If you want to see the best free Shopify themes in one place, then you’ll LOVE this (updated) guide.
I personally tested and reviewed 59 Shopify themes…
And you can filter through this list to find the best theme for you.
Check it out:
What Is A Shopify Theme?
Themes are one of the main reasons why Shopify is the best ecommerce platform. Rather than coding and designing the website yourself, a theme gives you an entire template.
All you have to do is plug and place your images and products.
Your theme will determine the way your online store looks and feels. Different themes have different layouts and styles, so choosing a theme that is optimal for your store is a must.
Whether you have a one product, niche, dropshipping, or regular ecommerce store, we will walk you through which one is best for you.
How To Install Shopify Themes
Before going over the top 10 free Shopify themes, let’s discuss how to install your theme.
To install your free Shopify theme, you must first have a Shopify account. If you don’t have an account already, go to Shopify and register for the 14-day free trial.
Once you’re logged into your account, your screen should look like this:
This is the main Shopify dashboard.
Now, click ‘Online Store’ on the left-hand side.
After that, click ‘Themes’.
Your screen should look like this:
You should see that Debut is currently your live theme. Debut is the free Shopify theme that you start with.
To pick another theme, scroll down to ‘Theme library’ and click ‘Explore free themes’.
You will see a catalog of 9 different themes that Shopify offers. Each of these themes will have their own different styles and variations.
There are also free themes that you can download and install from a third-party website. We will go over a few of these themes as well. To upload a third-party theme, install the theme and then click ‘Upload theme’.
How To Choose The Right Shopify Theme
The perfect Shopify theme for you depends on a few factors:
Who your target audience is
A well-designed website offers a personalized experience. Try catering to your target demographic in every way possible.
What is their age range? What are their interests? Which devices will they use?
What type of experience you want to offer
Your website should offer more than just a place they can buy products from.
You need to figure out the type of experience you want your website to give customers.
For example, if you had an online sports store, you would want visitors to feel energetic and motivated. Your theme should offer features to achieve this goal.
What website features you’ll need to use
Different themes offer different features and styles. As we’re going through our top 10 list, be sure to keep note of any features that can benefit your store design.
The Best Free Shopify Themes in 2020
An important thing to know while reading this list is that each theme comes with a variety of styles.
For example, the first theme, Debut, comes in a ‘Default’ or ‘Light Style’.
This means that after installing the theme, you can choose between which style is best suited for your store.
We will go over all the styles that come with each free Shopify theme.
1. Debut
Shopify’s Debut theme is our personal favorite when it comes to free themes.
Before we were able to purchase expensive paid themes, we used Debut to generate over 6 figures in revenue.
The theme is extremely customizable, fast, and easy to navigate. Furthermore, it has excellent mobile support and looks great on any platform.
Below is an example of an ecommerce website with the Debut theme in the ‘Default’ style.
This theme is supported by Shopify and has all the features needed in a comprehensive online store.
- Customer testimonials
- Slideshow images
- Promotional banner
- Product recommendations
- Product filtering and much more
If your store has less than 100 products, the Debut theme is perfect for you.
For example, this theme is great for one product dropshipping stores.
However, if your store has a large number of products, we recommend choosing a different theme.
2. Simple
The Simple theme offers exactly just that. It’s clean, minimalistic, and very easy to set up.
However, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s not good.
This theme offers all the basic functionalities you need. It’s customizable, easy to use, and extremely lightweight.
Take a look at the image below for an example of a store using this theme.
You can clearly see that is not only simple, but also very clean and beautiful.
The free Simple theme comes with 3 styles: ‘Light’, ‘Beauty’, and ‘Toy’. The image above depicts the ‘Light’ style.
Depending on the style and image of store you want to achieve, these 3 styles offer different variations in design.
Furthermore, this is another Shopify made theme, so you will constantly get free updates and theme support.
This theme is best for users looking for a simple and clean, but functional Shopify theme.
3. Debutify
Debutify is an alternative to Shopify-distributed themes because it was developed by a third-party.
However, it’s still an extremely well-made theme with tons of features.
This theme offers:
- Currency converter
- Product sliders
- Customizable slideshow
- Product testimonials
- Guarantee bar and much more
The image below shows an example product page with the Debutify theme.
The Debutify theme was specifically designed to help users increase conversions. It’s extremely user-friendly and is optimized for all niches.
For this reason, regardless of what kind of online store you plan on creating, this theme can do wonders for you.
Boasting extremely high reviews and over 170,000 downloads, Debutify claims they are the worlds #1 free Shopify theme.
4. Brooklyn
The Brooklyn theme is ideal for ecommerce store owners with a general store. A general store features a wide variety of products rather than specializing in a specific niche.
This free Shopify theme comes with two different styles: ‘Classic’ and ‘Playful’.
The ‘Classic’ style sets a more serious tone, whereas the ‘Playful’ style is more vibrant and lively.
The picture below is an example of the ‘Playful’ style.
This theme is very customizable, fast, and lightweight. Furthermore, the theme is made by Shopify so you can always count on quick and helpful customer service if any issues arise.
Furthermore, the Brooklyn theme is flexible enough to use for any type of online business.
5. Narrative
The Narrative theme was specifically designed for product and brand storytelling.
For this reason, this works best for single product stores or stores with small catalogs.
The main feature of this theme is that you can use videos for your sliders.
This feature is called the ‘Hero Video’, which is a fullscreen video that autoplays at the top of your home page.
Furthermore, you can put a lot of photos on several sections of your home page and product page.
The picture above showcases the ‘Earthy’ style, which is one of the four different styles offered by Narrative.
‘Warm’, ‘Light’, and ‘Cold’ are the other 3 styles. So depending on what experience you want your website to have, each style has its own advantages.
If your goal is to fully showcase a product’s features and benefits, then the Narrative theme may be perfect for you.
6. Boundless
The two main attractions of the Boundless theme are its minimal user-interface and photography features.
It’s a simple and beautiful theme that is suitable for stores with high-quality pictures.
You can see in the example below that the theme is very minimalistic, yet still looks amazing with the right photos.
The example above showcases the ‘Black & white’ style. This style offers a clean and dazzling look.
‘Vibrant’ is Debut’s second style that offers a more colorful and vintage feel.
Here is a store featuring the ‘Vibrant’ style.
This theme looks great on both mobile and desktop. Furthermore, the Boundless theme is recommended for stores with medium to large product catalogs.
7. Venture
Venture is an extremely versatile free Shopify theme that is perfect for dropshipping stores with a large number of products.
The theme comes in 3 styles which include: ‘Outdoors’, ‘Snowboards’, and ‘Boxing’.
The ‘Outdoors’ style is showcased below.
Even though all 3 styles have an outdoor and sporty feel, any niche dropshipping or ecommerce store can take advantage of this theme.
We recommend the Venture Shopify theme to beginners that plan on selling a lot of products.
It’s easy to setup, design, and import products into.
8. Fashe
Fashe is the second theme on our top 10 list that isn’t developed by Shopify.
This theme was developed by Colorlib and is suitable for fashion and apparel ecommerce companies.
The name “Fashe” was derived from this themes emphasis on fashion.
Just by uploading a few banner and catalog images, your store can look as beautiful as the one showcased below.
Fashe was originally a paid theme, but luckily for you the developers decided to give it away for free.
For this reason, you can expect a premium feel when using this theme.
Even though this theme focuses on fashion-based stores, you can use it for any type of ecommerce store.
9. Annabelle
Annabelle is another free Shopify theme with premium looks.
This theme comes in three different styles which can be seen below.
If your store is focused on selling any of these products, this theme may be the perfect choice for you.
The main feature of this theme is its homepage design. You get to use a featured product carousal for people to browse through your selections.
Also, there’s an Instagram gallery that displays your store’s Instagram page.
You also have the ability to add product reviews and sizing charts on your product pages.
Annabelle is extremely responsive, optimized, and works great on both mobile and desktop.
10. Supply
The Supply theme is focused on showcasing large product catalogs.
Featuring a mobile-friendly design, this theme is perfect for dropshipping and ecommerce stores that run Facebook ads.
Another key feature of this theme is your ability to add filtering options on collection pages by brand, price, ratings, etc.
This allows you the boost the design of your store immensely.
Below is an image of a store using the Supply theme in its ‘Blue’ style.
Supply’s second style is called ‘Light’ and offers a softer look and feel.
Are Free Shopify Themes Worth It?
The answer is a definitive YES.
Rather than throwing away hundreds of dollars on an expensive paid theme, free Shopify themes offer more than enough to succeed.
The main difference between free and paid Shopify themes are advanced features, customization, and user-experience.
However, with a bit of effort in design and setup, your free Shopify theme can look just as good as a paid theme.
We recommend that all beginner dropshippers and ecommerce store owners start with a free Shopify theme.
It’s important to gain some experience using a free theme first before even considering a paid theme.
Although the your store’s theme does make a difference, your advertisements and overall store design are much more important.
When Should I Upgrade To A Paid Shopify Theme?
As a basic guideline, you should only consider purchasing a paid Shopify theme once you’re able to consistently generate 4-5 figures in revenue everyday for a month.
If you are able to sustain this level of profitability, an upgrade in your theme can potentially boost conversions even more.
Theme Forest is the best website for finding paid Shopify themes.
Furthermore, Turbo is our favorite paid Shopify theme that we use on almost all of our dropshipping stores.
Now It’s Your Turn
At this point, you should have already selected which free Shopify theme you want to use.
Now it’s time to take action and bring your store to life.
Here’s a list of essential items you need to add into your theme:
- Logo image
- Banner image
- Collection images
- Navigation
Furthermore, you should strive to create lively product descriptions and product images.