15 Best Free WordPress Themes in 2020 (Optimized for Gutenberg)

WordPress has undergone a huge transition in terms of how it handles the seemingly basic task of content editing. We’ve gone all-in on “blocks” and “block-based” website organization. Overall, this is a good direction for the platform. However, you might be asking:

“Okay, what does it all have to do with me?” Well, if your current WordPress theme is outdated, you’re losing out on the cool new features available in the more recent versions of WordPress. Your theme is simply not ready to handle them.

This is where the following list comes into play! What follows is a roundup of 15 of the best free WordPress themes that have been optimized to work with the block-based editor in WordPress – otherwise known as the “Gutenberg editor.”

Find Free Gutenberg Friendly WordPress Themes

1. Blocksy

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The name pretty much says it all. Blocksy was built to integrate with WordPress’ block editor seamlessly and thus unlock true visual website building for you.

The theme comes with a couple of demo designs to help you get started and then takes you by the hand through the initial config and site setup.

The main strength of Blocksy is that it’s extremely easy to use and doesn’t require any coding knowledge from you. Everything can be customized through a fully visual user interface.

Key features:

• Built for Gutenberg specifically
• Compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Brizy and Beaver Builder
• Fully visual design customization
• Optimized for speed – compact, with fast loading times
• Integrates with WooCommerce
• Translation-ready and optimized for accessibility
• Fully responsive design
• Header and Footer builder module
• Advanced typography
• Five layouts for blog archives
• Clean, SEO-friendly code

2. Neve

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At the time of writing, Neve is one of the most popular free WordPress themes in the official WordPress directory. Users most appreciate it for its ease of use, versatility, and starter site demos.

That last thing – the demos – make getting started with this theme really straightforward. Just pick the design you like and then tweak it to suit your needs exactly. Everything is fully compatible with Gutenberg.

Key features:

• Fast and lightweight
• Easy to use
• Compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and others
• 80+ starter designs for different niches
• Responsive, mobile-ready and compatible with Google AMP
• WooCommerce integration
• SEO-friendly
• Translation-ready
• Onboarding wizard to help you get started

3. Astra

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Astra has made its name as one of the most customizable themes in the industry. The theme has quite an original approach when it comes to how it’s meant to be used. Basically, you first install the main theme and then get to choose from a range of add-ons that expand on Astra’s core functionality.

Overall, this gives you full control over what features you have on your site and how you want to use them. This makes Astra an excellent solution for people who want to DIY a website from scratch.

Key features:

• Full integration with the WordPress Customizer
• Made for page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and others
• Fast loading times and small footprint
• 100+ starter designs
• WooCommerce integration
• SEO-friendly
• Header options
• Layout settings
• Translation-ready and optimized for accessibility

4. OceanWP

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In terms of popularity, OceanWP is one of the fastest-growing themes in the official WordPress directory. Structure-wise, it’s similar to Astra, but with its own spin on how theme features should be delivered.

The main version of the theme gives you a basic website (fully compatible with Gutenberg) and then gives you access to add-on packages that expand the features. This will, however, require some tuning up on your part.

Key features:

• 10+ starter designs in the free version (50+ more in the paid version)
• Eight free add-ons
• Fully responsive structure
• Good integration with the WordPress Customizer
• Lightweight and optimized for site speed
• Customizable headers and footers
• WooCommerce integration
• SEO-friendly
• Translation-ready

5. GeneratePress

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GeneratePress is another all-in-one theme in the lineup. It does offer full compatibility with Gutenberg and good integration with the WordPress Customizer.

It can be a great solution if you want to have full control of the elements on the page and their appearance. That said, you might find the built-in features to be a bit lacking, which might require you to upgrade to a paid plan.

Key features:

• Full integration with the WordPress Customizer
• Layout customization options
• Header customization
• Detailed typography settings
• Basic color customizations
• Starter designs, custom backgrounds, additional elements, WooCommerce integration, and other extra features only come in the paid version

6. Airi

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Airi is a modern theme that comes not only with full Gutenberg compatibility, but also some ready-made starter designs. You get six of them in the free version of the theme (there’s more in paid).

The design overall follows current trends and presents content effectively. Airi is suitable to serve as the foundation for an agency site, a start-up, an online store, as well as traditional business sites.

Key features:

• Works with the Elementor page builder
• WooCommerce integration
• Integrated Google Fonts
• Six free starter designs and eight more in the paid version
• Translation-ready
• Built with WordPress’ best practices

7. Zakra

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Zakra is a multipurpose theme that not only works no problem with Gutenberg, but also delivers ready-made starter designs to help you launch your website quicker.

What’s more, those designs are built using Elementor, instead of Zakra’s own solution. This means that you’re not locked-in using Zakra – you will be able to take your favorite design with you even when you change themes.

Key features:

• 20+ free starter designs and more in the paid version
• The designs are responsive and cover several niches
• Ready for Google AMP
• Works with Elementor and other page builder plugins
• Lightweight and fast
• WooCommerce integration
• SEO-friendly
• Translation-ready and supports RTL languages

8. Potter

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Potter is another multipurpose theme on the list and quite an impressive one. First, you get several starter designs to take your site off the ground fast.

The theme is also compatible with WooCommerce and other popular plugins, so you don’t have to worry about having to change from your favorite tools. Lastly, everything in Potter is free, so you won’t be forced to upgrade.

Key features:

• 10+ starter designs
• Works with popular page builder plugins
• Lightweight and optimized for speed
• Multiple header and footer layouts
• Layouts for blog archives and individual posts
• Integration with the WordPress Customizer
• WooCommerce integration
• Translation-ready
• SEO-friendly

9. Editor Blocks

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This theme’s mission is to deliver as in-depth integration with Gutenberg as possible. And it does a very good job of it! Every native block that you can find in Gutenberg is supported by Editor Blocks and looks great on your site (not always the case with other themes).

The theme is also easy to work with and offers a handful of new content blocks for Gutenberg via an add-on plugin (also free).

Key features:

• Minimal design
• Demo content available
• Responsive and optimized for mobile devices
• Lightweight, loads fast
• SEO-friendly
• Comes with ten extra blocks for Gutenberg

10. Hamilton

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Hamilton is a cool WordPress theme built by one of the most sought-after theme designers in the WordPress space – Anders Norén.

The theme delivers an interesting, modern design, where the main focus is taken by large imagery and bold presentation. Hamilton will be best used on a photography website or any other website where visuals are key.

Key features:

• Clean, modern design
• Has a dark mode
• Responsive structure, works on all devices
• Infinite scroll
• Support for native Gutenberg image galleries (making them look beautifully)

11. Loose

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Loose is a lightweight theme, with an elegant and interesting design. The layout is optimized to handle a larger volume of content, which makes it a good solution for news sites and larger blogs.

The typography is simple, but everything looks good. The theme doesn’t overpower the page with its own elements but instead lets your content shine.

Key features:

• Magazine-like design
• Responsive structure ready for all devices
• Homepage slider
• Customizable layouts for blog archives
• Three homepage layouts
• Two menu types
• Eight single post templates

12. Blover

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Blover is another WordPress theme on the list that can handle a larger volume of content. The design is clear and puts the focus on the visuals that go alongside each blog post. This makes sure that your content has room to stand out.

Blover is optimized not only for news sites or blogs but also for eCommerce stores. There are pre-made layouts for your shop page included.

Key features:

• Magazine-like design
• Responsive structure
• Four homepage layouts
• Two shop layouts
• Two menu types
• Single post templates
• Layouts for Instagram feed embeds

13. Cambium

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Cambium is a classic-looking blog theme, but with a modern spin. The design achieves proper spacing between the elements and is ready to handle a site with a large volume of content.

Cambium comes in two flavors, free and paid. The paid version gives you additional compatibility with AdSense, more content options, and custom site elements.

Key features:

• Clean, blog-optimized design
• Custom header settings
• Custom menus
• Footer copyright editor
• Responsive and ready for mobile
• Translation-ready and supports RTL languages
• SEO-friendly

14. Davis

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Davis is one of the most minimalist WordPress themes on the market. Even though there’s not a lot going on on the page, the theme still manages to look great due to great typography design and on-point spacing.

This theme will do great on a personal blog, a writer’s log, or any other type of site where written content is front and center.

Key features:

• Minimal, modern design
• Lightweight and optimized for speed
• Responsive, works on all devices
• Support for all of Gutenberg’s native content blocks

15. Block Lite

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Block Lite is a Gutenberg-compatible theme that’s optimized to handle websites using large, bold imagery. This makes it a great choice for a portfolio site, a photographer’s log, and other similar purposes.

This theme will also be great if you’re planning on using it for a business project – as long as you have enough good imagery to populate the page.

Key features:

• Built for visual-heavy sites
• Integrated with the WordPress Customizer
• Custom page templates (including full width)
• Responsive and ready for all devices
• Custom header
• Logo resizer
• Custom backgrounds

What’s your Ideal Gutenberg WordPress Theme?

Picking the right Gutenberg WordPress theme for your next website project is no easy feat. There are literally thousands upon thousands of themes available on the web. In this roundup, we narrowed things down quite a bit for you, highlighting just the very best free WordPress themes on the market – those built specifically to work with the new block-based editing experience in WordPress.

The great thing about this list is that you don’t have to spend any money, and even if you want to test out every single theme here. Start from the top one, and make your way down the list until you land on your ideal theme.