9 Best Free Shopify Themes 2023
Building a new eCommerce website shouldn’t require an advanced developer. Inventors and entrepreneurs typically don’t have the know-how to construct an online store from scratch, but they also don’t have the capital to pay lots of money for one. That’s where eCommerce platforms such as Shopify come in. All you have to do is sign up for Shopify, pay the monthly fee, then choose a Shopify theme for your design. Some of the paid themes are as professional as you can get, but the free category has its outliers as well.
With the themes, you can adjust designs and content, while also adding your products. These themes are key to cutting down on the design time, so that’s why we want to outline the best free Shopify themes available.
Not only is a free Shopify theme going to keep costs low, but you’ll be able to construct a beautiful, modern, and professional site, all without having to pay for a customized design. This could end up saving you anywhere from $500 to $10,000. Considering the average startup doesn’t have that type of cash to throw around, a free Shopify theme is the way to go.
Some of the themes are older, but the majority of them have new, drag-and-drop elements and sections which provide full content modules such as product galleries or testimonials, with the ability to move them around on your homepage.
All of the free Shopify themes are completely responsive for mobile shopping, and you get an incredible number of apps to improve the functionality of your Shopify website. What’s great is that the apps all integrate seamlessly with the Shopify themes. So, for instance, an awards program plugin would combine nicely with each of the themes we talk about below.
With that said, keep reading to learn more about the best free Shopify themes on the market.
Thalia is our very own Shopify theme, offering a full feature set for free to anyone looking to create a stylish e-commerce site on the fly. The design here is minimal and perfectly suited for an apparel or fashion shop. Even though that’s what the design is aimed toward, it can be customized to suit any kind of store that needs a minimal design.
Some features you should know right off the bat include responsive design (including a responsive slideshow), advanced filters for product types and specs, and swatches for displaying product colors on a specific product page. It also supports a slide-out cart that’s powered by Ajax, so shoppers can always access their carts quickly.
You can dive into the customization settings as well since you’ll have control over the typography, colors, and layout options. This free Shopify theme is simple and straightforward, which is precisely what so many new store owners are looking for. Thalia is a real winner and offers just enough features to give budding designers flexibility without becoming overwhelming.
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The Brooklyn Shopify theme offers two separate styles. The first one, called Classic, is ideal for modern apparel stores or any type of clothing retailer. The Playful style provides a more niche version of the theme, with bright colors, which would look great for a bakery or kids clothing shop.
The header slideshow is one of the best features since it allows you to showcase multiple products towards the top of your homepage. You also get a dynamic product grid that acts as a gallery for your most popular products.
A slide-out cart improves the shopping experience for a number of reasons. First of all, it doesn’t make your customers go through numerous clicks to get to their shopping cart. In addition, they are reminded of the products currently in their shopping cart. So, this configuration bodes well for the merchant as well, since you could potentially get more conversions.
Finally, a homepage video is included with the Brooklyn theme. It starts playing once a visitor arrives, helping you either explain your company or talk about a new product you have.
Narrative is a free Shopify theme that comes in multiple styles with different colors. It’s ideal for smaller companies or startups just getting the ball rolling. Product inventors should consider this theme as well since it’s a nice solution for selling one or two products.
The hero video features an autoplay function, along with a fullscreen button for those who want a better view. Essentially, the Narrative theme works nicely for visual storytelling. You can customize everything from blockquotes to images, leading your customers through the story of your brand.
The fixed navigation generates a better browsing experience for the user. In short, the menu pops up when someone scrolls around your page, therefore leading them to the right buttons when they need to go elsewhere. There’s also a vertical slideshow for showcasing your product, blog posts, or regular images. Along with a wide layout version and some other interesting features, you should definitely consider Narrative when trying to sell just a few products online.
If you’re looking for simple and clean, Minimal is a Shopify theme you can’t go wrong with. It offers multiple styles, including one for vintage shops, fashion, and music. The vintage and fashion ones are pretty similar, but the music solution really stands out if you’re thinking about launching a merchandise store for your band or solo act.
As for the primary features, the Minimal theme has a beautiful slideshow that supports large images of your best products. This slideshow goes on your homepage to improve conversions and give people a solid introduction to your products. There’s also some great product filtering on the product pages. This way, users can select that they’d like to see a certain category or maybe only look at your best sellers.
The product image zoom is one of those features you don’t think you need until you have it. The tool is particularly useful when you’re selling detailed products such as clothing. The final standout feature involves a related products module. So, whenever a customer thinks about buying a product, they’ll see a list of upsells towards the bottom of the page. This not only helps with your sales but guides the customers through the purchasing process.
Boundless features a stunning header area, with support for a large image that takes up the majority of the screen. The styles are called “Black and White” and “Vibrant”. The black and white version has a more conservative design, making it suitable for a wide range of industries. The vibrant one has a more aggressive, playful style. It looks like something you might use for a skateboard or biking shop.
The theme has social media icons, multiple color palettes, and several customizable content sections on the homepage. The mobile-friendly design snaps items into place when viewed through a mobile device, and the drop-down navigation support allows for several links in the menu.
The Boundless theme includes a homepage video for creating a more media-rich environment on your homepage. All you have to do is copy and paste in a Vimeo or YouTube video. The full-width collection images work wonders for presenting your products in a gallery format. For instance, you may have a collection of your best-selling products or a holiday wish list.
Sticky navigation keeps the menu items in view at all times, and the slideshow with fading effect adds a nice creative touch to the homepage. The Boundless theme also has a single product gallery and full optimization for large images.
The Simple theme has a pretty spot-on name since the minimal storefront template is clean and beautiful.
Both of the styles have plenty of white space, and unlike some other minimalist themes on the market, you can sell a large collection of products with this one. There’s a sidebar menu featuring an accordion menu so that your products are all shown to your customers. This way you can consolidate a wide range of products into your sidebar without taking up too much space. The product image zoom feature is also included with the theme, granting better views of your products to your customers.
The related products area shows up on your products pages. What’s cool about the related products module is that the user can quickly add one of these items to their shopping cart. After that, it asks them if they would like to continue shopping, boosting your conversions and delivering a smooth shopping experience for the customer. One rather unique feature with the Simple theme involves image animations. You won’t see these on most Shopify themes but they’re great for creating an interesting transition between images.
Overall, the Simple Shopify theme works well for all sorts of industries. Basically, it works for any company that doesn’t want a cluttered-looking website.
The Venture Shopify theme is your go-to free solution for outdoor activities and adventure sports.
You’ll immediately notice that the Venture theme is made for large product categories. The header module includes a large image and overlaying text. This allows you to explain your company or talk about a promotion. It leads into your product categories or popular items, all organized into beautiful image galleries and links.
The multi-column menu is a unique version of a navigational menu. What’s great about this menu is that the links have far more product details in the drop-down area. So, you can show product information and images, leading to more information being given to the customer, right from the menu. A slideshow is available on the homepage as well.
For a free theme, the Venture option is one of the most feature-rich. It has a promotional banner, specifically designed for promoting certain products and offering discounts to your customers. This is shown towards the top of your homepage, prompting people to buy right off the bat. The Venture theme also has solid product filtering and a single featured product view, giving you plenty of tools to play around with.
The Debut theme has a somewhat minimal design, with an almost retro configuration that looks similar to a blog or regular business website.
The header slider moves through large images, and you have the option to move around some of the modules for either talking about your company or revealing your best products towards the top of the homepage. The slideshow on the homepage has support for video. This way, you can create a story with your slideshows and switch between videos and images.
The single featured product page shows one product with the image and product information blown up for the ultimate exposure. For example, you might have a brand new item that needs to be sold in high quantities during the launch period. Customer testimonials are included with the Debut theme. This way, you can ask your VIP customers if they would send you rave reviews, then use those testimonials to convince other customers to buy. The testimonials feature both text and images.
The Debut theme also provides product filtering to lead customers to certain collections or product types.
If you want to build an online store that sells large amounts of inventory, the Supply theme should be on your list of theme options.
The homepage goes right into the selling process, with large collections and galleries. There is still a slideshow, so you do have the option to share some of your promotions. The colors include blue and light, both of which look clean and elegant. The theme has social media icons, color palettes, customizable homepage sections, and a mobile-friendly design.
As mentioned, the Supply theme is made for larger catalogs. Therefore, filtering is a huge part of this strategy. The collection filtering offers the chance to filter anything from price to brand. You can even customize the filters based on the uniqueness of your own brand.
The homepage includes several modules for building featured collections. For instance, you might consider making a collection of your most popular products, or your customers might want to only see men’s or women’s fashion. Finally, the slideshow runs automatically, flipping through your banners and supporting high-resolution images.