When you are just starting to build up your website on WordPress, you may encounter lots of choices of themes to choose from. But you may notice that some themes are paid, some are free. You may wonder: is there any difference between both?
I will be sharing with you briefly whether it is worth paying for a WordPress theme.
The main difference between the free and paid themes is in the features they offered. Usually, paid themes have more customizable options and other settings otherwise not available in the free themes. Some of the most common additional features in the paid themes are:
– Setting up slider with multiple images/slides. The free versions usually only allow you to have one image/slide at a time.
– Setting up additional sidebars in your blog page, other than the default sidebar (set at right or left). This option is usually not allowed in the free versions of WordPress themes.
– Setting up a footer bar for your blog. The cost of the paid themes usually allows you to do this.
– Other features that are not specific to just one aspect of your website but can nicely fit in several areas.
If you are just starting out delving with your WordPress website, you may be pretty tempted to try out all of the premium/pro features and the advanced customization settings. If you can afford to purchase one, then great.
But if you are bootstrapping, I suggest that you get your feet wet with a free WordPress theme first. It’s fun and easy to use while it won’t hurt your wallet!
Once you have mastered the basic features and customizations, maybe you can think about buying a paid theme. It will give you a lot more creative freedom to build up your website.
The pricing for paid themes tends to vary. From what I noticed, some are priced at $59 and can be downloaded and keep as long as you want. Some are priced at between $59 to $89 for an annual subscription, though it’s more on technical support and theme updates.
In the case of the Astra theme, which I’m currently using, it costs me around $59 per year. Also, some paid themes have their free versions too, but as I mentioned earlier, expect much more limited features in there.
So, back to the main question: is it worth paying for a WordPress theme?
Well, to answer this, I don’t think there is any hard and fast rule on this. It all depends on the features that you need, as well as your budget.
With a paid theme, you can be more creative and have more control over your website. So if you are willing to spend on this, I think it’s going to be worth it! But it doesn’t mean you can’t do more customizations on the free themes.
Note that you can also use free themes to get the same look and feel as the paid versions using free plugins and widgets. But personally, it’s going to take more time to set them up, and not to mention, having more plugins running in the background may slow down your site instead.
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In conclusion, if you want more customization options for your site than what is offered by free themes, then it may be worth paying for a theme.
I hope this helped you answer if it is worth paying for a WordPress theme. Let me know through the comments if you have any other questions or concerns.
