This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Amin A. Kazemi
Are you looking for top portfolio themes for your WordPress website? Do you want to review some of the best portfolio builder plugins? Looking for free or low-cost items? If so, then read on!
What is a Portfolio Website?
At its most basic form, a portfolio is a visual representation of your experience. In other words, a portfolio is a showcase of the work (projects) you have done. When built as a website, it is effectively your resume in online form.
So whether you are an individual freelancer, a local service provider, a small business, or a huge company, you need to create a portfolio website to tell everybody who you are, what experience you have, and what you can do for your customers. There are a lot of benefits in creating a portfolio website, but in short, it helps individuals to get hired by companies and helps companies to attract more customers.
In this collection, I have rounded up some of the best free portfolio themes for WordPress websites. Furthermore, I will show you some portfolio builder plugins to help you create and customize a portfolio on different themes and websites. When you finish reading, you’ll be able to pick a free theme or plugin and create your portfolio website with ease.
Best Free Portfolio Themes for WordPress
The official WordPress website (WordPress repository) is the best source for developers to download free themes. At the time of writing this article, there are more than 8,400 free themes available on wordpress.org.
However, if you have enough budget to buy a premium theme, and if you like to use a professional theme for your website, then you can take a look at the premium themes available on ThemeForest.
Premium WordPress themes provide you with pre-made demos, widgets, add-ons, support, and plugins to help you create your portfolio website faster and easier.
If you’d like to find out more about premium themes or want to know what a paid theme offers, read the articles below:
- WordPress ThemesTop 25 (Most Popular) Premium WordPress Themes of 2021
- WordPress Themes30 Best Personal WordPress Portfolio Themes for 2021 (Free & Premium)
- WordPress Themes25+ Premium WordPress Themes for Music & Video Websites
- WordPress Themes18+ Creative WordPress Themes for Artists (Free & Premium)
Well, let’s get started with the first free item on this list!
1. Perfect Portfolio
Perfect Portfolio is a powerful portfolio theme for WordPress. It comes with a free and premium version and it has also a free child theme (Elegant Portfolio) which helps you create your website with more options and customization.
The free version has almost everything you need and lets you build your entire portfolio website. But if you want to access more fonts, layouts, or color options, then you can upgrade your theme to the pro version.
2. Portfolio Web
Portfolio Web is a minimalist WordPress theme that comes with many options in its customizer. It has a pro version too but you can almost access everything you need on its free version.
“This theme is perfectly fit for both Personal and Corporate Portfolio websites.”
3. RT Portfolio
There is no classic scrollbar on this modern theme. Visitors can scroll between different parts of the page by clicking on the left-hand menu. This amazing option avoids confusion and helps visitors to explore your portfolio website easier. Take a look at the live preview of the RT Portfolio theme to find out more.
4. Aperture Portfolio
Aperture Portfolio theme uses the WordPress posting system to showcase your portfolio items. This well-designed theme is a good choice for creative agencies and freelancers who want to show their work with grid layouts and large images.
5. Gute Portfolio
Gute Portfolio is a child theme for Gute theme. Using this child theme you can create your portfolio website in minutes. This theme provides a beautiful slider and a clean environment to introduce yourself, show your ability, and display your experiences on the homepage.
So if you’re looking for a simple and elegant WordPress theme for your personal portfolio website, this child theme can help you build what you need.
6. ePortfolio
Photographers, graphic designers, video producers, and web designers often look for a modern and different WordPress theme for their portfolio sites. ePortfolio provides an amazing homepage with a unique design for your website.
It has 3 independent columns on the home page, a static column on the left side, and two scrollable columns in the center and on the right side of the page.
7. BlogJr Portfolio
BlogJr is a popular lightweight theme for WordPress that comes with a child theme for creating portfolio websites. Using BlogJr Portfolio (the child theme) you can add a masonry portfolio to your website and create a simple portfolio gallery on your fast website.
8. CWW Portfolio
CWW Portfolio is an easy-to-use theme for portfolio websites. Its modern design, simple hover effects, beautiful slider, and stunning color schemes make this theme one of the best items on this list.
9. Portfolio Lite
As a free theme, one of the best things about Portfolio lite is that the developer of this theme has paid great attention to the screen sizes and made it completely responsive and mobile-friendly.
Portfolio Lite is a minimalist theme with a static left-hand menu and a big slider on top of the home page. Its smart design makes this theme a great choice for photographers, web designers, creatives, or anybody who needs to show a big slider on the home page.
10. Draft Portfolio
Just like the Aperture Portfolio theme, Draft Portfolio includes a dynamic portfolio gallery on its homepage. It is a very clean and minimalist WordPress theme and lets your visitors focus on the work and projects you have done before.
Many freelancers and companies use minimalism aspects in their portfolio websites. Minimalism helps your visitors to focus on your portfolio and avoid distractions. Take a look at the articles below to find out what a minimalist WordPress theme is and find premium portfolio themes with minimalistic design.
- WordPress Themes18+ Best Minimalist WordPress Themes (Free and Paid)
- WooCommerce10+ Simple WooCommerce Themes for Minimalists
11. WP Portfolio
WP Portfolio is a well-developed theme that is compatible with almost all popular plugins like WooCommerce and bbPress. Again, the static left-hand menu helps users to explore different parts of your website, and the simple grid layout lets you showcase your works in the best possible light.
12. Portfolio Magazine
Simple and easy to use! This is a lightweight news and magazine theme, but as it has an eye-catching image gallery on the homepage, you can use it as a portfolio theme for your website.
In other words, Portfolio Magazine lets you use the blog posts (WordPress posting system) as a portfolio builder and help you showcase the portfolio items in a blog style, on the home page.
13. CleanPortfolio
CleanPortfolio is another elegant portfolio theme for WordPress. It is absolutely free and has a clean structure that makes it a good choice for you to build your portfolio website.
“Its vast range of features makes it easier for creative people like photographers, bloggers, designers, illustrators, and more to showcase their experience and expertise to the world at large.”
14. Brix Portfolio
Large images, simple environment, minimalistic design, and an AJAX menu! Everything you expect from a simple portfolio theme. Brix Portfolio can be a beneficial choice for photographers, illustrators, web designers, and other content creators.
15. Online Portfolio
And here is the last theme on this list: Online Portfolio. It is a classic WordPress theme for personal portfolio websites. Athletes, actors, models, or even programmers and other freelancers can use this theme for their portfolio websites.
Best Portfolio Plugins for WordPress (Free and Paid)
Having reviewed the best portfolio themes available on the WordPress repository, now let's go further and review some of the best portfolio plugins for WordPress. Using these plugins, you will be able to create a custom portfolio for your website on the different WordPress themes. All you need is to build your portfolio and add it to a page on your website.
There are different places for downloading free or paid portfolio plugins. As you may already know there are numerous free plugins available on the WordPress repository. But if you would prefer to use a premium plugin, then you can buy it from CodeCanyon or download it from Envato Elements.
1. Portfolio Gallery – Image Gallery Plugin
This free WordPress plugin helps you create portfolio galleries and image grids. It has a pro version but the free version is still very usable and good enough to get your online portfolio started.
2. Go Portfolio - WordPress Responsive Portfolio
Go Portfolio is a pro plugin available on CodeCanyon you can use to create different things like portfolio galleries. This useful plugin lets you create new post types so you can make any other galleries for your website and use them to improve your websites in different ways.
3. Fast Portfolio & Grid Elementor WordPress Plugin
The Elementor page builder is one of the best choices for creating portfolios on a WordPress website. Elementor has a live editor and lets you access add-ons and widgets that help you create awesome portfolios and galleries in minutes.
This plugin (Fast Portfolio & Grid Elementor WordPress Plugin) will add some more widgets to this popular page builder and make you able to create your portfolio website with more options.
4. WordPress Portfolio Builder – Portfolio Gallery
As a free plugin, It is a professional portfolio builder with many options and features. Using this plugin you can create different portfolio layouts. You can also add videos to your portfolio from Vimeo or YouTube.
5. Portfolio (By RadiusTheme)
Portfolio (by RadiusTheme) is an easy-to-use and useful portfolio builder plugin for WordPress. This plugin lets you create your portfolio and showcase your work and projects as a widget, slider, or a part of your pages.
Create a Free WordPress Portfolio Today
Pick a WordPress theme or plugin and start your portfolio website today. If you're still wondering, or if you need more collections to choose from, take a look at the articles below to find what you’re looking for.
- WordPress ThemesBest Lightweight Themes for WordPress 2021
- WordPress Themes20 Best WordPress Themes for Vloggers and YouTubers
- WordPress20+ Best WordPress Themes for Actors 2021
- WordPress Themes29 Super Fast Page Loading WordPress Themes (Free and Premium) for 2021
- WordPress Themes25+ Best WordPress Themes for Writers and Authors (2021)
- WordPress30 Best Personal WordPress Blog Themes for 2021
- WordPress Themes35 Clean WordPress Themes: To Make Modern Websites in 2021
- WordPress Themes25+ Simple WordPress Themes to Quickly Make Sites (2021)
This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Amin A. Kazemi
Amin A. Kazemi | Sciencx (2021-06-29T14:19:17+00:00) 15 Best WordPress Portfolio Themes for Free (+ Portfolio Builder Plugins). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/06/29/15-best-wordpress-portfolio-themes-for-free-portfolio-builder-plugins/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.