It’s difficult to imagine any business without a website nowadays. It is a “must have” because it serves as a business card, attracts more clients and effectively represents your business on the web. That’s why so many people turn to web designers to build their design sites from the scratch, while others prefer saving money and going for WordPress templates that are easily modified to their needs.
Today we’re going to talk about the second option trying to figure out what is the best place to buy a WP theme.
Nowadays there are two big rivals that won most attention: TemplateMonster and ThemeForest. So what is the difference between them?
As far as you know TemplateMonster has made it on to become a a leading marketplace for all sort of templates for websites. It all began with manufacturing and has led to becoming a successful selling platform. Their proposals exceed your expectations thanks to the variety of templates for just about any platform you can think of, including WooCommerce, PowerPoint, Keynote, Shopify, Drupal, eBay, Magento, VirtueMart, WordPress Templates and many more. As for WordPress templates there are more than 1500 on the site, so finding the one you need isn’t that time-consuming.
There are plenty of quality designs to choose from and there are many templates you can change beyond recognition interfering with their initial design. For example, you might want to add your own logo, change the color scheme, layouts, access plug-ins and extensions. Some templates contain lots of useful plugins and widgets allowing you such interference resulting in a unique looking website that suits your taste and needs. However, the more options for customization you want, the more expensive the template might be. Almost all the themes have responsive design and most of them are compatible with major browsers. And what is most important TemplateMonster provides 24/7 support if you have any troubles dealing with the theme you’ve bought.
Since the price is relevant, there is one more benefit TemplateMonster has: a single-license template will cost from $45 to $75 on average. However, it can cost more if you want to hit for all additional features. Mind that such an affordable price is relevant in case you use the template for one site or project only. Otherwise, you need to buy it again. In case you want to buy the exclusive rights on the definite site, ensuring it will be truly one-of-a-kind, the price will be much higher indeed. Anyway, you’ll pay to guarantee no one else has the site of the kind. However, many of the themes are for a GPL license, which allows use on an unlimited number of websites, which is greatly appealing but a little bit more expensive. You can check this outstanding Multipurpose WordPress Theme to make sure it has multiple impressive features and 100% GPL license for only $75.
However, the search might be tiring if you are used to sortable galleries where you can find the cheapest offers. TemplateMonster doesn’t provide such an option, so you need to find the sales and discounts on your own. On the other hand, you can sort the templates by popularity, features, categories and styles, which is convenient. Moreover, you can preview any templat
e or theme before purchasing, read the comments from people who have already tried it, and see which themes or templates are most popular. Another advantage is the opportunity to download a sample website template or a sample logo template to try your skills before purchasing a real product. You are also able to check it for compatibility with any html editor.
TemplateMonster Advantages | TemplateMonster Disadvantages |
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What about ThemeForest?
It is a big marketplace specifically designed for WordPress and HTML templates. If you are attracted to the idea of choosing among more than 10,000 designs, then ThemeForest was created for you. Instead of choice of products by one manufacturer, you browse among the works of thousands of different web developers. However, not all of the WP theme are of the same high quality. Like TemplateMoster, ThemeForest allows being acquainted with testaments and rates of the theme, and you can enjoy viewing its demo version. What is more convenient is the sortable gallery where you not only choose certain features you are interested in, but also are given range of prices.
Any designer can sell their templates here, and each theme on Theme Forest is closely examined to be of good quality. Therefore, you have the widest range of products for your website at reasonable price of about $28-65. What is deeply disappointing is that after purchasing the theme you need to interact with developers directly in case you meet any trouble. ThemeForest doesn’t provide all-round support as TemplateMonster does. However, some WP themes come with a fixed period of technical support from the developer (for example, for a 6-month period). Often, if you want to extend the period of technical support, it demands extra charge. Most themes are also extensible and you may add professional installation, services such as hosting, speed optimization, SEO, etc. or choose extended licenses for reselling of the template, which sometimes isn’t included in the flat price. Mainly all the templates go with a single-use license.
ThemeForest Advantages | ThemeForest Disadvantages |
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As we can see, both marketplaces offer you a wide choice of professional templates. ThemeForest offers you more themes and it wins when budget is a factor. However, TemplateMonster offers you impeccable professional websites with life-long supports. And, if it is a question of only $10-20, what’s the use of saving money but wasting time finding the developer and trying to get in touch with them? Anyway, the choice is yours and you only can weigh the features of each theme to choose the most suitable one.