If you are starting the eCommerce game by creating your very first store on a top eCommerce platform – Shopify, it’s essential to make your web design stand out from the crowd. Finding a suitable template will bring you halfway through the process, and you can utilize the best free Shopify themes if you want to test out the waters before taking a plunge.
“Do free Shopify themes function properly?”; “Should I choose a free theme or a paid one?”. If you have these questions in mind while maneuvering through this best selling platform, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we will walk you through the fundamentals of Shopify themes as well as evaluate the top choices to help you find your own answer to the nerve-racking question:
Which are the best free Shopify themes?
Curious to understand why we listed these options? Scroll down, and you will find out why!
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Top Free Shopify Themes You Shouldn’t Miss in 2023
When surfing online for the best free Shopify themes, you may come across a long list of themes, namely Minimal, Debut, Brooklyn, Simple, or Narrative. However, neither of them can be found on any Shopify theme stores. Due to the incompatibility with Shopify 2.0, these old free themes have been completely removed from the Shopify theme store since September 2022.
Don’t freak out yet, as we are here to put together a list of the best free Shopify themes for 2023! The listed candidates are the best Shopify 2.0 themes that work well with your Shopify store and function perfectly with features you might not expect to come with a free theme.
If you are new to the field, don’t forget to check our packages of Shopify review and Shopify pricing plans. All are rounded up just for you!
#1. Dawn
Overview
Built as the replacement for the Debut Shopify theme, Dawn is now the default template for every newly-created Shopify store. By utilizing HTML and CSS instead of Javascript, the Shopify Developer team has reduced the complexity and, at the same time, boosted the loading speed. That being the case, Dawn is 35% faster than Debut and gives out a tension-free experience on speed and performance across all web browsers, even with Internet Explorer 11.
Dawn Shopify theme is the ideal option for those looking for a Shopify template that is simple to set up while still delivering a chic look. As one of the most popular Shopify free themes, Dawn features a responsive layout that looks good on multiple devices.
Key features
With its large imagery, crisp lines, and simplified fonts, Dawn successfully draws buyers’ attention to the key pieces. Your products will take center stage, and your customers will get a realistic sense of how the products feel thanks to the Media-forward product page.
Dawn also enables store owners to combine multiple product variations into a single listing. With the Product options function, your buyers are able to view all available options for their desired product and pick out what fancies them the most.
What’s more, the Advanced customization options ensure a flexible design and feature customization settings. That is, you can achieve your favorable vision without touching any code.
Best for
All in all, this free Shopify theme is suitable for high-media businesses such as fashion, home decor, cosmetics, and beauty. Store owners in garden industries can benefit from this best free Shopify theme as well. It’s not just because Dawn is the default theme and does not require much coding knowledge, but it also comes with essential features that one in the field would need.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
DAWN | • User-friendly and fast loading speed • Improved UX for customers • Impressive image showcase • Ability to showcase your press appearance and publication • In-store pick-up option available. | • Bugs need to be ironed out • Lacks specialized assistance for certain bugs. |
Customer feedback
Dawn is a terrific option for smaller stores as it’s a free theme that offers a clean, modern look that really puts products on stage. There have been certain instances of bugginess with things like product searches and filters, but their support is typically quite prompt in addressing user issues. We’ve successfully used Dawn to prominently highlight our star products and ensure visitors to our store can quickly access our biggest sellers.
justkoffee.com
#2. Studio
Overview
Studio Shopify theme is a template tailored to draw special attention to artists and collections. At the very first look, this free Shopify theme gives out a simple yet elegant feel with white space and less of colors. Adding to that, Studio comes with a refined serif font, round buttons, and impressive illustrations on each page, making it a perfect choice for arts and entertainment businesses.
Key features
Again, with Studio’s stylish photography and colorful accents, you can showcase your creations in a unique and interesting way. The slideshow on the homepage gives a sneak peek of your masterpiece. At the same time, the longer-form text sections, collection-based navigation, and featured collections capture your buyers’ attention at the first-ever scroll.
What’s more, this free Shopify theme offers a streamlined experience when it comes to styling an online store. You can create custom pages, customize settings and align the eCommerce site with your brand personality within minutes using the drag-and-drop builder.
Over and above that, Studio’s default contact form makes it one of the best free Shopify themes for new sellers. Just like an art curator, this exclusive feature enables prospective customers to opt out of providing their contact details. This is undoubtedly a savvy method to grow your business leads and convert potential shoppers into buyers.
All things considered, with this easy-to-use and highly visual template, your business will surely thrive in the best way possible.
Best for
Just by looking at its name, this free Shopify theme is definitely a perfect match for arts & entertainment businesses. If you focus on custom-made products, such as jewelry, handicrafts, designer products, and collections, the Studio Shopify theme is also a good option to consider.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
STUDIO | • Simple yet elegant and impressive visual with color accents • Editorial content to support brand storytelling • Easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature • Improved search functionality. | • Bugs need to be ironed out • Average performance scores with average page loading speeds • Hard to locate help material for all features. |
Customer feedback
I am a jewelry designer/artisan jeweler using the free Shopify Studio Theme since August 2022. I LOVE IT! The 8.0 Version fixed many technical bugs, and the product images look better than ever. I am not tech-savvy. Studio is user-friendly and actually quite intuitive. I updated both of my Shopify websites using Studio and am thrilled with the results. STUDIO is visually STUNNING and IMPACTFUL.
Arpaia®
#3. Origin
Overview
Released in Nov 2022, Origin is the latest addition to the free Shopify themes collection. With a unique typography that is rarely seen in eCommerce stores and various promotional/educational sections, the Origin Shopify theme makes it straightforward to narrate your brand story in a visual and effective way.
Key features
If you are seeking the best free Shopify themes for your single-product store, look no further than Origin! This Shopify template can please even the most difficult store owners thanks to the full-width page design and the distinctive featured product segment on the header section.
Besides that, Origin does bring a touch of whimsy and fun with the neutral color palette as well as the surprisingly quirky fonts. The vivid set of imagery and the structured layouts encourage customers to dig into the details, making it the ultimate choice for bespoke products and handicrafted items.
With that being said, Origin is ultra-minimal in features and comes with a limited set of design functionality. Nevertheless, this Shopify template is super flexible in terms of customization ability and offers various flexible elements at your disposal to craft the desired layouts. Additionally, there are multiple features for boosting sales, namely Enhanced search, Quick buy, Size charts, Featured blogs, Related products, and more.
To cut it short, if you want your store to go live fast, then Origin is definitely your go-to option. Otherwise, put it aside and seek your best free Shopify themes in other sections of this article.
Best for
For the mentioned reason, the Origin Shopify theme will be the best fit for bespoke and custom-made items or single-product businesses.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
ORIGIN | • Super quick setup • Distinctive header section and unique typography • Impressive page performance & loading speeds • Conversion-friendly design and functionalities. | • Lack of essential features such as collection pages • Limited on customization capabilities |
Customer feedback
I like that the theme is very useable and user-friendly. It has all the necessary things needed to get a Shopify store off the ground. Banners, buttons, Payment option icons, Language, and Currency selectors (I plan on shipping internationally). What I don’t love is that it’s pretty generic, but I believe it leaves itself room for expansion. When you have something bare-bones, you have nothing really to lose when expanding on it with extra liquid code and apps.
mufbs.com
#4. Craft
Overview
Craft is another minimalistic yet effective theme developed by Shopify. As the name suggests, this free Shopify theme is ideal for niches in arts & crafts, including handmade items, crafted treasures, and related ones.
When using the Craft Shopify theme, your content will definitely get the spotlight it deserves, thanks to several effective features listed and explained below.
Key features
Firstly, this Shopify template is perfectly embedded with various unique and customizable sections. There are also generous spacing, eye-pleasing palettes, and elegant typography that not only helps to showcase your items but also highlights their stories. No matter what crafted products you are going to put on your shelves, arts or pottery, furniture or photography, Craft will make them shine like never before, thanks to the rich and compelling narratives.
One amazing thing about Craft is that you don’t need the tech know-how to master the customization settings. The Collage feature allows you to create well-designed blocks of three for video, photos, and collections, while the Collapsible content makes it easy for rows to be collapsed or expanded. With that, you can drag and drop your dynamic content sources to whatever corner you like to visualize the aesthetic feel of your products.
Store navigation is one of the most notable strengths of Craft since this free Shopify theme comes with some of the most effective features in the field. Its Collection List can be added up to 16 blocks, and you can attach a button under these columns to direct your customers to related product pages or the checkout process.
Although this template is available at your disposal at no surcharge, Craft by Shopify still provides a range of industry-leading features for eCommerce stores to scale up. These include an Announcement bar, Mega menu, Product options, Promo banners, Product reviews, and more.
Best for
Besides the aforementioned niches, the Craft Shopify theme is also an ideal choice for dropshipping businesses with lookbooks, product options, and product videos.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
CRAFT | • Widely adaptable with a variety of designs • Superb performance and navigation • User-friendly interface • Tons of customization options. | • Miss out on conversion enhancing features such as Bread crumbs, Countdown timer… |
Customer feedback
My overall experience with the Shopify theme “Craft” has been very positive. At 60 years of age and new to website building, I was relatively quickly able to create a website/store and, over time, populate it with products and have a functional store. I enjoyed the ease of use and felt that I was making progress toward the life goals I set for myself. This led me to have faith that I can realize my goals. I am on my way, and it feels good!
myhomeindulgence.com
You might also want to read the Shopify tutorial for initial setup. Come and check out LitCommerce’s latest updates on the topic today!
#5. Sense
Overview
Ranking high on the list of best free Shopify themes, Sense provides a minimalistic yet highly effective design and typography. If you are targeting the healthcare industry and want to provide your customer with a hassle-free shopping experience, you should not overlook this theme.
Key features
With a fresh color palette, soft gradients as well as a clean placement of elements, Sense will energize your brand and gently guide the customers through your store. In case you wish to enhance the product understanding as well as establish better trust with your customer, there will be no other options than Sense.
This Shopify free theme allows you to add testimonials, videos, and comprehensive product descriptions; and by that, prove their trustworthiness to your potential customers.
Best for
This Shopify free theme is a minimalist template that works great for selling almost anything, from physical items to services, especially for healthcare products and cosmetics. However, it’s worth noting that the number of products in your store will be limited if you use this template. Hence, it’s best to add the Sense Shopify theme for shops with little stock or single-item eCommerce stores.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
SENSE | • Possibility to recommend similar products • Ability to showcase your press appearance and publication • A detailed product ingredients that build trust. | • Bugs need to be ironed out • Lack of conversion enhancing features such as Color swatches, Countdown timer… |
Customer feedback
Sense is the perfect template for my site! It really gives a happy, bright look and shows customers what I’m trying to get across, that my products are fun & happy! I don’t like sites that are boring, but totally love this one! It was so much fun editing/customizing it to my liking, and there are so many cool tools that Shopify has placed in this template. Absolutely love it, and 100% recommend it!
Mountaintop Botanicals Skincare
#6. Publisher
Overview
The Publisher theme is a template that was newly added to the Shopify free themes collection in November 2022. As the name suggests, Publisher is an ideal choice for those who wish to bring a new look to their merchandise stores.
Key features
Inspired by independent studios and publishers, Publisher features a progressive design with subtle gradients mixing with contemporary typography, dark product imagery, and immersive product cards.
If your store commands a visually vivid brand narration, Publisher might be the one theme you are looking for. Its super large space for imagery and videos is perfect for brand storytelling support. With that, you can custom pages to showcase your products without breaking a sweat.
Additionally, Publisher comes with the events & appointments function, making it a preferred theme for concerts, conventions, trade shows, etc.
Best for
This Shopify free theme is a perfect match for stores selling tickets, books, digital products, or merchandise businesses. If you are planning to start a print-on-demand store on Shopify, Publisher, along with Dawn, is definitely a must-try.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
SENSE | • Possibility to recommend similar products • Ability to showcase your press appearance and publication • A detailed product ingredients that build trust. | • Bugs need to be ironed out • Lack of conversion enhancing features such as Color swatches, Countdown timer… |
Customer feedback
I think this theme fits my needs perfectly. It’s easy to modify and navigate. I’m not into coding, so the ability to make changes without having to enter code is great. This is the second theme I’ve used for my store, and I must say that this one is much better than my first.
Persephone’s Purse
#7. Blum
Overview
Unlike other candidates in our list of the best free Shopify themes, Blum is a premium template that adds excellent eCommerce capabilities to your store at supplemental costs. Don’t dismiss it just yet, as there’s an unlimited free trial for you to test out the features! You only have to pay once it is published in your store.
Blum was created by SalesHunterThemes – a new name in the Shopify theme market, but their team is made of CRO experts with more than 10 years of experience. Featuring an extensive range of image display options, this Shopify template is specifically designed for fashion, health, and beauty businesses.
Key features
In today’s fast-paced world, customers expect websites to load quickly. Blum Theme has lightning-fast loading times that ensure your customers won’t get frustrated waiting for your store to load. This increases the likelihood of them sticking around and making a purchase.
Designed with a mobile-first mindset, this Shopify theme is optimized for mobile devices, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for your customers on any device.
Whether you’re in the fashion, beauty, or health industries, the clean and modern design of Blum will provide a sleek and stylish look for your store. With customizable product pages and a quick view option, you can create a shopping experience that’s unique to your brand and delights your customers.
Best for
If you’re about to launch a Shopify store in the fashion, health, or beauty industries and want a theme that provides a seamless shopping experience, Blum is an excellent choice. Remember that there is no charge until you install it on your site, so make any adjustments to your heart’s liking and pay as you go.
Theme info | Pros | Cons |
BLUM | • Unrivaled page speed • Visual storytelling elements, especially for fashion niche • Mobile-first design focusing on modern shopper behaviors • Cheap price breakpoint compared to features of a premium theme • 24/7 live chat support • Fully compatible Online Store 2.0 features • Conversion-Boosting Features • SEO-Friendly. | • Not a completely free Shopify theme • Too many features can make users feel overwhelmed • Indistictintion between 3 provided styles. |
Customer feedback
Looking for a new Shopify 2.0 theme that combines stunning design, powerful features, and effortless customization? Blum is a brand new shopify theme that is built with website speed in mind. It takes advantage of all the latest features Shopify offers. What deserves an 11/10 and why you should go with Blum is their customer support. Much appreciated and highly recommended!
Cryptochips
Best Free Shopify Themes: Basic Knowledge
It’s never easy to find a suitable theme for your store, and it becomes extra difficult when you are on a tight budget. In the following passages, you will learn the definition of a free Shopify theme, the importance of having one, and how to pick out the best option from a long list of available options.
What is a Shopify theme?
Shopify themes are the templates used for eCommerce sites on Shopify-based stores, which provides worldwide entrepreneurs with a quick and hassle-free experience. Apart from themes, you can also check for other Shopify integrations for extended functionality or Shopify apps to enhance the online store’s performance.
In fact, there are 120 Shopify themes specifically built to increase the store’s appeal, facilitate visual storytelling, and highlight featured products. Every Shopify theme (both free and premium) includes amazing features that optimize your store for online selling, namely compatibility, store speed, accessibility, mobile-ready, discounts, and so on.
Although Shopify provides Shopify free themes at no additional charges, these themes still come with some of the most amazing additional features, which can be listed as follow.
- Sections on every page
You will be able to add, rearrange, or remove blocks and sections to create a unique Shopify store with an appealing layout for each page.
- App support
By using application blocks and embedding apps, you can add app functionality anywhere in your theme without writing any code.
- Content richness enhancement
Instead of using boring text and images, certain free Shopify themes allow you to add specialized information by using dynamic sources.
- Collections filtering
It’s even possible to target different segments by providing specialized Shopify collections. The best free Shopify themes allow you to promote certain products for specific customer groups and permit your buyers to filter the collections and find the product they need more easily.
Why do the right free Shopify themes matter?
Now that you know what a free Shopify theme is, let’s continue to learn about the perks of having the right free Shopify theme.
1. Contribute to your brand personality
Your Shopify store is a complete representation of your brand and everything it stands for. It’s the very first thing that your customers look at when they want to learn more about your brand or what you have to offer.
Colors, fonts, images, and other design elements in your store all contribute to your brand personality. No matter what your brand personality is: sophistication or minimalistic, excitement or ruggedness, it’s vital to show brand personality across your pages, which can be managed easily with the help of a free Shopify theme.
2. Determine your store’s UX
With the ability to control the store’s navigation, color schemes, and aesthetics, your Shopify free theme plays an important role in determining your store’s user experience (UX). It decides how your customers navigate your store, browse your content or search for desired products by organizing the columns, blocks, and sections.
A Shopify store with appealing visuals and easy navigation is more likely to convert window shoppers to buyers than one with a negative user experience. Besides, a certain theme with suitable layouts, colors, and fonts… will also invoke the appearance and feeling you want to give your customers.
3. Save a lot of money
Last but not least, you can get these amazing perks at literally no charge if you choose to go with a free Shopify theme. Provided by the platform itself, Shopify themes are surely compatible and come with essential features that allow you to customize and grow your online business. If you can utilize the outliers of the best free Shopify themes, you can save up to thousands of dollars and spend it on necessary upgrades or promotions on your store.
What makes a perfect free Shopify theme?
Free Shopify themes are great means to fine-tune your store sparingly, but it doesn’t mean any random free template at the Shopify theme store can be your perfect match. In the following passages, let’s find out what components make a perfect free Shopify theme for your eCommerce store.
1. High customization
As previously mentioned, your online store should showcase your brand personality across your pages and create a vibe that corresponds with your niche and items. Hence, it’s important that the chosen Shopify theme allows you to customize the design elements (blocks, sections, colors, fonts…) to a liking that suits your brand.
The limited number of free Shopify themes doesn’t allow you to settle with the basic designs unless you want your store to sink into thousands of eCommerce sites out there.
2. Fast loading speed
Page performance and load speed are critical factors to consider when choosing a Shopify theme for your online store. Let’s be real: most customers are unwilling to wait several seconds for a page to load. The longer you keep your customers waiting, the more likely they are off to bounce your pages.
Fortunately, every Shopify free theme comes with a minimal, flexible code that meets Shopify’s strict requirements. You can rest assured that your page performance is above average when using a free Shopify theme.
Nonetheless, the loading speed depends on many other factors. Content (text, images, videos…), apps, and features you add while customizing your store can slow down the loading speed. Therefore, make sure to take cross-browser testing and follow the best practices for site speed and image optimization.
3. Brand & product suitability
When it comes to aligning your Shopify theme with your brand personality, it’s not just about adapting the theme to your brand. The right Shopify theme should feature the layout that represents your brand by highlighting the look and value you want your customers to perceive.
And once again, a free template with powerful Shopify theme development capabilities will be well worth your while. With touches of brand personality on every aspect of your online store, from logo to fonts and color schemes, you’ll ensure consistency across your entire online presence. It also contributes to delivering a seamless branded experience for your customers.
4. Regular updates and bug fixes
Using a free Shopify theme means that you are limited on customer support, although you are still able to get help directly from Shopify support or leave feedback in the comment section of each theme.
However, you might not get an immediate official response and have to hire a Shopify expert to check and fix the issues. Things will be much easier if you are on the Basic Shopify plan or higher, as you can use free design support of up to 60 minutes in total (15 minutes each time).
So what are the tips? Pick themes that are regularly updated and bugs fixed. At least choose a free theme that has a large number of users so that you can get good advice from the forerunners.
How to Install a Shopify Free Theme?
Now that you’ve gone through a list of the best Shopify free themes and determined which one is the best option for your online business. It’s time to learn how to add the template and create your dream Shopify store!
- From your Shopify Admin Dashboard, go to Online Store > Themes.
- In the Popular free themes section, click on Visit theme store and pick your desired theme from the available options. Otherwise, you can click on the provided links to the theme you love in the previous section of this article.
- On the theme page, hit on the Add button. The theme will then be added to your Theme Library section in your dashboard.
Should You Choose a Free Theme or a Paid Theme?
You’ll come into scenarios where you think, “Should I upgrade to a premium theme?” during your eCommerce journey. And this is a reasonable question. Who doesn’t want their Shopify store to have a responsive and UI/UX-friendly theme? However, the question remains as to how to get there.
Purchasing a premium theme is a quick way to get started. However, expect to pay at least $299. The cost of a premium theme has no limit. You can select one based on your appetite.
However, what if you only want to start small? Free website themes for Shopify and custom theme creation come in handy in this situation. Buying a premium theme is not a bad idea. But don’t spend money on premium themes if you’re getting started as a Shopify merchant.
Instead, pick a free Shopify theme, meet with the team of Shopify experts, and enhance your store’s possibilities with customized features. A regular shopper, on the other hand, would not be able to point this out. This is the power of Shopify’s custom theme development.
Best Free Shopify Themes: FAQs
- What are the best free themes for Shopify?
- Which free Shopify theme is best for mobile?
Although mobile optimization and responsiveness are the necessities for a template to be featured on the Shopify theme store, there are certain themes that outshine the others and are known as the best free Shopify themes for mobile. If you are looking for one that is mobile responsive, you should go ahead and add Origin to your Shopify theme library
Not only possess all qualities of a modern premium Shopify theme, but Origin is also fully mobile responsive with perfect visibility on all modern screen sizes.
- How do I download free themes from Shopify?
You can save Shopify themes to your computer if you want to create backups of your themes, make changes to them with your computer’s editor, or you’ve reached the limit of 20 themes on your Shopify admin.
Follow these 3 simple steps and you can save a free theme in no time:
- Go to Shopify Admin Dashboard > Online Store > Themes
- On the More themes section, click on the theme you want to download
- After opening the actions menu, click Download theme file
The theme then will be zipped and sent directly to the email address associated with your account.
Note: Keep in mind that the theme images won’t be included in the zipped files. If you want to upload the theme to another store, you have to re-add the images separately after transferring the theme license.
- What is the best theme for Shopify dropshipping?
Among the top free Shopify themes, Dawn and Craft are the most suitable Shopify dropshipping themes. The two themes work well with any catalog size and help to create a minimalistic eCommerce site while allowing you to add stunning product images to the store’s homepage.
Additionally, it’s straightforward to personalize the themes with the built-in drag-and-drop editor. You will be able to customize the layouts, colors, and fonts… to your liking.
- What is the best theme for clothing stores on Shopify?
Known as one of the most competitive sectors in the online eCommerce industry, clothing stores make up a large portion of the currently active Shopify stores. Hence, it’s obvious to pick out a suitable Shopify theme that can make your clothing store stand out from the crowd.
However, that doesn’t mean you can not make it happen with a free theme. Pick Dawn and your store will shine bright just like the name of this Shopify template. Dawn features vivid imagery, complementing layout styles, and powerful features to boost sales. It is also suitable for small to medium-sized stores, and if you ever want to go with a single or single type of product, Dawn is still the ultimate choice.
Final Words
To sum up, there are 6 free Shopify themes in total that you can use to start a Shopify store. You sure can choose premium themes. Though isn’t it a wise choice when all the free Shopify themes can include many prominent features? That’s why you should work with Shopify specialists to help you create a highly personalized online store.
Check out LitCommerce if you want to go multichannel selling and need a platform to handle all your channels in one place. LitCommerce is the easiest way for store owners to list and sell their products on the world’s major online marketplaces, including Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and others.
Please do not hesitate to contact the support team for additional information; we are always willing to help.
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Best of luck with your new online venture!
