As a startup ecommerce business owner, while you can easily pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a custom theme, many fantastic free Shopify themes make launching your ecommerce store cost-effective and straightforward.
These free ecommerce templates are fully customizable, and many of them can be installed directly from your Shopify dashboard.
For those of you just starting online, choosing a Shopify theme can be a tricky task. This is because of the sheer number of themes available on the marketplace, each with different options and features. If you are anything like me, I didn’t know what to be looking out for.
To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of 10 free Shopify themes that will allow you to create a professional-looking store from day one. We’ve also shortlisted down to four top recommendations with a few pointers on essential considerations.
So for our narrow shortlist, let’s start with our top four recommendations!
Tip: Did you create your Shopify account already? If not, sign up by clicking this link here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!
What is the best free Shopify theme?
These are our top four free Shopify themes and why we love them! We believe they’ll work for most businesses:
- Brooklyn. You’ll be able to easily upload your products, choosing from several elements to build a beautiful page that converts. You’ll find the design of this free Shopify theme quite striking but straightforward.
- Debut. It’s no surprise that Debut gets onto our shortlist. It’s an incredible free Shopify theme for beginners looking to sell straight away with little customization. You’ll find it ready to use when signing up for Shopify. It looks great and does not skimp on features.
- Venture. If you are looking for a bold and effective theme for your large inventory store, perhaps in the outdoor niche, you’ll love the overall look and feel of this free Shopify theme as much as we do.
You are going to be impressed by its edge-to-edge slideshow, multi-column drop-down menus, promotional bar and many more outstanding features. - Narrative. We like Narrative for a few different reasons. It’s a great free Shopify theme if you have a store that doesn’t have a vast inventory (2-8 products).
And it is perfectly made for storytelling because it displays large images and incorporates videos really well.
The 10 best free Shopify themes in 2023
If you are looking for a quick summary of our top 10 free Shopify themes before examining them closely, here is a simple overview of the results:
| Free Shopify Theme | Who does it suit? |
| Debut | For beginners looking for an easily customizable theme that grows with them. It works for most niches. |
| Brooklyn | It suits these looking for a theme optimized for images and converts well, often but not necessarily in the apparel niche. |
| Simple | If you have an extensive catalog and love a minimalist style with lots of white space, this one is for you. |
| Venture | A bold yet minimal style for extensive inventories often chosen by those in the outdoor niche. |
| Debutify | A stylish and fast converting theme aimed at making an impact in most niches. |
| Supply | A bold shopping theme for stores with lots of inventory and product SKU’s, especially suitable for the electronics niche. |
| Boundless | Great to display high-quality, wide-screen product imagery often in the apparel niche. |
| Minimal | An arty, modern theme great for those who don’t want clutter and a design that appeals to most customers in niches like modern furniture or fashion. |
| Narrative | Great for ecommerce store owners who have a smaller inventory (10-20 items, perhaps higher ticket products) and who need to communicate a brand story using video and large images. |
| Dawn | Dawn is similar to Debut but better. It is an excellent choice for stores in the home and garden, clothing and beauty niches. This free Shopify 2.0 theme brings the beauty of your products to life. It is super customizable for most niches. |
Curious to understand why we have selected these options? Read about each theme in more detail below!
1. Debut
Debut is one of the most popular free Shopify themes and will be an option presented to you when you sign up for Shopify.
What are the features of the Debut theme?
- Design. Simple, elegant and professional with easy to edit imagery and text.
- Product display. Using a slideshow, display various product or brand photos on your home page. This feature looks great on desktop and mobile.
- Rich customer experience. Quick links, predictive search, image zoom and a one page sales page provide a great customer experience.
- Drop-down navigation. Easily filter products based on their specs and features – a great option for apparel stores.
- Customer testimonials. Share your customers’ testimonials and comments to promote your items.
Who does it suit?
This free Shopify theme suits beginners looking for a theme that grows with their store and is super easy to customize and edit.
It is perfect for businesses of all sizes, and you can use this theme if you have a lot of products, but it can also work for you if you only have a few products or even a 1 product store.
You’ll find the link to a demo store here.
2. Brooklyn
The Brooklyn theme is tailored to suit your modern business, which focuses on your brand image. It allows you to upload your products quickly, creating a standout design using a choice of several elements to build a beautiful page that converts.
What are the features of the Brooklyn theme?
- Design. A clean layout with several options to add sections. Quick to load with mobile friendly design for better conversions. This is a great theme if you have quality images. There is no need to click on thumbnails.
- Product display. Display various product or brand photos and videos on your home page using a slideshow. This allows you to tell your brand story, engaging with your users to help you improve the average session duration in your store.
- Dynamic product grid. Depending on how many products are displayed, the layout of your products changes automatically.
- Slide-out cart. Customers can simply add items to their shopping cart without leaving the page they’re on.
Who does it suit?
This free Shopify theme will work really well if you have a clothing or fashion store, especially if you have a pretty extensive catalog. Of course, it is not limited to apparel stores. It is optimized for larger images and will work well with quality images.
You’ll find the link to a demo store here.
3. Simple
Simple is just that. Simple! It’s a clean-looking modern theme with plenty of white space, perfect for showcasing your products.
What are the features of the Simple theme?
- Design. Customizable sections on your homepage help you to target users with the right information and graphics.
- Navigation. ‘Simple’ offers sidebar navigation and a product image zoom feature which enables users to view the intrinsic details of your product and view all your products on the home page.
- Recommended products. We love the recommended product section (similar to Amazon).
- Product reviews. These are built in (so no requirement for additional apps).
Who does it suit?
This free Shopify theme works well for those with an extensive catalog, especially if you are looking for a minimalist style. If you rely on your brand story and need to communicate this to your audience, this free Shopify theme may be too simple.
For dropshippers, for example, this theme showcases the products well because of the zoom-in function (perhaps high-end apparel or tech), and the layout is bold, clean and modern.
You’ll find the link to a demo store here.
4. Venture
This free Shopify theme is a good combination of a design that is both bold and minimal. It provides you with a great mix of colors and features and is best for high volume stores with extensive inventories.
What are the features of the Venture theme?
- Design. We love the large hero image at the top of the home page which draws the customer in and tells them all about your site right away. The option to change between the different styles gives you the ability to create a unique, interesting design.
- Animation. This theme offers great animation and the ability to hover over the images.
- Product display. You’ll have the ability to promote featured products in front/center of your homepage.
- Product filtering. Allows users to filter products based on their price category.
Who does it suit?
The Venture theme works well for ecommerce store owners and dropshippers who have a large inventory of products, and it suits several niches.
You’ll find the link to a demo store here.
5. Debutify
Debutify’s goal is to become the best free Shopify theme available, and we think they are doing pretty well at that!
This free Shopify theme converts well, is easily customizable and loads super fast.
What are the features of the Debutify theme?
- Cost-effective. This is a great theme for saving money on apps when upgrading and using its built in add-ons (some say upgrading the theme to a paid plan costs less monthly than installing the various apps that you’ll find necessary to run your store).
There are tons of boosters available, like conversion triggers, loyalty builders, shopping enhancers and more. - Currency converter. Provides multi-currency checkout with Shopify Payments. A loading icon will appear while the customer is changing currency.
- Customizable slideshow. Allows you to create a custom presentation that fits the needs of your audience with features like customizable height, fade-in animation, and customizable slider options.
- Customizable header. Edit the navigation to appear left/right/center and hidden if needed, with the option to include a transparent logo over your slideshow. You can also turn on the sticky header.
- Customizable footer. Easily edit menus, texts, images, and social media links. You’ll also be able to specify the column order of your content, including payment icons for credit cards or email addresses—as well as phone numbers if desired!
Who does it suit?
Pick this free Shopify theme if you want to make a great first impression. It has an elegant and stylish design that will help you stand out from the competition in most niches.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
6. Supply
When you land on a Supply theme, you can tell right away from the page that you are about to shop. We love the ability to display bold product images.
What are the features of the Supply theme?
- Design. This is one of the few free themes for Shopify that is built for large stores. The vivid imagery is great for modern apparel stores and the home page is easy to customize.
- Product display. Run slideshows on the homepage to show a range of top-rated products to your users. Related products are displayed under your product images.
- Mobile optimization. When you switch to mobile, you can click on the breadcrumb links, which makes it very easy to go back to a different page.
Who does it suit?
The Supply theme is a free Shopify theme for stores with a lot of inventory. It’s excellent for dropshippers with many SKU’s – perhaps jewelry or electronic items.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
7. Boundless
If you have amazing images of your medium to large inventory of products to display, Boundless features edge-to-edge-photography and is perfectly optimized for mobile.
What are the features of the Boundless theme?
- Design. Optimized for larger images and highly responsive for mobile.
- Product display. Accommodates a large hero image (a slideshow which changes the images every 3-5 seconds), drawing customers into your store.
- Collection images. Allows for full-width collection images – the images are displayed in a full-width grid style, which is ideal for presenting product photography and looks really great.
- Sticky navigation. As you scroll down the page the menus are fixed at the top.
Who does it suit?
Boundless is best for a medium-size inventory store that relies heavily on images. It’s a modern, bold free Shopify theme.
We think you’ll like how versatile it is with ecommerce and blog features pre-installed. The customizable content section on the home page enables the theme to be used for various industries.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
8. Minimal
If you want to minimize the struggle of building your online store, this free Shopify theme with fantastic reviews could be the answer for you.
It is clutter-free, easy to customize and is high converting!
What are the features of the Minimal theme?
- Design. This basic theme is easy to use and offers a simple, bold text font. You’ll have the ability to add a cool slideshow too!
- Product display. It features a product image zoom for closer inspection of your products. You’ll also have the ability to showcase recommended and related products to your users to improve cart size.
- Product filtering. This allows users to easily search for their desired product.
Who does it suit?
When reading the name, you might think this free Shopify theme is pretty basic, but the presentation is really high quality.
If you are looking for a minimal, simple and clean layout, Minimal is very worth exploring, particularly in an arty niche like fashion or modern furniture.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
9. Narrative
If you have a story to tell about your brand or product, this is the theme for you! What makes Narrative unique is its focus on imagery to tell a story.
On the homepage, you’ll find a full-width slideshow, an image with text, and a video on the home page. This layout has a strong visual impact and lets you tell your brand story without much text.
What are the features of the Narrative theme?
- Design. A clean and minimal design for stores offering limited products.
- Product display. Accommodates a hero video – a way of having a 1-2 minute video telling a story about your company on your website embedded in large form (filling 100% of the screen). The YouTube video on loads super quickly on autoplay!
- Navigation. As you scroll, the background changes as does the product image – very impressive for a free Shopify theme!
- One page checkout. It offers you a one page checkout with pop out cart so no reloading necessary.
Who does it suit?
It suits ecommerce store owners who have a smaller inventory (10-20 items, perhaps higher ticket products) and who need to communicate a brand story. It is a minimal theme with a clean design.
Narrative is another free Shopify theme that works well for any niche, thus making it one of the best Shopify themes.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
10. Dawn
Dawn is Shopify’s first free OS 2.0 theme (more about this later). This means that you will get what Debut offers but better because it gives store owners more customization options. The key is being able to use these attributes to your advantage.
Dawn is Shopify’s first free OS 2.0 theme and is packed with new features. It’s a flexible theme suitable for all stores, regardless of inventory size.
We see it as a fundamental theme for the newer version of Shopify, with Dawn now having what Debut offers and more.
It has been designed to give merchants more options. What will become important is how store owners will utilize its attributes to modify their store look and improve the site performance.
What are the features of the Dawn theme?
- Design. A highly flexible, easily customizable theme built for performance and ease of use.
- Product display. Media forward product pages to make the product more tangible for the customer.
- Cross-selling. Excellent cross selling capability for product discovery across your site.
Who does it suit?
Great for stores in the home and garden, clothing and beauty niches, this free Shopify theme brings the beauty of your products to life. It is super customizable for most niches.
You can find the link to a demo store here.
We are moving towards wrapping up, but we thought we’d mention some other considerations when assessing free Shopify themes.
Shopify introduces Shopify Online Store 2.0
Every Shopify template comes with its own theme settings. These settings allow you to customize your ecommerce website design without requiring HTML or CSS knowledge.
You can upload your logo, change the layout, add banners, slideshows, and change fonts and colors to make the design your own. Your goal is to make your store unique.
With the launch of Shopify Online Store 2.0, Shopify has rebuilt the online store experience from the ground up and is introducing a new set of developer tools to help create unique experiences for merchants and shoppers, taking customization to a new level.
As mentioned, Dawn is Shopify’s first free 2.0 theme option.
Why you should consider free Shopify themes
We’re convinced that when you are starting an ecommerce or dropshipping store on a budget, a free Shopify theme that aligns with your brand is a great start.
We’d recommend customization to make your store unique, even if you use one of the popular free Shopify themes that we’ve highlighted.
And let’s not forget that because the coding behind free Shopify themes is relatively simple, your site is likely to load faster in some instances – a vital criterion for success!
What to look for when choosing from free Shopify themes
When trying to identify the best ecommerce or dropshipping theme, review the following criteria when assessing each theme:
- Customization
- Responsiveness
- Conversion optimization
- Features
- Niche suitability
- Reviews/demo
This article, How To Choose The Best Shopify Theme: 8 great tips, will expand on these points to help you with your selection.
And if you’d like to investigate alternative paid themes further, take a look at The 10 Best Shopify Dropshipping Themes in 2023.
Final verdict
With that, I hope you were able to find your free Shopify theme match today. And if not, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will try to help you out!
So, what is our final verdict?
What is the best free Shopify theme in 2023?
In our opinion, the best free Shopify themes in 2023 are Brooklyn, Debut, Venture, and Narrative.
If you’re still second-guessing, let’s take a look at our overview from earlier:
| Free Shopify Theme | Who does it suit? |
| Debut | For beginners looking for an easily customizable theme that grows with them. It works for most niches. |
| Brooklyn | It suits these looking for a theme optimized for images and converts well, often but not necessarily in the apparel niche. |
| Simple | If you have an extensive catalog and love a minimalist style with lots of white space, this one is for you. |
| Venture | A bold yet minimal style for extensive inventories often chosen by those in the outdoor niche. |
| Debutify | A stylish and fast converting theme aimed at making an impact in most niches. |
| Supply | A bold shopping theme for stores with lots of inventory and product SKU’s, especially suitable for the electronics niche. |
| Boundless | Great to display high-quality, wide-screen product imagery often in the apparel niche. |
| Minimal | An arty, modern theme great for those who don’t want clutter and a design that appeals to most customers in niches like modern furniture or fashion. |
| Narrative | Great for ecommerce store owners who have a smaller inventory (10-20 items, perhaps higher ticket products) and who need to communicate a brand story using video and large images. |
| Dawn | Dawn is similar to Debut but better. It is an excellent choice for stores in the home and garden, clothing and beauty niches. This free Shopify 2.0 theme brings the beauty of your products to life. It is super customizable for most niches. |
If you have any questions or suggestions for this list, don’t forget you can always leave a comment below.
Best of luck with taking this crucial first step in creating a unique, high-converting store.
Have a great day!
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