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The resources that you can have access to for free on the internet are virtually limitless. This begs the question: why would you ever pay for something you can get for free, such as a WordPress theme? If you have any level of familiarity with WordPress, then you’ve probably seen the hundreds of different free themes out there. Some of them have very dedicated authors and can make your blog or website look completely professional, even though they are free of charge. So why bother going with a paid premium WordPress theme?

There are actually quite a few reasons. Obviously some paid themes are worth buying, or people would not bother selling them! If you’re trying to decide between free themes and paid themes, then the most important thing is to simply know your own needs and your own capabilities. Let me outline some of the differences between free and paid themes so you can figure out which option will work best for you.

Support & Longevity

Two of the biggest selling points for themes are support and longevity. Paid themes are generally maintained by teams that are affiliated with companies. This means that there’s no risk of the author or authors losing interest in maintaining the theme. It also often means that you’ll be able to get support if you ever have technical problems while utilizing a paid theme.

Free themes are, in many cases, maintained by individuals with a flair for web design. These people, while generally talented, cannot always be relied upon to maintain a theme indefinitely. This means that a theme may not keep pace with the newest advances in web technology such as new widgets and the like. WordPress itself updates fairly frequently, which can wreak havoc on your site if you don’t know how to make the necessary changes. Not having a regularly updated theme may mean you have to keep changing your theme every so often, and it may mean a complete overhaul of its look and feel, which can hurt your site’s level of recognition.

Along the same lines, a free theme author may not have the time or inclination to help you if you run into trouble when installing or modifying a theme to fit your needs. If that’s the case, then you’re on your own!

Ease of Use: Theme Options Interface

Another thing to consider when choosing between free and paid themes is your own level of technological prowess. If you want something that’s exceedingly simple to use that you have to interact with minimally, then a paid theme is probably best. Free themes tend to require a little bit more tech savvy in terms of installing or modifying them. For some paid themes, the company who sells the theme will do most of the work for you and you just get to enjoy the end result with an easy-to-use theme options interface for making changes and updates.

By and large, it’s hard to deny that premium themes are better than free ones. The question then becomes: is a paid theme actually worth it? It can cost over $30 for a top quality premium theme! It can be difficult to justify that level of spending if you are just using WordPress as a platform for a blog or a small business website.

Unique or Not Unique – That Is The Question

Another thing that you have to consider when it comes to both free and paid premium themes is the fact that these themes are not unique and can be sold and distributed to many different clients. Therefore, even if you shell out the cash for a premium theme, there will likely be many other sites out there that look nearly identical to yours because they paid for the same theme. If you want to actually get a completely unique theme, then you may have to pay hundreds of dollars.

Conclusion

So ultimately, whether or not a premium theme is worth it to you; is a question that only you can answer for yourself. If you have the budget for it and you want all the advantages that premium themes can offer, then purchasing one of these themes is a great choice. However, if you aren’t sure or if it simply isn’t in your budget, then there’s no harm in at least trying out a free theme.

Even if you can’t find a free theme that is super easy to use, this can be a great way to introduce yourself the basic elements of PHP, CSS and HTML that are used in WordPress themes. You may find that it’s easier than it looks at first. Then, by the time you’re ready to buy a premium theme, you may find that you don’t even need one anymore.

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