Best Free WordPress Themes for Online Communities And Forums

7 themes compared · Updated August 2026 · Community & Forum

All 14 Free only Premium only 7

Choosing a WordPress theme for online communities and forums 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 7 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. 7 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. Membershiply Best overall 74/100
2. AssociationX 69/100
3. Multi Sports Club 63/100
4. Esport X Gaming 60/100
5. Responsive Community 60/100
6. SocialPress 60/100
7. Sonshine FSE 54/100

Best overall Free by Superb

Membershiply

Membershiply is your responsive and SEO friendly community and membership theme for WordPress. Use the plugin ProfileGrid to create user profiles, groups, memberships, content striction, mes...

5★: from 1 ratings
500+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by D5 Creation

AssociationX

AssociationX is CSS3 Powered and WordPress Latest Version Ready Responsive Theme. This Theme is designed for Multi Purposes. You can develop a Community Site using the Plugin BuddyPress easi...

1★: from 2 ratings
100+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by omegathemes

Multi Sports Club

The Multi Sports Club theme is a powerful, modern, and visually stunning solution tailored for various sports clubs, including athletic, youth, community, and recreational organizations. It...

100+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by SuperbThemes

Esport X Gaming

Start your new gaming website, forum, or eCommerce shop with Esport X Gaming. If you want to create a blog, review, or news site for gamers then we got you covered with every feature you nee...

300+: active installs
Updated: Jan 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by Superb

Responsive Community

Responsive Community is your responsive and SEO friendly community and membership theme for WordPress. Use the plugin ProfileGrid to create user profiles, groups, memberships, content strict...

200+: active installs
Updated: Jan 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by Superb

SocialPress

SocialPress is a responsive and SEO friendly forum, community, and chat theme. It handles every need you might have as a community website. BuddyPress, BBPress, BuddyBoss, LearnPress, GamiPr...

200+: active installs
Updated: Jan 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by gracethemes

Sonshine FSE

The Sonshine FSE is one of the best theme for non-profit organizations, church congregations, church charity foundations, denomination, missionary, red cross, religious community, church com...

100+: active installs
Updated: Jul 2025

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org