The Best Free WordPress Themes of 2014
If you’re looking for the best free WordPress themes of 2014, then you’ve found the right place. Many theme shops have opened up within the last year, aiming to stake their claim to the huge audience that WordPress has gathered. People are always looking for new themes, whether they are business owners, bloggers, or entrepreneurs. Theme developers have realized this, so many have begun creating their own lite and free versions of WordPress themes. The best free WordPress themes seem to be made by the developers who want to make a name for themselves. These developers are packing tons of options and features into free themes, in order to show off what they can do. If you’re looking for a collection of the best free WordPress themes of 2014, try out some of the ones below.
Fictive
Fictive has a distinct look that makes it stand out from the other free WordPress themes out there. The left sidebar is a nice touch, with social media follow buttons. Images look big and bold with this theme, too, which is a plus if you use quality featured images.
Euclid
Euclid is a great free WordPress theme that focuses more on structure and layout than anything. I especially like the 3 column content slider in the header. It cycles through posts in multiples of three, getting more content in front of your visitors.
WP Metro
The Metro theme is inspired by the metro design of Windows 8. I like the icons in this one that tell what type of post it is. I also like how some posts are larger than others. this causes visitors to be more likely to look through the entire set of articles to make sure they don’t miss out on something.
Dw Timeline
DW Timeline is a minimal free WordPress theme that sets each post up along a timeline, which is an interesting visual to people who are visiting your site.
Advertica Lite
The Advertica WordPress theme is geared towards designers and creative professionals who want to make an impact. Advertica is clean, responsive, and well structured for seo, which is important for getting your business found in search engines.
Fundler
Want to build your own crowd funding website? Fundler is the theme for you! Raise money for your start up, or allow others to set up crowd funding capabilities for their own startups. It’s built from a crowd funding plugin, but it’s been integrated into a free WordPress theme. This is one of the best free WordPress themes of the year, for its usefulness and ingenuity.
Moments
Moments is an awesome blogging theme with side navigation. The simplicity and the breathing room the content has, gives Moments its elegant appearance.
Cubby
Cubby is a great free WordPress theme for designers or developers who want a great design and good features. One of my favorites is the vertically scrolling testimonial section placed just under the sliding gallery. It’s important to immediately build trust, and you’ll be more likely to be hired for your services.
Resolution
Resolution, by Kopa Themes, is one of the best free WordPress themes so far this year, because of its awesome layout, and well organized structure. I also like the zoom effect placed on the images in the main slider. This is a great theme for packing a lot of content on one page.
Flatfolio
If you’re looking for a free WordPress theme with a unique look, Flatfolio is awesome for showing off your work. It has a lot of features built right in. I like the scroll to top function and the minimized menu. It allows visitors to focus more on the content and less on clicking links.
Hueman
Hueman is a popular free WordPress theme this year. Many like the unique layout, and the extra sidebars. I like the left sidebar with links to recent and popular posts. Your newest article is most prominent, and your next two are featured underneath.
Nictitate
Nictitate is one of the best free WordPress themes for businesses or corporations. With icons, testimonials, and the ability to embed video, Nictitate is an excellent free WordPress theme for business.
Just Write
Just Write Stands out because of it’s unique layout and social media buttons in the sidebar. I love the flat look, and this theme is also minimal in design, so there’s no clutter.
Elisium
Elisium is great for several reasons. One of the big ones is the fact that there are so many home page options available. The slider is clean and professional, and doesn’t look generic.
Sparkling
Sparkling has a look all its own, which has made it extremely popular this year. The header section has a great caption area, and the call to action makes it great for getting visitors to buy, or sign up for your product or service.
Bigfoot
Big Foot has an instant presence, just like I would guess its namesake, the sasquatch, would have if you were to run into one in person. With Embedded Tweets, bold messages, and a unique layout, you’ll definitely consider Big Foot to be one of the best free WordPress themes you’ve seen.
Simple
Simple is just as it says, with a simple layout. It is mainly a dark theme, but wherever you add a splash of color, the content will instantly stand out. I like that visitors can cycle through your work on the home page, which makes it ideal for a freelance designer or creative professional.
Topbest
TopBest instantly has a corporate presence. I like how the navigation menu is integrated with social media icons. That streamlines the entire look of your site. The simple caption stands out, but doesn’t overpower your sliding gallery image.
Fruitful
Fruitful is a unique free WordPress theme with a minimal design. I like the sliding gallery. Also, the subtly framed caption underneath stands out, because it is bold, but not too bold.
Corpo
Meant to be a business or portfolio theme, Corpo is an elegant and simple free WordPress theme. The captions stand out, because the title is highlighted in a bold color. The wrap around menu stands out and adds depth to the site, too.
Intuition
Intuition is a clean free WordPress theme. It has 2 menu areas, so you’ll have plenty of space to organize your links. I like the subtle use of icons in this theme.
Decente
Decente is a simple theme meant to show off your work. This is important if you have a portfolio of clients to show off, which you can use to gather more work.
Anew
Anew is one of the best free WordPress themes, because o its clean layout and sleek look. I love the highly organized sidebar with single icon indicators. I also like how icons are used to indicate the content of the post, such as video, images, or text.
Stendhal
Stendhal is a simple free WordPress theme that relies on structure and balance. It has a lot of nice features and is ideal for portfolio websites.
Tracks
Tracks is an interesting theme, because of its unique alternation post layout. With a bold title and the featured image side-by-side, the posts alternate down the page, keeping your visitors actively browsing he page.
Alhena
Alhena is a beautiful, clean WordPress theme that is great for a business or agency. It has a powerful, clean slider with bold headlines and and captions. It has a flat design style, so there’s no clutter on your pages, making them load lightning fast.
Dazzling
Dazzling is excellent for many reasons. The bold header and the powerful call-to-action is perfect for any business.
Forceful
Forceful is a well structured free WordPress theme that relies on subtle variances to separate and organize sections of content. I love the two-toned header and social media section. I wish I had a project where I could use this theme right now, because it looks great.
Fullby
Fullby is one of the best free WordPress themes I’ve seen this year. The 3 column section of featured posts really gets your attention, and the side-by-side images really give visitors a lot to look at.
Stanley WP
If you’re looking for a stripped down WordPress theme, Stanley WP is a great theme for keeping things basic. When you want to rely more on content that effects, this is the right theme for the job.
Blogly Lite
Great for bloggers, Blogly has a nice side navigation menu, and the central content really stands out. You can customize the color scheme, and the images get a lot of attention, due to their elongated format.
Parallax
Parallax lives up to its name, with a focus on the parallax scrolling effect. You’ll be able to mmerse your visitors in a site filled with imagery and impact.
Hyperspace
Hyperspace is a free WordPress theme based on subtlety and negative space. The subtle shadow below the image adds some depth to the page.
News Flash
News Flash is a theme that has 2 sidebars, so you can pack plenty of widgets into your site, while keeping the content central to the page. There are lots of places to stick widgets and code, so if your site has a lot of bells and whistles, you’ll have plenty of room for them.
Cell
Minimal at heart, Cell is a free WordPress theme with a masonry layout that rocks. Show off images, text posts, or both, which keeps things interesting for visitors.
All Tuts
All tutorials is a classic free WordPress theme that harkens to the nostalgia of the traditional tutorial website. If it were me, I’d update it a little visually by flattening everything and getting rid of the highlights and shadows.
Shortnotes
Shortnotes is a simplified WordPress theme that is great for big, bold images. It also supports different post types, such as quotes and audio. The sidebar is also smaller than you’d expect and less obtrusive.
SunRain
Packed with a ton of features, Sunrain is definitely a powerful WordPress theme. I like the dynamic slider and captions, complete with call to action buttons. it also supports 2 menus, too.
Rockwell 2
Rockwell is another free WordPress theme that reminds me of the nostalgic tutorial websites you used to see all the time. Get rid of the shadows and highlights, flatten the look, get rid of the sheen, and you’d have a modern looking version of a tutorial website.
Sixteen
Sixteen is all about images, so you know that this theme is great for photographers. Show off your work with this theme and your images are sure to shine.
Wp Anniversary
WP Anniversary is a beautiful free WordPress theme filled with subtle textures and an organized layout. Everything, right down to the social media icons and the search bar have been custom designed for this theme.
Hemmingway
Hemmingway, like its namesake is a great theme for writers. it features breadcrumbs, sticky posts, and it’s minimal design allows you to focus more on the content.
Typal
Typal is all business, with a bold header, stand out colors, and the subtle use of icons. it also has a great call-to-action button, too.
Alpha Forte
Alpha Forte is a simple, beautiful free WordPress theme that allows you to have a large background image. The layout is simple, and I love the fact that you have a navigation menu at the top, but you can also add one down the side, because it is a typical WordPress side, complete with space for widgets.
SKT Full Width
Full Width is an awesome free WordPress theme for displaying large images. I love the drop down ribbon navigation. This theme would be perfect for any professional photographer. It’s one of the best free WordPress themes, because of it’s uniqueness and simplicity.
Revera
Revera has a lot of great options, such as a customizable home page, portfolio gallery and homepage widgets. I love the bold slider captions and the icons. This is a nice free professional theme.
Catch Kathmandu
Catch Kathmandu is a corporate WordPress theme with a strong presence and a great look. It’s designed with a traditional blue, and the call to actions are done in a bright green. The color combo has always worked well for business, and the features in this theme are great for any business.
Reviewgine
Reviewgine is a them that enables you to write reviews and rate products. It has a clean layout and plenty of room for different categories. This gives your readers plenty to look at without having to hunt for it.
WallPress
WallPress is an awesome free WordPress theme for magazine style blogs. There is a lot of room for content, and the layout is varied enough for the content to stand out. Wallpress supports different post layouts, which adds even more visual interest and impact to the site.
Luminescence Lite
luminescence Lite is a great free WordPress theme for simple blogging. The images really get your attention because of their elongated format. I’d get rid of the shadows, though. The left navigation really stands out, which makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.
MaxFlat Core
Want to run a magazine type blog? MaxFlat Core is the WordPress theme you’ll want to try out. There is plenty of room for links and news, different categories, and widgets. The theme is unique, with dual navigation on the top and the left side. MaxFlat Core’s bold look grabs your attention, too.
GovPress
Created with government sites in mind, Govpress looks like something that our government would use to for their sites. I love the minimalist approach and the use of handy, easily understandable icons.
Drop
Drop is a great free WordPress theme for a personal blog. It has the feel of a journal, which is excellent for intimacy with your readers. The left navigation area is big and bold, giving you plenty of room for a good bio area.
Spacious
Spacious makes great use of large icons to get instant attention. Spacious has a smooth look and a great layout that promotes exploration of the rest of the site. The search bar is features in the top right corner of the site.
Attitude
Attitude has quickly become one of the most popular free WordPress themes, due to its many features and great business appearance. With captions, and call to actions, this is a great free WordPress theme for any startup.
Quora
Quora has a bold presence, with its alternating layout and circular image masks. The unique design gets your attention and makes you want to explore the rest of the site. Quora is one of the best free WordPress themes, for its originality.
MH – Magazine
MH Themes created this magazine style WordPress theme. With a sophisticated, organized layout, you have plenty of room for a variety of content. Magazine Lite has a sleek design that would work great for any news site.
Bearded
Bearded has a unique look that instantly catches your eye. I love the simple navigation and the prominent call to action. bearded is more about minimal design and structure, giving plenty of space for flashy graphics to stand out.
Radiate
Radiate is beautiful, with a sleek look and bold colors. he example has a purple navigation menu, but you can easily customize that in WordPress’ settings. If you’re a photographer, this theme is a good choice for you, because of how the theme frames images.
Writr
Writr is a popular free WordPress theme for bloggers. The reason is apparent. Look at the powerful presence that Writr has, with a strong left navigation. I like how the vertical column with icons separates the navigation and the content.
Circle
With beautiful captions and a well structured layout, Circle is a great free WordPress theme. I love the look of the blog section, and the sidebar has plenty of negative space. This gives content room to breathe, which makes everything easier to read.
DW Minion
DW Minion is one of the best free WordPress themes for bloggers. I love the vertical column layout. The social media icons are stacked vertically on the left. Next, you’ll find the sites navigation. The middle section features the content, and the right sidebar even has an ad section built into it. This is an absolutely beautiful free WordPress theme.
RestImpo
Tesla
Tesla is another premium-level WordPress theme being given away for free. It is great for designers, photographers, and anyone with a portfolio. It’s biggest stand out feature is its sortable portfolio.
Nemo
Nemo is a premium-level free WordPress theme for eCommerce. You can build your own online store with this free theme, and it will look great. Combine this theme with the power of Woocommerce to build your own fully-featured online store. This is one of the best free WordPress Themes of 2014, because of its premium level features. Google Fonts and Font Awesome are also built in.
Engrave Lite
Engrave lite is one of the best free WordPress themes of 2014. It has a ton of built in features, and that’s in the free version. This makes it even more enticing to pick up the pro version. This theme would be great for businesses, freelancers, or bloggers.