If you are reading this article, you know that choosing a WordPress theme is of utmost importance. You want something that aligns with your vision, helps your website attract an audience, and most importantly, something that actually works.
ThemeForest presents itself as the answer to all those demands, but is it really?
To find out, we have answered several important questions :
- How easy is it to find the right theme? How much does it cost?
- What kind of support can you expect?
- Will these themes slow down your website?
- What are the downsides of the service?
- And most importantly, does it have the right theme for you?
For a while now, we have been reviewing the best WordPress theme markets here on our site, dr-wp (check out our comparison of the top 40 themes), and in this article, we will delve into a review of the ThemeForest service.
But why does ThemeForest come in first place ?
Unmatched diversity of themes you won’t find anywhere else
ThemeForest boasts over 11,000 premium WordPress themes – the largest library we literally know of. You are likely to find a theme or more that you like.
If you are looking for a site with a smaller, more focused selection of themes, this is not the place. You can go to ThemeShift. Otherwise, you will find yourself facing 11,000 WordPress themes.
ThemeForest also offers themes for various other content management systems (such as Joomla, Drupal, Concrete5, and ModX), and they have themes for website builders like Webflow and Weebly.
Impressive community features
For each theme, you can find ratings, user reviews, and useful statistics. You can also check the profiles of theme developers, their previous works, their overall reputation, and other information. The social factor plays a significant role in ThemeForest.
Very affordable themes
Most of them, at least. There is more specific pricing information later in this article. But we can say that the prices of most ThemeForest templates are reasonable for individuals and small business owners who want a well-designed, ready-to-go, and fast-working website.
How easy (or difficult) is it to find the perfect theme for you?
Well, there are plenty of filters available. Most of the filtering options are common in other theme markets, but what sets ThemeForest apart is the ability to filter themes based on compatibility with certain plugins and popular frameworks.
If the filters are not sufficient for you, there’s a good old search bar. However, remember that it’s somewhat strict: there’s no auto-correction, and you need to know exactly what you’re looking for. Even then, keyword searches may yield some unrelated results. Common search terms like “agency” or “portfolio” will lead you to thousands of results.
If you’re looking for something more specific, like a stamp collector theme, it will be more challenging, and your options will be limited. There isn’t actually something specifically for stamp collectors (I checked). It frustrated me, although I don’t collect stamps.
In general, finding exactly what you want may require some work. It’s not a flaw in the service itself, but rather a result of the massive library of available themes on ThemeForest. Finding something that might work for you is somewhat easy, but finding the “perfect” theme is harder, depending on your specific needs.
And how easy (or difficult) is it to use the theme you purchase?
That entirely depends on the theme . I mean, the basic installation is similar to any theme : download it to your computer, upload it to your WordPress site, and activate it.
Some more complex themes may require additional setup steps. ThemeForest doesn’t require theme developers to provide installation or customization services along with support, but as long as you know the basics of installing a WordPress theme, you’re good to go.
Okay, there are a lot of filters. Most of the options for those filters are common in other theme markets, but the feature that distinguishes ThemeForest is the ability to categorize themes based on compatibility with certain plugins and popular frameworks.
If the filters are not enough for you, there is an old and good search bar. But remember, it is somewhat strict: there is no automatic correction, and you need to know exactly what you are looking for. And even then, the keywords may lead to some unrelated results. Common search terms like “agency” or “portfolio” will lead you to thousands of results.
If you are looking for something more specific, like a stamp collector theme, it will be more challenging, and your options will be limited. There is no actual theme specifically for stamp collecting (I checked). That disappointed me, even though I don’t collect stamps.
In general, finding exactly what you want may require some work. That is not a flaw in the service itself, but rather a result of the vast library of themes available on ThemeForest. Finding something that may work for you is somewhat easy, but finding the “perfect” theme is harder, depending on your specific needs.
And how easy (or difficult) is it to use the theme you purchase?
That entirely depends on the theme. I mean, the basic installation is similar to any theme: download it to your computer, upload it to your WordPress site, and then activate it.
Some more complex themes may require additional setup steps. ThemeForest does not require theme developers to provide installation or customization services with support, but as long as you know the basics of installing a WordPress theme, you’re good to go.
Arguably, there is something for every budget, but they are affordable for the most part.
What if you are hosting the original PSD files? There is a theme that costs $10,000,001 and has been sold eight times.
Did this really happen ?
Suppose that the buyers got a huge discount in some way, or that the number mentioned is not always reliable.
If you want to get themes at lower prices, you can use and for free click here 40 of the best free WordPress themes for 2022 How to find free themes at ThemeForest Searching for “ThemeForest free themes” will lead to…. ThemeForest free themes.
You can also check out the ThemeForest site itself.
You can miss out on free themes very easily if you don’t know where to look, but they are there!
First, go to any of the pages in the red box in the images below :
You might consider going to the “Website Themes and Themes” page, but you won’t find any free themes there .
Scroll down any of these pages. And you will see a link to “Free WordPress Themes” :
Free themes can change frequently, so check back after a month or so.
You can also follow @EnvatoMarket on Twitter to keep up to date on current sales, discounts, and more.
Finally, when it comes to cost, ThemeForest offers a refund policy.
The good news is that this policy exists! And they’re good, covering things like false advertising, product security issues, not
getting support as advertised, and more.
But remember that changing your mind about the theme itself after purchasing it is not covered by this policy.
What about other theme markets ?
How do ThemeForest WordPress themes compare to what other marketplaces have to offer, like TemplateMonster for example ?
Well, TemplateMonster sells great (complex kind) themes for businesses, and their pricing usually reflects their targeting of that kind of clientele.
Whereas TemplateMonster excels in support services and plugins.
Pay a little less, and you won’t have any effort to install or customize anything.
It’s a reasonable price that saves me a lot of time and effort .
Here’s a quick comparison table between ThemeForest, TemplateMonster, and ThemeShift (to give you a complete picture) :
Should you shop from ThemeForest ?
Or, in other words, is it suitable for you? That might be largely true.
It is recommended to use ThemeForest if you need an affordable and good theme at the same time, and if you
are comfortable with installing a WordPress theme yourself.
It is advisable if you have the time to research when making a purchase, as well as configuring and setting
up many aspects of your website yourself.
Generally, you are expected to have a certain level of professionalism in web design when shopping from there.
If you don’t have any issues with everything mentioned above, or if you know what you’re doing, or if you have the time
and energy to learn, you can go ahead!
Just make sure to read reviews, check the seller’s track record, and take a look at the explanatory video before making the payment.
The ThemeForest community is one of the strong advantages of this service, so make the most of it as much as you can.
Happy shopping journey!