CoalesceIdeas Web and graphic design ideas for inspiration
There is no secret that everyone irrespective of the income level tries to retrench money whatever he does. If you are launching big project this question becomes paramount. Starting your online business you face a dilemma: to take refuge in web studio services and to have your website designed from scratch or to do everything by yourself using ready-made template. As we want to save, we will surely choose the second option. But here there is another choice: to buy a premium theme or to download a free template and start your website without investing a cent.
There is a certain opinion about free templates. People tend to consider them inferior to the premium ones and treat them with caution. This is a wise approach if you take the theme from an unverified source. Downloading it from a trusted template provider you need not worry about it. Concerning the functionality it also depends. Sure thing that free templates don’t contain premium modules and some complex features. But when it comes to the design many of them correspond with all latest trends and tendencies. Generally speaking, it all depends on the project. You need to analyze it yourself and decide, which features are the most essential for your website and which can be immolate.
In this round-up we are going to find out the advantages and drawbacks of free themes of the world’s most famous template providers, TemplateMonster . We have chosen 5 free templates, which have a premium sibling. We are going to compare their features and find out whether a free theme is enough to build a decent online presentation for your business.
Monstroid 2 Lite – Free WordPress Theme
There is hardly anyone who hasn’t heard about Monstroid. This is perhaps the most successful project of TemplateMonster. However the company decided not to stop here and very soon is going to present the world the whole new level of multipurpose WordPress themes by Monstroid 2. While we all wait with bated breath for this to happen, TemplateMonster proposes you to try out what it would be like downloading free Monstroid 2 Lite theme. So what’s in there?
First of all the design of the template is really sleek and up-to-date. The theme is content-oriented and all the elements are designed in such a way to keep the focus on the content. The first thing that catches the eye is full-width header slider. Grid layout is perfect for organizing content and additional elements in a simple and clear way. Lots of user-friendly elements, such as dropdown menu, search form, back-to-top button, contact form will provide positive browsing experience for your visitors.
Monstroid 2 Lite runs on the latest version of Cherry Framework 5, providing you with advanced functionality and intuitive user-friendly admin dashboard. You have lots of customization opportunities as well. Powerful Live Customizer allows you editing the templates and observing changes on the fly. To personalize your website you can experiment with different color schemes, 500+ Google fonts, header and footer styles. To always keep your visitors interested you can diversify your website’s content with Custom Post Types. The template is fully responsive and optimized for speed. GPL v3.0 license gives you more freedom with the theme. Multilanguage support makes it easy to attract more visitors from different countries.
As a conclusion we can say that the template is highly functional and can be an ideal choice for blogging. However it can hardly be adjusted to any other purpose.
Monstroid – Multipurpose WordPress Theme
Monstroid is a real flagship of TemplateMonster and one of the most functional multipurpose templates. Buying Monstroid you get access to 50+ child themes, which makes it easier to find the perfect match for your project. All of them are responsive, retina ready and meet all the requirements of today’s web.
Using Cherry Framework 4 as a core, the template can be easily installed, customized and maintained. Installation Wizard allows you installing the template without FTP. Monstroid provides you with lots of premium extensions and 23 in-built plugins. You can choose between various slider plugins, including MotoPress Slider and Cherry Simple Slider, to create stunning presentations of your brand. Use parallax scrolling or background video to add dynamics to your website. Lazy Load effect will optimize you website’s performance.
Monstroid boasts incredible flexibility. Lots of pre-designed pages, shortcode editor, static area builder, 7 designs of the homepage allow you to build anything you want, using Monstroid as a foundation. So, as you see, Monstroid can be applied to any project, irrespective of its size and purpose. eCommerce integration allows you to launch even an online store.
Kustrix Lite – Fashion Blog Free WordPress Theme
Kustrix Lite clean and modern design. It uses soft pastel colors in its color palette. Along with beautiful fonts and rounded buttons it makes the theme look feminine and tender. Stylish full-width slider draws attention and is ideal for showcasing some important information to your audience. Two-column layout allows you arranging the content and navigation elements the best way. With custom post types you can create versatile posts to engage your visitors. Handy dropdown menu facilitates navigation.
The template is fully responsive and retina ready. Cherry Framework 5 provides you with intuitive admin panel. Audio and video integration will help you to make your website more dynamic. Social integration will help you to create your brand’s presence in social networks. If you want to edit your template, make use of Live Customizer.
Kustrix Lite can be successfully used for fashion blog and can be customized for any other blog. But you can’t apply it to the projects beyond this functionality.
Kustrix – Fashion Blog WordPress Theme
Kustrix is a professional WordPress theme for any fashion blog. Its design has little difference from its free version: the same beautiful handwritten fonts, tender color scheme and rounded shapes. Functional banners below the header slider facilitate navigation. You can use calendar, commenting system, social options to make your website more interesting for your visitors.
The latest version of Cherry Framework 5 provides you with lots of advantages. Kustrix is fully responsive and powered by Bootstrap. Being retina ready your website will perform flawless on whatever device, even with the screens with high resolution. The template supports English, French, Spanish, Russian and German.
Generally speaking, Kustrix has more powerful functionality than its free peer. However this is also a niche template that can be applied to blogging only.
Cars Online – Free WordPress Template
This theme is ideal choice for your car business. It is designed in black colors with bright red accents. Its boxed layout will be ideal for browsing through mobile devices. The content is well-organized, which makes it easy to skim the page for necessary information. Header slider showcases the photos of the cars, catching the eye of auto enthusiasts. All the design elements are responsive, making the website adjustive to any screen size.
Cars Online is a simple template that can be used for creating car-related blog. It doesn’t possess any extraordinary features, but has everything that is needed to attract the visitors and to create a decent looking website.
Auto Repair Services WordPress Theme
This template features clean modern design with nice color scheme, page-width slider and trendy parallax scrolling. Lazy Load effect optimizes loading speed, guaranteeing better performance of your website. Inconspicuous animation makes the website more dynamic. Make use of 2 column layout and varied gallery scripts to organize the information on the page the way you want.
When it comes to functionality, the template has almost everything that’s needed for a successful project launching. No need to mention about Cherry Framework core and Bootstrap. The theme is fully responsive and will adjust to any device your visitor might be using. You can effortlessly create local versions of your website, as the theme is WPML ready. Lots of pre-designed pages and custom page templates make a good start for your business. Audio and Video integration, dropdown menu, calendar, commenting system, social integration and lots of other features to extend the possibilities of your website.
This template offers you much more possibilities than the free one. It can be successfully used for auto repair services. However advanced theme options make it easy to adjust template for other projects as well.
Mania – Free Fashion WordPress Theme
This free template is an ideal choice for fashion blog. It is designed in stylish black and white color scheme, using bit background image. The design is pretty minimalistic, yet all the content is clearly organized and easy-to-look through. Your visitors will appreciate 2 column layout, which gives them quick access to the content and navigation elements at once. Commenting system will help you to interact with your audience and to get their feedback. Intuitive admin panel makes it easy to manage the website.
If you want to launch a fashion blog and are restricted in money, this template might be a good choice for you. You can also use it for blog of some other topic. But if you want to start some more serious project, consider the option of buying a premium template.
New Face – Fashion Spot WordPress Theme
The design of the template is on point. It welcomes the visitors with trendy full-width slider with beautiful images. The further information about your company is reviled gradually thanks to parallax scrolling effect. The content sections are visually separated from one another, which makes it easier to skim through the page. The footer area contains integrated Google map, so that your clients can find you without any problems. Semi-transparent sticky navigation bar gives an easy access to the menu and social buttons.
The template runs on Cherry framework and boasts user-friendly admin panel. Responsive design is a guarantee that you won’t use any single visitor who uses handheld device for browsing. The template offers you lots of possibilities for customization. You can use custom page templates to create your own unique pages. 80+ shortcodes allow you modifying your theme without any technical knowledge. Choose your own color scheme, use 500+ Google fonts, custom post types to personalize your site. If this is not enough there are also sliced layered PSD files included into the package.
You can use this template for a variety of projects, starting from a simple blog and ending with fashion studio website. Customization options and tones of features make it ideal for any website.
Modi – Free Interior Design WordPress Theme
With this Cherry WordPress theme you can make an easy start for a wide variety of projects. It boasts modern design with full-page slider, trendy ghost buttons, parallax and lazy load effect. The usage of flat elements in the layout will help you to organize the content. Rich UI kit allows you adding counters, buttons and other elements to enrich your website’s functionality. With background video integration you will be able to present your company’s story in an original way.
This theme is a good example of Cherry Framework based website, with all ensuing advantages. Intuitive admin dashboard, simplified installation process advanced theme options. Various gallery scripts can be used for better organization of your works’ samples. The customization opportunities allow you to modify every element without any coding skills.
This free theme is fully functional and can be used for a project of any size and purpose. Features included into the package are over the odds for any successful website.
Prima – Interior Furniture WordPress Theme
This fully responsive design features full-width header slider. Pleasant beige and chocolate colors used in the palette create cozy atmosphere and delight the eye. Home page is divided into content sections, making it easy to look through the page.
Lots of predesigned pages make the theme applicable for a wide range of projects. Nice animations, Parallax scrolling, audio and video integration add depth to your layout. Cherry Framework 3 facilitates installation ad customization process. The theme is optimized for SEO. With on-line chat you will be able to assist your clients right away. The customization doesn’t require any special skills. A large library of shortcodes makes this process easy and effortless.
The template is a successful choice for online presentation of interior design company. It has all the necessary features to create a fully functional and diverse website.
As you can see, the choice between free or premium template highly depends on the purpose of your project. If you are planning to start a personal blog, you can boldly download a free template, it would be more than enough. For a bigger project, if you want it to be successful, you might consider the idea of buying a premium template. However some free themes, if to search carefully, provide you with advanced functionality and can serve a decent foundation for a big project.
