The 9 Best Free Shopify Themes to Create a Stunning Online Store in 2023

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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Choosing the best free Shopify theme for your store

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:

• Built-in features. Shopify themes are more than just looks—they each have their own set of sales and marketing features. What do you need from your theme to grow your store? These will be things like product filtering, sidebar menus, mega navigation menus, etc.
• Readymade pages. A theme is a set of layouts that come together to make your store. Shopify website templates, like product pages and collection pages, are ready to go in your theme, but you need to make sure the template doesn’t need a ton of work by default.
• Look and feel. While not the only thing you should consider, the look and feel of any theme should get as close to what you want your store to look like in the end. That makes your job easier when customizing page templates.

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These older themes are now outdated and are no longer available on the Shopify Theme Store.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 free vs paid themes: Are premium themes worth it?

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.

The 9 best free Shopify themes for 2023

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.

1. Dawn – The standard Shopify theme

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:

• Visual merchandising with high-res images, plus rollover and zoom functions
• Products are simple to find with enhanced search and product filtering
• Powerful navigation with a sticky header and mega menu
• Product pages can include accordions with size charts, ingredients, and shipping info
• Power content marketing with blogs and an FAQ page
• Drive sales with product reviews, promo banners, and product suggestions

2. Craft – The best free Shopify theme for home and garden brands

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:

• Visual storytelling with homepage video, featured collections, and high-res images
• Increase AOV with product suggestions
• Product descriptions stay static as you scroll through the vibrant image gallery
• Organize product info with accordions for size charts, materials, and more
• Add FAQs and a blog to tell your customers more about your brand
• Use the quick buy function to streamline the purchasing process
• Product reviews and promo banners convince shoppers to buy

3. Crave – The best free Shopify theme for food and drink

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:

• Product suggestions on the cart page and product pages help boost AOV
• Optimized for high-resolution images with rollover and zoom functionality
• Create clear product descriptions with accordions for nutritional information, ingredients, size charts, and more
• Make shopping simpler with enhanced search, a sticky header nav with mega menu, and product filtering
• Full-width homepage header dazzles with product slideshow functionality above the fold
• Mobile-optimized layouts for on-the-go shopping on any device

4. Sense – The best free Shopify beauty theme

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:

• Powerful product filtering and sorting on collection pages by availability, price, featured, and more
• Use blogging and FAQs to kickstart content marketing efforts
• Convert better with a promo banner and trust-building product reviews
• Use recommended product suggestions to boost AOV from product pages
• Create rich product pages with high-res images, video, GIFs, and accordions

5. Origin – The best free Shopify theme for unique fashion and apparel

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:

• Sleek, responsive design for seamless browsing on various devices
• Provides two menu options: a classic horizontal menu and a slide-out sidebar menu, giving you more flexibility in your site navigation
• Efficient product filtering and sorting options for smooth navigation
• Engaging product pages with high-resolution images, videos, and informative accordions
• Smart product recommendations to increase average order value (AOV)

6. Ride – The best free Shopify theme for storytelling

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:

• Great for editorial content and optimized for longer-form text sections
• Specifically designed for adventure and outdoor-focused stores, setting it apart from other free Shopify themes
• Visual storytelling through high-resolution images, galleries, and slideshows
• Customizable hero slideshow, allowing you to showcase high-quality images and promote your best-selling products or offers

7. Publisher – The best free Shopify theme for art and publishing

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:

• Design your unique homepage by mixing and matching different sections such as featured products, image galleries, and blog posts
• Editorial-inspired design, making it perfect for content-rich stores that want to showcase their products alongside engaging articles and stories
• Slide-out sidebar menu that provides a clean and organized navigation experience for your customers
• Advanced product filtering options, allowing customers to easily find what they’re looking for by narrowing down their search based on criteria like price, color, or size

8. Colorblock – The best free Shopify theme for high-end brands

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:

• Unique, modern design that sets it apart from other themes
• Tailored for high-end brands, emphasizing luxury and refinement
• Visually striking product pages with high-resolution images, image galleries, and image zoom

9. Taste – The best free Shopify theme for health and wellness

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:

• Modern, eye-catching design that highlights unique products
• Visually appealing product pages with high-resolution images, image galleries, and image zoom
• Marketing and conversion tools including promotional banners, product reviews, and recommended products
• Features unique, appetizing typography that adds to the overall look and feel of a health-related store
• Seamlessly integrates a blog into your store, providing added value to your customers and driving engagement

Customize your theme quickly and easily with Shogun

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.

Free Shopify themes FAQs

Find your ideal Shopify theme (for free)

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 Page Builder 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!

#cta-visual-pb#<cta-title>Your free theme, upgraded<cta-title>Use Shogun Page Builder to create and customize any Shopify page to fit your brand and boost sales—no matter what theme you use.Start designing for free today