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Best Free WordPress Themes for Customisation

15 themes compared · Updated August 2026 · Customisation

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress theme for customisation comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.

We ranked 15 themes using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.

How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.

At a glance

  1. 1. Sydney Best overall 84/100
  2. 2. Responsive 81/100
  3. 3. NewsBlogger 79/100
  4. 4. Crio 78/100
  5. 5. Riverbank 76/100
  6. 6. SpicePress 76/100
  7. 7. eStore 76/100
  8. 8. ConsultStreet 76/100
  9. 9. Simple Catch 76/100
  10. 10. ExS 76/100
  11. 11. Flixita 75/100
  12. 12. Zita 75/100
  13. 13. Blog Over 75/100
  14. 14. Hotelone 75/100
  15. 15. Mercantile 75/100
1 Sydney
Best overall Free by aThemes

Sydney

Sydney is a fast, highly customizable WordPress theme for businesses, freelancers, and creative portfolios that want a professional online presence. It works with both Elementor and the Word...

4.9★
from 794 ratings
80k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
84

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 Responsive
Free by CyberChimps

Responsive

Responsive is a fast, lightweight, & fully customizable WordPress theme, which offers 100+ free ready-to-use Elementor & WordPress Block templates for websites of all types (blog, Wo...

4.7★
from 559 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 NewsBlogger
Free by spicethemes

NewsBlogger

NewsBlogger is a dynamic and versatile child theme for the popular NewCrunch WordPress theme. Perfect for bloggers, journalists, and online magazines, it offers enhanced customization option...

5★
from 10 ratings
9k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 Crio
Free by BoldGrid

Crio

Crio is a WordPress SuperTheme that allows front-end designers, developers and other web professionals to create without bounds or restrictions. Crio's advanced customization options ar...

4.2★
from 5 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
78

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 Riverbank
Free by Themeisle

Riverbank

Riverbank is a highly customizable and user-friendly WordPress theme that is optimized for search engines and fully compatible with the Gutenberg editor and popular page builder plugins. Wit...

5★
from 15 ratings
3k+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 SpicePress
Free by spicethemes

SpicePress

SpicePress is a responsive, modern, and highly customizable WordPress business theme built to create professional websites with ease. It is suitable for corporate websites, creative agencies...

4.8★
from 48 ratings
3k+
active installs
Updated
Apr 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
7 eStore
Free by ThemeGrill

eStore

eStore is a clean, beautiful and fully customizable responsive WooCommerce WordPress theme. This theme packs many premium features and several custom widgets which helps making your online s...

4.6★
from 114 ratings
2k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 ConsultStreet
Free by Theme Arile

ConsultStreet

ConsultStreet is a multipurpose WordPress theme that you can use to create any website you wish to create. The theme comes with a very flexible design, and it is fully customizable as per yo...

4.9★
from 21 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Simple Catch
Free by Catch Themes

Simple Catch

Simple Catch is a Highly Customizable Simple, Clean and Responsive WordPress Theme for anyone looking to give their website a professional look. It's easy customization through WordPres...

4.9★
from 33 ratings
900+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
10 ExS
Free by exstheme

ExS

ExS theme is a fastest and smallest multipurpose Gutenberg compatible highly customizable theme without 3rd party dependencies. It is designed to have 100% Google Page and LightHouse speed....

5★
from 20 ratings
700+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 Flixita
Free by Themes Daddy

Flixita

Lightning Fast Speed & Responsive Theme. Flixita is a responsive and fully customizable theme to create any kind of websites. The advanced admin panel will enable you to customize it wit...

5★
from 4 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 Zita
Free by ThemeHunk

Zita

Zita is a super fast and highly customizable elementor theme. Best Suitable for creating any type of website such a shoppin, corporate, store, agency, blog, portfolio, restaurant, wedding, c...

4.6★
from 18 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
13 Blog Over
Free by A WP Life

Blog Over

Blog Over is a fast, modern, and highly customizable WordPress theme crafted for news websites, blogs, online magazines, and all types of content-driven platforms. Designed with performance,...

5★
from 4 ratings
700+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
14 Hotelone
Free by britetechs

Hotelone

Hotelone is Hotel WordPress Theme, well design and clean code theme. Hotelone is a Responsive and fully customizable template for Hotel and resorts. Advanced admin panel enable you to custom...

4.9★
from 21 ratings
600+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
15 Mercantile
Free by Acme Themes

Mercantile

Mercantile is the most feature-rich, powerful, advanced, easy to use and maintain multipurpose WordPress theme with highly customizable theme options. Mercantile theme is crafted to provide...

5★
from 27 ratings
500+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org