Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said, "Design is not just how it looks and feels. Design is how it works." Although WordPress is the world's most popular website building program, when you use WordPress to build a website, the theme you choose also plays a vital role in other factors besides the appearance of the website. These factors include: user experience, website structure and functionality, and ease of maintenance.
Therefore, if you choose the best theme for your WordPress business website, it may bring you an incredible experience. After all, there are a lot of free WordPress themes that can help you save costs, while premium themes have more unique advantages. So, free vs. paid premium WordPress themes - which one is better for your business?
To help you make your choice, we’ll provide you with a solid comparison analysis of free vs. paid premium WordPress themes. In the following articles, we’ll highlight the pros of each and the benefits you can expect to gain by choosing one.
Disclaimer: WordPress is an affiliate partner for one or more of the products listed below. If you click on a link and complete a purchase, we may receive a commission.
Learn about Free vs. Paid Premium WordPress Themes
First, let’s take a look at free and paid premium WordPress themes and their pros and cons.
Free WordPress themes are themes made by independent developers and are free for everyone to use. You can find them in the official WordPress.org theme directory .
Sometimes, some high-end theme vendors make preview versions of some premium themes and release them in the official WordPress.org theme directory. The WordPress.org theme directory is not the only place to find free WordPress themes, there are many other free themes to choose from. However, you should be extra careful when downloading and installing WordPress themes from any source other than the WordPress.org theme directory, and you need to pay attention to the security of the code in these themes.
On the other hand, premium WordPress themes are not free. They are often paid themes that you can buy from many third-party WordPress theme marketplaces. When you want to buy a WordPress theme, you can browse through the following well-known WordPress theme stores:
- Themeforest
- Astra Theme
- ThemeIsle
- Elegant Theme and Divi Editor
- OceanWP
- Themify
- CSSIgniter
- UpThemes
- aThemes
- StudioPress
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how free and paid premium WordPress themes compare to each other in terms of features, pros, and cons.
Pros and Cons of Free vs. Paid Premium WordPress Themes
When comparing free and paid premium WordPress themes, you will likely find many advantages. However, both free WP themes and paid premium WP themes have disadvantages. Let’s take a look at them:
Free WordPress Themes
Here are the pros and cons of using a free WordPress theme for your website:
advantage:
Free WP themes have different advantages for WordPress users. Here are the benefits for website owners to use free themes over paid premium WordPress themes:
- Free WordPress themes are completely free and have no hidden fees or additional restrictions.
- Before free themes are published to the WordPress.org theme directory for installation, they are carefully reviewed to ensure compliance with code standards, high-quality HTML and CSS, and security.
- The installation process for free WordPress themes is very simple. This is because you can access the WordPress.org theme directory directly from your WordPress dashboard, which makes browsing and installing free WordPress themes smoother and more convenient.
shortcoming:
While free WordPress themes have some advantages, there are also disadvantages to using them, such as:
- Free themes are not unique. This means that different websites using the same free WordPress theme may have similar or even identical designs.
- Free theme authors offer limited technical support. While free WP theme authors tend to offer technical support on the WordPress forums, they rarely go out of their way to resolve complex issues raised by specific users.
- You only have some basic customization options that come with the theme. If you plan on removing or adding some templates on your site, you will most likely need some basic knowledge of coding.
- Free versions of WP themes usually have limited functionality. They lack great optimization settings and features such as shortcodes, drag-and-drop page builders, and personalized landing page settings… etc.
- Free WP themes are usually updated less frequently. Outdated theme features can lead to serious security vulnerabilities, malware, and cyber attacks on your website.
Why Free WordPress Themes
Given all these limitations, you may be curious about why there are so many free WP themes. In fact, these free WP themes can often help these theme authors:
- Improve their skills
- Showcase their work
- Increase influence
- Extend paid users
During the review process, the WP Theme Review Team reviews the code of these new themes and suggests improvements.
Premium WordPress Themes
Here are the pros and cons of buying a paid premium WordPress theme for your website:
advantage:
There are many advantages to purchasing a paid premium WordPress theme for your business website. Here are some of the reasons why various businesses around the world use paid premium themes:
- Offering unlimited customization options, paid premium themes provide first-class uniqueness to website designs. You can create a custom, industry-specific website that fits your brand style.
- Paid premium WP themes are mostly high-quality themes. They are superior to free themes in terms of privacy, security, and compatibility.
- The Theme Shop provides excellent technical support and guided steps during and after the installation process.
- The various features of paid WP themes are updated regularly to enhance website security.
- With premium WP themes, you can access and use some advanced features and customization options.
shortcoming:
Although there are many advantages to purchasing paid premium WordPress themes, these paid premium WP themes also have their own disadvantages, such as:
- Since paid themes have some higher authority standards, premium WordPress themes are not officially reviewed by WordPress.org. Therefore, low-quality paid premium themes may enter the market to deceive users.
- Although premium themes have tons of great features, your website may suffer from theme bloat when using them. When premium paid themes include too many features, their code files are bound to be bloated, which only increases the loading time of the website and hinders the normal functioning of the website.
Should You Pay for WordPress Themes?
Of course, if you can afford to buy a WordPress theme, we recommend that you do so. After all, premium themes are often worth the money. Whether you are a blogger, e-commerce platform, small business owner, or part of a larger enterprise, your business needs a high-quality website to help you grow. Building a website for your business will not only increase brand awareness, but it can also help you:
- Generate potential customers for your business
- Bring together your operations and quotes
- Build your business reputation
- Enhance the professional image of the company
- Support your customers online whenever possible
However, if you are still wondering whether it is necessary to buy a WordPress theme after you have already built a WordPress website, don’t worry. Here is a list of things to consider before choosing free vs. paid premium WordPress themes, which contains some questions you should face or think about before making a decision:
Free vs. Paid Premium WordPress Themes: Things to Consider Before Choosing a Theme
There are a few things you need to think about before buying a paid premium WordPress theme. So, before choosing a free or paid premium theme, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you want a unique website that looks specific to your industry, or do you mind creating a homogenous website with just a basic template?
- Are you looking for full control and customization, or do you know how to code a website yourself?
- In the long run, will you need further technical support, or can you solve various problems on your WordPress website independently?
- Is it a personal blog or a professional website? Can you afford to worry about security?
The benefits of using a paid premium WordPress theme over a free WordPress theme are huge. Overall, using a paid premium theme can provide more functionality for your business website. However, we recommend that you consider the needs of your WordPress website when it comes to themes and make your choice based on the above questions.
For example: a hobby blogger might accept a free theme, while an e-commerce platform owner is likely to choose a paid premium theme.
We recommend that when purchasing paid premium WordPress themes, you purchase them from a trusted platform or developer website as there are many low-quality paid premium themes available on the web.
Conclusion: Which is the Best Free vs. Paid Premium WordPress Themes?
The advantages of paid premium WP themes far outweigh free WordPress themes. Although every theme has its disadvantages, quality WordPress themes are more than enough to meet the needs of business owners. When you decide to create a WordPress website, you may be tempted to choose a free theme to save money. However, unless your project only requires a free theme, we recommend purchasing a paid premium WordPress theme from a trusted platform or developer website.
If you’ve compared free vs. paid premium WordPress themes and are ready to start building your WordPress website, don’t forget to choose a reliable host . After all, having a beautiful website means nothing if your visitors can’t navigate it properly with a bad web host. Check out our recommendations for the best WordPress hosts for you, and give your site’s visitors the smooth user experience they deserve by reading our related articles.
Now it’s your turn to tell me: what WordPress theme are you using? What themes have you used before? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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