There are reasons that we pay for things when there are free versions out there: free hosting means that the hosting company owns your content (and not you). Free domain names tend to come with add-ons that’ll cost you more in the long term than just paying for the domain name upfront (even with a promotional offer). Buying your own hosting does not have to be expensive, there are great godaddy coupons to renew hosting available.
If you check the WordPress Free Themes Directory, the number of free WordPress themes will astound you. Some people will afterwards wonder why pay for a premium WordPress theme when there are so many free themes.
But are free WordPress themes the same as premium WordPress themes regarding functionality, support, security and features?
Before delving into that, it would be prudent to make it clear what free WordPress themes and premium WordPress themes are. Simply put, a premium WordPress theme is one that costs money. There aren’t standards that will designate a theme as premium or otherwise: anyone can just create a WordPress theme and designate it as premium, then offer it for sale. On the other hand, if a WordPress theme is free, then it means it isn’t premium and, therefore, is a free WordPress theme.
So, are there reasons you should opt to shell out money for a WordPress theme? Read on to know why it is better to choose a premium WordPress theme over a free WordPress theme:
Quality
If you opt to buy from a reputable and trusted premium theme shop, then, without a doubt, you’ll get a product which is of very high quality as compared to free themes. The theme will be more unique and is bound to help your blog stand out from the rest. A free theme may not give your blog the much-required uniqueness as many other blogs will already be using the same theme on their sites.
You may also expect the premium theme design to be responsive and compliant with any changes in the market. As any updated person will intimate, web standards change so fast, and usually, it is only premium themes that are designed with the current web standards in mind. And if there is anything on the theme that you want changed you can always hire somebody to make the changes, it won’t even cost very much if you use a freelance promo code. Equally, premium themes feature a more responsive design. The vast majority of internet users use different devices, and a good theme design should be responsive across the various platforms. There are premium themes that are created with responsive design in mind. If you’re still not convinced you need a premium theme then please check this out.
Functionality
Most people are yet to understand how herculean a task it is to try making any changes, however small, on the free WordPress themes. You’d need to have HTML, CSS, and PHP to effect any changes at all. On the other hand, premium themes are created with functionality in mind and are packaged with intuitive user interfaces to allow you to make any changes you desire without trouble.
Security
While you will elatedly download a free WordPress theme, you are yet to understand the kind of risks that free themes often pose. It is now clear that a huge percentage of free themes available are packaged with a malicious code. If you wish to avoid these security issues, then you can opt for the premium WordPress themes instead.
Updates
Unlike free WordPress themes, premium themes are regularly updated to keep in step with new versions of WordPress. That cannot be said of free themes. The danger is that you may install a free theme, customize it to your liking, and then a new version of WordPress comes out, and your free theme is incompatible with the new WordPress version- here you will have only two options: not upgrade WordPress or download a new theme. In both scenarios, you’ll be inconvenienced.
Therefore, it is very important to shell out a few bucks, if you can, and get something that can serve you well for a long time rather than rely on a free theme that will inconvenience you now and then.