15 Best WordPress Magazine Themes of 2025 [FREE + PAID]

If you’ve ever tried running a magazine site with a basic WordPress theme, then you know how limiting it can feel. The layout looks flat, the design feels unpolished, and your best articles don’t get the attention they deserve.

Magazine websites need more.

Readers expect a clean layout, eye-catching visuals, and an easy way to explore your content. Without those elements, even your strongest stories can slip under the radar.

That’s why choosing the right WordPress magazine theme matters. A good theme doesn’t just make your site look better; it improves navigation and gives your publication the professional edge it needs to grow.

In this showcase, we’ll walk you through our top picks of WordPress magazine themes to help your site stand out and keep readers coming back. 🙌

Quick Pick: Our Top 3 Magazine WordPress Themes

Not sure where to start? We’ve narrowed things down for you.

While all the WordPress themes on this list are solid choices, here are our top three picks that stand out for design, flexibility, and ease of use:

🥇 First Choice	🥈 Second Choice	🥉 Third Choice
aThemes Sydney	Divi	SeedProd
Popularity: 100,000+ active installs	Popularity: 2M+ active installs	Popularity: 1 million+ active installs
⭐ Rating: 700+ 5-star reviews on WordPress.org	⭐ Rating: 20,000+ reviews on Trustpilot	⭐ Rating: 4,660+ 5-star reviews on WordPress.org
28+ starter website designs	200+ website and page templates	300+ site kits and starter templates
Connects with WooCommerce	Seamless WooCommerce integration	No-code WooCommerce website builder
Pre-built site sections and elements	Built-in website elements	80+ premium page blocks
Compatible with popular page builders	Works with Divi Builder	Built-in page, website, and Theme builder
Read More »	Read More »	Read More »

How We Test and Review WordPress Magazine Themes

Picking the right theme for your magazine WordPress site can feel overwhelming, and that’s exactly why we did the heavy lifting for you.

For this roundup, we installed, set up, and tested each theme as if we were running an online magazine. We checked how these themes handle stories, post series, images, and reader engagement.

Here’s what we looked at during our reviews:

• Design Quality – We explored layouts and demo content to see if the designs felt polished, professional, and engaging for readers.
• Ease of Customization – We played around with colors, fonts, and layouts to make sure you can customize everything without touching code. We also checked how well each theme works with page builders.
• Mobile Responsiveness – We tested every theme on phones and tablets to confirm the layouts stay clean and easy to use on smaller screens.
• Plugin Compatibility – We installed popular plugins like WooCommerce and SEO tools to make sure they run smoothly alongside the theme.
• Speed and Performance – We ran speed tests and looked at load times to confirm your site will still feel fast, even under heavy traffic.
• Customer Support – We reached out to the theme developers and checked documentation to see how responsive and helpful the support really was.

With these hands-on tests, we’ve narrowed down the best 15 WordPress magazine themes that work whether you’re starting fresh or upgrading an existing publication.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the best WordPress themes for online magazines.

1. Sydney

Sydney is a flexible WordPress theme that we’ve found works beautifully for news and magazine websites. During testing, we liked how its powerful feature set makes it easy to showcase the latest articles and keep readers engaged.

For more information about it, see our exhaustive Sydney review.

With 28 starter sites and a full library of pre-built layouts, sections, and elements, we were able to spin up a professional magazine-style homepage in minutes.

We also appreciated the sticky navigation menu, which kept categories accessible while scrolling. Plus, there are lots of handy built-in blogging features like post sharing and a reading progress bar.

Most importantly, Sydney is lightweight and fast-loading in real-world use. This is essential for magazine sites where readers are clicking through multiple pages.

2. Divi

Divi is a popular WordPress theme that can be used to create any type of website, including magazine sites. When testing it, we found the built-in drag-and-drop page builder made it simple to create unique layouts without needing extra plugins.

For more insights, you can check out our full Divi review.

This theme comes packed with dozens of ready-made templates, including ones designed specifically for online magazines and news sites. We also liked how easy it was to tweak colors, fonts, and backgrounds so the site felt branded right away.

On top of design flexibility, Divi includes built-in SEO optimization , which helps your articles and categories rank better in search engines—a big plus for content-heavy sites.

3. SeedProd

SeedProd is the most beginner-friendly website and landing page builder for WordPress. Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create a fully custom magazine theme without touching a single line of code.

Several of our partner brands use SeedProd to custom-build their site designs because it combines speed, flexibility, and professional results. Check out our complete SeedProd review to learn more about it.

The best part is that SeedProd offers dozens of ready-made theme layouts.

Many of them are perfect for image-heavy sites like online magazines. You can just pick a template and get a polished magazine site running in just minutes. Or you can also go completely custom if you prefer.

See our tutorial on how to create a custom WordPress theme for more details.

4. Neve

Neve is one of the best WordPress multipurpose themes. It comes with hundreds of starter sites, including several magazine-style demos with full images and sample content. You can import a demo and have a polished magazine site up and running in just minutes.

In our testing, Neve worked seamlessly with popular page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder. We also found its built-in SEO optimization helpful for magazine sites that want to grow traffic fast.

On a demo magazine site, the featured content blocks and category landing pages stood out. They made it easy to highlight top stories and organize sections in a way that keeps readers engaged.

5. OceanWP

OceanWP is a free WordPress multipurpose theme. It ships with dozens of pre-built sites and a 1-click content importer to get started quickly.

When we tested it, the setup process was smooth, and we had a demo magazine site running in just a few minutes. The layouts felt clean and flexible, giving plenty of room for featured stories and sidebar widgets.

You can read more about our experience in our full OceanWP review.

With the built-in eCommerce integration, you can easily add a shop section to sell merchandise or subscriptions alongside your magazine content. Plus, it’s translation-ready and supports RTL languages, which makes it a solid choice for multilingual publications.

6. Ultra

Ultra is a stunning WordPress theme with a multipurpose approach that makes it easy to create a magazine or newspaper website. It offers fully customizable demo sites and a built-in page builder for customization.

Ultra’s other notable features include premium addons, color schemes, layout options, parallax scrolling, and more. It also comes with built-in image filters, which can help your visuals stand out and make a strong first impression on readers.

Plus, with its drag-and-drop builder, Ultra makes it simple to design a professional magazine site.

7. Jason

Jason is an editorial WordPress magazine theme designed specifically for publishers who write long-form articles. It features a smart grid layout that highlights your posts, photos, and quotes in a visually engaging way.

Using the built-in Style Manager, you can easily customize the theme’s colors and fonts.

You can also use handy tools like a custom logo creator and built-in sidebar widgets for things like popular posts. These little touches make it easy to brand your site and keep readers engaged with your best content without needing extra plugins.

8. Guten Theme

Guten Theme is a stylish WordPress magazine theme with built-in support for the WordPress block editor. It includes pre-designed patterns that make it easy to create page layouts quickly for full site editing.

The theme comes with 2 layout options (boxed and full width) and allows you to customize colors for the header, footer, homepage slider, navigation, and pages. You can find these settings in the WordPress Customizer.

It also supports 25+ social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn, making it simple to grow your online presence.

9. Tribune

Tribune is a powerful WordPress news and magazine theme with an elegant layout that helps you highlight your most important content. It has a featured posts area at the top and a carousel slider at the bottom of the page.

Another standout feature is the tabbed widget, which you can use to organize content under Latest News, Most Commented/Viewed, Categories, or anything you like. You can also use the built-in social media integration to display your social profiles and feeds.

Other features include a news ticker, featured category sections, and a video widget. Plus, an “Older Posts” button helps readers browse through articles (almost like an infinite scroll).

And you can customize everything in the WordPress Customizer.

10. Astra

Astra is one of the best WordPress multipurpose themes on the market. It comes with hundreds of ready-to-launch starter websites that you can install and customize to suit you.

See our complete Astra review for details.

Astra works great with any WordPress page builder plugin and comes with tons of flexible options. You can customize your theme using the live customizer or simply edit a page in the default WordPress editor.

11. Wonderwall

Wonderwall is a beautifully designed WordPress magazine theme. It includes pre-made homepage layouts that allow you to choose from different grids, featured posts, single lists, and more.

Inside, you will also find custom widgets for social media profiles, Instagram, and content discovery features. It also offers a dedicated section to display banner ads across your website.

12. Felt

Felt is an elegant WordPress magazine theme with a ton of awesome features. It’s designed to display content beautifully in a magazine layout.

Felt pays special attention to readability across devices and looks equally great on mobile and desktop. It has a fullscreen featured content slider to showcase your content categories beautifully.

13. Patch

Patch is a masonry-style WordPress magazine and blogging theme featuring a minimalist layout that makes your content pop out. It comes with multiple layout choices, including a grid layout for your homepage.

This theme is easy to use and quick to set up, with many flexible options to customize every aspect of your website. It’s also great for running a multilingual site, as it’s translation-ready using a translation plugin such as WPML.

14. ColorMag

ColorMag is a sophisticated WordPress magazine theme. It comes with a featured content slider, custom widgets, and custom header support.

With color choices and custom backgrounds, ColorMag lets you fully change the look and feel of your magazine website. It also supports WooCommerce straight out of the box.

15. Domino Magazine

Domino Magazine is a highly customizable WordPress magazine theme. The homepage features multiple widgetized areas and a dynamic page builder.

It comes with a built-in news ticker, a weather widget, and a tabbed widget. The theme also allows you to easily add a custom background, headers, sliders, and your logo.

Plus, if you prefer a darker look for your site, Domino Magazine is a solid choice.

Bonus Tip: Setting Up Your WordPress Magazine Website

Now that you’ve selected a stunning theme for your magazine, let’s get your site up and running. Here’s a simple guide to help you get started.

WordPress is the best website builder for building a magazine site. It currently powers over 43% of all websites on the internet.

If you want to make a magazine website with WordPress, then you will need web hosting and a domain name. A domain name is your site’s address on the web, like wpbeginner.com or google.com. Web hosting is the storage for all your website files.

Magazine websites often have a lot of content, including images and videos. This is why you need to choose a WordPress hosting company that offers you enough space to upload all your files while also handling your traffic efficiently.

If you are just starting, then we recommend Bluehost. They are a popular hosting company and an official WordPress.org recommended hosting provider.

Bluehost offers WPBeginner readers a huge hosting discount, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate.

Need alternatives? Check out our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting service.

Upon installation, you can go ahead and install your selected theme.

To do this, you can navigate to Appearance » Themes from your WordPress dashboard. Then, click the ‘Add Theme’ button at the top to start exploring available themes.

After that, simply use the search bar to find your chosen theme, like Sydney, and click the ‘Install’ and then ‘Activate.’

Most of the themes in this guide come with starter templates or demo content. You can use these as a base for your layout and tweak colors, fonts, and other options to make your site unique.

If you need help, you can take a look at our guide on how to install a WordPress theme for help getting your theme set up.

And if you ever feel stuck, our detailed guide on how to start a WordPress blog is available to guide you through each step. With the right tools and a bit of creativity, your magazine site will be thriving in no time! 🙌

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Magazine Themes

How do I choose the right WordPress theme for my magazine site?

We recommend picking a theme that offers flexibility, mobile responsiveness, and easy customization. Plus, since magazine sites are often content-heavy, your theme should have well-structured layouts and support for multimedia (images, video, audio).

Can I switch themes later if I’m not satisfied?

Yes. WordPress makes it easy to change themes at any time. Just be sure to back up your site before switching, since some layouts or custom settings may not carry over automatically.

What plugins do you recommend for a magazine website?

At minimum, you’ll want to install:

• An SEO plugin (like All in One SEO or Yoast SEO)
• A caching plugin (like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache) for speed
• A contact form plugin (like WPForms) for reader interaction

Depending on your needs, you may also find these plugins useful:

• Email marketing software to build a subscriber list and send newsletters to bring readers back to your site.
• Social sharing plugins to let readers quickly share your articles on platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.
• Security plugins to protect your site from spam, malware, and unauthorized logins.

Is switching from WordPress.com to WordPress.org difficult?

Not at all. WordPress.org does require separate hosting, but it gives you full control and flexibility for running a professional magazine site. We have step-by-step guides on moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.

How do I ensure my website is fast-loading?

You should choose a lightweight theme, use quality hosting, and add caching. Optimizing your images and using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can also make a big difference in speed. For details, see our guide to WordPress speed and performance.

Can I monetize my WordPress magazine site?

Absolutely. Many publishers earn through display ads, sponsored content, affiliate links, or subscriptions. With plugins like WooCommerce, you can even sell digital downloads or physical products directly from your site.

Best WordPress Guides for Magazine Websites

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress magazine themes for your website. Next, you may also want to see our other helpful guides on:

• How to Add a Scrolling News Ticker in WordPress
• How to Add Multi-Column Content in WordPress Posts
• How to Write Powerful Headlines Using AI (Explained)
• How to Create an Email Newsletter the RIGHT WAY
• How to Use AI to Generate Images in WordPress
• How to Start an Online Store (Step by Step)
• Best Email Marketing Services for Small Businesses
• Best WordPress Blogs You Should Read & Follow
• A History of Blogging (1993 – Present Day Timeline)

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