Best WordPress Themes Of 2009
2010 Update: Be sure to read about the Best WordPress Themes of 2010.
When it comes to running a successful blog, having the right theme is critical. Not being a “designer” myself, I marvel at the creative work produced by WordPress developers. Since it’s always nice to have a few extra themes lying around (I’ve got 58 in waiting), I thought this edition of WordPress Wednesdays could be focused on the all important WordPress Theme. It can be a real challenge to find quality, nice looking themes, so here are my favorite resources.
Free WordPress Themes
Design Disease features several very nice free wordpress themes. Just use the drop down menu at the top to preview them, then download as needed.
BlogOhBlog was one of the first free wordpress theme sites I found, and let’s just say I continue to go back. Jai is very helpful and extremely reasonable for minor customization work.
Another great site for free wordpress themes, SkinPress does require the site credits to be left in place, but I think you can pay them like $25 to have it removed. Either way, they’ve got some nice themes.
A sister site to SkinPress, AskGraphics has a few more free wp themes to browse. Same rules apply for the site credits.
Top WP Themes cranks out free wordpress themes like nobody’s business. The quality isn’t always the best, but you’ve got to give them credit for the sheer number of themes they produce.
N.Design Studio seems to do more custom design work, but they do have a couple free themes to download, and as you can tell from their website, they most certainly have an eye for design. Be sure to check out iTheme. It’s based off the Mac OS and has a nifty drag and drop sidebar.
Premium WordPress Themes
I’m currently a member of Elegant Themes, and all I can say is this is the best deal for premium wordpress themes on the internet – hands down. For $19.95 per YEAR (not month) you get unlimited access and use to all of Nick Roach’s top notch custom themes. He seems to add a new one every month on top of the 21 premium themes already created.
The support is fantastic, with a member’s forum and email help, and for $20 you just can’t get a better deal. I strongly recommend ElegantThemes for premium wordpress themes.
I’m also currently a paid member to WooThemes, and even though it’s more expensive than Elegant Themes, they offer some of the most unique, feature rich themes available today. Better yet, they offer several free WordPress themes that are better than most premium themes other sites sell, so either way be sure to pick up the free ones. I use WooThemes themes on more projects than any other premium or free theme site.
They are definitely worth the money, but it’s hard to compete with Elegant Theme’s $20/year price. If you don’t mind paying a little more (about $70 per theme or $150-$225 to join the club) they are definitely worth joining. From video themes to lifestreams and everything in between, WooThemes is the most popular premium wordpress theme site for a reason, and they deserve it!
Did We Miss Any Themes? Feel free to post other high quality wordpress theme sites (free or premium) in the comments below. Now go find a nice looking theme and make some money!
Comments
careysuante March 18th, 2009
Nice list. Its good to see Kyle bringing this haunted site back to life!
Susan March 18th, 2009
Oh, don’t forget about newwpthemes.net – they’ve got a pretty good list too.
Confronta ADSL March 19th, 2009
Nice list, very useful post – thank you
increase site traffic March 19th, 2009
Nice list. I will visit each site. Thanks.
humour March 20th, 2009
excellent article, thank you
Indo Contest March 20th, 2009
How about UBD? They have great themes too.
Bratwurst Recipes March 20th, 2009
I have always been a fan of the revolution themes.
Play Games Win Prizes March 20th, 2009
I personally love Blog Oh Blog
they have great themes!
-Mike
Albert March 21st, 2009
Hey I’m kind of confused. I remember visiting this blog half a year ago and you tried making $10k in a year or something like that. Did your experiment succeed? Do you have the results in a post or something.
Kyle March 21st, 2009
@Albert – Ben is no longer running this blog, so the focus has changed a bit…but the content will continue with the same theme of how to make money online, more specifically with blogging (and a few other cool features planned for the future too). Glad to have you back.
Albert March 21st, 2009
Thanks for the response. Did he ever post the result of his experiment? Can you link it to me please.
Kyle March 22nd, 2009
To be honest I’m not sure. I noticed a few earlier posts about his earnings progress but didn’t see a final post related to it.
Diski Shini March 22nd, 2009
Nice list. But own design is the best.
Chrissy S. March 23rd, 2009
I can’t tell you how much I LOVE this list! I’ve been pounding my head all weekend looking for a theme for a new blog I want to start. I had all but given up because I was totally overwhelmed and nothing looked original. This list has just given me at least ten great options – and I’ve only had a few minutes to browse the sites. I’ll have to dive in deeper over the next few days. You are the best for putting this all together! Can’t thank you enough.
Kyle March 23rd, 2009
Glad to help Chrissy…it’s always a nice feeling when you find what you’re looking for online. Hope to see you back soon!
diabetes cure March 25th, 2009
thanks for great source of wp theme….I love free, you are very kind
Tyrone – Internet Business Path March 31st, 2009
Thank You buddy! This page is worth viewing. Its so nice to see bloggers helping bloggers to succeed. These theme providers are good!
Marketing April 4th, 2009
I’ve got a premium theme from WooThemes – Vibrant CMS – and need some tweaks. They’re too busy to help me, could you recommend anybody who could do some work for reasonable fee?
Jessica April 12th, 2009
I love the theme on DanielDickey.com. It’s one of my favorites.
Kyle April 13th, 2009
@Jessica – It looks like that is the Thesis theme…a pretty popular wordpress theme.
Magazine Themes April 18th, 2009
A couple high quality premium magazine-style themes are MagazinePress and NewsPress by Zidalgo.
door handles April 25th, 2009
I really love wp themes and great source here for wp themes. Thanks for that. Personally, I like blog oh blog.
Web About Money April 30th, 2009
They are good! But I think my site is also a good themes site!
jumps bond May 24th, 2009
excellent collection u have there!
Mark June 16th, 2009
Hi, Nice collection. I visited Woo themes, after I saw it in your article. They have some neat stuff. I am actually thinking of changing my blog theme, Everything Calories to one of the better looking ones listed there.
Good work on getting listed on Google too. I was searching for WordPress themes and your site popped up on the 1st SERP. Thank you and good luck.
Credit Card Guru June 24th, 2009
Thanks for the options, I have been looking to upgrade my WordPress theme for ages now. You have finally given me some decent ones to choose from.
Angel Art June 25th, 2009
Hello,
I am looking to start up a product based e commerce website. Does anyone know of any good FREE word press e commerce themes?
I appreciate everyone’s help.
Thank you
aBIGwhale July 3rd, 2009
nice post! i use design desease most of the time.. now i think i’ll be browsing blogohblog ..
thanks again!
hunterxu October 10th, 2009
Good work! thank you very much!
top books October 12th, 2009
nice work! I am looking for a fashion themes. but can’t find out, still thank you.
Florence Dentist November 11th, 2009
Wow, nice list of great companies. I have seen some themes but did not realize how dynamic some of these design companies had become. There really are some beautiful themes out today.
Designer Dubai December 3rd, 2009
Thanks Buddy. Its helpful. I am just going through these sites and hope to choose one best for my blog.
nits December 15th, 2009
Nice list great site to get free wordpress themes
Antalya evden eve nakliyat December 17th, 2009
Good article. Can I use it on my blog?
Web 2.0 December 19th, 2009
Awesome collection, great work
Marcus December 20th, 2009
Great themes. I find a lot of other great themes in the wordpress.org data base.
telugu movie blog December 22nd, 2009
Thanks for your list. There are some beautiful themes there
Web Themes January 14th, 2010
Nice list. Thanks for sharing. I have been looking for a new theme for my entertainment blog and this one will make my work a lot easy.
Ozclicks January 29th, 2010
Top quality list. why didn’t i find it 6 months ago. Thank-you x 100
echographie 4d February 8th, 2010
The blog is really nice one and full of information we appreciate the kind of information you have provided in this post. The information are so useful for all of us and we would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for this wonderful information.
onsale February 23rd, 2010
Great themes. I find a lot of other great themes in the wordpress.org data base
ibtisam March 10th, 2010
Great post, it’s help me find suitable themes, thank you
Jay March 16th, 2010
Thanks for the list, i found a couple themes that i can use due to your post…will subscribe.
pondicherry June 13th, 2010
WooThemes is best theme i had have ever.
Webdesign July 9th, 2010
Nice list. Thanks for sharing. I have been looking for a new theme for my entertainment blog and this one will make my work a lot easy.