Simple WordPress themes are very popular, good for usability and typically good as a starting point for creating an individual online look and feel. Lucky for you there are many high quality cool WordPress themes available to pick from. This is why we keep updating this resources with new themes quite often. Website and blog designs certainly can be complex, colorful and overwhelming and many themes for WordPress belongs to that category.
Some web-masters and bloggers on the other hand prefer simple and clean layouts for their sites leaving more space for the text itself to be in focus. Minimalistic designs generally help user find what they are looking for easier and typically they are more inviting and easy to navigate compared to heavy loaded web designs. If you are looking for simple wordpress themes that help your design comply with basic elements of minimalistic design.
I’m sure the list of simple WordPress themes below will be a real time saver and a source of good inspiration. You will find both premium and free minimal WordPress themes organized into two sections. One of the hot and current trends in web design right now is responsive design and WordPress layout builders. The WordPress community have picked this up and there are already some interesting responsive WordPress themes available now and they are worth considering to make sure your site looks great on all platforms including mobile devices. For designers and photographers creating online portfolios I would recomment checking out either some WordPress photography themes or WordPress portfolio themes. This article have been recently updated with more simple WordPress themes and all links have been checked.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you). I recommend that you do your own independent research before purchasing any product or service. This article is not a guideline, a recommendation or endorsement of specific products.
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Article Index
To let you quickly locate the type of theme you are looking for I have created a index allowing for fast navigation. While it is tempting to skip the premium themes to save a bit I recommend you go through the entire post scrolling slowly to have a look at the screenshots. Remember that if you are building a site with a long term business strategy the support and flexibility typically found in premium themes are sometimes worth it. Let’s get started!
Premium Simple WordPress Themes
Free Simple WordPress Themes
Premium Simple WordPress Themes
The simple wordpress themes below are good for many purposes as they are clean and have good space for content. Remember that most premium themes are supported, documented and typically well coded by the theme vendors and they are often updated quickly when WordPress is taking large steps in its development. There are many and finding the best premium WordPress themes can be a challenge. I hope this post will help you out.
TRIM (Responsive theme)
Trim is simple, professional, versatile and fast. Trim might be simple, but with that simplicity comes a sense of balance and crispness that is quite refreshing. Coupled with a bunch of great features, Trim is a great theme that will prove useful for a variety of different websites. Trim is a fully responsive design that adapts to your user’s variable screen size.
MORE INFO / DEMO - by Elegant themes (premium theme)
EVOLUTION (Responsive theme)
Evolution is our first fully responsive design and certainly one the more professional WordPress themes. What makes the theme so special is its ability to adapt to various screen sizes. Evolution come with 4 distinct layouts, each meant to improve your user’s experience when browsing on mobile phones and tablets. No longer will they need to zoom and scroll to view your site, as the theme’s layout will adapt to the small screen and serve your content in an intuitive way automatically. Just try reducing your browser’s window size when preview the theme to see the magic in action!
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
GOOD SPACE – Responsive Minimal WP Theme
Good Space Good Space is a WordPress theme especially for creative agency. It’s very clean, minimal with modern design. This theme is also has a responsive ability. Moreover, it comes with tons of features. Including our page items that can be managed very easily via our awesome tool, ‘Page Builder’. Admin panel in this theme is a real feature rich. You can also create unlimited sidebar, choosing over 450 fonts or if you want to use your own, we provide a cufon uploader. You can also translate each elements to your language via this admin panel.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
NOVA
Nova is a sharp, simplistic design that makes for an intuitive user experience. Nova’s biggest strength is its homepage, which allows you to organize your content into two areas. The Featured Slider is perhaps the most versatile slider we have built, and comes with multiple slider variations that breath new life into the design.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
MODERNIZE – Flexibility of WordPress
Modernize is a new era of wordpress theme. You can discover many new awesome features in this theme. For example ‘Page Builder’, it allow you to create page easily by drag-drop module. Moreover, it comes with many options on that. Also, to change color elements, it won’t be a big deal anymore, with our new admin panel, you can access to almost of all elements color. Admin panel in this theme is a real feature rich. You can also create unlimited sidebar, choosing over 350 fonts or if you want to use your own, we provide a cufon uploader. Modernize has 15 predefined background pattern but if you want to use your own background, again, we have a custom background uploader. You can also translate each elements to your language via this admin panel.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
Responsy WP – Responsive HTML5 WordPress Portfolio Template
Responsy is a responsive html5 wordpress theme suitable for personal portfolios or creative agencies. Responsy has been coded in HTML5 & CSS3 and jQuery. It has a solid flexible responsive layout that scales from 320px to 1170px. This is one of the better WordPress Portfolio Themes available at the moment.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
Daily Theme
This theme offers a clean and simple design but still allows for a lot of content to be presented in a magazine style.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Theme Junkie (Premium theme)
Cleanr – Responsive, Minimal, Beautiful Portfolio Theme
Cleanr is a responsive, corporate, beautiful WordPress theme and it just fits perfectly for your upcoming corporate project. Just the right amount of features are included, no extra jib-jabbing, yadda-yadda.
It comes with a handful set of options, like: Responsive Layout, swift AJAX enhancement of Portfolio Items on the Homepage, Portfolio Items support for both Images, Slideshow & Embedded Videos, multiple Post Formats (Audio, Video, Standard, Image) and more stuff which is waiting for you to discover.
MORE INFO / DEMO - by mojo-themes (premium theme)
PIONEER – Responsive drag & drop theme
Get ready for a new and interesting approach to content management in WordPress. Pioneer features a brand new front end admin system that lets you configure your website without going back and forth between the admin and web-page front end.
This theme allows you to, edit your posts and pages directly on your webpage; add, organize and change page elements via drag and drop on the front end; and change your website’s style and appearance directly on the front end with colorpickers, background-textures, font-selectors ++
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
I LOVE IT
I love it! is a content sharing WordPress theme suitable for different posts formats. E.g image posts, video posts with automated thumbnails creation, self-hosted videos, audio posts, posts with attachments, combination of all content types. The theme offers many unique features like for example letting your registered users upload posts directly from front-end. The front-end submission permits users to choose their post format: image, video, audio, text and attachment. Each and every single format can be enabled or disabled.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
CHAMELEON Simple WordPress Theme
Chameleons are known for their ability to change the color of their skin. The patterns and color combinations you find in chameleons are almost endless, and our new theme is no different! Chameleon was created to be a simple and professional theme with loads of customization options that do not require web development experience to utilize.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Elegant Themes (Premium Theme)
Movable
Movable has a very clean design and is great for showing several elements from various categories at once.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Theme Junkie (Premium theme)
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
ELIST
eList is a verstile clean and simple Directory WordPress Theme. Using eList, you can create an online directory of any type, and allow your visitors to submit new listings from the front end. The theme also comes with eCommerce integration, allowing you to charge your visitors for new or featured listings.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
SPLENDID
Splendid is an elegant magazine-style WordPress theme packed with additional color styles and lots of great built-in features, such as video support, custom page templates and custom widgets.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by WP Zoom (premium theme)
Reason WP: Smart, Responsive, Customizable
A radically customizable responsive theme that promises to do what it says and not pull your leg with silly over-the-top features. It’s designed for users, not geeks – all by a dude in Southern California who just loves making rockin’ WP themes for other folks.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
SWAGGER (Responsive theme)
Swagger is built on top of the all-new version 2 of the Theme Blvd framework. Use the layout builder to accomplish just about anything you could ever think of. Use the slider manager to create as many sliders as you want. Use the widget area manager to create as many widget areas and sidebars as you want. With just the right amount of theme options and flexibility, the power is all in your hands. And with a sleek, responsive HTML5 design, you’ll be sure no one will miss out on your new website built with Swagger.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
DailyJournal Responsive Blog WordPress Theme
DailyJournal is a fully responsive personal blog. It is the first blog theme from ElegantThemes that will automatically adapt to the screen’s size, insuring that your content is always displayed beautifully no matter what device visitors are using. Check the varius layouts (media queries) below or test the theme demo yourself.
MORE INFO / DEMO by: ElegantThemes (premium theme)
THE BUILDER – Multipurpose WordPress Theme
The Builder is a Premium WordPress theme that comes with massive and flexible features. Focused on bringing easiest system for user to build and modify their own site, both on content and layout/design! With homepage manager, you can have any layout type for your homepage. Use single Fullwidth, single sidebar-content, single content-sidebar or mix them into random layout structure. Lots of modules available to use to filled up your content.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
VELVET – Minimal Business Theme
Velvet is a minimal business and portfolio Theme, that uses a very elegant Ken Burns Slider for image presentation. It also has dynamic Template Builder where you can create stunning page layouts without any coding knowledge. Yet if you are a developer eager to create your own PHP files the theme supports you as well with a very structured folder and file system. It has a unqiue built in slideshow manager (no plugins needed), supports both self hosted videos as well as vimeo, youtube, etc and comes with a content importer for faster setup.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
SWIX – Responsive WordPress theme
Swix is an extremely customizable and flexible theme, suitable for almost any kind of website. It is responsive, so it adapts to any device from mobile to high-res computer screens.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium WordPress Theme)
ARES – Blog Magazine Newspaper Template
Ares is The Clean Magazine, News and Blog Template built with latest WordPress features.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
AWARE (Responsive theme)
Aware is a clean and simple interactive, responsive portfolio theme perfect for freelancers, web designers, photographers and videographers alike. Its user interactive interface delightfully enhances your most loved portfolio pieces. Now, you can take your portfolio with you, in your pocket.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
SIMPLEPRESS – Corporate Simple WordPress Theme
SimplePress is a simple and clean page-based corporate WordPress theme. It is great for anyone looking to give their website professional look and feel. The theme features a business style homepage with a beautiful well integrated JavaScript slider and clear hierarchy, as well as fully functional Blog and Gallery sections. This theme is part of the very interesting Theme Club at ElegantThemes where everyone can get access to around 70 very professional themes at around half the price of most Premium themes. This is in particular interesting for web designers as they will be able to deliver great websites to their clients. It is even possible to get the PSD files also if some changes will be needed. Check out the video showing the ElegantThemes options framework enabling high flexibility with no-coding needed.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
DEEP FOCUS
With Deep Focus you can turn your WordPress blog into a fully functional online photo gallery while still maintaining all of the features of a normal blog. Along with the gallery layout, DeepFocus comes with a robust blog and CMS-style homepage as well, making it an amazing solution for artists/photographers looking to build an online presence. This is a great pick among the many Simple WordPress Themes available.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
COALITION – One Page WordPress Portfolio
Coalition is a minimal business and portfolio Theme that is created to be used as a One Page Template. With the help of a Template Builder you can create a single page which holds all your content. The theme can of course also be used as a “normal” WordPress theme. In that case Coalition will behave like any other WordPress theme with a blog, posts, pages etc.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
CROSS APLE – Clean Business WordPress Theme
Cross Apple is a elegant and clean theme which suits both, users with no programming background as well as advanced developers. It will help you build your site in no time to your liking with minimal effort. It empowers you to set color to elements such as links, text, menu links, etc. The theme also features 4(Four) Default Home page and single page layout for you to choose from.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
ANGULAR – Responsive Portfolio
Angular comes with a plethora of options so you can modify layout, styling, colors and fonts directly from within the backend. 28 predefined skins (which are easy to modify from your backend), font and color options as well as dynamic template builder will help you create the Website you need in no time.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
Orchid
Orchid is a simple and clean portfolio type WordPress template. It is filled with tons of features but i would say its responsiveness is its key feature. Besides responsiveness it has got stunning looks, which makes your portfolio as beautiful and unique as your work.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium WordPress Theme)
MODEST – Simple WordPress Theme
A minimal WordPress theme with beautiful typography and subtle gradients from Elegant Themes and it certainly belongs in this list of Minimal WordPress CMS Themes.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
UPSCALE – WordPress Business & Portfolio Theme
upScale is a modern business and portfolio Theme, built on one of the most flexible WordPress Themes on Themeforest. With the help of a dynamic Template Builder you can create stunning page layouts without any coding knowledge. Yet if you are a developer eager to create your own PHP files the theme supports you as well with a very structured folder and file system. It has a unqiue built in 3D slideshow manager (no plugins needed), supports both self hosted videos as well as vimeo, youtube, etc and comes with a content importer for faster setup.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
STRIKING CORPORATE & PORTFOLIO WP THEME
Striking is one of the most in-demand simple wordpress themes available right now. It has tons of extraordinary features which are not found in ordinary WordPress themes. It is the theme you buy when you want to create a website in every way you imagined possible. One of the features that this super theme has is its Cross Browser Compatible including IE 9 and and latest, Firefox 4. It also boasts of 4 Different Sliders! Nivo slider! Anything Slider! 3d flash Image Rotator! Accordion slider! Each has a complete control set. With Striking sliders you can display images, video, text, captions, iframes, and more. These are just few of the features that this theme has in its long list of features and capabilities.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
SEVEN WONDERS (Responsive theme)
SevenWonders is a clean and modern wordpress theme that Fully Responsive, which mean the layout will adapt depending on the device screen size.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
PERSONAL PRESS
While niche theme that push the boundaries of WordPress are great and pop up all over the Internet, the initial and still core focus of WordPress still blogging. With PersonalPress ElegantThemes certainly returned to the roots, and created a traditional blog-style theme with a personal touch. PersonalPress WordPress blog theme is a great simple design for those looking to give their blog a fun and light hearted feel. PersonalPress is a great design for those looking to give their blog a fun and light hearted feel.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
MINIMAL WORDPRESS THEME
Minimal is a great theme for those who want to give their blog a truly simple and elegant feel without sacrificing any of the advanced features you have come to expect from ElegantThemes. The colors are easy on the eye, and the overall minimalist approach to the design makes for a relaxing and user-friendly experience for your visitors. This is one of the best simple wordpress themes available – at least that is my opinion.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by ElegantThemes (Premium theme)
Edge – Professional Corporate and Portfolio WP
Edge is a WordPress theme designed with corporate businesses in mind. The theme is also well suited for online portfolios and blogs.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
HyperMind
Hypermind is an incredibly easy to use WordPress portfolio theme. Quick to setup and easy to customize, thanks to the powerful admin panel, the detailed manual, and the carefully structured code, HyperMind is the perfect theme for showcasing your most important work directly in front of your visitors. HyperMind has got you covered on all fronts, so if you ever get stuck on anything, rest assured that you’re going to get the help of a professional, if and when you need it, because HyperMind comes with excellent customer support.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium WordPress Theme)
VOLT – Magazine / Editorial WordPress Theme
Volt theme for WordPress is designed for magazine, news and editorial ventures. With content and readability being the primary goal, the theme is designed with flexible layout pattern and decent space for advertisements. The theme introduces a layout swapping option that will let you move the content in desirable location, and is helpful when you are experimenting with visual hierarchy and user eye pattern. Backed with custom widgets, visual short codes, exclusive widget areas and custom page templates, the theme is envisioned to provide you more flexibility and ease-of-customization for your next editorial project.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
PURITY
Purity is a Clean and Minimal New WordPress Theme with a ‘BOLD’ feel that can be easily used as a personal portfolio or a business website. With an extensive documentation and a demo content you won’t have any problems setting your page up.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
INSPIRATION
Create your own web site without any effort! On each page among 7 specially created main pages you may find the most suitable and eye-catching one. And it is not the end, but just the start to implement your own ideas regarding content, because these templates deliver such rate of flexibility that enables you to modify without any problem due to just one click the whole design of the potential web page. Do not waste your brilliant time to technical issues as you are absolutely not requested to deep into the tangled web development world, you only need to be interested in what you do and to wake up your fantasy. Change via simple operation the color spectrum of your future web page. Texts, pictures, scripts, keys, icons and other elements can vary upon your desire. Friendly documentation which is delivered along with the template will provide you with necessary information and simple steps that are to be taken to manage it.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
FOLIOWAY
Folioway is a perfect pixel minimal wordpress theme, not only its clean and elegant, it also comes with tons of features like amazing slider, unlimited colors, etc. It’s incredibly powerful and flexible and easy to use! It is just the best wordpress theme for your or your company’s work presentation!
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
NEW HORIZON – Blog & Portfolio WordPress Theme
New Horizon – is perfect for design/fashion orientated blogs or for creative people who’s tired of regular thumbnails grids layouts.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
PROPULSION (Responsive theme)
Propulsion is a responsive WordPress Theme (try resizing your browser), suited for users who want to create a business, portfolio or eCommerce site. The Theme is built on top of the fabulous woocommerce shop plugin as well as the bbPress Forum plugin. It comes with a plethora of options so you can modify layout, styling, colors and fonts directly from within the backend. 3 Slideshows, 21 predefined skins (which are easy to modify from your backend), font and color options as well as dynamic template builder will help you create the Website you need in no time.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme) with Drag and Drop Layout Builder
VULCAN – BUSINESS SIMPLE WORDPRESS THEME
Vulcan is a modern and minimalist template best suited for any business website. It is available in five color options, and has three variation slider. Vulcan is also coded to improve capability of the WordPresss 3.0 features.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
WP-CLEAR
Solostream recently released version 2.0 of their popular simple WordPress theme, WP-Clear. This updated version includes numerous new features and layout options with magazine, business and blog layout styles. Other features include 2 content sliders, multiple post and page layout options, integrated banner ad spots, options panel for easy customization and more. This simple WordPress theme is a “must see”.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Solostream (premium theme)
REFINED WP – Simple Portfolio / Business WordPress Theme
Refined WP is a WordPress 3.2+ Ready Premium WordPress Theme specifically designed for corporate / business websites, portfolios, designer or agency websites etc. With a clean minimal design and numerous portfolio layout options it offers a lot of ways to display your portfolio / services and enables you to send a clear message.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
CAP CLEAN WORDPRESS THEME
Every element of Cap is highly customizable through its Theme Options. You can build page-based website or usual blog.
MORE INFO by Natty WP (premium theme)
WP-CLEARPHOTO
WP-ClearPhoto is a Premium WordPress theme designed mainly for photography enthusiasts or anyone who has a portfolio of projects to show the world. With its clean, elegant design, it’s the perfect container to show off your great work. Its built-in versatility and added features also make it suitable for a business blog, website or online magazine.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Solostream (premium theme)
AIRLOCK – Portfolio WordPress Theme
Airlock is the project made for creative designers and interactive agencies. Simplicity, flexibility and attention to detail is the main asset of the design.
MORE INFO / DEMO by theme forest (premium theme)
YOURFOLIO SIMPLE PORTFOLIO THEME
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
AUTOMOBILE
Automobile – is one of the themes for WordPress CMS with a sleek and clean design. This is perfect for companies who want to showcase their vehicles and get inquiries about them. Among others, it features Fully customizable front page, Custom Taxonomy, Car Detail Page, Car Listing Page, and Custom Control Panel.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Templatic (Premium theme)
STRUCTURE
The Structure Theme is a set of premium WordPress themes masterfully created with a modern and minimalist design aesthetic.
MORE INFO – by OrganicThemes (Premium theme)
STUDIO960
This 960 Grid based site is built from the ground up to be powerful, customizable and extremely flexible. Each of the custom page templates has options that can be controlled independently and reused to achieve the results you want. Use the same gallery template for a photo blog, grid of type-only posts and a gallery of vacation photos!
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
GOOD MINIMAL (Responsive theme)
Good Minimal is a responsive HTML5 & CSS3 , clean and minimalist style theme that is good for portfolio, blogs and businesses. This theme is flexible and is used media queries to adapt screen sizes, whether it is iPhone, iPad and wide screens.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (premium theme)
MINIMALISTICO – Clean WordPress Theme
Minimalisto is a clean and minimalist business Premium WordPress Theme suitable for business, corporate, company and any kind of websites. Minimalisto is fully customizable using the theme options page! This is a good pick among the many clean wordpress themes available.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
DEADLINE
Deadline is a Powerful, Professional, Premium WordPress News or Magazine theme. It comes packed with an impressive array of custom options and widgets allowing you to control the look and feel.
MORE INFO / DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium theme)
SILVERIO
Silverio was designed to be easy to set-up and quick to update. Its clean design, time-saving features, customized admin, and Jquery enhancements make it the perfect way to showcase your work.
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