Best Free WordPress Themes for People New To Wordpress

15 themes compared · Updated August 2026 · Beginners

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress theme for people new to wordpress 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. Kadence Best overall 87/100
2. Newsup 81/100
3. News Magazine X 80/100
4. Blogus 79/100
5. Education Base 78/100
6. BlogArise 77/100
7. BlogData 76/100
8. Shopstar! 76/100
9. Blogier 75/100
10. Vilva 75/100
11. Newspaperup 75/100
12. Blogza 75/100
13. Newsair 75/100
14. Mercantile 75/100
15. Vogue 74/100

Best overall Free by Nexcess

Kadence

Kadence Theme is a lightweight yet full featured WordPress theme for creating beautiful fast loading and accessible websites, easier than ever. It features an easy to use drag and drop heade...

4.9★: from 452 ratings
500k+: active installs
Updated: Jul 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Newsup

Newsup is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Newsup is...

4.8★: from 188 ratings
20k+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by WP Royal

News Magazine X

Easy to use Personal and Multi-Author Free WordPress Blog Magazine Theme - Suitable for WordPress Beginners and for Professionals as Well. Perfect for bloggers, journalists, and online magaz...

5★: from 29 ratings
8k+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Blogus

Blogus is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Blogus is...

4.7★: from 15 ratings
10k+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by Acme Themes

Education Base

Education Base is an attractive, modern, easy to use and responsive WordPress education theme with colourful design and stunning flexibility. This theme is capable of tackling the overall ne...

4.8★: from 108 ratings
3k+: active installs
Updated: Jul 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

BlogArise

BlogArise is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. BlogAri...

4.7★: from 7 ratings
4k+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

BlogData

BlogData is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. BlogData...

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

WPScore

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Free by Out the Box

Shopstar!

A Classic Never Goes out of Style. Shopstar! is a super stylish, fully responsive, easy to use WordPress theme perfect for an online store, fashion website or blog. Its minimalist design fea...

4.8★: from 41 ratings
1k+: active installs
Updated: Jun 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Blogier

Blogier is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Blogier i...

5★: from 2 ratings
4k+: active installs
Updated: May 2026

WPScore

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Free by Blossom Themes

Vilva

Vilva is an easy to use and mobile friendly multi-purpose blog theme. Whether you want to share your expert fashion tips, your favorite recipes, or create a lifestyle, travel, food, beauty a...

5★: from 14 ratings
2k+: active installs
Updated: Apr 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Newspaperup

Newspaperup is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Newsp...

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

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Blogza

Blogza is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Blogza is...

5★: from 1 ratings
1k+: active installs
Updated: Jun 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

Free by themeansar

Newsair

Newsair is a fast, clean, modern-looking Best Responsive News Magazine WordPress theme. The theme is fully widgetized, so users can manage the content by using easy to use widgets. Newsair i...

5★: from 3 ratings
1k+: active installs
Updated: Aug 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org

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

WPScore

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Free by Kaira

Vogue

Vogue is a very loved and easy to use WordPress theme that is ready for your next project. Build with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) settings, fully responsive and fast loading, Vogue offe...

4.9★: from 49 ratings
4k+: active installs
Updated: Jan 2026

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org