If you are serious about blogging, then you should choose a premium theme. However, there are some free themes that can give tough competition to those premium themes.
I think we all started our blogging journey with a free theme. Later, we realized that the free theme does more harm than it does anything better.
But, if you want to stick to a free theme due to any reason, then this is the article for you where we will be discussing the 6 Best Free WordPress Themes.
Benefits of Free WordPress Themes
Except for “free themes are available for free” I don’t see any benefits in using a free theme. However, few free themes offer SEO features, Schema Markups, and clean coding, and our article will be all about those free themes.
Drawbacks Of Free WordPress Themes
Most free themes do not ship with good SEO features or with proper schema markups. Both are very essential for getting ranked.
Clean coding is also a daydream in a free theme. All these things contribute to the slow loading of your blog. Slow loading means a high bounce rate and low ranking.
Support is also non-existent in a free theme. Updates are not very frequent and if you end up in trouble with the theme, you have no one to ask apart from getting help from forums. Though those forums are highly active, you won’t get any personalized help.
5 Best Free WordPress Themes
Here are the 5 best free WordPress themes that we are going to discuss.
GeneratePressFastest WordPress Theme
GeneratePress deserves the number one spot for many reasons. The theme is extremely lightweight ( Just weighs under 30 KB ) and loads in under a second with a default setup. No bloatware, no unwanted plugins.
The free version is downloaded by over half a million users and mostly they gave a 5-star rating. That shows the popularity of this theme.
The support for the free version is through the WordPress support portal. GeneratePress is also compatible with page builders like Elementor & Thrive Architect.
GeneratePress has a free version and a pro version. The free version has basic features and is good for hobby bloggers. The pro version is loaded with advanced features and it is recommended to use the pro version.
GeneratePress Free Features
- Extremely lightweight ( Just under 30 KB)
- Exceptionally Fast ( Loads under a second in default setup)
- Mobile-Friendly ( Responsive)
- Typography and font editing
GeneratePress Pro Version Features
- Site Library ( You can copy any of those and edit as per your need)
- Colors ( You can change the color as per your need)
- Elements, hooks, and sections ( All are essential to building an attractive blog)
- Megamenu
- Customized header and footers
- Different post styles
- Different backgrounds in posts and page
- Personalized support
Astra ThemeGreat For Professional Websites
Astra blends speed with features. If you need a free theme that is fast, lightweight, and feature-rich too, go ahead with the Astra theme.
Astra Pro is schema-integrated and SEO optimized. The free version is just under 50 KB in size and loads in less than a second in the default setup.
Astra also supports WooCoomerce integration which is great if you want to launch an eCommerce store. Major page builders can be integrated with the Astra theme.
Astra Free Theme Features
- Schema Enabled
- SEO optimized
- Extremely fast
- Lightweight and clean coding
- Responsive design
Astra Pro Theme Features
- Header and footer customization
- Different site layout
- Better typography and color option
- Better blog layout
- Support custom layouts and hooks
- Lifter LMS and learn dash integration
- WooCommerce checkout option
- Better one-to-one support
OceanWP ThemeA Good Theme For Newbie Bloggers
OceanWP is one of the best free WordPress themes loved by many bloggers. Although it is not as fast as Astra and Generatepress, still bloggers love this theme due to its many customization options and WooCommerce integration.
It offers minimal SEO features bundled with clean coding for building faster websites. The theme is responsive and supports integration with different page builders like Elementor and Thrive architect.
OceanWP Free Theme Features
- Fast and SEO friendly
- WooCommerce ready
- Support page builder’s integration
- Responsive
- RTL support
OcenWP Premium Features
- Customized header, footer, and sidebar
- Multiple demo websites to copy
- Hook support which is essential for AdSense codes
- Inbuilt popup features
- Elementor widgets integrated
- Integrated Portfolio features
- White level theme
Schema LiteBest SEO-Optimized Theme
Schema Lite is a free WordPress theme developed by MyThemeShop, the same company that developed Rank Math, which is one of the best SEO plugins for WordPress.
Schema Lite is better SEO-optimized than any other free theme. In fact, it is one of the best SEO-friendly themes rated by many Pro-Bloggers.
Schema Lite is also fast, and lightweight, and the most important fact is that the support is just awesome.
So if you are looking for an SEO-friendly theme with better support, Schema lite can be a choice.
Schema Lite Features
- Better SEO functionality
- Customized headers and footers
- Fast and lightweight
- Customized blog layout
- Better customer support
Schema ( Paid version features)
- Best SEO features
- Much faster than the free version
- Inbuilt review features
- Social media options integrated
- Lazy loading integrated
- Compatible with most cache plugins
Hello ThemeBest Free Theme For Page builders
Hello theme is developed by Elementor, which is one of the best page builders for WordPress. With over a million downloads, it is one of the most popular free WordPress themes too.
Hello theme comes with minimum vanilla JavaScript coding and less CSS. This is useful if you want a barebone website that loads very fast.
The theme is SEO-optimized and Schema ready. Hello theme is also very lightweight and when used Elementor page builder, it is the best setup that you can have for your blog.
One of the most important facts about the Hello theme is that it is completely free and there is no pro version. So you can enjoy all the features for free.
Hello theme features
- Fast and lightweight
- Perfect for landing pages
- No extra java scripts or CSS styling
- Best theme to use with Elementor
- Free for Forever
Kadence ThemeThe All-In-One WordPress Theme
Kadence is a very feature-rich theme. In fact, the free versions also have many features that are sufficient to create a nice blog.
With over 200K+ installations and almost all 5-star ratings, Kadence is a very popular theme.
Kadence has a free version with some basic features and a pro version with many advanced features.
When Kadence is used with Kadence block, you can easily eliminate the need for any page builder.
Kadence Free Version Features
- Header and footer builder
- Woocommerce integration
- Advanced typography
- Custom layout
- Sticky sidebar
- Support for LMS plugins
Kadence Free Version Features
- Hooked Elements (Sections & Templates)
- Header Addons
- Conditional Headers
- woocommerce Addons
- Custom 404 Page
- Conditional Elements
- Inline Content Elements
Conclusion: Best Free WordPress Themes
As I said at the beginning of this article that free themes are not the ones that you should choose if are serious about blogging.
No matter what features a free theme offers, but still, it will lack the offering of a paid theme. If you are a beginner, you can try a free theme to learn about WordPress or how themes work.
But once your blog grows, better to shift to a premium theme.
For me, features are equally important like speed. If speed is the only consideration then no theme can beat GeneratePress.
But Astra free theme offers more features than GeneratePress along with great speed. So my pick would be Astra.
Did I miss any good themes here? Do let me know if you feel that there are better free themes available and I will be happy to include them in the list.
FAQ | Free WordPress Theme
How To Download Free WordPress Themes?
You can download Free WordPress Themes directly by going to the WordPress Dashboard-> Theme-> Add New-> Search for the theme
Which Free WordPress Theme Is Best For Blogging?
Astra and GeneratePress are the two best free WordPress themes for blogging.