Top Ten Free WordPress Themes 2023

For the past couple of years I’ve looked at the WordPress theme directory and identified the most popular themes. I reran the numbers and in this article I’ll take a look at the top 10 free themes and see how today’s list compares with those from the past two years. There are a couple of stories emerging.

There are 62 plugins in the WordPress plugin directory with more than a million active installs. 90,000 installs of a theme doesn’t seem like very many. Remember, however, that a single WordPress site might have from 5 to 20 plugins activated, but only one theme, so plugin numbers are always higher. Also note, core themes that ship with WordPress were not included.

I used advanced Google search to find the top themes and checked the Internet Wayback Machine to find approximately when they appeared in the WordPress org theme directory.

Video Version

Number 1 – Astra

Astra, from Brainstorm Force continues to maintain its number one position. It hit a million active installs almost 3 years ago.  Astra is page builder friendly and a frequent choice for Elementor and Beaver Builder users. Astra has been in the theme directory for 5 years. Astra has been around so long that in addition to the pro version, there are also a number of free plugins that work with it. This includes the Starter Templates plugin that also has over a million active installs.

Brainstorm Force also creates the Ultimate Addon for Beaver Builder and Ultimate Addon for Elementor. These well respected plugins no doubt contributed to its success. They also have a Gutenberg addon called Spectra, and Astra works well with the block editor. Interesting to note that Brainstorm Force has now released a new block-based theme, Spectra One. Spectra One is meant to be used in the Full Site Editor with the pro version of their Gutenberg addon, which hasn’t been released yet.

Number 2 – Hello Theme

One of the most frequent questions that people used to ask the Elementor theme developers was “what’s the best theme to use with Elementor?” Hmm, the team decided to build their own solution, the Hello Elementor theme. It was released around May 2019 increased ranking quickly. In 2021 it had more than 300,000 active installs and its growth has continued. Today it is the second most popular free theme. It is basically a blank canvas type of theme solely for use with the Elementor page builder. It is a favorite choice for many Elementor users. While it works great with Elementor, note that the Hello theme does not have great support for Gutenberg. If you site will have a blog then you might want to pick a theme supporting the block editor.

Number 3 – OceanWP

OceanWP made its name for having great support for Elementor and WooCommerce. It was the first theme to give away a ton of features in the free version. It made its appearance in the theme directory 6 years ago. OceanWP went through a change of ownership and a rough transition to Freemius, but has maintained its position as one of the top themes but today feels a bit dated.

Number 4 – GeneratePress

The GeneratePress theme is an epic WordPress success story. It was one of the first general purpose, page builder friendly, themes and has been a favorite of Elementor and Beaver Builder users. It has always tended towards being a lean theme, and the developer preferred to provide CSS snippets rather than add new features. The GeneratePress team is known for providing top class customer support, so it is not surprising that its popularity has continued to climb. GeneratePress is the oldest theme in the list, but unlike some of the others, several years ago Tom Usborne, the developer, totally rewrote the theme from scratch to modernize it and make it compatible with Gutenberg. Not only is GeneratePress compatible with Gutenberg, but the same team has also released GenerateBlocks, a popular Gutenberg addon known for being very lean and very flexible. I fully expect GeneratePress to continue its upward trajectory.

Number 5 – Neve

ThemeIsle, the company behind Neve, is one of the early theme clubs which back in the day specialized in niche themes. ThemeIsle is the only developer to have two themes in the top 10. Neve is a flexible, general purpose theme. The pro version comes with addon boosters for Elementor and WooCommerce. It was one of the first to sport a drag and drop header builder in the Customizer and the company has kept it current by adding Gutenberg support. Neve is holding steady at 300,000+ active installs.

Number 6 – Storefront

I remember several years ago chatting with one of the developers of Storefront and he mentioned that they were going to retire the theme. I replied that many theme authors would give their eye teeth to have theme in the top 10 on WordPress org. Well, Storefront is still holding its own at more than 200,000 active installs. It is a WooCommerce theme that has maintained its popularity due to its ease of use and flexibility. There have been a number of child themes built on Storefront.

Number 7 – Kadence

Even before Gutenberg was officially released, Kadence Themes released a block addon. It gained popularity and a pro version, and then the flagship Kadence theme were released. Kadence was one of the first themes to have a very tight integration between Customizer theme settings and the Gutenberg editor. Also, the free Kadence theme has a ton of innovative features and the pro version very robust. Kadence is another WordPress success story. It launched late 2020, 7 months later had 60,000 active installs, a year later 100,000 active installs and today more than 200,000 active installs. The Kadence theme and blocks combination hits a good balance between flexibility, power, and ease of use, making it a favorite for site builders and end-users.

Number 8 – Hestia

Before Neve, Hestia was the ThemeIsle flagship theme. It was popular because it had good support for Elementor and in the Customizer you could define and populate sections of the home page. This was before Gutenberg, and customers found it difficult to create a custom home page, something that Hestia addressed. Hestia, by providing Elementor support, represented a transition from strictly niche themes to general purpose themes like Neve. Hestia has held its place with 100,000+ active installs, but it now feels out dated.

Number 9 – Sydney

Sydney has been around a long time. It is another theme that tried to provide flexible layouts using the Customizer and it also has extra support for Elementor. Like Hestia, Sydney has also held its place at 100,000 active installs, supports Elementor, and feels a bit dated.

Number 10 – Blocksy

Blocksy is another relatively new general purpose theme that is gaining momentum. Blocksy, as the name implies, has strong support for Gutenberg. The developers have expressed interest in launching their own Gutenberg addon, but so far have not done so. This may have worked to their advantage as Stackable, Greenshift, and other Gutenberg addons are frequently paired with it. Blocksy got off to a slow start but in the past couple of years it has gained in popularity. It also has a ton of good features in the free version and a robust pro version.

Discussion and Conclusions

A couple of things that I’ve noticed from following this over the past few years. The first is that general purpose themes rule. Storefront is the only “niche” theme, and WooCommerce is a pretty big niche.

In 2021 and 2022 I saw a very big Elementor influence. OceanWP, Neve, Hestia, and Sydney have extra Elementor features and the pro versions of some come with Elementor widget addons. Even as it is now, all but Storefront have Elementor support. Most people don’t realize that Astra, Blocksy, Kadence, and Neve all copy their Customizer colors into the Elementor global color list.

A very interesting trend this year though is that Gutenberg support is a factor. GeneratePress was rewritten to be able to support the block editor and we see its steady growth. Now Kadence and Blocksy are in the top tier.