Best Free WordPress Themes for Beginners

WordPress has made it extremely easy for beginners or the one with no coding knowledge but want to start an online business.

However, with hundreds and thousands of themes, for someone who has very less knowledge, it still is overwhelming.

In the pool of different WordPress themes, the variants are as huge as the themes and one theme can be easier to use than others. Therefore, here, I have tried to list down the best and easiest WordPress themes for beginners.

The themes included in this list are either equipped with very easy to use set of tools or backed by extremely useful documentations. If you are starting up with your online business and already have everything ready but have no idea about which theme to choose, then hold on to this article. 

What is a WordPress Theme?

WordPress themes are simply the templates that are installed on your WordPress website that determines how your website looks.

Themes actually choose the appearance of your website and appearance is the first thing your customer deal with while visiting your website.

A WordPress theme controls the header, menu, footer, colors, fonts, and many more of your website. A theme is built by someone who knows how to code and has different frameworks, resulting in a very different way to configure each one of them. This is the reason why different themes are very different from one another. 

How do you choose a WordPress Theme

If you are a beginner choosing a theme might be the hardest and the most important task for you. Important because it will define the way your website or blogs prosper in the future.

There are several things that you must look for in a WordPress theme so that your online business is all you need to worry about. 

Your requirements: What options do you want?

The first and foremost thing that you should consider is your requirements. What do you want your theme to do for your website? How versatile do you want your theme to be?

Are you capable of doing a little coding to customize or do you need a theme with all the customizable features embedded? These are the things that you should ask yourself and choose likewise.

You can choose different themes for different purposes like eCommerce, travel blogs, foods, etc. 

Is support available?

When I was just starting as a blogger, I always sought for the themes that had great support available 24/7. I could run into a problem anytime and I had made a bad choice with themes before.

After purchasing a theme, the theme developer did not respond to any emails and any questions resulting in forcing me to change the theme. Hence, support is very necessary and you should choose a theme providing the ultimate support. 

How responsive is the theme?

The theme you choose should work well on both desktops as well as any smartphones. If a theme does not work well in mobile phones then it would be a problem in the long run. 

Too many features

Although a theme must have the necessary basic features, the theme with a lot of features is also not the compatible one for you. Too many things going on your website might look good on your website but slows down your website and impacts its performance. 

Theme with a Child Theme

A child theme is actually the same theme with a lot more control for the users. A child theme can be changed or customized to one’s need and this customization does not get lost when it is updated.

However, if you customize the main theme, all the customization might be lost when you update it. 

Check ratings and reviews

Checking the ratings and reviews of the theme before purchasing it is also a good way to learn about any theme. Reading all the positive as well as negative comments will give a good knowledge of what to expect. 

 

Best WordPress Themes

Divi

Hands down, Divi is the most customizable and easy to use WordPress themes available in our list. It is the most popular theme in this list created by Elegant themes.

Did is equipped with a visual editor that uses the standard drag and drop tool making it easier for beginners or anyone with few or no knowledge of coding at all.

It is also packed with an extensive library of visual, audio, and video tutorials that you can go through if you have any questions.

Also, on top of that, Divi has a 30 days money-back guarantee option for you so that you can decide for yourself if you want to stick to it or not. With all these features, Divi does come with an expensive price tag

. Another downfall of Divi might be its loading speed, which is a little slower than other themes in this list. 

Who is Divi for?

Bloggers who are new to WordPress and want full suite customization for. 

Who is not Divi for?

Bloggers who want a straightforward theme with fewer customization, having knowledge of CSS, and those who want a lighting fast loading speed. 

Astra

Astra is a lightweight WordPress theme built with rock-solid features to get you started with your online business in no time.

You get a large library with lots of starter sites that you can import in just one click which is what most beginners search in a theme. Also, with hundreds of different templates to choose from, you can make a choice so that your online presence looks professional and clean.

The customization options are easy to use with a drag and drop page builder. You can customize different elements of your website such as the layout of your website, posts, blogs, colors, sidebars, fonts, and many more and it takes just a few clicks.

The transparency of elements it offers is commendable and due to fewer elements on the page, the loading speed is quite impressive as well. 

Who is Astra for?

Anyone from beginner to professionals who wants easy to use, highly customizable, and high performance. 

Who is not Astra for?

Astra is full of features and is suitable for almost anyone. 

GeneratePress

GeneratePress is another lightweight WordPress theme that is suitable for almost anyone working in this business. GeneratePress mostly focuses on speed and performance, hence offering an impressive speed that loads your website faster than 70% of the other websites.

As it is compatible with the Gutenberg editor, it gives you more control over creating your content. If you are a beginner, you would want your theme to be compatible with most of the page builders and GeneratePress is just the one for you.

It is also compatible with most of the WordPress plugins such as WooCommerce and is extremely responsive. The translation-ready feature with support for almost 25 languages is another amazing feature to look out for.

GeneratePress free version is quite limited and the customization option is disappointing, but with the pro version, you get much more control over your website. 

Who is GeneratePress for?

It is for anyone who wants a simple site with amazing loading speed.

Who is not GeneratePress for?

It is not for those who want more control over their website with the customization features. Even with the pro version, the customization options seem quite limited as compared to the other themes in this list. 

Avada

If you are on a serious budget and want a theme that is extremely customizable and rock-solid, then Avada might just be the one for you.

Although it is not as good as Divi or Astra, it is a great second option for beginners. Avada offers tons of customization capabilities and is also packed with few tutorials and documentation to help you learn how to use the themes.

It is extremely affordable than most of the themes on this list. The only drawback of this theme is probably its poor refund policy.

This theme is offered by the theme forest and has new upgrades every now and then making it adapt to new plugins and extensions.

It has more than 50 templates to choose from and is also extremely compatible with WooCommerce. 

Who is Avada for?

Anyone who is on a tight budget but still wants a lot of customization from their WordPress theme.

Who is not Avada for?

Anyone who wants to try more themes to find the right one and is not afraid to spend a little more on the theme. 

OceanWP

OceanWP is a minimalist and elegant theme to work on and is specially designed for bloggers. OceanWP is equipped with features that actually get your WordPress website going such as fast loading speed and high performance.

It is a lightweight theme resulting in fast loading time further resulting in good ranking in the Google Search Engine. The customization options are pretty flexible and beginner-friendly.

You can import demo sites for your websites in this theme using just a few clicks. Although OceanWP has fewer templates as compared to the other themes explained in this list, it seems to be upgrading and adding new templates every now and then. 

Who is OceanWP for?

For anyone who wants a straightforward theme to get up and get running.

Who is OceanWP not for?

For anyone who needs full customization features.

Final Verdict

There are various themes out there for different purposes. Here, I have tried listing the purpose of the themes and the themes that are the best in those. 

Divi – Most customizable and user-friendly theme

Astra – Overall good features and suitable for all websites

GeneratePress – Minimalist website with an impressive loading speed

Avada – Fewer customization but best for those on a budget

OceanWP – Simple and easy to use with fewer configurations

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