WordPress has evolved from a mere blogging platform into a full-blown content management system. From creating a simple business website to a complex e-commerce website, you can build anything on WordPress.
So if you’re planning to build your next website on WordPress, and looking for a theme to start with, we have collected some of the most famous themes for WordPress 2018. As you know, recently, we have listed best WordPress themes by doing performing various speed, SEO and coding tests. Likewise, we have done the same tests on some popular WordPress themes. After that, we have ranked them according to their results, so that you don’t have to do this tedious task.
So here is the list of most popular free WordPress themes for 2018.
1. GeneratePress
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Generate Press |
| Load Speed | 1.1 seconds |
| SEO Score | 4.2 points |
| Overall Rating | 4.6 stars |
As per performance, this theme doesn’t load any JS if the page does not require it. The page of theme content is under 50kb which is considered as highly optimized, means better SEO practices. With the help of Page Builder, hook, and filter, you can literally create different styles.
2. Readit
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Modern themes |
| Load Speed | 1.4 seconds |
| SEO Score | 2.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.5 star |
You can place widgets according to your wish and make your web magazine look exactly you want it to. It indeed rendered a comfortable reading experience for everyone. Readit comes with a paid version as well as a number of child themes suitable to different genres.
3. Zerif Lite
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Themeisle |
| Load Speed | 2.5 seconds |
| SEO Score | 4.8 points |
| Overall Rating | 4.8 stars |
The navigation bar is integrated with font awesome to display icon and also include a sizeable drop-down style. Zerif lite uses a lot of eye-catching transitions in homepage and latest posts with a slider. The background is filled with an image, and you can change it later. Additionally, it has an editable team, testimonial, contact us, and about us page with the progressive rounded skill bars. Undoubtedly, one of the most popular theme for 2018.
4. OnePress
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Famethemes |
| Load Speed | 1.3 seconds |
| SEO Score | 2.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 4.0 star |
The theme comes with content blocks architecture, which enables you to manage the web content efficiently. Change the aspect of any design using built-in customizer. You can add five terminal gallery and smooth video representations to create a best impactful landing page ever.
While scrolling the homepage, you can clearly see the slide to top effect, which is used by premium WordPress themes as well. It is highly recommended for software companies and digital marketing agencies.
5. Customizr
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Press Customizr |
| Load Speed | 2.2 seconds |
| SEO Score | 2.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.8 stars |
It increases more engagement within the readers by autoloading more content while scrolling downward. The theme uses plenty of java scripts and CSS to create unique animated styles while hovering. That’s why we have considered it as best most popular WordPress theme for 2018.
6. Evolve Lite
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Theme4Press |
| Load Speed | 1.8 seconds |
| SEO Score | 4.4 points |
| Overall Rating | 4.8 stars |
If you check the demo, you can see that Evolve is using a “two grid” layout with three distinct styles which are trending these days. To control spam, it uses CAPTCHA in contact form which is again a premium feature. Also, it comes with a dedicated control panel to revamp your theme easily without knowing any coding knowledge. For more simplicity, the one-click import option allows copying settings smoothly.
7. Julia Lite
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Modern themes |
| Load Speed | 2.4 seconds |
| SEO Score | 5.0 points |
| Overall Rating | 4.6 star |
If you are a visual artist or want to make a personal portfolio, Julia theme fits you. I think that the colour and font selection of Julia is very professional to maintain a healthy relationship with those who read your stories. To create more visuals, the theme uses a drop cap with shadows in each blog post. Every image opens in the entire screen by using lightbox stylesheet and script. A progress bar on the header shows the number of lines left to read. So overall, Julia is a great theme but you have to give a credit link at the footer.
8. Virtue
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | $35 |
| Author | Mythemeshop |
| Load Speed | 1.4 seconds |
| SEO Score | 5.0 points |
| Overall Rating | 5.0 star |
Virtue works with different kinds of the slider which are responsive as well. The header shows up maximum links using Top, Primary and Secondary navigation bars. ItNot to mention that it a completely free theme which has excellent support feature too. This theme can be used for bloggers, professionals, e-commerce or small businesses. No doubt, it is one of the most popular WordPress themes for 2018.
9. Wellington
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Themezee |
| Load Speed | 2.8 seconds |
| SEO Score | 2.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.5 stars |
For the localized audience, you can refer to Easy translation mode which changes it to multilingual. The theme is very light coded and using HTML5 and CSS3 to make it blazing fast. Not to mention that it works with all browsers and is absolutely free for everyone.
10. Writee
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Scissor Themes |
| Load Speed | 2.5 seconds |
| SEO Score | 1.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 2.5 star |
Additionally, with built-in related posts and social media sharing, it lets readers interact more. This theme also helpful to show up specific posts in the homepage boxed slider. It is a flexible WordPress theme that has a unique look coupled with a variety of modern features. Writee also comes with a pro version option, which lets you access its advanced features.
11. Iconic One
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Themonic |
| Load Speed | 1.0 seconds |
| SEO Score | 2.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.9 stars |
The theme looks very simple, but if you want a fast and responsive theme to serve simple content, it is a great option.
12. Begonia Lite
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Pixelgrade |
| Load Speed | 2.0 seconds |
| SEO Score | 1.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 2.5 stars |
When you look at the demo, you see that it has a different post preview with a lot of white spacing at the right. At the bottom of the container, it is using a large footer to represent essential links and sitemap which is a crucial SEO demand. This theme is not very popular but its trending right now because of its original appearance. Finally, all I can say that Begonia is one of the best free WordPress themes for 2018.
13. Atlast Agency
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Akisthemes |
| Load Speed | 5.3 seconds |
| SEO Score | 0.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 1 star |
This theme gives us a smooth design experience coupled with ultra-professional typography, makes a branded impression to the viewers. It followed by a four grid simple footer with HTML support. The theme is also using a contact form which can be used anywhere. It is not good for blogging after all but definitely an excellent choice for a Digital Marketing agency.
14. Fluida
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Modern themes |
| Load Speed | 8.3 seconds |
| SEO Score | 3.5 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.8 star |
There are more than 100 options in the customizer that allows controlling almost every aspect of the theme. On further inspection, I found that you can configure both layouts and widths of any box, thumbs up for that.
If you are a grid lover, you can add more grid up to four which are responsible too. It also creates different cursor hover actions and actionable transitions to catch visitors attention. One of the best WordPress theme for business and small agencies. It has 10,000+ current download means it is quite popular right now. This theme loads bit slow, but you can remove additional scripts if you are a developer.
15. Merchant
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Famethemes |
| Load Speed | 3.3 seconds |
| SEO Score | 4.0 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.8 star |
It presents your products in minimal style ( like node.js style ) combined with customer’s ratings. You can indeed display the latest, top selling, a sessional collection of products in the homepage to generate more sales. You can also create product description boxes to promote specific products anytime. Likewise, you can filter and sort product according to your choice which is an equally important feature as SEO.
16. Page Builder Framework
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | Free |
| Author | Famethemes |
| Load Speed | 4.5 seconds |
| SEO Score | 3.0 points |
| Overall Rating | 3.4 star |
This theme should be the best choice to showcase your Android or iOS app, small agency, corporate, digital marketing agency. Basically, this framework can adopt different page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, Divi, Thrive Architect, and more. This framework is only recommended for developers.
