those who need a theme that has a trendy design with some added flair.

Oshine

The V24 Photography demo of the Oshine theme places all the focus on your images with a simple and uncluttered gallery as the front page and a thin vertical mobile menu on the left. It’s a great option for photographers or anyone who needs to showcase their images. It also includes the Oshine page builder to customize the design to fit your needs.

NewsPaper

NewsPaper uses a masonry grid to display featured posts at the top of the front page as well as a grid with large thumbnails for posts when you scroll down the page. It displays posts cleanly and shows category tags alongside excerpts which are colorful to add personality to the design.

Twotone

Twotone is a must-see theme for musicians. It has a full-page image with a minimalist music player and call to action on the front page. When you scroll down, information about the artist, album, tour dates, and other relevant news can be displayed in a two or three-column layout.

Marquee

Marquee is another theme designed specifically for musicians that splits the page into two parts: the left side displays a fixed image with a music player and text overlay while the right side includes the scrollable page content. It’s a clever way to keep the focus on the musician and their music while still being able to offer up content at the same time.

Obsidian

Obsidian is yet another theme aimed at musicians and features a full-page fixed background image which the site’s content scrolls over. It also has a fixed horizontal menu at the top of the page and a music player at the bottom.

Encore

Encore’s homepage is setup to display a title, an avatar and a music player. There’s a navigation menu at the top of the page that doesn’t disrupt the music player in that the song continues where you left off when you click through to another page, though, there is a short pause until the page fully loads.

Parasponsive

Parasponsive features a full-page image slider and creative design accents. Some of the background sections are angled creating an innovative and sleek design, much like the accents of a certain blog post you’re reading at the moment.

Archi

The Archi is another theme listed here that has a fixed vertical menu on the left. Similar to the Zillacommerce theme above, Archi’s Side Navigation demo has a single main color that’s carried throughout the theme to create a uniform look, although, the bright yellow color begs to be noticed by visitors and creates a sense of urgency.

Empathy

Empathy sets itself apart from other themes because its vertical navigation is narrow and includes icons as well as text. What’s particularly interesting about Empathy is that it’s actually a one-page theme even though it may not appear to be right away. When a menu item is clicked the content smoothly scrolls to the next section.

Photolog

The Photolog theme has a simple, yet striking layout that balances images and text so they’re both showcased well. Half the screen is reserved for a post’s featured image and the other half displays the post itself. Each post that’s displayed reverses the image and text so readers are drawn from side to side gradually in a pleasant way that keeps you engaged.

Expo

Expo provides an unexpected user experience that’s best suited for those who need a creative portfolio. When you land on the main page, you’re prompted to click a button to enter the site which has a full-page background image. When you click through, instead of being met with a standard page, a large carousel appears that you can manually scroll through from left to right.

Full Frame

The Full Frame theme features images like no other which makes it a great choice for portfolios or photographers. It displays full-page images, one directly after another, as you scroll down the page for a rich viewing experience. It includes the ability to add a text overlay as well.

Awesome

Awesome is a blogging theme that displays large featured images and has typography that’s easy to read. It also has an interesting, narrow, and vertical navigation menu that initially displays only icons until you hover over it to show text links.

Oren

Oren is a theme for photographers. It has a full-width image with a text overlay to introduce yourself and a grid layout for image posts that’s displayed tightly on the front page. It creates a wall-to-wall view of all your photos that stimulates the eyes and draws them in close.

Extra

The Extra theme incorporates many elements of a flat design, but doesn’t compromise when it comes to animations, sliders, carousels and a grid-style layout to display categories in a way that can display all your posts without needing infinite scrolling. If these features are important to you, then this theme may be for you.

Aspire Pro

If you’re searching for a theme that has a blend of contemporary flair and classic page elements geared toward marketing, the Aspire Pro theme may be exactly what you need. It has features such as a clear and colorful call to action paired with a full-page image at the top and the ability to inspire trust through displaying logos of your clients’ businesses.

Altitude

Altitude has several full-page parallax sections which are striking when displayed in between short page sections with quick bursts of information. You can also show text overlays for the parallax-powered images that draw your eyes in. It can be a great theme for anyone looking to make a big first impression.

Kallyas

Kallyas is an eCommerce theme that doesn’t shy away from animations and colors. There’s also ample opportunities to display posts, ads and calls to action.

Alona

Alona is a theme to consider for anyone who needs to position themselves or their business and communicate creativity through their design. It’s full-page image and grid layouts have a clever white border around them which echoes the message and style of your images.

Sleek

Sleek is big on content with its masonry grid layout for displaying posts without padding following the latest trend and includes infinite scrolling. It also has a vertical menu on the left and a sidebar on the right to display links and profile information for a twist on a classic layout.

Wrapping Up

No matter which theme you choose from this list, you can be sure your site won’t look out-of-date. Even if these themes aren’t quite right, many of them are highly customizable so you can achieve the exact design you need.

And for more themes, be sure to check out our articles on 45 Free WordPress Themes and 60+ Free Premium Themes.

Which themes on this list are your favorite? What features do you consider to be must-haves for any site's design? Did I miss any themes that should have made it to the list? Share your experience in the comments below.

Tags:

• free themes
• premium themes