Some of the best free WordPress themes will take the design of your blog or website to a whole new level … if you can find them. How to locate a great WordPress theme is like panning for gold. Every now and then, your patience is rewarded and you find a free theme that just shines head and shoulders above the rest; a rare nugget that feels like it could almost be a premium theme if the author wanted it to be.
This crop of WordPress themes moves the “free line” closer to Premium than ever before. Regular readers will know that late last year I featured “413 Best Free WordPress Themes” which although cool, felt like overload. I mean, sifting through 413 WordPress themes is no small task. So with this round up, I’ve saved you some time and handpicked what I feel are some of the best free WordPress themes currently available.
So lets get this show on the road! Let me start with a free theme that I liked immediately.
Irresistible
Irresistable pushes all the right buttons. It’s a moody WordPress theme with texture, depth and class.
Viewport
Viewport is hands down one of my top WordPress themes on this list. Yes, it’s not the most versatile theme. However it’s one of the most unique and well executed minimalist free WordPress themes I’ve seen in a long time (if not ever).
Definitely check out the preview on this one and tag it for later consumption.
Studio Rachna
Studio Rachna won a place in this best free WordPress theme roundup for bold originality. I loved everything from the colors to the happy fantasy imagery used in header and footer.
Okinawa
Okinaway Sky is a clean WordPress theme with dark blue color palette with modern typography that will get the job done.
Composito
The first thing I loved about this WordPress theme is the pastel color palette. The background, typography and grid all work well and won it a spot on the list based on those strengths.
Typebased
Another modern WordPress theme from the prolific template creators over at WooThemes. Everything about this theme is clean and modern.
Openair
Openair is a WordPress theme that is sure to fit many occasions. Light, breezy, clean.
Imprezz
Imprezz is might be one of the older themes featured on the list however this is one WordPress theme that deserves a second look for all the right reasons.
Magaling
I thought Magaling would make a great WordPress theme for a Gamer site. It’s got a heavier presence and clean lines that work well together.
Maasahan
Maashan I must admit barely made the cut. I don’t find it an appealing theme but when I took a second look it’s inclusion on the list was secured for being different yet still clean.
Elegant Grunge
Elegant Grunge won me over pretty much right away. Just look at it! Is this a theme that lives up to it’s name or what? I dig it.
FREEmium
Top WordPress theme FREEmium has been getting a lot of exposure recently and for good reason. This is one solid theme in every regard and yet another theme that lives up to it’s name in spades.
Robust enough to handle virtually any occasion, FREEmium is another must tag for your list of assets … make sure you take this one for a test drive.
Magazeen
Magazeen probably needs little introduction. This clean WordPress theme is a strong contender and almost (sooo close) got my pick for an Editors Choice.
Deskspace
Creative and artistic. The low contrast typography isn’t really doing it for me but aside from that, this theme is tight and would be a great fit for the right project.
Alivapress
Another potential WordPress theme for a game site. Alivapress looks to have the makings of a top game site theme right out of the box.
CorporateMag
Nothing to write home about but a worthy and solid corporate WordPress theme without a doubt.
Blues
I didn’t get Blues when I first saw it … and I’m not sure I do now. The design choices mess with my head and for that reason, I like it.
Malawak
Malawak!
Shades of Blue
Simple without trying to be. Shades of Blue got on our list for being unpretentious and clean.
Snapshot
Photo voting has come up a lot in my life lately. I gravited to Snapshot pretty much straight away when I saw it. Not sure if some custom plugins would be needed to power the voting or what. Worth a look if you need a votable gallery of some kind.
Vintage
How could I go past Vintage? I couldn’t of course, so here she be!
NewsTheme
Newstheme reminds me of The Office. If Dunder Mifflen (sp) had a WordPress powered site, they’d be running Newstheme.
Green Design Studio
Green Design Studio just squeaked onto the list. Maybe it’s the chick in the hat that got me.
Androida
Thinking of starting a tech blog? This is one clean WordPress theme that will serve your geeks for years to come.
Conservative American
Last but not least, Conservative American. A huge header for branding purposed and dark color palette featued on one of the better political themes I’ve yet to see.
That’s about wraps it up for this batch of what I feel are the best free WordPress themes currently available. Have I missed one of your favorite free WordPress themes? Think you know of on that should be on this list? Let’s hear it in the comments!
More...
- 17 Kind of Premium Quality WordPress Themes for Free
- 40 bbPress Themes for Download
- 413 Best Free WordPress Themes
- WordPress Baby Themes
- 3 Clean & Modern WordPress Themes from Jai
About the author
Danno started freelancing in 1996. He is the co-founder and (ex) President of Graphics.net, owner of FeedIcons.com, EliteFreelancing.com, FastCharacters.com and SteelAndSnow.com. He digs wind, waves, guitars and circles. Follow Danno on Twitter.
May 12th, 2009
so good. tanx a lot.
May 13th, 2009
Nice collection admin. i like this blog and will visit this blog any time.
May 20th, 2009
Cool. Thanks.
May 21st, 2009
Do you think Open air must be in your 25 Best Free WordPress Themes because its not a free. You need to purchase it. for other theme I don't know but the Open Air is not still free.
June 2nd, 2009
Hmmm.
June 9th, 2009
I love Shades of Blue..Great collection Danno.. Thanks for sharing these…
June 10th, 2009
Have you guys checked the ubd ad block plugin? it allows 125×125 banners in the side bar and rotates them.
June 15th, 2009
will check it out. do you know the web address to get it from?
June 15th, 2009
all the themes great. i want to use one of them on my blog. its will be good. thank for your job. sorry for my english…
June 25th, 2009
@dermapril: Never heard of it.
@TechZoomin: No problem, nothing like a great WP theme
@Muzrek: Your english is fine and probably 100 times better than my … whatever languge you speak :-)
June 29th, 2009
wow…nice theme collection here. Thanks for all.
June 29th, 2009
hmm, nice posting, thanks for sharing guys.
June 29th, 2009
good post guys, thank for all
June 29th, 2009
cool site, very usefull.
Thanks for share… :)
June 29th, 2009
Wow cool site, nice themes, thanks
June 29th, 2009
Great collection, I will save your site in my bookmark thanks
June 29th, 2009
I like this site, very impressive, thanks
July 3rd, 2009
That was a nice read
July 11th, 2009
I agree – 25 of the best.
hard to believe that these themes are free.
not much point in buying a theme with ones like this going for free.
July 16th, 2009
I absolutely agree it's the best 25 word press themes..love it..for free..Cheers to that!
July 29th, 2009
thanks from Turkey, very good work
August 8th, 2009
very good collection themes. Thanks for all
August 11th, 2009
All the themes in the list are very decent, made by professionals.
August 26th, 2009
Thanks for all these awesome templates.
September 6th, 2009
very good collection, thanks
September 11th, 2009
Are these all your own themes? There are some really good ones here, especially the news theme. Almost tempted to convert to that one now.
September 12th, 2009
cool stuff of wp themes
September 20th, 2009
Very cool collection.
Thanks for sharing
September 24th, 2009
Thanks for the collection, they all look marvelous.
October 3rd, 2009
These themes could all be premium themes, problem is with free themes… you don't always get backup and help with the theme.
I bought a premium theme that had a forum and it has saved me hours. You don't have to save much time to pay for even an expensive premium theme.
If you are new to WordPress, my advice would be to stick with a theme, free or otherwise, which has good documentation.
October 4th, 2009
Thank you very much for the list. It's hard to have the choice
October 9th, 2009
It's weird that you don't list any contact info or a Twitter feed, isn't it?? I really liked the site and wanted to follow you on Twitter, because that's the new standard… I don't use an RSS reader and don't want a bunch of email from all this sources I follow. What up with that? You made me WORK to try to contact you…
October 16th, 2009
Thankyou a very nice work. I checked it out.
October 28th, 2009
Great themes. I found my new theme on this page!
October 31st, 2009
Excellent themes, have more blogs in mind now to make use of one or two
October 31st, 2009
These are some gorgeous themes. Good to see a collection that is actually DIFFERENT from all the other lists of themes out there (which are normally just the same rehashed boring designs).
Thank you!!
November 1st, 2009
SOme very nice themes here, thank you
November 1st, 2009
Thanks for such a great collection – these are better than a lot of so called premium templates that I have been looking at!
November 1st, 2009
Sweet, I love 'em. Thanks.
November 3rd, 2009
very nice wp-themes. Thanks for sharing!
November 4th, 2009
nice themes, i love this template collection
November 4th, 2009
i think the same with you
November 4th, 2009
best themes
November 9th, 2009
Thanks so much for these – great collection – much better than a lot of the paid themes out there!
January 7th, 2010
nice theme wp, thank your posting…
January 8th, 2010
I downloaded some themes, thanks for sharing
January 9th, 2010
OpenAir is not free though..