13+ Sites To Get Amazing Free Joomla Templates/Collections

Article Audience: Generic Users / Webmasters / Developers

Templates are one of the great features of Joomla. The separation of the content from the look of a website enables users to quickly change the look of a site without changing any of the content.

You will probably find that the same templates are repeated over and over again in each site listed here since each site tries to gather as many templates as possible. CollectiveRay, as a web design blog, has collected as many sites with free Joomla templates as possible.

Free Joomla Templates

1. TemplateMonster have nearly 2000 commercial Joomla templates, though they offer at least three great Joomla templates: Ulmus, Interior and Furniture template, and a Free Joomla Template for University, Education, College or Training but keep your eyes peeled because they offer great Joomla templates (both free and paid)
2. JoomlaShack have three free templates, and template creation tutorials: https://www.joomlashack.com/joomla-products/free-joomla-templates/
3. A good collection of (hopefully) quality templates: https://www.joomla-templates.com/
4. Easy to browse templates with preview: https://www.joomlahacks.com/templates
5. Joomla Templates from Italia: https://www.joomla.it/template.html
6. Template 4 All also provide a nice selection of Free Joomla Templates: https://www.template4all.com/joomla
7. JoomlaShine have a nice selection of both free and commercial Joomla templates: https://www.joomlashine.com/joomla-templates
8. Smart Addons also have a free Joomla template: https://www.smartaddons.com/free-joomla-templates
9. Gavern is another free Joomla template from Gavick: https://www.gavick.com/joomla-templates/meet-gavern,93.html
10. The Gantry Framework is also a great framework from RocketTheme, which is an excellent choice as a free Joomla template: http://gantry-framework.org/download
11. JoomFreak have about 11 free Joomla templates: https://www.joomfreak.com/joomla-templates.html
12. jSimpleGrid is a full framework for developing your own Joomla templates, the free version is here: YouGrids template
13. OrdaSoft also has one blank Joomla template for you to build on: https://ordasoft.com/ordasoft-joomla-blank-template.html
14. There are a good 20 free templates for various version of Joomla at vinaora.com

Professional Joomla Templates

Even though we have provided the above list of templates, in this case, free is actually expensive because free templates can usually be recognised from miles away and make your website scream "cheap". Free templates will also not have any of the required features in the list below. We strongly recommend that you invest some money in buying a professional Joomla template. Below are a number of recommended sites offering Joomla templates at very good prices (usually less than $50).

Even though we recommend you buy a template, you will still have a particular drawback. Most of these templates will not be unique. Although you will probably customise the template to your website's brand, the template (or similar implementation of it) will probably feature in several other websites.

You can create a unique template design by hiring a great developer on Toptal. However, this will be usually quite expensive (around $1500)

What to look out for in a Commercial template

• Optimized for SEO (this usually involves minimal use of tables and more use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Validate to XHTML / CSS W3C standards
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Support for updates (of future Joomla versions)
• Design according to usability and accessibility standards
• Ease of customisation
• Availability of source files used to create templates in appropriate formats
• Availability of usage guides
• Number of available module positions 

Recommended Vendors

1. TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster has been synonymous with great templates not just for Joomla, but for Wordpress, Drupal, Magento, independent HTML5 templates and so much more. They have literally thousands of websites for any sector, industry and niche. You really can't go wrong with this proven leader in templates.

2. JoomlArt

Our template (JA Magz) was bought from JoomlArt club. The good thing about this club is that you can subscribe to buy a 3-month membership. During this time you can download and try as many templates as you like. Also, Joomlart claims that they release templates (or template updates) each month.

About the Author

Author: David AttardWebsite: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dattard/Email: david@collectiveray.com

David has been working in or around the online and digital industry for the last 21 years. He has vast experience in the software and web design industries using WordPress, Joomla and niches surrounding them. He has worked with software development agencies, international software companies, local marketing agencies and now is Head of Marketing Operations at Aphex Media - an SEO agency. As a digital consultant, his focus is on helping businesses get a competitive advantage using a combination of their website and digital platforms available today. His blend of technology expertise combined with a strong business acumen brings a competitive edge to his writings.