In the beginning, many ask themselves the question: Do I have to take a paid WordPress theme or is a free theme from wordpress.org enough? Because if you feel the same way and you’ve already looked around, you will have noticed that there are thousands of free WordPress themes that look really good in the preview.
So why spend the money on a paid premium WordPress theme?
The decision for the right WordPress theme can take some time with a wide range of options. To help you make the right choice, I’ve tried to show you the advantages and disadvantages of free themes and premium themes and I’ve even given you a theme tip at the end. Ultimately, it’s the question of what you want.
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Advantages And Disadvantages of Free WordPress Themes
Free WordPress themes are basically structured like paid themes, but with fewer options.
A big advantage of the free WordPress themes is of course that they are free. They can also be installed quickly with one click.
- Go directly to your directory via your website, where you can choose your free WordPress theme.
- You will see a small preview and a short description of the theme.
- Install and activate it and you’re ready to go.
- If you don’t like it, go back to the themes and choose another one, install it and see how your website looks with the other theme.
That sounds pretty good. But free WordPress themes also have disadvantages. The 3 biggest disadvantages from my point of view are:
- You are limited in design, if you have no programming knowledge, you cannot adapt and implement many things. (A customer just told me again that she set up her first website with a free theme: “It was horrible, I couldn’t do anything about it”)
- You have no support with you if you need help, just a free forum.
- And it may be that the themes are not updated or developed as often or no longer at all, and there are security gaps, which can lead to hacker attacks.
Free theme recommendations: everyone starting with Twenty. With the others, there is a great risk that they will suddenly no longer be updated and developed further.
Advantages And Disadvantages of Paid WordPress Themes
With Premium WordPress Themes you can create a really good looking website faster and easier.
Some of the great advantage of Premium WordPress Themes are:
- You have a lot of options in design even without programming knowledge and your website will look great. Because most premium themes have a so-called page builder integrated.
- Design settings and extensions can be easily implemented. This means that when you design your page, you select module by module (text, image, slider, button, icons, etc.) and adapt it as you like.
- If you need additional help, free support is available for at least 6 months.
- Premium themes are updated regularly, so they are technically up to date and thus it protects your website better from hacker attacks.
A disadvantage of premium themes can be that you are overwhelmed with the many options and have to familiarize yourself with it longer.
Recommendations:
- For beginners and advanced Divi by Elegant Themes
- For advanced users: Avada, X-Theme, Impreza, B-Theme, Thrive.
Conclusion
Free WordPress themes are suitable if you want to get to know WordPress and try it out (but you should keep in the background that paid themes are easier and offer more options) or you need it for private purposes where you don’t have as many requirements.
If you want to create the website for your company, be sure to use a premium WordPress theme for a fee. As a result, the website can be implemented much faster and easier, look better and be technically up to date, which in turn prevents hacker attacks.
The development of paid WordPress themes is definitely better secured than for free WordPress themes.