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When it comes to choosing a premium WordPress theme for your website, you have an abundance of options available to you.

This page showcases some of the major online stores in the premium themes space and outlines their major features, offers, and terms.

The list isn’t complete – new shops and studios open all the time – so do take time to look around until you find a product/service that best fits your needs both now and in the future.

Elegant Themes

The flagship premium WordPress theme at Elegant Themes is called Divi. It costs $89 per year or $249 for a lifetime subscription. Not a bad price considering Divi is the world’s most popular premium WordPress theme with over 800,000 customers.

But what do you get for your money?

Perhaps the main selling point of the Divi theme is the ability to build websites visually using a drag and drop method. This means you don’t need to know anything about coding to create an awesome-looking website. 

On top of that, Divi comes pre-packaged with over 100 full website packs for niches such as business, eCommerce, technology, events, beauty and health so there’s no need to start a new site with a blank template. Just choose a pre-made design and leave it as is (but change the wording) or customize it to suit your needs.

As well as having plenty of full website packs to choose from, there are hundreds more layout options to choose from. The packs include sections such as an about page, landing page, blog page etc.

All of these elements are available from inside your website. There’s no need to download anything – just install what you need from the admin area of WordPress.

Over the years, as Divi usage has grown, so has the community to the point where the dedicated private Facebook group has more the 70,000 members and the Divi marketplace has a ton of third-party products to choose from.

Summary

For somebody starting their first website, it’s hard to ignore Divi. Not just because it’s a drag and drop builder so you don’t need to know anything about coding, but also because there’s plenty of support from Elegant Themes, the Facebook group and, of course, YouTube tutorial videos if you get stuck.

Having that much support is a massive plus point when you’re working with WordPress.

And when you consider the price point ($89 per year or $249 for a lifetime subscription) it’s easy to see why so many people choose Divi for building websites for themselves and for clients.

Visit Elegant Themes

How to use Divi to make a WordPress website

StudioPress

StudioPress provide a few theme-related products for WordPress website owners. They’ve been around for a long time now and have a lot of experience creating custom themes. Sadly, its services are a little confusing if you’re new to WordPress and building websites.

Let’s have a look at what they have to offer.

Genesis Framework

First, there’s the Genesis Framework. When released in 2010, this theme framework would set you back around $59 (if memory serves) but now you can download and use it for free on an unlimited number of websites.

To make it look anything like a website, you’ll need the default theme, called Sample, which is also free (download here). To further customize your site, use the Genesis Blocks plugin to add sections to your pages.

The blocks in the free plugin include:

  • Section & Layout Block
  • Advanced Columns Block
  • Newsletter Block
  • Pricing Block
  • Post Grid Block
  • Container Block
  • Testimonial Block
  • Inline Notice Block
  • Accordion Block
  • Share Icons Block
  • Call-To-Action Block
  • Customizable Button Block
  • Spacer & Divider Block
  • Author Profile Block
  • Drop Cap Block

Genesis Framework child themes

The next set of products I’d like to tell you about is the child themes you can use with the Genesis Framework. At the time of writing, there are around 40 to choose from. 10 of which are StudioPress-made themes while the rest are made by third-party developers/designers.

Child themes sit on top of the Genesis Framework to create a custom design.

There are three ways to get a child theme. 

  • The first is by buying the Genesis Pro subscription (which I’ll get to in a moment)
  • The second is to buy hosting with WPEngine – this gives you access to the StudioPress-made themes, but not the themes created by third-party designers/developers. Hosting with WPEngine starts at $30 per month if paid monthly, and $20 per month if paid annually.
  • The third option is to buy a third-party theme from its creator and use it with your free version of the Genesis Framework. Prices for the third-party themes vary between $79 and $129.

Genesis Pro

The final product is Genesis Pro. This service costs $360 a year, for which you get access to support and all the StudioPress-made themes. If you’re running one site, this might be out of your price range, but if you’re a designer or running an agency, it could be a shrewd investment.

What do you get in Genesis Pro besides the support and child themes?

  • Pre-built full-page layouts
  • Pre-built sections you can add to any page
  • Save and reuse your own sections and layouts
  • Use on an unlimited number of websites

Summary

I’ve used Genesis since its launch in 2010 and always liked it, despite finding it irritatingly hard to customize due to the lack of features in the Customizer. My focus is not on building sites for clients anymore, so the Genesis Pro subscription is not for me, however, I do recommend downloading the framework and sample theme to see if it’s for you.

It’s fast-loading and looks nice out of the box if you’re into minimalist designs. It’s got built-in SEO options too, so you won’t need a third-party plugin such as Yoast or Rank Math.

If you’re a designer or developer interested in working with a number of clients and producing expensive websites, definitely consider the Genesis Pro plan.

Visit Studiopress

MOJO Marketplace

Mojo Themes is a marketplace for WordPress themes and plugins.

The site hosts tons of WordPress themes, with prices starting at around $20 but typically averaging out at somewhere between $39 and $59. Due to the number of authors submitting themes, you should do your homework to see if it’s for you and to establish if you will get the support you might need.

Mojo Themes is a community-based website and the people involved want to help you make the best decision for you, so don’t be afraid of asking questions before you buy and if you need support after the sale.

Visit MOJO Marketplace

Theme Forest

Theme Forest is another marketplace offering WordPress themes and plugins. The prices here start at $3, but the average price for a premium WordPress theme is typically somewhere between a very reasonable $35 and $55.

Once again, before you buy, take a look at the history of the authors you are interested in to see how active they are on the site and how responsive they are to problems.

Visit Theme Forest

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