Best WordPress Themes: Tested & Compared

As of 2023, around 810 million websites use WordPress which is about 43% of all websites. The remarkable aspect of the WordPress platform is its comprehensive array of tools and themes, providing everything necessary to create an exceptional website that effectively engages and captivates visitors.

Having a professional website is crucial for any business that wants to attract potential customers, regardless of how well-developed their business plan is or how great their product or service may be.

With an extensive selection of over 11,000 WordPress themes, beginners often face challenges in identifying the most suitable one for their specific needs. The right theme, however, can significantly impact the growth, management, and future of a website.

To help you out, we have hand-picked the best WordPress themes of 2023 in this article, making it easier for you to find the perfect theme for your website.

Let’s dive in.

Best WordPress Themes: At a Glance

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a WordPress Theme

When it comes to building a website using WordPress, selecting the right theme is paramount. Here are some of the key factors to consider when choosing a WordPress theme. 

• Responsive design and mobile-friendliness: A responsive design ensures that your website will adapt and display properly on various devices and screen sizes, including smartphones and tablets. Mobile-friendliness is also crucial since a large percentage of internet users access websites from mobile devices.
• Customization options and flexibility: Look for a theme that offers a range of customization options, such as different layouts, color schemes, typography, and widget areas. Flexibility allows you to tailor the theme to match your brand and design preferences without needing to write custom code.
• Performance and loading speed: A theme’s performance and loading speed significantly impact user experience and search engine rankings. Opt for a lightweight theme that is optimized for speed to ensure your website loads quickly and efficiently.
• SEO friendliness and code quality: Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for improving your website’s visibility and attracting organic traffic. Choose a theme that follows best coding practices, has clean and optimized code, and provides SEO features or integration with popular SEO plugins.
• Integration with popular plugins and page builders: Consider whether the theme is compatible with popular WordPress plugins and page builders that you may need to enhance your website’s functionality. Compatibility with plugins allows you to add features like contact forms, social media integration, e-commerce functionality, and more.
• Support and documentation provided by the theme developer: Check if the theme developer offers reliable customer support and documentation. Good support ensures that you can get assistance if you encounter any issues or have questions about the theme. Detailed documentation can help you set up and customize the theme effectively.
• Pricing and licensing options: Consider the pricing model and licensing terms of the theme. Some themes are free, while others require a one-time purchase or subscription. Additionally, check if the theme license allows you to use it on multiple websites or if there are any restrictions.

Should You Pay for a WordPress Theme?

While choosing a WordPress theme, you might come across both free and premium (paid) options. Here comes the question: should you pay for a WordPress theme?  Ultimately, the decision to pay for a WordPress theme depends on your specific needs, goals, and resources. 

If you prioritize design, advanced features, support, and long-term viability, a premium theme may be the better option. However, if you have simpler requirements, limited funds, or are comfortable with more basic customization options, a free theme can still serve your needs effectively.

Here are some considerations to help you make an informed decision:

• Design and Features: Premium themes often offer more advanced designs and a wider range of features compared to free themes. They may have unique layouts, customization options, pre-designed templates, and additional functionality that can enhance the visual appeal and functionality of your website.
• Support and Updates: Premium theme developers typically provide dedicated customer support and regular updates to ensure compatibility with the latest WordPress version and plugins. This can be beneficial if you’re not well-versed in troubleshooting or if you want ongoing assistance and improvements for your theme.
• Code Quality and Security: Premium themes often undergo more rigorous code reviews and testing, resulting in cleaner, optimized, and more secure code. Free themes, on the other hand, may have less attention to code quality, potentially leading to vulnerabilities or compatibility issues with plugins.
• Customization and Flexibility: Premium themes generally offer more extensive customization options, allowing you to personalize your website’s appearance and functionality to a greater extent. They often provide user-friendly customization interfaces, drag-and-drop builders, and advanced theme options, giving you more control over the design and layout.
• Regular Updates and Future Development: Premium themes tend to receive regular updates and ongoing development from the theme creators. This ensures that you’ll have access to bug fixes, new features, and improvements over time, helping your website stay up-to-date and maintain compatibility with the evolving WordPress ecosystem.
• Budget and Long-Term Investment: If you have a limited budget, using a free theme can be a reasonable choice. However, if you’re serious about your website and expect it to play a significant role in your business or personal brand, investing in a premium theme can be seen as a long-term investment that provides better support, customization options, and potential for growth.

Top 10 Most Popular & Best Selling WordPress Themes of 2023

1. Divi

Divi is a highly popular and one of the best multi-purpose WordPress themes created by Elegant Themes. With its extensive library of pre-made layouts, customization options, and the ability to create entirely custom themes from scratch, Divi offers flexibility and versatility to meet any website requirement.

One of Divi’s standout features is its built-in drag-and-drop builder with expandable plugins like DiviFlash, which allows users to effortlessly create layouts of any kind. Additionally, Divi provides users with a vast collection of over 800 pre-made layouts and more than 100 website packs. 

Divi is fully responsive, ensuring your website looks great on all devices. It also provides bulk-editing modules, keyboard shortcuts, and global style settings to improve your workflow along with 200 customizable elements.

Best Features of Divi

• Drag-and-Drop Page Builder
• 800+ pre-made layouts and theme builder
• 200+ extensive elements
• 2,000+ design layouts
• Responsive Editing
• Advanced design settings
• WooCommerce integration

Divi is Best for

Divi is an all-purpose theme. It is suitable for both beginners and experienced developers in all situations in need of landing pages.

Pricing of Divi

• Yearly Access: $89 per year
• Lifetime Access: $249 one time

FURTHER READING: Divi Theme Review

2. Hello Elementor

Hello Elementor is a lightweight theme that perfectly complements the Elementor page builder plugin, making it an excellent choice for fans of Elementor for building your startup’s website.

One of the key advantages of using Hello Elementor is its full compatibility with all Elementor templates bundled with the plugin. While the theme itself is free, access to advanced templates requires an Elementor Pro license.

With Hello Elementor, your website will be fully responsive, ensuring optimal viewing across all screen sizes. Additionally, the pro version allows you to create custom templates for headers, footers, blog post layouts, and more.

To expedite the website creation process, the Elementor kit library provides over 300 pre-designed templates for a wide range of website types, including e-commerce, portfolio, blog, business, and more.

Best Features of Hello Elementor

• 100+ Ready-made designs
• 300+ pre-design templates
• Drag and Drop page builder
• Headers & Footers customization
• WooCommerce support
• Responsive design with a dazzling performance

Hello Elementor is Best for

Hello Elementor is the best free WordPress theme and an excellent choice for beginners and individuals who prefer using the Elementor page builder plugin to create their websites. 

Pricing of Hello Elementor

Elementor Hello theme is completely free however you require an Elementor Pro license to access advanced templates.

• Essential: $59 per year
• Expert: $199 per year
• Agency: $399 per year

3. Astra

Astra is a highly popular WordPress theme known for its exceptional performance optimization, resulting in lightning-fast website loading times. It is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy, and the Gutenberg editor offering essential features in a functional package.

Astra provides a wide range of pre-built page templates, making it possible to create virtually any type of website, even for those with no prior web development experience. You can select and activate/deactivate specific modules based on your needs, granting you control over the functionality of your website.

The theme focuses on speed, with optimized code and self-hosted Google fonts. Additionally, Astra includes a built-in WooCommerce module, making it an excellent choice for eCommerce owners.

Best Features of Astra

• Superb performance with fast loading times
• 180+ Premium Starter Templates
• Seamless integration with page builders
• User-friendly interface for easy customization
• Compatible with WooCommerce for creating online stores (Pro version)
• 100% open source for complete transparency and flexibility

Astra is Best for

Astra is a lightweight and one of the best WordPress themes with a user-friendly design. It caters to a wide range of users, offering multipurpose themes suitable for online shops, consultants, freelancers, business owners, and more.

Pricing of Astra

• Astra Pro: $47 per year
• Essential Bundle: $137 per year
• Growth Bundle: $187 per year

4. Avada

Avada is a highly customizable WordPress theme that offers a multitude of options to create a truly unique website. It has been the #1 selling WordPress Website Builder for over 10+ years trusted by 875,000+ beginners, professionals, agencies, businesses, and creatives who value total design freedom.

With Avada, you have the flexibility to build custom mega menus, popups, and sliding bars using the off-canvas builder. It provides multiple header and footer layouts, as well as the ability to create custom forms.

Avada boasts an extensive feature set, including 400+ pre-built web pages and 120+ design and layout elements, all within a fully responsive framework. This ensures that your website looks great and functions flawlessly across various devices.

Best Features of Avada

• 85+ Professional prebuilt sites
• 400+ Pre-built web pages
• 120+ Design and layout elements
• Fusion Builder for front-end page editing
• Built for speed with impeccable code quality
• Specialized WooCommerce builder for the customized shop, cart, checkout, and product layouts

Avada is Best for

Avada is the ideal choice for users seeking speed, performance, and a flexible WooCommerce builder for e-commerce websites. It also caters to those who prefer a wide range of pre-built web pages, and designers looking for diverse design elements.

Pricing of Avada

• Regular License: $69

5. OceanWP

OceanWP is a lightweight and versatile WordPress theme that seamlessly integrates with popular page builders like Elementor and Gutenberg. With over 220 pre-made design layouts, customizable headers, and extensive control over blog posts, it empowers users to create unique and personalized websites. 

It is highly extendable and compatible with WooCommerce, making it an excellent choice for creating online shops. Also offers unlimited color options, custom widgets, image sliders, and SEO-friendly features, making it an excellent choice for any website type.

OceanWP is a multipurpose theme that comes with its own companion plugin. Upon activation, it recommends installing a free page builder plugin to enhance your website-building experience. 

Best Features of OceanWP

• Lightweight theme with excellent performance and speed
• 220+ pre-made layouts for easy website creation
• Compatible with Elementor and Gutenberg blocks for seamless integration
• Multiple options for page, header, and blog layouts
• Enhanced functionality with the OceanWP Extra plugin
• Full compatibility with WooCommerce for creating online shops

OceanWP is Best for

OceanWP is best for those seeking an easy-to-use, highly customizable, and free WordPress theme which is at the same time lightweight and fast.

Pricing of OceanWP

• Personal: $43 per year
• Business: $71 per year
• Agency: $127 per year

6. GeneratePress

GeneratePress is a high-performance WordPress startup theme that prioritizes compatibility with plugins, including page builders. It excels in compatibility, seamlessly integrating with most plugins, including page builders and GenerateBlocks. 

The theme provides a broad library of page templates, but if you prefer manual website building or utilizing WordPress core tools, other themes may be more suitable. While offering an extensive customization interface with ample options for typography, color schemes, layouts, and post formats, the premium version of GeneratePress delivers the most useful features. 

Best Features of GeneratePress

• Excellent performance and speed
• Compatible with most plugins
• Live WordPress Customizer
• Multiple Blog, Archive page layouts
• Extensive customization options for typography, color schemes, and layouts
• Premium version offers advanced features
• Responsive design for mobile devices

GeneratePress is Best for

GeneratePress is best suited for all kinds of websites especially users who prioritize performance, compatibility with plugins, customization options, and SEO optimization.

Pricing of GeneratePress

• Yearly: $59 per year
• Lifetime: $249 one-time payment

7. Kadence

Kadence is a powerful WordPress theme known for its compatibility with various page builders and LMS plugins, making it an excellent choice for educational startups. It offers a wide range of customizable website templates and layouts for any business niche. 

While the premium version is geared towards the education market, the free Kadence theme is suitable for other startup niches. With Kadence WP, you have access to ready-made templates, a built-in header builder for customization, seamless integration with popular WordPress plugins, and the convenience of using the WordPress customizer for live preview and theme adjustments.

Best Features of Kadence

• Ready-made templates and layouts for various business niches
• Built-in header/footer builder for easy customization
• Seamless integration with popular WordPress plugins
• WordPress customizer with live preview for real-time theme changes
• Color options with global button setting
• SEO-friendly architecture to improve search engine visibility
• Custom Post Type Support

Kadence is Best for

Kadence WP is best for WordPress novices and professionals looking for a customizable and performance-focused membership-based WordPress theme with seamless plugin integration.

Pricing of Kadence

• Kadence Theme Pro: $59 first year
• Essential Bundle: $129 first year
• Full Bundle: $199 first year

8. Neve

Neve is another best WordPress themes designed for various business types, such as small businesses, consultancy firms, pharmacies, and academic institutions. With Neve, you can create any type of website, import fully functional landing pages, and even design custom pages effortlessly.

Its lightning-fast performance ensures an optimal user experience without compromising website speed. Also, it seamlessly integrates with popular page builders like SeedProd, Beaver Builder, Divi, and SiteOrigin, enabling easy customization without coding. 

In addition to its flexibility, Neve provides built-in support for WooCommerce, making it simple to set up an online store. You can utilize top WooCommerce plugins like Advanced Coupons to enhance your eCommerce business. 

Best Features of Neve

• 100+ Ready to import, starter Sites
• Header and footer builder 
• Enhanced WooCommerce integration
• Super fast performance, loads in just 1 second
• Global color palettes options
• Compatibility with popular page builders
• Flexible Neve control panel

Neve is Best for

Neve is a super fast, multipurpose WordPress theme that works seamlessly with all page builders, making it perfect for blogs, small businesses, startups, consultancy firms, pharmacies, and more. 

Pricing of Neve

• Personal: $69 per year
• Business: $149 per year
• Agency: $259 per year

9. Blocksy

Blocksy is a fast and lightweight free WordPress theme built with Gutenberg editor in mind. It is designed to cater to various types of websites, ranging from online stores and educational platforms to corporate sites and blogs.

One notable feature of the Blocksy theme is its seamless integration with WooCommerce, making it effortless for users to set up an online store. Additionally, the theme is optimized for mobile devices and search engines, ensuring a smooth user experience and enhanced visibility on the web.

Blocksy allows users to personalize their websites using popular WordPress page builders such asElementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, and Brizy. While it is compatible with most page builder plugins, Blocksy truly excels when used in conjunction with the default WordPress block editor.

Best Features of Blocksy

• Lightning fast and lightweight
• Compatibility with Gutenberg editor
• Versatility and Customizability
• Integration with Popular Page Builders (Elementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, Brizy)
• Responsive and adaptive design
• Translation ready
• Built-in eCommerce support
• Starter site Designs for startups

Blocksy is Best for

Blocksy is best for any kind of WordPress website, from personal to business websites, blogs, eCommerce stores, and more including versatility, speed, and extensive customization options.

Pricing of Blocksy

• Personal: $49 per year
• Professional: $69 per year
• Agency: $99 per year

10. Hestia

Hestia is a simple yet powerful one-page WordPress theme for small businesses, magazines, and blog websites. It seamlessly integrates with popular page builders such as Visual Composer, Elementor, and others, and also provides native support for Gutenberg, the default WordPress editor. 

With Hestia, you have the flexibility to customize the header, footer, page layout settings, and global options for typography, colors, and more. If you require advanced e-commerce features through WooCommerce, upgrading to the pro version of Hestia is necessary. 

It includes a wide range of starter sites with an SEO-friendly structure, increasing the likelihood of your site ranking well on Google search results. Also, Hestia is translation-ready, with both free and premium plugins available to translate all elements within the theme. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses aiming for a global audience.

Best Features of Hestia

• Multipurpose one-page design
• Compatible with popular page-builders
• Starter Sites for quick setup
• Customizer for complete website customization
• SEO-Ready structure
• Translation-Ready with free and premium plugins
• eCommerce-specific layouts with the pro version

Hestia is Best for

Hestia is a modern multipurpose WordPress theme that is best suited for professionals in creative businesses, small businesses (including restaurants, wedding planners, and sport/medical shops), startups, corporate businesses, online agencies and firms, portfolios, e-commerce websites (using WooCommerce), and freelancers.

Pricing of Hestia

• Personal: $69 per year
• Business: $99 per year
• Agency: $299 per year

Wrapping Up

While finding the perfect WordPress theme for your business consider your specific needs for design, performance, and compatibility with plugins or page builders to make the best choice for your WordPress theme.

Regardless of your choice, all the themes listed above offer great value, numerous customization options, and support for e-commerce websites. So, which one is best for you? 

Here is our verdict,

• Divi: Versatile and powerful. Suitable for beginners and advanced users. 
• Hello Elementor: Lightweight and flexible. Seamless integration with Elementor.
• Astra: Fast and customizable. Works well with page builders.
• Avada: Feature-rich and highly customizable. User-friendly interface.
• OceanWP: Versatile with built-in features. Excellent WooCommerce integration.
• GeneratePress: Lightweight and fast. Extensive customization options. 
• Kadence: Flexible with pre-built templates. Deep WooCommerce integration. 
• Neve: Lightweight and customizable. Seamless integration with page builders. 
• Blocksy: Fast and feature-rich. Modern design. 
• Hestia: Visually appealing for startups. Clean and modern design. 

We hope that this article has assisted you in discovering the ideal WordPress theme for your site. Let us know which one you use or decide to use in the comment section below.

FURTHER READING

• Best WordPress Page Builders
• Best WordPress Theme Builders