Are you looking for the best minimalist WordPress themes for writers? Many modern WordPress templates are designed for business websites, focusing more on selling than readability. In this article, we will show you some of the best minimalist WordPress themes for writers and bloggers.
Building a Minimalist Website for Writers with WordPress
Many beginners don’t know that there are actually two types of WordPress. The first one is self hosted WordPress also called WordPress.org websites, and the other one is WordPress.com.
A self-hosted WordPress.org website gives you access to all WordPress features out of the box. For details, see our comparison of WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
You’ll need a domain name and a WordPress hosting account to start your own self-hosted WordPress.org website.
We recommend using Bluehost. They are an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider and they are offering WPBeginner users free domain name and discount on hosting.
Once you have purchased hosting, head over to our how to start a blog guide for step by step installation instructions.
Having said that, let’s take a look at the best minimalist WordPress themes for writers. This list contains both free and paid WordPress themes and all of them are mobile responsive.
1. Wilson
Wilson is an elegant minimalist WordPress theme for bloggers. It includes 5 header styles and multiple blog layouts including masonry grid, list, standard, and classic styles.
Its homepage layout includes a featured content slider with 4 different layouts. Some other notable features are Google fonts, custom widgets, sticky sidebar, and contact form template.
2. Elegant
Elegant is a beautiful WordPress minimalist theme. It has large featured images and crisp typography which improves readability and user experience.
It is a blogging theme, but it can also be used by agencies, magazine websites, and online stores. It includes multiple header styles, portfolio and team sections, multiple color schemes, and a drag and drop page builder.
3. Camera
Camera is a minimalist WordPress theme for photographers, bloggers, and writers. It is perfect for photo blogs and allows you to showcase your photos throughout your website. It uses distraction free layout with collapsible sidebar and navigation menus.
It includes beautiful templates for homepage, single post page, and photo galleries. It works out of the box and all theme options can be easily setup using live customizer.
4. Tinos
Tinos is a gorgeous minimalist WordPress theme for writers and bloggers. It focuses on improved readability with elegant typography and a distraction free layout.
It adds next and previous buttons to your blog posts on homepage, allowing users jump to next or previous posts on the screen. It is super easy to setup with minimal theme options and a custom theme settings page.
5. Monochrome
Need even more minimalism in your site’s design? Check out Monochrome. This ultra minimalist WordPress theme features lots of white space, clean typography, and an elegant design.
It is built on top of Genesis theme framework. It has customizable headers, widgetized homepage layout, and theme options panel. It is eCommerce ready out of the box and highly optimized for speed and performance.
6. Pocket
Pocket is a distraction free WordPress theme for authors, bloggers, and writers. Its main features include beautiful typography, and expressive featured images.
It works out of the box and includes only the options you need. It has a single column layout with navigation menus on top and a footer widget area in the bottom. It is translation ready and works with all top WordPress plugins.
7. Author Pro
Author Pro is a professional WordPress theme for authors and writers. It ships with a companion Author Pro plugin that allows you to create a library of books with details page for each item. It is ecommerce ready and can also be used for selling ebooks.
Built on Genesis framework, Author pro features a clean elegant layout. It has a fully widgetized homepage layout, custom header, customizer support, and a theme options page.
8. Brittany
Brittany is a clean and spacious WordPress template for lifestyle bloggers and writers. It comes with lots of customization options to choose different layouts, colors, and fonts for your blog.
It is homepage is fully widgetized allowing you to just drag and drop content widgets. It also includes custom widgets for social media and content discovery features. It is WooCommerce ready and works with all popular page builder plugins.
9. Atmosphere Pro
Atmosphere Pro is a beautiful minimalist WordPress theme for all kind of websites. It features widgetized homepage layout with a large image on top, welcome message, and a call to action button.
It comes with a separate blog page, navigation menu, custom header, and a theme settings page. It is built on Genesis framework and comes with full WooCommerce support.
10. Ava
Ava is a WordPress blogging theme with minimalist approach to design. It includes 5 blog layouts, 500+ Google Fonts, multiple header styles and page templates.
Other notable features include custom widgets, sticky header, sidebar generator, parallax background effects, and more. It has a custom theme options panel and live customizer support to help you quickly setup your website.
11. Candid
Candid is a modern WordPress blogging theme with a minimalist design. It is hand crafted to put your content in front and center of your website with beautiful typography and elegant images.
It includes beautiful templates to display photo galleries and videos. Single post templates come with beautiful layout styles to publish engaging content. It is super easy to use and works out of the box. There is also a getting started guide to help you quickly get started.
12. Modernize
Modernize is a free WordPress theme with a traditional blog layout. It is designed for bloggers and writers who don’t want to struggle with theme options.
It comes with multi-column layout, live customizer support, social menu icons, custom background and header support. It has limited settings which makes it super easy to use.
13. Corner
Corner is a WordPress theme for creative professionals including writers and bloggers. This beautiful theme features a minimal layout, homepage slider, and a portfolio section.
It is WooCommerce ready and comes with custom widgets for social sharing and content discovery. It includes a theme options panel for easier setup.
14. Parallax Pro
Parallax Pro is an all-purpose minimalist WordPress theme suitable for all kind of websites including blogs. It is built on top of the rock solid foundation of Genesis theme framework.
It has a widgetized homepage layout with beautiful parallax effects. It comes with a customizable header, live customizer support, and theme options panel to help you quickly get started.
15. Wisteria
Wisteria is a free WordPress blogging theme with minimalist design and a classic blog layout. It features a two column layout with a sidebar to the right. It is translation ready and includes features like custom background, unlimited colors, and customizable header.
16. Heron
Heron is another simple and elegant WordPress minimalist theme. It has a single column layout with large featured images on the homepage to give users access to your content right away.
It includes features like a full screen search overlay, social media icons, sticky navigation menu, and author bio box support. It gets out of your way and lets you focus on your writing out of the box.
17. Aesthetic
Aesthetic is a stylish WordPress blogging theme suitable for writers, lifestyle bloggers, journals, and personal websites. It includes an integrated drag and drop page builder to create your own custom page layouts.
It includes unlimited color choices, multiple layouts, unlimited sidebars, and contact form support. It has a simpler theme options panel to help you walk through the setup process and theme features.
18. Libretto
Looking for a free WordPress theme with distraction free layout and elegant typography? Take a look at Libretto. This gorgeous WordPress theme is designed for readability with beautiful typography and a clean layout.
It uses a single column layout, suitable for long form content, poetry, short stories, and more.
19. Elemin
Elemin is a classic WordPress blogging theme featuring a two column layout with right sidebar. It can also be used in a four column layout or a grid layout.
It includes lightbox popup for image galleries, right to left language support, footer widgets, and 11 color schemes. It allows you to easily import demo content or use theme options panel to setup your website.
20. Eclipse
Eclipse is an elegant WordPress theme for bloggers, writers, and authors. Its homepage features a beautiful slider showcasing your content, followed by link blocks to important pages, and then your recent posts in a grid.
It ships with a custom widget for Instagram photos and videos. It also has beautiful gallery templates, portfolio section, and is fully compatible with WooCommerce.
21. Verbosa
Verbosa is a stylish free WordPress theme for creative types. It uses elegant typography, efficient use of contrast, spacing and a minimalist style to create an engaging experience for your users.
It comes with multi-column layout for the homepage, social media icons, custom headers, custom background, and more. It is easy to use and all themes are neatly packed under theme customizer.
22. Chatter
Chatter is a premium WordPress minimalist theme for bloggers. It comes with a bundle of 22 website templates that can be installed with a single click and full demo content.
It features a clean design with lots of white space and featured content slider on the top. It includes 4 header styles, footer styles, unlimited colors, page builder plugin, and multilingual website support.
23. Medium
Medium is a simple WordPress blogging theme with a modern beautiful design. It uses three column layout for the homepage with two sidebars on both sides.
It includes a custom archives page, sticky sidebars, contact form page, social media menu, and more. It is super easy to use and works out of the box with very minimal settings.
24. Pepper+
Pepper+ is an all-purpose WordPress theme suitable to build any kind of website. It comes with 6 readymade designs and drag and drop modules to easily create any kind of layout you want.
It includes Google fonts, multiple header styles, icon fonts, email subscription form, and more. It is super-flexible and can be used to quickly create a beautiful website.
25. Sixteen Nine
Sixteen Nine is a stylish WordPress minimalist theme built with Genesis framework. Suitable for bloggers and writers, this theme features a three column layout with two sidebars.
It includes social media menus, landing page template, custom header, full width page template, and more. It works out of the box with minimal time required to set up.
We hope this article helped you find the best minimalist WordPress themes for writers. You may also want to see our list of must have WordPress plugins for all websites.
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