WordPress - Powered by Content
In many ways, blogs were what powered the astronomical rise of WordPress to the top of the names on the list of CMS platforms for personal/professional use.
Even today, while blogging has slowly morphed into content creation and curation, giving rise to hundreds of content creators, affiliate websites, etc. across the glob, WordPress has remained a constant in the domain.
There are roughly 60 Million web blogs or content sites hosted on WordPress on the internet, and due to this tremendous competition, blogs do take a substantial amount of time to start making any money.
Hence, we at nascent Rocket have put together a mini crash list of the best free themes that you can use for setting off on your content journey, not compromising much on quality; and without a hole in your pocket.
Parameters
While we deliberated on the 6 most important parameters to keep in mind while choosing a theme for your new WordPress site in our previous post, it goes without saying that it will always okay to start off with a free theme.
What we have rated each theme on is its:
- modern design
- simplistic use and customisation
- options in demo sites for blogs and variety in demo sites (domains)
- flexibility with content visibility – widgets for posts
- ease of upgrade if needed
ASTRA
Astra is a new age theme – with focus on speed, being lightweight and ease of use.
PROS
– Fast, fully responsive theme with low page load times
– Loads of content demo sites available – whether it be portfolios, or freelancing, or digital agencies
– Free version has over 28 widgets and posts are easy to beautify
-Upgrade to PRO version is quite cost effective, starting only at 49$
CONS
– Blog styling and Sidebars in the free version are banal in places and in certain demos
– Header layout options are less
Astra is one of the fastest growing themes in WordPress with over 700000+ installs.
So, all in all, the ASTRA theme is a wonderful free starter theme to get started with. The upgrade to the PRO version is also quite easy and starts at only 49$.
OceanWP
OceanWP is one of our favourite themes here at Nascent Rocket. It’s the perfect embodiment of a modern, sleek, multi-purpose, responsive theme. It is also a good fit for content websites.
PROS
– Fully responsive in nature, comparatively fast in page load as well
– Quality and variety of demo sites is awesome; free demos have variety for blogs/content sites
– Lots of good extensions for functionality
-Upgrade to premium versions is quite cost effective, starting only at 31$
CONS
– There is a bit of dependence on premium extensions, but it is not a deal-breaker
OceanWP is one of our favourite themes, as we mentioned earlier, and for content sites, it’s a great starting bet as the premium widget extensions are only for taking the UI two steps ahead.
COLORMAG
Colormag is a theme specifically made for content portrayal, especially news websites and sites dealing with a lot of content.
PROS
– Really useful for sites presenting a lot of useful content
– Home page options allow you to exhibit a lot of information glamorously and systematically
– Demo sites available are versatile and quite elegant
– Free version is good enough, the upgrade is also affordable, starting form 69$
CONS
– Not a very sophisticated theme in terms of modern design
Though we like Astra slightly more, and Zakra is very similar, the premium pricing alone makes Zakra a very worthy catch.
HESTIA
Design-wise, Hestia by Themeisle has simply one of the most beautiful UI-s you can ever want from a free WordPress theme.
PROS
– Design is beautiful and modern
– Perfect for both personal blogs as well as portfolios and professional sites
– Fully responsive and supports all major page builders
– Premium plans start at approx. 49$ annually
CONS
– Most of its best starter demos are compatible with premium versions
If you are looking for an elegant, design-focused theme for your portfolio or content-based business, Hestia is a good bet.
WRITEE
Writee is a new and minimalistic WordPress theme specifically made for content websites.
PROS
– Completely free
– Content is presented minimalistically and elegantly
– Installation and tweaking is easy
– Translation-ready, is responsive and mobile-friendly
CONS
– Limited in design and customisation options
– Only 3 widgets available for content display
As far as completely free themes go, Writee is a solid, feasible option for amateur content creators.
Happy Building!
Do let us know if we can help, or if you have any questions. We are happy to help!
If you are looking for custom services, do check out our Services tab for solutions. We have tailor made long-term offerings for start-ups, personal projects, SMEs and brands; as well as standalone deployments.