Even though high-quality content is by far the most important factor for the success of your WordPress website, you shouldn't forget the design. In this overview, we'll show you the 15 best free WordPress themes for Gutenberg that you can use to bring your website up to date both visually and technically.

Because a lot has changed in the WordPress universe in recent years. Probably more than ever before in the 18-year history of the world's best-known content management system. Gutenberg, the WordPress editor, is responsible for this . It has been included since WordPress 5.0 and has had a significant influence on WordPress updates ever since.

Gutenberg introduced the creation of blog posts with so-called blocks for the first time. Since then, there have been such blocks for each element, which are strung together. This makes it much easier to design your blog posts. So there are blocks for texts, images, videos, social media icons or dividers.

With the expansion of this system, Gutenberg has now become a kind of complete page builder that you can use to build entire WordPress websites block-based.

Free WordPress Gutenberg Themes

When selecting the current 15 best free WordPress themes, we have therefore made sure that they not only meet the latest requirements in terms of design and functionality. But that they are also technically up to date in terms of Gutenberg.

We have also deliberately opted for a mix of well-known themes and absolute newcomers to cover the full spectrum. Well-known themes usually have the advantage that they receive more attention from developers. Unknown themes, on the other hand, offer the advantage that you can use them to implement designs that are not yet so widespread. However, you should test these well in advance. Or wait a little longer to see if they are actually developed further.

So let's get straight to it and take a look at the themes that you can download and use for your WordPress site for free.

Getwid Base Theme

• Development: MotoPress
• Active installations: 2000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 50
• Ratings: 16 with five out of five stars

The Getwid Base theme is fully adapted to the new Gutenberg block editor. It also comes with its own plugin that provides additional blocks for Gutenberg. With Getwid Base and the Getwid plugin, you can create all kinds of websites - from landing pages and company websites to presentations for your portfolio.

The theme demo alone shows how wide the range of different blocks is that users can use with Getwid Base: Icons, buttons, multimedia content, Google Maps, accordions, tabs and toggles, testimonials, counters, price tables, countdowns or a table of contents are just a small selection. Getwid Base leaves nothing to be desired. The Gutenberg theme promises complete work on your own website without any knowledge of coding or programming.

Getwid Base is currently still one of the smaller themes in the WordPress theme directory, with 2,000 active installations and around 50 new downloads per day. However, the ratings already show that users are positive and recommend installation: There are five out of five possible stars here.

Neve Theme

• Development: Themeisle
• Active installations: 200,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 3,000
• Ratings: 700 with five out of five stars

The WordPress theme Neve not only works seamlessly with the Gutenberg Block Editor, it also comes with support for other page builders. These include Elementor, Brizy, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin and Divi. This gives users the flexibility to implement their pages the way they want. They can work with page builders that they are already familiar with from other projects.

In addition, Neve places great emphasis on speed and loading times, is of course - and this should be a matter of course in 2021 - responsive, can be easily translated into all possible languages and gives you the option of implementing entire stores with it using WooCommerce. Of course, you can also build normal blogs or pages with Neve.

In the WordPress theme directory, you can see that Neve is already one of the established themes. Neve currently runs on over 200,000 active installations, with an average of around 3,000 new downloads every day. With almost 700 ratings, Neve also scores full marks.

Potter WordPress Theme

• Development: Potter
• Active installations: 1,000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 20
• Ratings: 11 with five out of five stars

Potter is a Gutenberg-optimized theme that you can use to implement blogs as well as websites and stores. Potter primarily emphasizes performance and aspects of SEO (search engine optimization). The theme comes with little "weight", Schema.org support and can easily be used with Google's AMP standard.

Potter also comes with support for other page builders, including Elementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin and Divi, so that users are not only dependent on the Gutenberg editor. Responsiveness, translations and the option to implement stores with WooCommerce round off the offering.

In the WordPress theme directory, Potter is one of the lesser-known themes with only over 1,000 active installations and a few new downloads per day. This means that with Potter you can choose a design that is not yet found on too many websites. The ratings give the theme full stars.

Davis

• Development: Anders Norén
• Active installations: 2,000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 30
• Ratings: 8 with five out of five stars

Davis is different from most of the themes in our list, as it only specializes in minimalist blogs. So you can't use Davis to create extraordinary and spectacular websites, but you can use the blocks within your blog posts.

Of course, this is accompanied by excellent performance: without images, Davis weighs in at just 36 kb. Authors, journalists and bloggers who want to focus on their texts will find a stylishly minimalist home for their work here.

Davis is also not too overcrowded, which is particularly important for a theme that does not offer so many options for personalization. In the WordPress theme directory, Davis has over 2,000 active installations with around 30 new downloads per day. The reviewers give it full marks.

Gutener Theme

• Development: Keonthemes
• Active installations: 1,000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 200
• Ratings: 2 with five out of five stars

The Gutener WordPress theme already has Gutenberg support in its name, at least in part. Gutener can be used to create all facets of WordPress sites, from blogs or magazines to personal websites and company sites - with a clear focus on companies and professional use.

Gutener also comes with a wide range of theme options, various header and footer layouts and the option to implement stores using WooCommerce. Various demos show the different uses of the Gutenberg theme.

Gutener is still an unknown theme in the WordPress theme directory, but on good days it already has over 1,500 new downloads. Even if two reviews are not yet very meaningful. You may need to wait and see what other test reports are added. And test the theme well in advance.

Blocksy

• Development: Creativethemeshq
• Active installations: 20,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 1,000
• Ratings: 400 with five out of five stars

The Blocksy development team emphasizes that its theme was specially developed with Gutenberg in mind. This is evident not only from the name, which refers to the blocks, but also from the design. Blocksy can be used to build all kinds of websites: Portfolios, blogs, landing pages, corporate sites and even WooCommerce stores.

In addition, you can use not only Gutenberg with Blocksy, but also other well-known WordPress page builders such as Elementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer and Brizy. In addition, Blocksy is of course performant, responsive and can be easily translated.

The ratings in the WordPress theme directory are particularly impressive about Blocksy. Of the almost 400 reviews, there is not a single one that does not award five stars. With over 20,000 active installations, Blocksy is already well-known, but not yet too crowded. Around 1,000 new downloads are added every day, on good days even up to 3,000.

Good store

• Development: SuperbThemes
• Active installations: 1,000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 200
• Ratings: 1 with five out of five stars

The name Gutenshop already tells you what to expect: a theme that is primarily aimed at operators of online stores with WooCommerce - and also supports the new Gutenberg Block Editor. Nevertheless, you could also use Gutenshop to set up a normal blog or website for your company.

The design of Gutenshop is very minimalist. There are clear structures that the developers have strictly adhered to. This gives the design a certain calmness and directs the focus to the products in the store. Gutenshop can also be used as an affiliate theme, for example via a one-click checkout with Amazon.

In the WordPress theme directory, Gutenshop has over 1,000 active installations with around 200 new downloads per day. So far, there is only one review that awards a full five stars. Downloads have increased significantly, especially since March 2021.

OceanWP

• Development: OceanWP
• Active installations: 700,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 4,000
• Ratings: 4,500 with five out of five stars

OceanWP is one of the most popular free themes in the WordPress directory. It can be used to create blogs, portfolios, personal and professional sites, as well as all other types of WordPress sites for every conceivable target group.

OceanWP is compatible with Gutenberg, but also offers support for most of the well-known page builders. These include Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy, Visual Composer, Divi and SiteOrigin. With WooCommerce, you can also implement stores or integrate them into your site.

With over 700,000 active installations, OceanWP is one of the best-known themes for WordPress, and the theme receives a corresponding amount of attention - from new users with around 4,000 new downloads per day, in reviews with 4,500 ratings with five out of five possible stars. And from the development team with regular updates.

Astra Theme

• Development: Brainstorm Force
• Active installations: 1 million
• Downloads per day: approx. 6,000
• Ratings: 5,000 with five out of five stars

Even better known than the OceanWP theme just presented is the Astra theme. This theme weighs less than 50 kb in the frontend view and therefore achieves excellent performance. With Astra you can also work with Gutenberg as well as with the well-known page builders Elementor, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin or Divi.

All important page types can also be implemented with Astra. WooCommerce support also makes it possible to build stores. Schema.org, AMP support and a wide range of demos for the right inspiration round off the offer.

Astra currently runs on over one million active WordPress installations, making it one of the most popular free themes in the world. An additional 6,000 downloads are added every day. The reviews also speak for themselves: with almost 5,000 reviews, it has an average of five out of five possible stars with 4,774 five-star ratings.

Hestia

• Development: Themeisle
• Active installations: 100,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 2,000
• Ratings: 2,000 with five out of five stars

Hestia was developed by the team behind the Neve theme presented above. It is aimed at professional users who primarily want to use it to present their companies or services. You can also set up or integrate a store with Hestia and WooCommerce.

The theme can be used with Elementor, Brizy, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin and Divi Builder, supports multilingualism via WPML and all customizations can be done via the WordPress Customizer.

Like Neve, Hestia also achieves a six-digit number of active installations (albeit only half as many as Neve) with around 2,000 downloads per day and 2,000 ratings, which give the theme an average of five out of five stars.

Loose WordPress Theme

• Development: Patryk Kachel
• Active installations: 800
• Downloads per day: Approx. 20
• Ratings: 11 with five out of five stars

Loose is a theme that is primarily aimed at bloggers who want to present their posts in different ways. This makes it easy to create blogs and magazines. There are different layouts for the homepage, different post formats, designs for individual posts and several areas for widgets.

In addition, Loose supports Google's AMP, can be easily translated, offers comprehensive documentation and of course works seamlessly with the Gutenberg Editor. Loose is still rather unknown in the WordPress theme directory, with over 800 active installations and 20 downloads per day. Nevertheless, there are already eleven reviews, all with five stars.

GeneratePress

• Development: Tom
• Active installations: 300,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 3,500
• Ratings: 1,200 with five out of five stars

GeneratePress attaches great importance to the WordPress coding standards, which ensures comprehensive compatibility with all well-coded plugins. In addition, GeneratePress supports all major page builders, including Beaver Builder and Elementor.

The Gutenberg editor is fully integrated, stores with WooCommerce are easy to implement, there are nine widget areas, five placements for the menu and five different layouts for the sidebar. There is also a paid premium version of GeneratePress, which unlocks additional features.

According to the theme directory, the free version of GeneratePress currently runs on over 300,000 active installations, with 3,500 downloads added daily. The 1,200 reviews award an average of five out of five possible stars. The ratio of five-star ratings to one-star ratings is also interesting here - this is 1,170 to six.

Zakra

• Development: ThemeGrill
• Active installations: 50,000
• Downloads per day: approx. 1,000
• Ratings: 400 with five out of five stars

Zakra is aimed more at professional users who want to present their company or their range of services. Of course, Zakra can also be used to implement various other page types, including stores thanks to WooCommerce support.

Zakra also works seamlessly with both the Gutenberg Editor and the major page builders. The theme is easy to translate, supports all major and large WordPress plugins and comes with ten ready-made demos that you can install immediately.

Zakra is already well known in the WordPress theme directory with over 50,000 active installations, but is not yet too crowded. The theme is downloaded around 1,000 times a day, on good days up to 3,000 times. The reviews recommend the theme with 400 positive ratings and full points.

Blover Theme

• Development: Patryk Kachel
• Active installations: 800
• Downloads per day: Approx. 10
• Ratings: 5 with five out of five stars

Like the Loose theme presented above, Blover was created by Patryk Kachel, as you can see from some of the elements. Blover can be used to create e-commerce sites, blogs, magazines and entire websites. With its focus on large and powerful images, Blover is also ideal for designers, photographers and creative professionals.

Blover is Gutenberg-compatible, offers various formats, layouts, locations and designs for menus, widgets, articles and pages and supports the AMP plugin to display your articles in an AMP version.

According to the WordPress theme directory, Blover has over 800 active installations, with ten downloads added daily. The five ratings given so far give the theme a full star rating.

WordPress Block Lite

• Development: Organic Themes
• Active installations: 1,000
• Downloads per day: Approx. 15
• Ratings: 14 with five out of five stars

Block Lite is, as the name suggests, a free lite version of the Block premium theme. But even with this free version, you can already create great WordPress sites.

Block Lite is aimed less at companies or the self-employed and more at photographers, creative professionals, designers, journalists and bloggers. This theme is primarily about showcasing your creative work and presenting it in an appealing way. The large tiles need strong photos to fully exploit their potential.

In the theme directory, Block Lite has over 1,000 active installations and five out of five stars with currently 14 ratings. The theme is downloaded around 15 times a day.

Conclusion: Selecting a WordPress theme

If you are currently faced with the choice of which WordPress theme to use for your new project or how to breathe new life into an existing site, you should take enough time to choose the right theme.

You can find thousands of free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory, all of which you can download for free and try out on your site at your leisure. You shouldn't be too impressed by the theme descriptions, as almost all themes use similar phrases. Test the performance rather than relying on a "light-weight" theme. Look at the site on all devices instead of relying on "responsive". And try out the plugins you use with the themes to make sure there are no surprises waiting for you.

Things you should also pay attention to:

• Is the theme still being developed? Check the detailed view of the theme in the top right-hand corner to see when the last update was made.
• How do other users rate the theme? Take a detailed look at the reviews of other users. Especially with regard to the negative reviews.
• Are all plugins supported? If you use page builders such as Elementor, you should check whether the theme also works with these. Likewise with all other important plugins (WooCommerce, WPML etc.).

You can also read our article on this: WordPress plugins - 13 tips for making the right choice. It gives you further tips. Once you've found the theme you want, nothing stands in the way of your new WordPress site. And you'll soon be able to present your visitors with a new, more modern look.