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30 Free High Quality Wordpress Themes
Free professional WordPress themes always come in handy. Whether you are looking for some design inspiration or professional coding solutions — in both cases you can learn a lot, you can apply them and you can build customized designs upon them without reinventing the wheel all the time.
In this article we present over 30 fresh free high-quality WordPress themes. All themes can be downloaded, customized and used for free — in personal or/and commercial projects. Please read license disclaimers carefully before using the theme in commercial projects — they can change from time to time.
You might also want to take a look at our previous selections:
- 100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes
Together with hundreds of other designs, these themes have been manually selected, installed and tested over the last weeks. They all can be downloaded, customized and used for free in both personal and commercial projects. - 83 Beautiful WordPress Themes
An overview of beautiful, but rather unknown themes you might have missed. - 21 Fresh, Usable and Elegant Themes
A quite pretty selection of elegant yet well thought-out themes. - 10 Fresh and Clean Themes
The beauty of these themes lies in their clean look supported by a legible content presentation.
[By the way, did you know there is a brand new Smashing Wordpress Book? Push WordPress past its limits and take the basic blog into an entirely new blogosphere.]
30 Free Professional Wordpress Themes
1. Colourise
A two-column Wordpress theme with an ultra large header image, a dark backdrop and a fat footer.
2. Twilight Saga WordPress Theme
“There are so many books that hit the shelves these days that covers just start to blend together into one big mottled wallpaper. So it was a mild surprise when I encountered the stark black and minimalist cover designs.”
3. NewsWeek Wordpress Theme
“The theme is originally inspired from Business Weeek website. This is a three column theme having spots for advertise block, a featured video, and other functionalities. I might improve the theme in future but for now, you will have to do with this.”
4. Superfresh
“SuperFresh is a 3-columns theme based on natural green color. It contains 2 widget-ready sidebars, custom templates, with a featured post section on the main page. It’s compatible with WordPress 2.6 and has been tested in Firefox, Internet Explorer 6 & 7, Opera, and Safari.”
5. Our Rights WordPress Theme
Tested with WordPress 2.5, gravatar ready, widget-ready sidebar, valid CSS/XHTML, tested in IE6Win, Firefox 2, Opera 9 and Safari 3.
6. Thunderbolt WordPress Theme
Thunderbolt is a savvy, grid-aligned, magazine-style Wordpress theme with plenty of white space, impressive typography and sensible use of images. The theme has a beautiful custom archives page, showcasing the images attached to each post (to appear properly, the theme relies on the author to add images to each post).
8. Resurrection
10. Ashford WordPress Theme
“It is a theme for WordPress that makes building, customizing and maintaining a web site as simple as possible. A free WordPress theme that extends WordPress software with premium features making it as simple as possible to manage a web site.”
12. Lady In Green
13. The “Charred” WordPress Theme
14. MassivePress WordPress Theme
16. Outdoorsy Theme
17. Guzel Magazine WordPress Theme
18. Free Premium Themes Check Mate
19. Miniml – Free WordPress Theme
20. Ultimate Baseball Wordpress Theme
21. Arthemia 2.0
22. WP CODA Orange
24. Refreshed Wordpress Theme
26. Dirty Girl Theme 1.0
The theme is not available any longer.
28. Leon Paternoster » Posts » Introducing the “Into the White” theme for WordPress
Smashing Magazine’s Free Themes
29. Infinity: A Free Wordpress Theme
The theme has 3 fixed columns, thumbnails integration, Flickr, Delicious and Twitter integration as well as an attractive visual design. The theme was designed by Zhang Yichi, the creative mind behind Vikiworks Studio from Shanghai, China.
30. Wordpress.fun
The theme has 2 columns, thumbnails integration, a “featured” post section as well as a nice grungy design. The theme was designed by Maleika Attawel from Germany, purchased by Smashing Magazine and is now released as a gift for our readers.
31. Fervens: A Free Wordpress Theme
The theme has 3 columns of fixed width, comes in 3 flavours and is supposed to be a starting point for your projects. The theme was designed by Elena Gafita especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.
32. Notepad Chaos
The theme has 2 columns, a quite vibrant design including “personal” design elements such as handwritten headings, stick-it-notes, clips and pins. The theme was designed by Evan Eckard.
The Co-Founder of Smashing Magazine. Former writer, web designer, freelancer and webworker. Author of several books. Runs the business.
(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...- 101 Comments
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August 25th, 2008 4:23 pmcool
- 3August 25th, 2008 5:00 pm
foda!
- 4August 25th, 2008 5:05 pm
Terrific post as always; there’s plenty of these I haven’t come across before that I’m eager to take a closer look at.
- 5August 25th, 2008 5:06 pm
I have just released the first free child theme based on the Thematic Theme Framework. It can be found at http://www.patdryburgh.net/junction/
- 6August 25th, 2008 5:24 pm
cool .. thanks :D
- 7August 25th, 2008 5:27 pm
Those themes are nice,
however I think we need another 5 months for some real cool themes to come.
- 8August 25th, 2008 5:35 pm
Wow, some awesome themes there!
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- 10August 25th, 2008 6:08 pm
WordPress themes are nice but…. how about some Joomla or Drupal stuff for a change.
- 11August 25th, 2008 6:23 pm
lol at Joomla or Drupal
- 12
- 13August 25th, 2008 6:36 pm
I love these posts, if for no other reason than to analyze and learn. Thanks again!
- 14August 25th, 2008 6:40 pm
yes!it is cool
- 15August 25th, 2008 6:43 pm
Oh~i like~ cool!!!Thanks : )
- 16August 25th, 2008 6:46 pm
Awesome list, I love the 1st one!
- 17August 25th, 2008 6:48 pm
Very nice list, Thanks!
- 18August 25th, 2008 6:53 pm
Glad to see more Wordpress designs are coming out beautifully.
- 19August 25th, 2008 7:29 pm
Found a perfect “one post at a time theme” here. Love u guys!
- 20August 25th, 2008 8:06 pm
Why would you promote a theme that actively rips off a high profile design (Dirty Girl, ripping off Subtraction).
I expect it from them, but this just proves that you guys have no filter whatsoever.
- 21August 25th, 2008 8:29 pm
Thanks for including my theme. BTW, wrong screen shot ….
- 22August 25th, 2008 8:52 pm
How do you guys created it ?
- 23August 25th, 2008 9:21 pm
coooool coooooooooooooooooooooool cooooooooooooooooooooooooooool supercoooooooooooooooooooooool man!! very good
- 24August 25th, 2008 9:34 pm
Thanks for mentioning my theme (Refreshed theme).
- 25August 25th, 2008 9:40 pm
26. Dirty Girl Theme 1.0 looks like a rip off of Khoi Vinh’s Design at his site, Subtraction
- 26August 25th, 2008 9:50 pm
very cool!
- 27August 25th, 2008 10:07 pm
So much of free themes will make many of us web designers jobless in a few months from now. Small businesses who have someone who is computer savvy at top will surely update content and maintain the website.
I am not all that happy about these developments.
- 28August 25th, 2008 10:43 pm
any free themes that could be used for corporate sites – not using the standard blog style templates with date etc, but with banner and bucket layouts?
- 29August 25th, 2008 10:48 pm
I think that the thumbnail of the theme #4 (Superfresh) is wrong!
Anyway, thanks a lot for the themes!!
- 30August 26th, 2008 12:20 am
Wow. Great themes, great designs. Wordpress is taking over the world!!!
Compare this set with those from about a year ago – is it just me or are the calibre of WP theme designs is only going up?
My only gripe… Notepad Chaos IS WDW… I know it was inspired, but it’s a bit too close for comfort.
- 31August 26th, 2008 1:23 am
Really like the firebug theme, a lot like the “Elite” theme I am using now but better, definitely time to upgrade my theme :)
- 32August 26th, 2008 2:19 am
grandioso!!!! davvero fantastico!!!!
- 33August 26th, 2008 4:35 am
“Dirty Girl” is no longer available.
- 34August 26th, 2008 4:45 am
That rainbow stripe effect in the Colourise theme has been so overused in the past couple of months.
- 35August 26th, 2008 5:19 am
Very good!
- 36August 26th, 2008 5:50 am
These themes are pretty amazing. I cant believe how far WP has actually come.
- 37August 26th, 2008 6:55 am
I really recommend Refreshed!!!! I use it in my own blog, and it’s AWESOME!!!!
- 38August 26th, 2008 8:14 am
Awesome themes. Thanks
- 39August 26th, 2008 9:35 am
These are great…and I have only come across a few of them before! Very cool.
- 40August 26th, 2008 10:00 am
Wow those are hot – it’s amazing what a huge improvement has been made to Wordpress themes just over the last 3 months… it feels like the demand for high quality WP themes is finally being met. I remember having to hunt for templates just 4 months ago for a client project and genuinely having problems finding good starting themes… now, there’s a theme prebuilt for just about any type of blog/site you could ever need; a great little tool for freelancers who don’t want to start from scratch.
I’m using FreshNews as a base for my design blog, Make Design, Not War, but each of these is a damn good starting place for any creative looking to launch a new blog. Thanks for another helpful list. I wonder if this type of massive template growth will ever translate to ExpressionEngine or similar services.
- 41August 26th, 2008 10:40 am
hey! great post :) thnx
- 42August 26th, 2008 2:28 pm
I tried to install “Twilight” and it’s not widget-ready, doesn’t even have a sidebar template. Beautiful, but hardly useful
- 43August 26th, 2008 2:43 pm
Nice… Thanks
- 44August 26th, 2008 3:06 pm
Great list. Makes me question if I should just release the theme I was working on as a freebie or put it up on a site like: ThemeForest.net
It’s a magazine style theme called ScatterBrain. Feel free to get a peek at the preview and leave some advice.
gabediaz.com - 45August 26th, 2008 5:51 pm
I ever used some of them. Amazing.
- 46August 26th, 2008 7:18 pm
Somehoe I’m still using wordpress default theme.
- 47August 26th, 2008 9:07 pm
Nice list. I like those new magazin themes like NewsWeek.
- 48August 27th, 2008 1:41 am
very nice
- 49August 27th, 2008 2:15 am
Nice… Thanks
- 50
- 51August 27th, 2008 7:21 am
wow…. so many of these are direct rip-offs of existing sites…. it sucks that as a designer your stuff can get blatantly stolen and handed out for free by someone else and you have no recourse…. now i know how musicians feel….
- 52August 27th, 2008 8:54 am
And 30 Free High Quality Drupal Themes? :-D
- 53August 27th, 2008 9:34 am
Thanks for including my theme Checkmate, didn’t expect to see one of my own on the list. If anyone is interested there is a lot more info at my blog about Checkmate and it’s next release.
- 54August 27th, 2008 12:45 pm
WoW – these are beautiful! Thank you so much for taking the time to put together this list. I always enjoy finding list like this that compose lots of cool and related stuff – keep up the great work!
- 55August 27th, 2008 4:13 pm
what happened to dirty girl theme?
i So wanted that .. - 56August 28th, 2008 1:11 am
my blogs are currently listed on blogger. I have changed the templates enough times to know Wordpress themes are so much nicer than most templates offered for blogger based sites. Occasionally you’ll find some wordpress themes that have been converted to blogger friendly ones. This is a real bummer.
- 57August 28th, 2008 9:05 pm
i like wordpress.fun
cool template, thanks - 58August 30th, 2008 11:30 am
WordPress Premium Themes FREE !!
Look–> http://www.meutema.com.br
Temas premium de graça pro seu WordPress
- 59August 30th, 2008 11:31 am
WordPress Premium Themes FREE !!
Look–> w ww.meutema.com.br
Temas premium de graça pro seu WordPress
- 60August 30th, 2008 9:58 pm
Wow. I think I have to change my blog’s themes. Terima kasih. Salam.
- 61
- 62
- 63September 2nd, 2008 11:24 am
Very nice list, thanks for the share.
- 64
- 65September 4th, 2008 4:51 am
Thanks for showing my template here ;]
cheers,
Tom. - 66September 4th, 2008 2:18 pm
Your blog is really great..
Check mine..http://www.healthmad.com/Alternative/Eight-Health-Benefits-of-Stinging-Nettle.222373
- 67September 8th, 2008 7:31 am
Just thought you guys should add this one on the next list. Found it Sunday. its a portfolio theme for Wordpress
- 68September 10th, 2008 7:24 pm
Excellent collection, thanks
- 69September 11th, 2008 5:17 am
Great info and Excellent collection, thanks for share
- 70September 12th, 2008 9:22 pm
Awesome..cant say thankyou enough times:-)
- 71September 27th, 2008 12:56 pm
WordPress Themes PREMIUM FREE !!!!
LOOK >> W W W . M E U T E M A . C O M . B R
(Write..)The best themes.. !!
- 72September 28th, 2008 7:23 am
nice collection.
thanks for posting. :) - 73
- 74October 7th, 2008 1:29 pm
I hope you will add my theme too in your next collection.
can be seen here: http://prologic.vivsin.com/ - 75October 19th, 2008 3:57 am
thanks so much
- 76October 26th, 2008 3:58 pm
Großartiges Themes für WordPress, einfach schön zum ansehen.
This themes is fantastic, it’s very great.Liebe Grüße,
best regards,
Rewolve44 - 77October 27th, 2008 1:53 pm
Thanks for this great WordPress theme collection! I have included a link to you at: http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/how-to-set-up-a-blog/choose-your-free-wordpress-blog-theme/
- 78October 30th, 2008 2:32 pm
Look premium Themes FREE !!!
meutema.com.br/index.php
- 79November 3rd, 2008 3:42 am
Awesome!!!
- 80January 22nd, 2009 2:10 am
All are very nice
- 81January 28th, 2009 12:26 am
I modified Guzel to work on my site.
It looks great – badday. in. ua
- 82February 4th, 2009 2:37 pm
i really loved “infinity” among all themes… i guess i have always been a very visual person and am very much attached to colors and combination… the content would matter but still… the more colorful it gets the better it is for me… with my blog i preferred a torn jeans concept… i wish wordpress will have more beautiful themes though and a more drag and drop concept for easy usage…
- 83March 10th, 2009 7:25 am
Thanks for all the linkies! My tab box is full.
- 84March 11th, 2009 10:49 pm
Wow! Nice templates, I love them :D
- 85March 13th, 2009 8:20 am
Are subjects with extremely high quality!
2 of those already used in some of my blogs - 86April 26th, 2009 10:46 am
Theme #14 is linked to the main storefront and the theme is $75 – not free as far as I can tell
- 87May 14th, 2009 6:18 am
P63KFb comment1 ,
- 88May 22nd, 2009 12:24 am
some of themes are old but still are really good
- 89June 2nd, 2009 4:34 pm
wow these themes are bomb!
- 90June 6th, 2009 8:59 am
Thanks, I already have a blog on my site, adding a 2nd one for my sisters MS Support Group and found one to use. Thanks.
- 91June 27th, 2009 2:38 am
i cant see the download link. how can i download these?
- 92July 6th, 2009 1:49 am
Nice post! I like most of the themes featured here. ;)
- 93July 20th, 2009 11:07 am
Amazing collection indeed! Theme No.30 is awesome!
- 94August 6th, 2009 12:13 am
[>> ممنون قشنگن <<]
Thanks - 95August 18th, 2009 11:50 am
google is here fantastic .. webmaster is seo is ı love smashing magazine .. thanks ..
- 96August 23rd, 2009 6:14 am
Thanks, I already have a blog on my site, adding a 2nd one for my sisters MS Support Group and found one to use. Thanks.
- 97August 23rd, 2009 6:17 am
Hey that’s an awesome idea… until now, I’ve been moving functions and pieces of code from one functions.php to another… this is way better. Thanks for the tip!
Link [http://consacepo.blogspot.com]
- 98October 31st, 2009 1:36 pm
Wirklich sehr gute Templates, Thanks
- 99December 22nd, 2009 5:07 pm
Who can helps me to customize 16. Outdoorsy Theme on my flower seeds site?
- 100January 30th, 2010 12:11 pm
i can´t download “portfolio theme”… supposedly is free but said that cost me $ 39 … can you tell me what to do?…thanks!
- 101February 8th, 2010 12:27 pm
güzel temalar var harika hepsi bayıldım
- 00
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