WORDPRESS
9 Best Astra Theme Alternatives for Faster Loading (2024)
Finding the perfect theme for your WordPress website is crucial.
While Astra has long been a favorite among users, it has some limitations. Hence, you must explore alternatives that best fit your needs.
Based on my extensive experience over the past years, Kadence WP is the best WordPress theme. I’ve been with Kadence for the past three years, and it is for all my sites due to its smooth WP blocks, superior performance, ease of use, and advanced customization features.
Its lightweight structure ensures fast load times, while its robust design tools offer unparalleled flexibility, making it an ideal choice for many website projects.
I discuss the top Astra theme alternatives in this article, each offering unique strengths and capabilities.
Join me as I explore Kadence WP and other notable themes, such as GeneratePress, OceanWP, and Elementor Hello, to help you make an informed decision about your next website build.
9 Best Astra Theme Alternatives
1. Kadence WP Theme (Overall Best Alternative)
If you are looking for an Astra Theme alternative that offers a great user experience, Kadence WP Theme is an excellent choice. It is a multipurpose WordPress theme that is perfect for creating any website.
Kadence WP Theme is known for its flexibility, customization options, and user-friendly interface.
Kadence WP Theme Key Features
- Lightweight and Fast: The Kadence WP Theme is lightweight and loads quickly, making it perfect for creating fast-loading websites.
- Page Builder Compatibility: Kadence WP Theme is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Gutenberg.
- Customizable Header and Footer: Kadence WP Theme allows you to easily customize your website’s header and footer.
- Advanced Typography: Kadence WP Theme offers advanced typography options, allowing you to choose from over 800 Google fonts.
- WooCommerce Integration: Kadence WP Theme integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it perfect for creating online stores.
- Starter Templates: Kadence WP Theme comes with various starter templates that you can use to create your website quickly.
Kadence WP Theme Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using the Kadence WP Theme:
Pros:
- Lightweight and fast-loading.
- Easy to use and customize.
- Compatible with popular page builders.
- Offers advanced typography options.
- Comes with a variety of starter templates.
- Integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce.
Cons:
- The free version of the Kadence WP Theme has limited features.
- The pricing plans are a bit expensive compared to other themes.
Kadence WP Theme Pricing
- Free Plan: This plan is free and excellent for website creators wanting to start.
- Essentials Plan: This plan costs $149/year and gives you all the essentials, like the pro versions of the Kadence theme and starter templates.
- Full Plan: This plan costs $219/year and gives you full access to all the tools to help you sell.
- Lifetime Plan: With this plan, you get every product in its complete bundle, lifetime support, updates, and all future products for a one-time payment of $799/lifetime.
2. GeneratePress
If you’re looking for a lightweight and flexible WordPress theme that can be easily customized, GeneratePress is an excellent alternative to Astra. It is a popular theme among developers and users known for its speed, security, and ease of use.
GeneratePress Theme Key Features
- Lightweight and Fast: GeneratePress is one of the most lightweight themes available, which means it loads faster than most other themes. This is great for improving your website’s speed and overall user experience.
- Customizable: GeneratePress offers many customization options, including typography, colors, layouts, and more. You can easily customize your website’s appearance without any coding skills.
- Accessibility Ready: GeneratePress is designed to be accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. It meets the WCAG 2.0 standards, so your website will be accessible to a broader audience.
- SEO Friendly: GeneratePress is built with clean and optimized code, which makes it SEO-friendly. Your website will rank higher in search engines and get more organic traffic.
- Developer Friendly: GeneratePress is designed to be developer-friendly, making it easy to customize and extend. It’s built with clean code and follows WordPress coding standards.
- Great Support: GeneratePress has an excellent support team that is always ready to help you with any issues or questions.
GeneratePress Pros and Cons
Here are some pros and cons of GeneratePress to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you:
Pros:
- GeneratePress is one of the fastest-loading WordPress themes available.
- GeneratePress offers various customization options, including color schemes, typography, layout, and more.
- GeneratePress is optimized for search engines, which can help improve your website’s visibility and rankings.
- GeneratePress is designed with accessibility in mind, which means it meets the highest standards for web accessibility.
- GeneratePress is fully compatible with WooCommerce, making creating an online store and selling products easy.
Cons:
- Limited free version
- Not as many pre-built templates
GeneratePress Pricing
- Free Plan: This plan is forever free to use.
- Yearly Plan: This plan costs $59/year and grants one year of access to the site library, all features, and one year of updates.
- Lifetime Plan: This plan costs a one-time fee of $249. It grants lifetime access to the site library, updates, and all features.
3. OceanWP Theme
If you are looking for a powerful and flexible alternative to the Astra Theme, the OceanWP Theme is the perfect solution. It is a lightweight and highly customizable WordPress theme that offers a wide range of features and functionalities to help you easily create stunning websites.
OceanWP Theme Key Features
Here are some of the features of OceanWP Theme that make it stand out from other WordPress themes:
- Multiple Demos: OceanWP Theme has over 130 pre-built demos you can import with just one click. These demos cover many niches, including business, portfolio, eCommerce, and more.
- Fast Loading: OceanWP Theme is optimized for speed and performance, ensuring your website loads quickly and smoothly.
- WooCommerce Ready: It is fully compatible with WooCommerce and has many eCommerce-specific features.
- SEO Friendly: OceanWP Theme is designed with SEO in mind, ensuring your website ranks well in search engine results pages.
- Translation Ready: If you want to create a multilingual website, OceanWP Theme is your solution. It is fully compatible with translation plugins like WPML and Polylang.
- Elementor Integration: OceanWP Theme is fully compatible with the Elementor page builder, allowing you to quickly create custom layouts and designs.
OceanWP Theme Pros and Cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of using OceanWP Theme:
Pros:
- Lightweight and fast-loading
- Highly customizable with a wide range of options
- It comes with over 130 pre-built demos.
- Fully compatible with WooCommerce and other popular plugins
- SEO-friendly design
- Translation ready
Cons:
- Some features are only available in the paid version
- Some users may find the interface a bit overwhelming
OceanWP Pricing
OceanWP offers both a free and a paid version of the theme. The free version has basic features and limited support, while the paid version unlocks additional features and premium support.
Here’s a breakdown of the pricing for OceanWP:
- Free version: This is free to use
- Starter Plan: This plan costs $35 per year and has a lifetime subscription of $141. It can be used for one website.
- Personal plan: It costs $43 per year to use for three websites. A lifetime subscription is available for a one-time payment of $178.
- Business plan costs $71 per year for up to ten websites. A lifetime subscription is available for a one-time payment of $285.
- Agency plan: This plan costs $127 per year and can be used on up to 300 websites. A lifetime subscription is also available for a one-time payment of $509.
4. Divi Theme
Divi Theme is a popular option if you’re looking for an Astra Theme competitor. It is a multipurpose WordPress theme with a powerful page builder that makes it easy to create custom designs without any coding knowledge.
Divi Theme Key Features
- Visual Page Builder: Divi’s drag-and-drop page builder is one of its most popular features. It allows users to create custom layouts and design elements without coding knowledge.
- Responsive Design: Divi works on all devices, so your website will look great on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
- Customization Options: With Divi, you can customize your website’s colors, fonts, and layout. You can also use pre-made templates to get started.
- Marketing Integrations: Divi integrates with popular marketing tools like Mailchimp, Aweber, and Google Analytics.
- WooCommerce Support: Divi has built-in support for WooCommerce if you’re selling products online.
- Support and Updates: Divi comes with a lifetime license, which means you’ll get access to updates and support if you use the theme.
Divi Theme Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Divi Theme:
Pros:
- Divi’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom designs without coding knowledge.
- Divi offers a wide range of customization options to create a unique website.
- Divi integrates with popular marketing tools to quickly add email opt-ins and track your website’s performance.
- Divi has built-in support for WooCommerce, making it easy to sell products online.
Cons:
- While Divi is easy to use, learning its features takes time.
- Some users have reported that Divi’s code can be bloated, slowing website performance.
- While Divi offers a wide range of customization options, some users may find the design options limited compared to other themes.
Divi Pricing
Divi is a premium WordPress theme, so you must pay for it. Here are the pricing options for Divi:
- Divi: This costs $89 per year and has a lifetime subscription of $249. It includes access to all of Elegant Themes’ themes and plugins, updates, and support.
- Divi Pro: This plan costs $277 yearly and has a lifetime subscription of $297. It includes access to everything in the Divi plan plus Divi AI, Divi Cloud, and Divi Teams.
5. Blocksy
If you are looking for a substitute for the Astra Theme, Blocksy is an excellent option. It is a lightweight and fast WordPress theme that offers a range of customization options, making it a popular choice for beginners and advanced users.
Blocksy Key Features
- Fast Loading: Blocksy is optimized for speed, so your website will load quickly and provide a better user experience.
- Customizable Header and Footer: Blocksy offers a range of customization options for your header and footer, allowing you to create a unique look for your website.
- WooCommerce Integration: Blocksy seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce, making it an excellent choice for creating an online store.
- Gutenberg Compatible: Blocksy is fully compatible with the Gutenberg editor, making creating custom layouts and designs accessible.
- Responsive Design: Blocksy is designed to be fully responsive, ensuring your website looks great on all devices.
- SEO Friendly: Blocksy is optimized for search engines, helping your website rank higher in search results.
Blocksy Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using Blocksy:
Pros:
- Easy to use and customize
- Fast loading speed
- WooCommerce integration
- Responsive design
- SEO friendly
Cons:
- Limited free version features
- No pre-built templates
- No drag-and-drop page builder
- Limited third-party plugin integration
Blocksy Pricing
Blocksy offers both a free version and a premium version of the theme. Here’s a breakdown of the pricing:
- Blocksy Free: The free version of Blocksy includes basic features and customization options. It’s a good choice for users who are just starting and don’t need advanced functionality.
- Blocksy Premium: Blocksy Premium is available in three pricing tiers:
- Personal: This plan is priced at $69 per year and includes a lifetime subscription of $199. It provides access to all premium features on one website.
- Professional: Priced at $99/year and a lifetime subscription of $299. This plan is ideal for online businesses and can be used on ten websites.
- Agency: Priced at $149 per year and a lifetime subscription of $499. The Agency plan includes access to all premium features for unlimited websites, making it a cost-effective choice for developers and agencies.
6. Neve Theme
If you are looking for a lightweight, fast, and easily customizable theme, Neve Theme is a great option. It was developed by Themeisle, a popular WordPress theme and plugin development company. Neve Theme is known for its simplicity, speed, and flexibility.
Neve Theme Key Features
- Lightweight and Fast-Loading Design: Neve is designed to be lightweight, ensuring quick load times and efficient performance, which improves user experience and can boost SEO.
- Fully Customizable with a Drag-and-Drop Page Builder: Neve is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Gutenberg, allowing you to easily customize your site’s layout and design using drag-and-drop functionality.
- Optimized for SEO and Mobile Devices: The theme follows best SEO practices, helping your site rank better in search engine results. Neve is fully responsive, ensuring your site looks great and functions well on all devices.
- Compatible with Popular WordPress Plugins: Neve works seamlessly with a wide range of popular WordPress plugins, such as WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, and Contact Form 7, allowing you to extend your site’s functionality easily.
- Ready-to-Import Starter Sites for Various Niches: This lets you quickly set up a professional-looking website by importing a pre-built template and customizing it to fit your needs.
- Built-in WooCommerce Integration: Neve includes built-in support for WooCommerce, making it easy to create and customize an online store with features like product pages, shopping carts, and checkout pages seamlessly integrated into your site’s design.
Neve Theme Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Lightweight and fast
- Easy to customize
- Compatible with popular page builders
- SEO optimized
- WooCommerce ready
Cons:
- Limited free version features
- Some features require paid add-ons
- Limited design options
Neve Theme Pricing
- Free: This is free to use.
- Personal: This costs $69/year. This plan is great for users just getting started with their websites.
- Business: This plan costs $149/year and is best for online shops.
- Agency: This plan is excellent for freelancers and agencies, costing $259/per year.
7. Elementor Hello Theme
The Elementor Hello Theme is a great substitute for the Astra Theme. It is an excellent choice if you are looking for a lightweight, fast, and highly customizable theme that works seamlessly with the Elementor page builder.
Elementor Hello Theme Key Features
- Drag and Drop Page Builder: This allows you to create and customize website pages by simply dragging and dropping elements into place, providing a highly intuitive design experience without needing coding knowledge.
- Customizable Templates and Widgets: These pre-designed elements can be easily tailored to fit your website’s specific needs, making it quick and easy to build professional-looking pages.
- Mobile Responsive Design: This means your site will look great and function well on desktops, tablets, and smartphones, providing an optimal user experience across all platforms.
- WooCommerce Compatibility: The Hello Theme is fully compatible with WooCommerce. You can use Elementor’s design capabilities to build product pages, shopping carts, and checkout pages, ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing e-commerce site.
- SEO Optimization: The Hello Theme is lightweight and optimized for speed, which is crucial for SEO. Faster load times improve user experience and can lead to better search engine rankings. Additionally, the theme works well with popular SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, enabling further optimization of your site’s content and structure.
- Multi-language Support: It is compatible with translation plugins like WPML and Polylang, allowing you to offer your content in multiple languages and reach a wider audience.
Elementor Hello Theme Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using the Elementor Hello Theme:
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Flexible and customizable
- Mobile responsive design
- WooCommerce compatibility
- Free to use
Cons:
- Some features require additional plugins
- It can be slow on some hosting providers
Elementor Hello Theme Pricing
Elementor Hello Theme is forever free to use.
8. Avada Theme
If you’re looking for a versatile and feature-rich WordPress theme, Avada Theme is a great option. It has been around since 2012 and is continuously updated to keep up with the latest design trends and technology.
Avada Theme Key Features
- Easy-to-use: A drag-and-drop page builder that makes it easy to create custom layouts
- Pre-built Templates: There are over 70 pre-built website designs to choose from
- Compatibility: Compatibility with popular WordPress plugins like WooCommerce and Gravity Forms
- Responsive Design: A responsive design that looks great on all devices
- Highly Customizable: Customizable headers and footers
- SEO Options: Avada has built-in SEO optimization tools to ensure your pages are search engine optimized.
Avada Theme Pros and Cons
Like any WordPress theme, Avada Theme has its pros and cons. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Avada Theme:
Pros:
- A wide range of features and customization options
- A powerful page builder that makes it easy to create custom layouts
- Built-in support for WooCommerce and other popular plugins
- Regularly updated to keep up with the latest WordPress trends and technology
- Excellent documentation and support
Cons:
- It can be overwhelming for beginners due to the wide range of options and features.
- The page builder can be slow to load on some sites
- Some users have reported issues with compatibility with specific plugins.
Avada Pricing
Avada is a premium WordPress theme, which means it has a price tag. A regular license costs $69, which includes lifetime updates and six months of support. You can purchase an extended support package for an additional fee if you need more support.
9. Genesis Framework
Genesis Framework is a popular WordPress theme framework that offers a wide range of features and customization options. It is a great alternative to the Astra theme.
Genesis Framework Key Features
- SEO optimized: Genesis Framework is designed with SEO in mind, making optimizing your website for search engines easy.
- Mobile responsive: The theme is mobile responsive, ensuring your website looks great on all devices.
- Customizable: Genesis Framework offers customization options, including custom widgets, page templates, and theme options.
- Fast loading: The theme is optimized for speed, ensuring your website loads quickly.
- Secure: Genesis Framework is built with security in mind, making it a safe and secure option for your website.
- Developer-friendly: The theme is designed to be developer-friendly, with a wide range of hooks and filters for customization.
Genesis Framework Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Wide range of customization options
- SEO optimized
- Mobile responsive
- Fast loading
- Secure
- Developer-friendly
Cons:
- Limited free child themes
- The steep learning curve for beginners
Genesis Framework Pricing
Genesis Framework is free when you host on WP Engine or Flywheel. You can subscribe to Genesis Pro for more advanced features, which costs $360 yearly.
Why Should You Consider an Alternative to Astra Theme?
Astra is a popular theme that offers various customization options and is known for its speed and performance.
While the Astra theme is highly regarded for its flexibility, speed, and extensive customization options, it does have some limitations.
Firstly, Astra’s advanced features and customization options are only available through the Astra Pro plugin or additional add-ons. While Astra is compatible with many popular plugins, achieving certain functionalities may require third-party plugins.
Although Astra offers customization options for headers and footers, it lacks the advanced drag-and-drop builder in themes like Kadence WP. Users looking for highly intricate header and footer designs might find Astra’s capabilities somewhat restrictive.
While extensive, Astra’s pre-built templates and design options can sometimes feel limiting if you want to create a unique or unconventional website design.
Although Astra is user-friendly, beginners might find the extensive customization options overwhelming.
Some users might find that feature updates and new additions are slower than those of other rapidly evolving themes. While Astra is regularly updated for compatibility and security, significant new features might not be introduced as frequently.
Another limitation of Astra is that it might not suit everyone’s needs. Astra is a lightweight theme designed to work well with page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder. If you are not using a page builder, you might not be able to take advantage of Astra’s features.
Choosing the Right Platform
Several factors must be considered when choosing the right platform for your website.
Here are some key considerations to keep in mind:
1. Your Website Goals
Before you choose a platform, it’s crucial to determine your website goals. Are you looking to create a blog, an online store, a portfolio, or a corporate website?
Different platforms offer different features and functionality, so choosing a platform that aligns with your goals is essential.
2. Ease of Use
Another essential factor to consider is ease of use. If you’re new to website building, you’ll want a platform that is easy to navigate and use. Look for platforms with intuitive interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality.
3. Customization Options
Customization options are also important. You’ll want a platform to customize your website to suit your brand and aesthetic. Look for platforms with various themes and templates and customization options for fonts, colors, and layouts.
4. SEO Friendliness
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for driving traffic to your website. Look for SEO-friendly platforms with features such as customizable meta tags, clean code, and fast load times.
5. Support and Community
Finally, consider the support and community offered by the platform. Look for platforms with active communities, support forums, and responsive customer support. This can be especially important if you run into technical issues or have questions about using the platform.
Final Thoughts on Astra Theme Alternatives
While the Astra theme remains popular for many WordPress users, exploring its alternatives can provide unique advantages depending on your specific requirements.
Kadence WP is the best alternative due to its advanced header and footer builder, dynamic content options, and built-in performance enhancements. It is an excellent choice for those seeking flexibility and speed.
Developed by Elegant Themes, Divi Theme is a highly versatile and popular WordPress theme that caters to a wide range of website needs. Known for its powerful drag-and-drop page builder and extensive customization options, Divi makes it easy for users of all skill levels to create stunning and functional websites without needing any coding knowledge.
Finally, the Elementor Hello Theme offers a minimalist, blank canvas that pairs perfectly with the Elementor page builder, giving users unparalleled design freedom and performance optimization.
By considering these alternatives, you can find a theme that aligns with your vision and enhances your WordPress experience, ensuring you build a website that meets your goals efficiently and effectively.
Frequently Asked Questions on Astra Theme Alternatives
What are some free alternatives to the Astra WordPress theme?
Some popular free themes are Kadence WP, Elementor Hello Theme, GeneratePress, and OceanWP. These themes offer a range of features and customization options that can help you create a professional-looking website without spending a dime.
Which WordPress themes are considered the best competitors to Astra?
These themes include the Kadence WP Theme, Elementor Hello Theme, GeneratePress, and OceanWP. These themes offer similar features and customization options and are known for their high performance and ease of use.
How does the Kadence WP theme compare to Astra in terms of features and performance?
Both Kadence WP and Astra excel in features and performance, making them top choices for WordPress users. But Kadence WP stands out with its advanced header and footer builder, dynamic content options, and built-in performance enhancements.
Can GeneratePress be a suitable replacement for the Astra theme for professional websites?
GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme often considered a suitable replacement for the Astra theme. It offers a range of customization options and is known for its fast loading times and optimized code. It also has a built-in page builder and supports WooCommerce integration, making it an excellent choice for professional websites.
In terms of customization and ease of use, how does the Neve theme stand up against Astra?
Neve is a lightweight WordPress theme known for its ease of use. It has a built-in page builder and supports WooCommerce integration. It also has a range of pre-built demos and templates to help you get started quickly. Regarding customization, Neve offers a range of easy-to-use options, making it an excellent option for beginners.
Disclosure: We may earn commissions if you buy via links on our website. Commissions don’t affect our opinions or evaluations. We’re also an independent affiliate of many platforms, including ClickFunnels, Kartra, GoHighLevel, Podia, Northwest Registered Agent, and others. We’re not employees of these services. We receive referral payments from them, and the opinions expressed here are our own and are not official statements of these companies.
WORDPRESS
WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging abuse of power
Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against Automattic, and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion and abuse of power. The lawsuit comes after nearly two weeks of tussling between Mullenweg, who is also CEO of Automattic, and WP Engine over trademark infringement and contributions to the open-source WordPress project.
WP Engine accused Automattic and Mullenweg of not keeping their promises to run WordPress open-source projects without any constraints and giving developers the freedom to build, run, modify and redistribute the software.
“Matt Mullenweg’s conduct over the last ten days has exposed significant conflicts of interest and governance issues that, if left unchecked, threaten to destroy that trust. WP Engine has no choice but to pursue these claims to protect its people, agency partners, customers, and the broader WordPress community,” the company said.
The case document, filed in a court in California, also accused Mullenweg of having a “long history of
obfuscating the true facts” about his control of WordPress Foundation and WordPress.org
The story so far
Mullenweg had criticized WP Engine for infringing WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks. He called them the “Cancer of WordPress” and also called out WP Engine’s private equity partner, Silver Lake, for not caring about the open-source community.
Later, WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist letter, asking Mullenweg and Automattic to withdraw these comments. Automattic then sent its own cease-and-desist, accusing WP Engine of infringing WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks.
Notably, Mullenweg banned WP Engine on September 25 from accessing WordPress.org resources, including plug-ins and themes, and preventing WP Engine customers from updating them. Two days later, Mullenweg provided a temporary reprieve and unblocked WP Engine until October 1.
On Wednesday, Automattic published a proposed seven-year term sheet that it had sent to WP Engine on September 20, asking the hosting company to pay 8% of its gross revenues per month as a royalty fee for using the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks.
Alternatively, WP Engine was given the option to commit 8% by deploying employees to contribute to WordPress’s core features and functionalities, or a combination of both people hours and money.
WP Engine didn’t accept these terms, which included a probation on forking plugins and extensions from Automattic and WooCommerce.
You can contact this reporter at [email protected] or on Signal: @ivan.42
WORDPRESS
Automattic demanded web host pay $32M annually for using WordPress trademark
“WPE’s nominative uses of those marks to refer to the open-source software platform and plugin used for its clients’ websites are fair uses under settled trademark law, and they are consistent with WordPress’ own guidelines and the practices of nearly all businesses in this space,” the lawsuit said.
Mullenweg told Ars that “we had numerous meetings with WPE over the past 20 months, including a previous term sheet that was delivered in July. The term sheet was meant to be simple, and if they had agreed to negotiate it we could have, but they refused to even take a call with me, so we called their bluff.” Automattic also published a timeline of meetings and calls between the two companies going back to 2023.
Mullenweg also said, “Automattic had the commercial rights to the WordPress trademark and could sub-license, hence why the payment should go to Automattic for commercial use of the trademark. Also the term sheet covered the WooCommerce trademark, which they also abuse, and is 100 percent owned by Automattic.”
Automattic alleged “widespread unlicensed use”
Exhibit A in the lawsuit includes a letter to WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner from a trademark lawyer representing Automattic and a subsidiary, WooCommerce, which makes a plugin for WordPress.
“As you know, our Client owns all intellectual property rights globally in and to the world-famous WOOCOMMERCE and WOO trademarks; and the exclusive commercial rights from the WordPress Foundation to use, enforce, and sublicense the world-famous WORDPRESS trademark, among others, and all other associated intellectual property rights,” the letter said.
The letter alleged that “your blatant and widespread unlicensed use of our Client’s trademarks has infringed our Client’s rights and confused consumers into believing, falsely, that WP Engine is authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by, or otherwise affiliated or associated with, our Client.” It also alleged that “WP Engine’s entire business model is predicated on using our Client’s trademarks… to mislead consumers into believing there is an association between WP Engine and Automattic.”
WORDPRESS
5 Most Profitable Online Businesses You Can Start Today for Free!
In today’s digitalized world, starting a business doesn’t always mean you have to have a good chunk of money and years of experience in the field. Yeah, it’s good if you have them, but even without them, you can start a business and make money. Not just a few hundred dollars; some businesses can even make you a millionaire if you invest your time and available resources into them.
You need to have the right approach and the proper set of skills to make that happen. And you can learn such skills for free on the internet. So, all you need is the willingness to put in the work and effort it needs.
In this post, you’ll see 5 most profitable online business ideas that you can start today for free. You don’t need anyone to help you with these businesses when you’re starting out; you can do it all alone, and you can manage these businesses from the comfort of your home.
Even if you don’t know a single thing about these businesses, you can learn them for free on YouTube, Udemy, and the Interent. There’s more than enough free resources out there about these topics to take you from 0-10 real quick.
So, sit down and grab your popcorns, because this article might be the only thing you need to launch your first online business, today itself!
Please note: This post contains affiliate links to products I use, trust, and recommend. If you choose to purchase a helpful product using these links, I may receive a small commission for referring you – at no extra cost to you. These funds help me keep this blog up and running.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable and easy-to-start businesses out there. In affiliate marketing, you need to promote someone else’s product in order to make money. The person who promotes the product in exchange for some commission is called an affiliate.
When you sign up to be an affiliate of any program, you’ll get a unique link to promote the products called an affiliate link. You need to use your affiliate link to send customers to the seller’s page. That link tracks the amount of sales you generate to determine the money you make.
You don’t need to create, package, or ship the products yourself. The seller who is selling the product will do these all. All you need to do is, refer customers to the seller. And when the customer referred by you through your affiliate link makes a purchase, you get a small percentage of the sale amount as a reward. That’s it. That’s what affiliate marketing is!
Through affiliate marketing, you can promote both physical and digital products.
You don’t always have to sell products to earn affiliate commission. Sometimes, you get commission to make people download something. That can be an app, software, or browser extension. Sometimes, you get commissions to make people sign up for particular websites or services. Sometimes, you get commission to generate leads for businesses and agencies, etc. All these things need to be done through your affiliate link in order for you to make a commission.
How to Get Started?
1. Choose your Niche
You need to choose a niche to start affiliate marketing. You can’t promote everything from workout gear to making money online courses yourself! So, choosing a niche is very important to succeed in affiliate marketing. Some popular niches for affiliate marketing are: health & fitness, finance, home & kitchen, technology, relationships, etc.
2. Find the Product
After choosing a niche, you need to find a product to promote. If you decide to get into the health and fitness niche, then you can promote workout plans, weight loss supplements, keto meal plans, hair loss products, and so much more. So, decide what you want to promote and find a good product for it.
3. Build a Platform
Now, you’ve decided your niche, and your product is ready to promote, so all you need is a platform to promote it. You can promote affiliate products either through a blog or through social media. You can write articles on your blog or grow your social media accounts to share your affiliate links.
Here are some popular affiliate marketing platforms you can join.
The affiliate marketing industry is worth nearly $17 billion. So, you can start your affiliate marketing journey today to get a small chunk of that seventeen billion dollars for yourself!
2. Selling Digital Products
Selling digital products is another great way to make a hefty amount of money online. Digital products are a great way to share your knowledge and creativity with the world while making some money.
Digital products are products that are created and sold online. They don’t exist in the real world, except for printables. Printables are graphics that are created digitally but needs to be printed out in the real world to be used.
From ebooks to online courses and printables to music, there’s a wide variety of products that you can create and sell.
Here are some digital products that you can create and sell easily.
If you’re wondering which digital product sells the best and which one you should sell, consider this analysis done among 96,000 creators by influencers.club. According to the analysis, online courses were the most sold digital products, with 35.7% of the entire digital products sold, followed by ebooks (7.3%) and cookbooks (3.8%).
Here are a few more:
Check out 16 Best Digital Products to Sell in 2024
How to Get Started?
1. Choose Your Niche
The first step to building a profitable digital product business is to choose a niche that you’re interested in and have a demand in the market. You can select a niche based on your expertise, passion or to profit from an untapped market opportunity. Make sure that there are enough people willing to pay for your products so that you can make a good amount of money selling them.
2. Create Your Product
After choosing a niche to get into, you need to create a solid product to sell. In order to get constant sales, your product needs to be highly valuable. Either it needs to solve your customer’s problem or it needs to add significant value to their life. Make sure that your product is up-to-date, functional, and user-friendly.
3. Set up a Platform to Sell
Now that you have decided your niche and your product is ready to sell, all you need is a platform to host and sell your products. You can either sell digital products through your own website or through platforms like Etsy, Gumroad, Teachable, etc.
You can sell ebooks, printables, planners, digital arts, wallpapers, templates, etc. through Etsy and Gumroad. And to sell online courses, you can use platforms like Teachable or Udemy.
You can use graphic design tools like Canva and Adobe Illustrator to create printables, stickers, templates, wallpapers, etc. And you can write your ebook on Google Docs or Notepad and save it as a pdf to sell it.
4. Price Your Products
After your product is ready and you’ve decided a platform to sell, you need to set a price to sell your products.
Pricing is a really crucial part. You can’t price it too high or too low. If you price it too high, very few people are likely to buy it, and if you price it too low, you won’t make enough profit.
So, while pricing your product, evaluate the product yourself and do your market research to analyze your competitors pricing to determine your own product’s pricing.
You can promote your digital products by creating video/image content, writing blog posts, email marketing, paid ads, SEO, and through social media marketing.
Digital products can be a great way to make money online passively without needing much work and attention. So, this might be something you would love to get into! The best part is, there is no limit on how much money you can make. Ana from TheSheApproach has made over $55,000 selling ebooks alone through her small blog.
3. Print on Demand
Print on Demand, or POD, is gaining immense popularity in recent times due to its business model. Print on demand business has less to no startup cost, which makes it easier for anyone to get into it.
In Print on Demand business, you create designs to print on mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, caps, pants, etc. After your design is ready, you find a print-on-demand supplier to print and sell your products.
Unlike other type of businesses, in POD, the products are not produced first and listed for sale later. Instead, the products are promoted first and only produced or printed when a customer places an order.
In POD, your job is to create designs and market your products. Your POD supplier will do everything else, from printing, packaging, and delivering the product. They will even handle the returns if they have to.
How to Get Started?
1. Choose a Niche
First of all, choose a niche you want to start your business in. Choose a niche that has huge demand in the market and something you’re interested in. For example, if you’re interested in sports, you can create designs related to sports, print them, and sell them.
2. Create Your Designs
After you’ve chosen your niche, you need to create designs to print on products. Good designs attract more eyeballs and generate more sales compared to plain, low-quality designs. So, put your maximum effort into creating good designs. Your designs might be the only differentiator between success and failure of your POD business.
3. Choose a Print on Demand Supplier
After your design is ready, you need to find a good and trustworthy POD supplier to print and supply your products. Choose a supplier that uses high-quality materials to create products, has less fees, low shipping time, good customer support, and large area coverage. These things are crucial for your business’s success.
Here are some popular print-on-demand suppliers:
4. Set up Your Store
Now that your product is ready to sell, you need to find a platform to sell it. You can sell your POD products on Etsy, WooCommerce, or eBay, or setup a Shopify store to sell them. Your store must be clean and colorful to convert more visitors into customers.
5. Price Your Products
After your store is setup, you need to price your product. Make sure to check your competitors prices before pricing your own products. You can’t sell your products for significantly more than what your competitor is selling for. If you do so, you won’t get as many sales as you would have with a lower price point.
You can market your Print on Demand products mainly through social media and paid ads. You can start and grow a social media account to promote your POD products for free.
The print-on-demand market is worth more than $7.24B in 2024 and is projected to reach $43.4B by 2030 with a growth rate of staggering 26.8%. So, this might be the chance to dip your toes into the world of ecommerce with print on demand.
4. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is one of the hottest and most popular online business right now. It has made thousands of teenagers and 20-year-olds millionaires, and its craze is not going down anytime soon.
Dropshipping is a business model where you find a product, advertise it, and generate sales, but someone else produces, packages, and ships them for you.
You buy products for less price from retailers or even manufacturers and sell them for a higher price through your own store. For example, if I find a cool watch on Alibaba.com that I can buy for $7 a piece, then I will create my own store to advertise that product and sell it for $20, $30, or even more. That is how you make money with dropshipping.
In dropshipping, you don’t have to worry about producing product, packaging, shipping, or keeping a product inventory because whenever an order comes in, you forward that order and customer’s details to your supplier, and then your supplier will produce, package, and deliver the product to your customer. There are several tools and softwares to automate this entire process. Here you’re basically a middleman reselling the products.
How to Get Started?
1. Find a Product
To start a dropshipping business, first you need to find a product that solves a specific problem of your customers. Sometimes the product can be a fashionable or decorative item like a watch. The product has to have a high potential to sell. In the world of dropshipping, a product that solves a problem and has a high potential to sell is called a winning product.
2. Find a Supplier
After finding a good product to sell, you need to find a supplier who can supply you the same product for a cheaper price. A supplier can be the making or breaking point of your business because your job is to promote the product and bring customers. Everything except that is done by your supplier, so if you find a good supplier, you won’t have or have very few problems in your business, and vice versa.
So, before choosing your supplier, check their product quality, delivery time, packaging style, and customer service. A good supplier must have high-quality products, low delivery time, good packaging quality, and good customer support.
AliExpress is the go-to platform to find suppliers and products at a cheaper price, for dropshipping.
3. Build Your Store
After you’ve found a good product and a reliable supplier, you need to build a store to market your products. You can create your store on platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, GetResponse, and Wix or sell them directly on Amazon or eBay. The design of your store must be clean, simple, and colorful to get more sales.
4. Market Your Store
After your store is setup and ready to sell, you need to advertise it, to bring customers to it. To advertise your store, you can use social media, paid ads, content marketing, SEO, and more.
Most dropshippers advertise their store through either Facebook or TikTok ads and through content marketing by creating viral pieces of content for TikTok, Instagram reels, and YouTube shorts.
That’s it! That’s how you can start your own dropshipping business and profit from the $250B dropshipping industry.
5. Dropservicing
Now you know what dropshipping is, but have you ever heard about dropservicing? Huh? Dropshipping deals with selling physical products, but dropservicing is all about selling services.
Dropservicing, also known as service arbitrage, is a business model where you sell services to clients. But instead of doing the work yourself, you outsource the work to a third-party service provider, either a freelancer or an agency. In dropservicing, you’re basically a middleman, just like in dropshipping, who acts as a service seller in front of clients to make money without doing any work yourself.
Whatever remains after paying your service provider from the amount your client paid is your profit. For example, if you find a client who is ready to pay you $1000 to edit a video for him. Then you find a freelancer or a video editing agency who can edit the same video for $400, then you can keep the remaining $600 with yourself. The more you charge your client and the less you pay your service provider, the more money you make. Didn’t understand? Read it again, you’ll get it!
How to Get Started?
1. Choose a Niche
To start a dropservicing business, you must be good at some kind of skill or a particular niche. That can be web designing, video editing, graphic designing, content writing, etc. Even though you’re not the one doing the work, you need to have proper knowledge and skill in the field to convince your client that you’re capable enough and a perfect fit for the work.
2. Find Your Service Provider
After you’ve decided your niche, you need a service provider to do the required tasks for you. While choosing a service provider, you need to make sure that they are good at what they do; otherwise, you’ll end up with a low-quality output that may not satisfy your clients and may not fulfill their requirements. You can find service providers on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc., or on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
3. Setup a Platform
After you’ve decided your niche and found the service providers, you need to market your services in order to get clients. To do so, either you can create your own website, create a profile on freelancing platforms, or promote your services through social media.
While setting up a platform, you need to add your portfolio, past works, pricing, client testimonials, and contact information. Don’t worry if you don’t have any of these! You can add your service provider’s portfolio and client testimonials as yours while setting up your platform.
4. Set Your Prices
Before you launch your dropservicing business, you need to set a price for your services. While setting up pricing your services, find out how much your service provider is charging for the service you’re going to sell, and set your prices accordingly. For example, if your service provider charges $400 to edit a video, you can set your video editing price at $600, $700, or more.
You can promote your dropservicing business through content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, cold outreach, paid advertising, and freelance platforms.
Cold outreach is a process where you reach out to or contact someone via email who doesn’t have any connection with your business. The email is meant to aware them about your product or service and provide them with an offer.
Best Platforms to Start Your Business
If you’re thinking of starting a blog to get into affiliate marketing, then I would highly suggest you create your blog on either Wix or WordPress. These two are the best blog builders out there.
And if you’d like to create your own website to promote your digital products, dropshipping/dropservicing business, and print-on-demand products, then I would suggest you use GetResponse’s simple drag-and-drop website builder. It’s very easy to use and completely free to create and manage a website for lifetime. Getresponse also has its own email marketing tool, so, if you want, you can even start email marketing with it for completely free!
Tips to succeed:
1. Stay Consistent: You won’t see results overnight, so you need to be consistent to get results and make money.
2. Learn, Learn, Learn: Whatever business you get into, learn about it as much as you can. Learning will help you gather more knowledge about the topic, which ultimately helps you to get better results and earn more.
3. Be Patient: Many people give up too early because they are really, really impatient. Remember, great things take time, and if it were so easy and fast, then everyone would have done it.
4. Provide Value: If you want to make money, then you need to provide something that is equally valuable to your customers. So, make sure your main motive is to provide value along with making money.
So, these were the 5 most profitable online business ideas that you can start today for free. Let me quickly recap them for you. 1. Affiliate marketing 2. Selling digital products 3. Print on Demand (POD) 4. Dropshipping 5. Dropservicing. Make sure to give them a try if you’re thinking of starting an online business. And tell me in the comments, which one of these businesses would you start if you have to?