The old saying “you get what you pay for” is debatable when it comes to WordPress themes; there are a slew of beautiful, versatile free themes available on the web. After all, releasing a gorgeous, professional-grade theme gratis makes sense when you’ve built the theme on top of an open-source platform.
Still, there’s a wide world of premium themes to choose from. Once upon a time, Thesis was the king (more or less) of premium WordPress themes; however, a recent squabble over licensing issues has left a tarnish on designer Chris Pearson’s otherwise lovely work, and has sent former Thesis users running to find alternatives.
Now that the dust has settled from that recent unpleasantness, we thought we should revisit the subject of premium themes. Here are a handful of gorgeous WordPress themes you and your clients can buy right now. They’re great for developers, professional bloggers, SMBs, web dev shops and anyone who can afford to shell out a few bucks for a professional-looking and robust WordPress theme. And since they’re paid products, most come with decent support, as well.
Give them a look, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
1. Genesis
Based on user feedback and adoption trends, we’re ready to call StudioPress’ Genesis the successor to Thesis. This WordPress 3.0-ready theme starts simple and SEO-focused, but it’s incredibly extensible in terms of design and development through hooks and child themes. Widgets can go in a lot of places with Genesis; they’re not relegated to the sidebar. This theme also integrates with BuddyPress, if you or your client need open-source social networking capabilities along with your WordPress site.
Price: $59.99 for the theme, $249.95 for the StudioPress Pro All Theme Plus package.
2. Coda
WooThemes has long been one of the better sources of premium WordPress themes, and this shop’s latest creation, Coda, leaves little to be desired. This digital mag template features a nifty jQuery-based scroller for showcasing specific posts and a completely widget-based design for the home page. Coda’s “Timeline” archive page is also an elegant solution to one of the ugliest sections of any content-focused website.
Price: $70 for standard license (two bonus themes included), $150 for developer license (three bonus themes and the Coda PSD file).
3. Iridium
RocketTheme’s Iridium was designed for WordPress 3.0 and comes with six style variations and a slew of widgets out of the box. It’s a graphics-intensive package from the start and works well for sites that need to go beyond subtle. That being said, the smaller details (such as RocketTheme’s Fusion Menu, a rhapsody in JavaScript) inherent in this theme are well-executed, too.
Price: Subscription pricing starting at $50 for a 90-day plan with two installations of a theme and ranging to $250 annually for unlimited access.
4. Emporium
While many of Templatic’s themes appeal to the news bloggers in us (Hello and NewsTime look perfect for a content site, for example), this theme shop really shines in the e-commerce category. The gallery of themes has a killer iPhone app site based on WordPress and quite a few offerings for those whose websites are also commercial portals.
One that particularly struck us was Emporium, a shiny storefont with an administrative backend for real and virtual goods. This theme even has customization for a “catalog mode” if your online shop is inquiry-based rather than online sale-focused.
Price: $65 for a single license, $99 for a single theme with unlimited licenses, $299 for all Templatic themes.
5. iTeam
iThemes’ premium WordPress theme iTeam was conceived as the ideal framework for building a sports team website, but we can see this format going over well for a ton of different applications. With support for video, photo galleries, up-to-the-minute updates and who’s-who rosters, we could imagine getting a lot of mileage out of this community-focused theme for recurring event websites, clubs and organizations, churches and others.
Price: $79.95 for a single theme with multiple licenses, $297 for all themes.
6. Standard Theme
Don’t be fooled by the name. The Standard Theme isn’t “standard” as in “ordinary.” Rather, it aims to set an industry standard for content-centric sites and blogs by being the (allegedly) best-coded WordPress theme ever. Standard is SEO- and load time-optimized, and with ample ad placement opportunities and Google Analytics integration, it’s ideal for professional and commercial applications.
Price: $49 for standard license, $99 for a support license, both of which work for multiple applications.
7. Photon
Multimedia and photography portfolio themes abound, but this one fits the bill perfectly, and for a pretty sweet price, too. Images are gorgeously showcased in an almost-fullscreen layout with few distractions. Text and filmstrips recede gracefully and appear only when needed and wanted by the user. For a working photog, designer, model or other professional who relies on an image-based website, this theme is simple and strong enough to let the work stand out. And for an amateur shutterbug, the price is right for getting started with a portfolio.
Price: $17.
8. Cinch
If you love the look of Tumblr but need the power of WordPress, Cinch is the theme for you. Another WooThemes creation, Cinch harnesses the seemingly endless popularity of the tumblog for use on a WordPress site. Just like Tumblr, Cinch brings super-simple multimedia capabilities, adding speedy posting options with advanced QuickPress support. The theme also includes 11 alternative styles and slick jQuery-powered navigation.
Price: $70 for standard license (two bonus themes included), $150 for developer license (three bonus themes and the Cinch PSD file).
