Finding the best free Shopify theme for your store is essential. It’s the design standard that you can use as a jumping-off point for making your store look and feel just the way you want.
Shopify has more than 140 themes to choose from, most of which are premium—costing between $80 and $380 each.
If you’d rather not dish out any cash for a theme, you are in luck. You can get really great Shopify themes for free. That’s right, zero dollars.
But which free themes are best? And what’s so great about premium themes?
We’ll try to answer these questions and more. First, let’s talk about what you must consider when choosing a theme.
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When selecting a theme for your store, the most obvious consideration is its appearance. And this is a great place to start!
If you don’t like the layout of a specific theme or it doesn’t fit with your brand, you should look elsewhere. Simple as that.
Since you’ve already chosen to go with a free theme, you’ve narrowed your search considerably. There are currently 12 free themes on the Shopify App Store.
So, to narrow it down even further to find the perfect free theme for your brand, you’ll want to consider a few things:
Below, we’ll highlight the features of each theme so you know exactly what to expect from them and which might work well for you.
But before we do, you may be wondering where the legacy themes went (Debut, Brooklyn, Simple, etc.).
These older themes are now outdated and are no longer available on the Shopify Theme Store. They became incompatible with the updated site architecture of the Shopify Online Store 2.0 themes.
Shopify removed these themes for several reasons: newer themes offer improved functionality, easier maintenance, better user experience, and enhanced security and compliance.
While legacy themes have been removed from the Shopify Theme Store, merchants who previously installed these themes can continue using them.
However, it’s recommended to upgrade to a newer theme to take advantage of the latest features, better performance, and improved user experience.
While the legacy themes will continue to work, Shopify no longer provides support or security updates to keep them working as they should.
Shopify’s free themes have a lot going for them.
They are well-designed and include a decent amount of default functionality right out of the box.
When starting out, a free theme can give you everything you need, providing you the ability to build a sizable customer base and revenue stream without dishing out any money.
The advantage of paid themes lies in their abundance of built-in features and dedicated support, ensuring a seamless experience for your online store.
As your business grows, so do your needs. While you can add certain features to your free theme with apps, purchasing a paid theme that already includes that functionality might be best.
Paid themes come with more customization options, and each theme is built to serve a particular type of store—such as those with large inventories or those in a specific industry.
If you decide that you want to go with a paid theme, you can find the perfect one in The 33 Best Shopify Themes For Whatever You Want to Sell Online.
But, if you are settled on finding an all-encompassing (and awesome) free theme, read on.
Free Shopify themes are made to fit all types of stores, with certain features that create just the right shopping experience.
All themes include responsive design so that visitors can shop from anywhere.
Since the customization experience differs so much between legacy and OS 2.0 themes, I’ve listed them separately to simplify it.
The default theme for all new Shopify stores, Dawn aims to be a stylish and minimalistic theme for highly visual brands.
From the reviews, it seems this theme still has some work to do to earn their love, but it still has a lot going for it, especially given its increased functionality over Debut.
Finding products is simple, with a navigable menu always at hand as shoppers scroll and click through.
The homepage is a great marketing tool itself, with a full-width header image and the ability to add your favorite collections to make navigation even more effortless.
Features:
This minimal theme was built for visual storytelling, with layouts that favor great photography on the homepage and product pages.
The image gallery on Craft’s product pages scrolls as the product details stay still, allowing shoppers to get the full view of the product with easy access to its details.
Content marketing is easy with a lovely blog and readymade FAQ formats.
Features:
The demo store, showcasing Omsom’s incredible photography and products, illustrates the Crave theme’s food and beverage angle.
A full-width header slideshow immediately immerses visitors in powerful product photography that pushes them to investigate further. It shows that the theme is optimized for high-res photos.
Shoppers can quickly navigate to the collections and products they are looking for by using the top navigation’s mega menu, threading nav links into sub-categories. Or by using the easy product filtering and sorting feature on collection pages.
They also make it super simple to shop from mobile with responsive web design throughout the theme.
Features:
This beauty-focused theme is both vibrant and minimal, with tons of opportunities to showcase products in lifestyle and studio photography.
Collection pages can be easily filtered to quickly get shoppers to the right product. Leverage your persuasive power on product pages with organized product descriptions, related products, and fantastic imagery.
With FAQs and a great blog, you can capture SEO traffic to get discovered faster.
Features:
Origin is a clean and minimalistic Shopify theme that offers an elegant and user-friendly shopping experience, making it ideal for stores focused on showcasing products with striking visuals, such as art, photography, or fashion.
Features:
Ride is a visually captivating Shopify theme designed to support brand storytelling and editorial content, making it perfect for wilderness and sports stores that prioritize visual elements and long-form text sections.
This theme is ideal for businesses focused on fashion, lifestyle, or other visually-driven industries.
Features:
Publisher is a Shopify theme crafted for independent studios, galleries, and retailers offering a curated selection of books, apparel, merch, and accessories.
Its focus on visual storytelling and quick setup makes it perfect for businesses that want to create an avant-garde shopping experience while showcasing their products effectively.
Features:
Colorblock is a sophisticated and elegant Shopify theme designed specifically for high-end brands looking to create a luxurious shopping experience.
Its bold and contemporary design makes it perfect for luxury fashion, accessories, or other premium product stores.
Features:
Taste is a visually striking Shopify theme designed specifically for brands looking for minimalistic, bold branding.
Its clean and contemporary layout makes it perfect for online stores selling unique, artisanal, or high-quality items.
Features:
Once you’ve decided on a free theme, you can use the Shopify theme editor to customize your store to fit your brand identity.
No matter your theme, you can use Shogun Page Builder to customize any page with a simple drag-and-drop editor, giving you access to over 30 page elements to upgrade any store page.
Plus, you can build brand new landing pages to fit targeted sales-boosting needs, like special offer pages to announce big sales or lead generation pages to build out your email list.
You can add visual elements like product videos or high-res photos to any page, organize important product information with product tabs and accordions, and drive conversions with trust-building product reviews and intuitive signup forms.
Your free theme gets an automatic boost with Page Builder, doing the work of tons of other apps.
Yes, free Shopify themes can be quite good for small businesses or those just starting out. They offer a range of essential features and clean designs that help create a user-friendly shopping experience.
While they may not have all the advanced functionalities of paid themes, they are often more than sufficient for many online retailers.
The fastest free Shopify theme can vary depending on factors such as updates and optimizations.
However, themes like Dawn are known for their lightweight design and fast loading times, making them suitable options for businesses seeking a speedy online store.
The disadvantages of a free Shopify theme primarily stem from its limited features and customization options compared to paid themes.
They often lack advanced functionalities, such as unique layouts, extensive design options, and additional marketing tools.
Additionally, free themes tend to have lower priority for updates and support, which may result in slower response times for bug fixes and improvements.
The theme you select plays a significant role in shaping your store’s usability, so it’s essential to consider more than just aesthetics.
Be sure to explore the features of each theme thoroughly to create the optimal customer experience you envision for your online store.
The great thing about free themes is that you can download them and play around with them without worrying about the cost.
Add it to your store, try customizing it in the theme editor, and then decide if it’s for you.
Shogun can take your free theme up a notch for increased functionality on any page. Even pages in legacy themes are fully customizable with Page Builder.
If you need something more from a theme, you can always choose a premium Shopify theme with built-in sales features. Your store is going to look so good!
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