Best 7 Starter WordPress Themes You Should Try
Are you looking for the best starter WordPress themes to try? This article will show you the top seven themes you should try to use on your website or blog.
But before going further, let’s examine what to look for in starter WordPress themes.
What to Look for in Starter WordPress Themes
When you look for starter WordPress themes, consider these factors:
- Responsiveness: Ensure the selected theme has a responsive design. These days, most people use a mobile phone. So, you need to pick a responsive theme.
- SEO friendliness: You can rank your content better on the SERPs using an SEO-friendly WordPress theme. This will help you generate more visitors and revenue.
- Speed of the theme: Choose a theme with lightweight code to optimize the website’s speed.
- Pricing: You do not need to choose an expensive WordPress theme. Multiple free starter WordPress themes with decent features are available.
- Support: If you need help with the theme, the support team is the right team to ask. So, ensure the selected theme has a good support team.
Now you know what to look for in starter WordPress themes. The following section will show you the top seven themes you should try.
Best 7 Starter WordPress Themes to Try
The seven WordPress starter WordPress themes we are going to list are:
- Astra
- Genesis
- Sage
- Beans
- Nebula
- Tonik
- Blockbase
Each theme has unique features. Below, we will explain how these themes can help you create a custom design for your website. You can choose a theme based on your preferences and requirements.
Without any further ado, let’s get into the list.
1. Astra
If you are looking for a starter theme optimized for page builders, check out Astra. Astra is a popular theme created by BSF, a famous WordPress and plugin development company. The theme has many unique features to help you make any website you need.
The main advantage of Astra is the lightweight code. The theme won’t slow down your website when you use it. Since Google considers a website’s speed one of the ranking factors, optimizing your website for speed is crucial. Astra is also optimized for WordPress page builder plugins.
Plugins like Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Gutenberg make it easy to create stunning websites. The theme also comes with several pre-made templates. If you are in a hurry, import the pre-made templates to the website and start customizing them. All the templates can be tweaked according to your needs, so there are no restrictions.
Features
- Highly customizable
- Excellent customer support
- Typography control
- Custom layouts
- Page builder optimized
Pricing
Astra is a freemium WordPress theme. The lite version of the theme can be downloaded from the repository. The premium version starts at $49 a year.
2. Genesis Framework
The next option we have for you is Genesis Framework. Genesis is one of the best themes for creating an authoritative website with WordPress. Thousands of professional bloggers use it. Genesis’s main advantage is the quality of the code. The code is optimized for SEO and highly secured.
The theme is also ideal for running an eCommerce store. You can use WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads to run the online store. When you use the Genesis Framework as the parent theme, you should also use a child theme. A child theme is mandatory to keep the modifications live. Otherwise, when the developer updates the parent theme, you will lose all the custom changes you have added to the theme.
From the WordPress customizer, you can start customizing the theme. The customization options are easy and efficient. Genesis Framework also has an excellent customer support team. You can contact the customer support team if you have issues with the theme. They will help you personally to solve the problem.
Features
- SEO ready
- Secured code
- eCommerce optimized
- Theme customizer
- Excellent support
Pricing
Genesis Framework is a free-to-use theme. You can get it from their official website. However, some child themes can cost you money.
3. Sage
If you are looking for a starter WordPress theme with a minimalistic design, check out Sage. With this theme, you can easily create custom WordPress website designs. The theme supports the Gutenberg editor, so there won’t be any compatibility issues. Sage also has lightweight code that won’t slow down your website.
Sage is also easy to use. You can create custom designs without any technical knowledge or coding. You can customize the fonts, colors, and spacing from the editor. This way, you can easily tweak every inch of your WordPress website. Another thing you will love about the theme is the responsiveness.
The theme will fit on every device, which is useful nowadays. Most people use mobile phones to browse the internet, and a responsive theme is mandatory. Hence, without additional tools or plugins, your website will always be responsive using the Sage WordPress theme.
Features
- Supports Gutenberg editor
- Optimized for speed
- Easy to configure
- Excellent customer support
- Free to use
Pricing
Sage is a free WordPress theme and you can download it from their official website.
4. Beans
If you need themes that are optimized for speed, check out Beans. The code in the themes provided by Beans is high-quality. If you need to run an SEO-optimized website, Beans themes would be one of the ideal tools. The theme is also responsive./ So, it can be used on all blogs and eCommerce stores.
Beans themes are compatible with most WordPress plugins. We might use different plugins and code snippets in each WordPress installation to ensure the theme won’t cause compatibility issues. The documentation section also contains helpful guides on configuring the theme correctly.
If you need help setting up the theme on your website, refer to the docs archive. All the docs are easy to understand.
Features
- Speed optimized
- SEO optimized
- Adaptive images
- Responsive
- Stable updates
Pricing
Beans is a free theme framework. You can download it from the Github repository.
5. Nebula
If you need a theme that can be customized well, check out Nebula. It is an advanced starter WordPress theme for creating custom WordPress designs. The theme will get regular updates, so it could be a great fit if you use a theme with the latest features and no bugs.
With the help of any WordPress translation plugin, you can translate the theme strings to any language you need. The theme won’t cause any issues if you run a multilingual website. You can use the Google Analytics integration to track how your website is doing. With the help of GA integration, you can track how the visitors behave on the site.
Features
- Google Analytics integration
- Regular updates
- SEO friendly
- Translation ready
- Lazy load
Pricing
Nebula is a free theme. You can download it from here.
6. Tonik
Next, we have Tonik. Tonik is another starter theme that lets you customize the website however you need. The theme is free to use and can be accessed from the Github repository. Creating custom templates with the help of Tonik is simple. This way, you can create as many templates as you need for the website.
You can also create a child theme for Tonik. Another thing about Tonik that most people love is the customization options. If this theme is installed, you can customize your website very well. For example, if you need to tweak the structure, you can register custom post types, taxonomies, menus, etc.
Overall, it is one of the best starter WordPress themes you need to try.
Features
- Lightweight code
- Highly customizable
- Easy to use
- CLI support
- Custom templates
Pricing
Tonik is a free WordPress theme and you can download it from their official website.
7. Blockbase
When you need a theme developed by the Automattic team, check out Blockbase. Blockbase is a theme with the FSE (Full Site Editing) features. So, this is possible if you need to stand out from the crowd and create a unique design with the theme. The theme is also optimized for translations. With the help of any WordPress translation plugin like WPML or Weglot, you can do translations.
Blockbase comes with four color variations. You can pick a custom color variation from the theme editor. This way, you can easily switch colors and choose one pattern that suits your business. Another essential feature is that the theme can support RTL languages.
Languages like Arabic are written in RTL style, so if you run a blog or store in any RTL language, the theme will not cause issues. They also come with pre-made patterns, which will help you create any type of design for the website. It is one of the best starter WordPress themes you should try.
Features
- RTL support
- FSE optimized
- Gutenberg support
- translation ready
- Custom colors
Pricing
Blockbase is a free WordPress theme. You can get it from the repository.
Conclusion
There are multiple WordPress themes available on the market. If you need to start an online store, you can find dedicated WooCommerce themes. Similarly, you can find magazine themes to start an online magazine. If you need a base theme that you can use to create a custom design, check out starter WordPress themes.
In this article, we have shown you seven of the best tools for setting up a website. If you are going to buy a speed-optimized theme, we recommend Astra. Similarly, if you need a reliable theme, check out Genesis Framework. Similarly, each theme has its advantages. You can pick one based on your preferences.
Which theme are you going to use?
Let us know in the comments!
