Okay guys, so it turns out we’re still getting a good response from our article covering the best Elegant Themes WordPress themes. We wanted to test the waters with that one and see what kind of reaction we got, as it’s been a while since we ran any “best of” articles.
And, judging by our engagement metrics, the article is performing as well as anything we’ve published. So today, we want to try and keep that momentum going by doing a similar article on the best Envato ThemeForest WordPress themes. ThemeForest is a huge library of WordPress themes – many of which come with dozens or hundreds of templates within them – and quite literally, giving you too much to choose from. So, to speed up the process for you, we have our pick of the best ThemeForest themes, as things stand in 2016.
A quick note on ThemeForest and pricing
If you read our Elegant Themes posts last time around, the first thing I want to point out is that ThemeForest differs in a number of ways. First of all, you pay for individual themes from Envato, rather than a yearly or one-time payment. For a decent theme you’ll be looking at roughly $60 for a regular license, which makes ThemeForest sound like a rough deal compared its elegant counterpart.
The flip side of this, though, is the flexibility that comes with ThemeForest – purely by the sheer number of themes on offer. Though, there is a downside to this as well, because it can take an eternity to find the right theme for your clients.
This brings us to another important point. Unlike Elegant Themes, the ThemeForest collection is created by individual developers, rather than a single Envato team. This also comes with its pros and cons: you get more variation on the plus side, but the standard of quality is a little more inconsistent. Once again, this means it can take longer to find the right theme for your project.
But never mind any of that, because this is precisely where this article comes in; to help you cut out the search process and take your pick from the best of ThemeForest.
Kleo: Diverse, powerful & sleek
Kleo is a powerful collection of templates and design tools you can mix and match to create a versatile range of sites. We’re not just talking visuals either; Kleo is packed full of features for eCommerce stores, directories, startups, and a hoard of other digital business types.
The7: Code-free customization made a breeze
The7 is one of ThemeForest’s most highly-rated themes and it’s easy to see why. You won’t find many themes with such a plethora of consistently beautiful templates, but that’s not the real selling point of The7. Instead, it’s the speed with which you can combine more than 630 theme options to create a unique design – without touching a line of code.
Salient: Simplicity made beautiful
Salient doesn’t come with the same kind of flexibility as the first two themes we’ve looked at, but it focuses on a smaller range of templates for freelance designers and medium-size businesses. That simplicity is precisely what makes this theme stand out, with sleek features built using squeaky-clean code. Salient is no jack-of-all-trades; it’s a specialist starter theme for modern businesses that need a sleek, no-nonsense approach.
Story: For brands with… a story to tell
Exciting brands tell captivating stories and you won’t get any prizes for guessing the concept behind this theme, aptly named Story. Vertical full-screen sliders are the big feature here, designed to give your clients a platform to tell their story visually. Once again, we’re not talking one the most versatile of themes you’ll come across, but it excels at doing a simple job particularly well.
Jupiter: The all-rounder
Jupiter brings us back into the more diverse realm of Theme Forest with an impressive range of starter templates and theme options. In truth, some of the template designs are better than others, but there are enough at the better end of the spectrum to make Jupiter a worthy entry on this list. And it comes fully loaded with more features than I could ethically squeeze into such a short summary.
The Retailer
Another name that gives the game away, The Retailer doesn’t bundle in eCommerce features for pure flexibility, it prioritizes them. This means no-nonsense product sales and a purchase system that comes already packed as a part of the theme, so you basically can’t get it wrong. In terms of design, the theme has got retro, hipster, and throw-back alternative written all over it. I wonder if web design trends will cycle as predictably as fashion and music once we run out of ideas.
Flatsome
Flatsome will serve your more conventional online fashion retail. Your typical “men,” “women,” and product categories come standard to make the product listing about as painless as possible for clothing outlets. But features like product reviews and promotions mean there’s plenty also going on behind the scenes to help your clients sell their products.
Real Homes
So, this is about as specific a theme as you could ask for, but that’s precisely what you need for real estate clients. The magic here is all going on in the back-end and behind all those images, the design itself is incredibly simple. Set your fonts, make any layout changes you feel necessary, and leave the rest to your client. Think super-fast turnaround times for real estate clients ready and waiting for you.
Enfold
Enfold calls itself “the user-friendliest WordPress theme ever made,” which is a pretty big claim to make. So, no surprises this theme is designed to have you building customized websites in record time. Enfold puts a heavy emphasis on striking hero spaces and various templates for a wide range of modern businesses and individuals. It’s great starting point for startups, tech firms, and a range of portfolio projects for the likes of photographers and others.
Avada
Avada aims to be part starter theme, part design tool for your custom projects. Its no-nonsense approach to code-free editing will make this a breeze for all levels. Access to the key design features (the header, hero section, page content, footer, etc.) are one click away and each of them editable.
Okay, so that’s our pick of the best ThemeForest themes around at this time. It was much bigger job narrowing down this list than it was for the Elegant Themes post, though, and I can’t be sure I haven’t missed some themes worth mentioning on this one. So chip in with any suggestions you might have from the huge collection of themes over at ThemeForest.
