A few weeks ago at WordCamp Europe we announced free sites for local WordPress meetup groups. This initiative aims to support the WordPress community by providing free world-class hosting to promote your local meetups.

Today we’re bringing you a set of easy-to-use templates, along with some ideas on how to customize your community site. Let’s dive in! 

Building a WordPress community website

WordPress.com offers a huge variety of themes, but if you’re looking for a place to start, you can’t go wrong with Twenty Twenty-Four. It’s a community project, comes with a professional, polished look, and offers plenty of built-in patterns that make site building a breeze. It also lends itself beautifully to customization.

Twenty Twenty-Four already has a lot going for it, but we decided to take it a step further and offer a couple of custom, community-focused page layouts to go along with it. Our stylish homepage and events page templates will seamlessly integrate with your site. 

The homepage layout includes a welcome message, stats section, upcoming events, a blog, and a call for speakers. All of these are optional and can be removed or re-arranged as needed. Plus, you can supplement them with other patterns from the catalog, like social icons to promote your local group’s social media presence.

Let’s have a look!

Getting started with templates

First, you’ll want to activate the Twenty Twenty-Four theme on your site. Next, follow these steps to set up your homepage:

1. Create a static page.
2. In the “Add a page” modal select the “Events” category on the left, and pick the desired layout, following these steps. 
3. Set the page template to “Page No Title.”
4. Set your custom page as the homepage in the Settings → Reading section following these steps.

Repeat as necessary for the Events page, and any other page that you might want to add to your site, like About, Contact, or Blog.

The above page layouts can also be found in our pattern library in the Events category.

Customization options

Once you’ve applied a template, it’s time to make it your own. Customizing your site to match your group’s vision is easy. Don’t forget to grab official WordPress logos and other visual assets.

Change fonts and colors

Experiment with fonts and colors to make your design unique. Twenty Twenty-Four theme comes with six style variations that include different colors and fonts, and can be further adjusted as needed.

Swap template parts

Use the power of Site Editor to change the header and footer of your site. Twenty Twenty-Four comes with a selection of built-in options for the site headers and footers, so take your pick!

Add links to social media profiles

Use the Social Icons block to display logos that link to your social media profiles anywhere on your site.

Update your Meetup.com group page

Once your local community website is ready, don’t forget to add the link to your group description and the “Find us” section on your official Meetup.com page.

Over to you

We are committed to providing the best tools and resources for the WordPress community. What other patterns or templates would be useful for your meetup site? Share your thoughts and suggestions with us—we’re here to help you succeed!

When Automattic launched the .blog domain extension back in 2016, our in-house team built a shiny new website to go with it. The vibe of my.blog very much matched the era, featuring a simple layout, a generic color palette, and a “just the basics” approach to the content and overall messaging. 

Eight years later, it was time for a refresh. 

Our special projects team recently revisited my.blog, giving it a totally new aesthetic and approach, as well as some cool new features. In this post, we’re going to give you a peek behind the curtain about how this new site came to be. The fresh design beautifully showcases what’s possible with WordPress. 

Take a look around my.blog and don’t forget to grab a .blog domain while you’re at it!  

Design inspo 

The first step for our team was to nail down a design motif. For any website project, starting here sets the tone for the entire site. What are the colors, styling, and typographical elements that speak to what you’re trying to get across?

Our design team presented two beautiful options, each with their pros and cons:  

The fluid layout of the lighter version, codenamed Lemon Softness, really stood out, whereas the tile or card layout of the darker version, codenamed Starfield, looked nice, but felt like more of the same on today’s web. 

On the other hand, the dark aesthetic of Starfield spoke a little more to our future-facing sensibilities. 

Ultimately, we combined them. The layout of Lemon Softness is what you’ll see on my.blog today (including a few very cool scrolling animations), while the Starfield inspiration shows up in Dark Mode toggle (the moon/sun icon on the top right). Also check out the “glass morphism” effect in the header at the top of the site, which blurs the imagery just a bit so that you can clearly read and navigate the menu.

Blogger inspo 

Of course, it’s not all about the design. Along with the bold new look, our team included a few features that will inspire bloggers of all stripes and encourage getting back into the habit. After all, blogging is actually thriving in our social media world. 

First, we wanted to ensure that “dotbloggers” (folks who use a .blog domain) were highlighted right on the front page. This carousel pulls posts from the “dotblogger” blog category: 

Just a bit further down on the page, we decided to feature .blog sites; this carousel is actually populated dynamically from a .blog domain database. 

Finally, the team wanted to emphasize how powerful blogging can be. Just as “the death of the novel” has been overblown for at least 100 years, “the death of blogging” is a regular fixture of online discourse. The reality is that more people than ever before are blogging and seeing the value of having a corner of the internet that’s all theirs. To this end, we spent time crafting a manifesto that speaks to this: 

We hold this truth at the center of our mission and vision: content is valuable. When you publish online—whatever you publish—you are declaring your willingness to create and add something to our world.

Owning your domain means that you’re not at the whims of an ever-changing algorithm. It’s a claim of ownership and independence. A .blog domain is more than that—it’s a signal and a badge of authenticity that declares your particular corner of the internet as a space for stories, expressions, thoughts, and ideas. You’re an original.

A .blog domain is more than just the dynamic pillar of your online presence (though it is that too). It’s a stage for all of the utterly unique ways you share your story—in words, photographs, videos, podcasts, artwork, and more.

Resources for days 

Beyond the glitz and glamor, the .blog website also needs to provide practical resources for both registrars and dotbloggers. On the registrar side, our team made it especially convenient to access promotional content and visual marketing assets. When it comes to bloggers looking for a domain, the search page provides real-time results for what’s available and where you can purchase it. 

As a reminder, you can also buy a .blog domain directly from WordPress.com/domains—for just $2.20 for the first year, or for free if you purchase any annual paid plan.  

Take a look for yourself 

No need to take our word on the great job our special projects team did with the new my.blog website. Head over, click around, grab your own memorable domain name, and start (or restart) blogging today. 

Choosing the right shopping cart software for your business can take a lot of the stress out of the sales process, resulting in more sales and a higher AOV. In this guide, I’m sharing the best Thrivecart alternatives for online businesses.

While Thrivecart does offer excellent value for money with its lifetime plan, it falls short in a few areas, including a lack of live support and the high initial cost.

The good news is that there are lots of great alternatives to choose from. I’ve put together a list of the best ones to help you find the right solution for your business, depending on what you’re selling.

The Best Thrivecart Alternatives to Sell Your Products

All of these Thrivecart alternatives have different features, so it’s important to know what you want to sell and how you plan to market it before making a decision.

Whether you’re a small business owner or managing a large online store, understanding the key features of each will enable you to choose the platform that’s right for your business.

Shopify (Best Thrivecart Alternative for Physical Products)

As the leading shopping cart provider, Shopify is a great option for anyone wanting to sell a large inventory of both physical and digital products.

Shopify’s main features include:

• Payment processing
• Sell digital products, physical products, and services
• Payment links
• Detailed reporting
• Affiliate management
• Website
• Custom domain
• Advanced analytics and order tracking

It also offers point-of-sale options for anyone who wants to sell their products or services in person in a brick-and-mortar store or market. The flexibility Shopify offers means that it will be the only platform you ever need as your business grows—it’s used by some of the world’s largest brands, as well as medium-sized businesses and solopreneurs.

The best thing about Shopify is how easy it is to use. This powerful ecommerce platform makes it super easy to create a professional-looking online store in a matter of hours.

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Sendowl (Great for Simple Digital Product Delivery)

Sendowl is undoubtedly one of the most underrated Thrivecart alternatives around for digital product sales. It’s super easy to use, and it’s incredibly affordable, too, with plans starting from just $18/month.

Its features include:

• Easy digital product delivery
• Flexible payment options
• Sell anywhere with payment links
• One-click upsells
• Storefront builder
• Multiple payment gateways
• Send software license keys

It’s a great option for anyone selling digital products such as e-books and digital files. You can even use it to take recurring payments for things like memberships and coaching (although you will still need to use another platform like Zoom to actually deliver this type of service).

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Systeme (Best Free Thrivecart Alternative)

Another all-in-one e-commerce toolkit to add to the list! Systeme makes marketing and selling your products, courses, or services easy by combining all the tools you need into one affordable package.

It includes:

• Sales funnels
• Email marketing
• Website Builder
• Affiliate program management
• Business automation
• Evergreen webinars
• Online courses
• Blogging
• Selling products (either dropshipping or your own products)

It offers excellent value for money too, with a completely free plan, as well as a range of affordable monthly or yearly paid plans.

Systeme is a great option for anyone who wants to create an online course or membership. It has all the tools you need to run a successful business in one place at a very affordable price point. You can read more about this amazing platform in our in-depth Systeme.io review.

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Kajabi (Best for Coaches)

Kajabi is a great all-rounder, but it’s particularly good for anyone selling courses or memberships thanks to its built-in Podcast hosting and community features.

It includes everything you need to run your business in one place, with features such as:

• Websites
• Email marketing
• Online course builder
• Coaching
• Podcasts
• Sales funnel builder
• Analytics
• Mobile App
• Flexible payments
• Automatic tax calculations

It’s not the cheapest option on this list, but you get what you pay for. And you won’t need to integrate any other tools or pay for hosting, because it really is a one-stop-shop for anyone selling a digital product or service online.

The downside is that if you want to sell physical products, you will still need to use a 3rd party integration like Shopify.

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Sellfy (Best Thrivecart Alternative for print-on-demand)

If you’re looking to start a Print on Demand business, Sellfy is a great option. As well as print-on-demand products you can also add your own digital and physical products too. This makes it a great option for influencers who want to sell their own products or merch with no upfront investment for inventory.

It includes:

• A beautiful, customizable storefront
• Built-in print-on-demand platform
• Sell digital products
• Embed a ‘buy now’ button on your website
• Amazing support
• Email marketing
• Video streaming
• Subscriptions
• Connect your own domain
• Multiple languages
• Upselling
• Cart abandonment emails
• Affiliate marketing tools

It’s surprisingly affordable too, with plans starting from just $29/month for unlimited products.

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WooCommerce (Best for WordPress Users)

If you’re already using WordPress for your website or blog, WooCommerce could be a good option for you.

WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin, so it’s completely free to use. Once installed, you will have everything you need to create a professional-looking e-commerce store right on your existing website.

You can use it to sell absolutely anything from digital downloads to physical products and even to take payments for bookings and other services online.

There are thousands of extensions available too (free and paid) so the possibilities when it comes to creating online stores are endless.

This makes WooCommerce one of the most flexible and affordable options when it comes to selling online.

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Podia

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that combines your website or blog with the ability to sell products and services, you can’t really go wrong with Podia.

With Podia, you can sell:

• Digital downloads
• Coaching
• Online courses
• Private Communities

The best thing about Podia is that you can manage your entire online business from one place. This saves you from having to pay for hosting and you won’t need to integrate additional tools like email marketing software.

Podia’s pricing is incredibly competitive with a completely free plan (they will take a 10% cut of your sales) and even the highest tier plan with all the bells and whistles will only set you back $59/month.

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Samcart

Samcart is one of the most popular Thrivecart alternatives around, and one of its closest competitors. While it has a lot of similar features to Thrivecart, Samcart offers far superior customer support and a few additional features that Thrivecart doesn’t offer.

This includes multiple order bumps and different ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ options which allow buyers to split up larger payments.

Samcart’s key features include:

• Express checkout
• Sales Pages
• 1-Click Upsells
• Order bumps and add-ons
• Cart abandonment
• Flexible payment options
• Affiliate center
• Subscriptions

And lots more. It is more expensive than Thrivecart, but if you don’t mind the price tag it’s definitely worth considering.

You can get a free 7-day Trial of Samcart Right Here

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Clickfunnels

A classic when it comes to sales funnels, Clickfunnels is a good option for anyone wanting a simple approach to creating ‘set it and forget it’ sales funnels. It’s a lot more than just a sales funnel builder though!

Its key features include:

• Pre-built funnel templates
• Drag and drop editor
• A/B testing
• Landing pages
• CRM
• Sales page builder
• Email marketing
• Webinar hosting
• Membership sites
• Shopping cart tools
• Reporting and analytics

It integrates well with multiple payment gateways and enables you to easily add up-sells and order bumps to increase your average order value.

You can use Clickfunnels to sell anything from digital downloads to courses and memberships and even physical products.

So if you’re looking for a tool that can handle every part of the sales and marketing process, Clickfunnels is certainly worth considering.

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Gumroad

Gumroad is a popular option for many creators and influencers because it allows you to sell products with no monthly fee.

Sure, you do have to pay a 10% commission on each sale you make. However, that’s only once you’ve actually sold something, so you will never be out of pocket.

With Gumroad you can:

• Sell digital products and services
• Sell monthly subscriptions
• Accept payments in any currency

Gumroad can even generate license keys, so if you’re selling software you can make sure your products are protected.

Perhaps the best thing about Gumroad is how easy it is to use. It’s perfect for independent creators looking to sell things like ebooks, or handmade products.

The downside is that it doesn’t have many advanced features, so it’s not a good option if you don’t already have an audience to sell to.

Read the full Gumroad review to find out more about this platform.

Which of These Thrivecart Alternatives is Best Overall?

As you can see, there are plenty of great Thrivecart alternatives to choose from, each with its own unique set of features. Because they are all so different, I have selected a few ‘winners’ for different use cases.

My overall favorite is Systeme.io. It’s a great all-rounder and includes everything you need to create an online store and market your products. Its pre-designed funnel templates make generating more sales easy, and best of all, it has a completely free plan, making it accessible to new entrepreneurs as well as established businesses.

If you have (or are planning to have) a large product inventory, then Shopify is a solid option that will be able to handle everything thrown at it as your business grows.

If you are a coach, influencer, or thought leader, then Kajabi will give you everything you need to run a successful business. The fact that it includes podcast hosting is the cherry on the cake.

And finally, if you are selling digital products such as WordPress themes or software, Sendowl is definitely worth checking out. It’s very affordable, starting from just $18/month, and can generate license keys for every sale to help you protect your hard work.