As we reach the end of 2020, despite how it might have been for the rest of the world, it was a good year for WordPress. Aside from releasing 5.6, the first core release from an all-women and non-binary identifying lead team, as more and more businesses realised the importance of getting online, the market share for WordPress continued to grow.
And as more and more sites use WordPress, more and more site owners are looking for that perfect theme to make their website shine.
Here are five themes that were popular in 2020 and that we think shine.
Hestia
Bold, beautiful, and perfect for almost any company, Hestia is a free theme that gives you a fantastic single-page site filled with everything you need. Ready for WooCommerce and working easily with third-party page builders, Hestia is coded not to just look good, but to also be search engine-friendly from the start. The Pro version starts at $69 and gives you a year’s worth of updates and support.
Hive Lite
Theoretically for bloggers and influencers, Hive Lite is a free theme that would also be absolutely perfect for magazines, giving you a clean and structured block format that works perfectly for almost anything. With Hive Lite, you can mix up types of posts, swap out long titles or landscape photos, and work smoothly with Gutenberg blocks to create posts and pages that fit perfectly with your site. The Pro version starts at $75 and includes a style manager as well as a year of updates and support.
Kale
Looking to start a food blog? Want to really make your restaurant stand out from the crowd? Kale is a great free theme that gives you all the space and versatility you need to show off the amazing food you make, the recipes you’ve created, or just your fantastic breakfast every morning. With easy social media menus and plenty of options for featured posts and highlights, it gives you a great structure to build your food empire. The Pro version has a $35 starting free and then is $7.99 per month, giving you even more post types, a built-in Mailchimp form, and a recipe-specific template to make your food blogging even easier.
News Portal
If you’re starting a news site, News Portal is a great free theme to get your site looking professional right from the start. Built to catch your visitors’ eyes, News Portal has multiple layouts and built-in responsiveness, making it great for giant desktops or tiny phones. The Pro version is $59.99 and comes with a year’s worth of updates and support.
Panoramic
Elegant, clean, and beautiful, Panoramic is a free theme that’s perfect for so many businesses, with a lovely home page splash image. Responsive and customisable, Panoramic integrates with site builders, WooCommerce, and a lot more, making it a breeze to build your site to meet your needs. The Pro version is only $25 and gives you even more customisation and e-commerce features.
