How many people don’t like free products and services? Definitely in the era of inflation, nothing is better and cheaper than free, so we have no doubt to say that most people will love free. In the world of design and development, many CMS like Drupal and Joomla have free themes, but due to complicated interface and tough coding web application development company does not go for such CMS, rather they prefer most popular CMS WordPress. WordPress is a powerful content management system and have so many free and premium themes. Literally, professionals and experienced don’t go for free rather they go for premium themes and people who have a small business and look for affordable SEO services for small business they choose free theme, because they have not big budget.
Here we are not against free themes; they are amazing only because they are free. But later or sooner you have to purchase premium theme, because very few developers are serious about keeping their free theme updated. So in this article we will discuss free vs premium WordPress themes in detail.
The Pros and Cons of Using Free WordPress Theme
The Pros of using free WordPress theme
Don’t need to pay any cost- We already said that nothing is cheaper than free. All these themes are developed by a passionate team of developers and available in WordPress theme directory, these themes are easy to install and download.
Large range of themes- For the beginner WordPress is best platform and thousands of themes are available so you can select the best theme according to the niche of your blog.
The cons of using free WordPress theme-
Free themes are not updated- To ensure the security and usability, WordPress update technology regularly thereby we see different versions of WordPress. So it is mandatory that themes and plugins must be compatible with the latest version of WordPress. It is the responsibility of the framework company to release the updated and compatible version of theme, when you are using paid theme. But this does not happen with free themes; here you have to wait for a month to see an upgrade. All the paid theme author offers free support, but in free themes, you can’t expect a free support.
Lack of extra feature and functionality- If you are looking for some extra feature and functionality in free theme then you have to disappoint. To see any particular feature and functionality you have to personally in touch with developers.
Security risk- WordPress update technology regularly, the paid themes are updated and no security issue. In free themes, developers fill up theme file with malicious codes and spam links, which results in bad user experience.
The Pros and Cons of Using Premium WordPress theme
The pros of using premium WordPress themes
Support- Premium WordPress theme comes with lifetime support. You will get answers to most of your questions in the support forums.
Security- Premium themes are developed by diligent WordPress developers following strict and high web standard coding. So no security vulnerabilities here, which means you don’t need to worry about any malicious and spam links.
Extra feature and functionality- Premium theme comes with extended features and functionalities including widgets, extended functions and much more. Usually these themes are easy to customize and extended.
SEO- SEO is the integral part of digital marketing, Web design and development company emphasize on premium theme, because premium themes are optimized for the website and offer inbuilt SEO option. Your online business will grow high when you optimized your website for search engines.
The cons of premium WordPress themes
Cost- The cost of premium theme ranges from few USD to several hundred USD, so here cost may be issue for small business. After paying one time annual subscription fee, you might be even forced to pay additional fee to receive updates and support.
Limitation- Since, WordPress update technology in regular intervals, so the themes you are using on the website also need to update. Each theme has its own limitation that might force you to pay additional cost for the latest theme.
Guidelines For Choosing a Free Wordpress Theme
· Use the WordPress theme from a reputable source.
· Make sure that developers are active and update the themes regularly.
· You will get many free themes from the WordPress theme directory, but choose something new and advanced.
Guidelines for Choosing a Premium WordPress Theme
· Only go with a premium WordPress theme shop or authors have a great track record for excellence.
· Check out the support that meets your needs.
· Never blind trust on features of the theme rather be practical and select theme with portability in mind.
The Winner is- It all depends on your business needs, when you need to choose between premium and free WordPress theme. Free WordPress themes have limited features and functionality and lack of security. Premium WordPress themes are secure and has bunch of features so either you have a blog or website, sooner or later you have to go with premium theme. So in our point of view ditch the free theme and select premium theme according to your need.
Category:
Web Development