Looks like I’m creating rather a stir! I wouldn’t go as far to say I “don’t believe in free WordPress themes” – I’m all for them, hence the post; I’m trying to make the point theme authors just aren’t getting the recognition that they’re deserving of and if this doesn’t change then free themes will be a thing of the past.

People these days want support, something that those who offer their themes for free, such as myself, are sometimes reluctant to offer gratuis because it’s too time consuming. As one commenter on WPShout points out, once a good free theme does come along, so many people use it your blog loses its identity to a point.

What the future holds I don’t know, but I can start seeing a shift towards paying for support as you suggest. It’s a tough topic and something that a lot of people obviously are very passionate about and hopefully with my post I’ve put a spotlight on free themes and so we’ll keep seeing them for years to come. Just remember though, neglect them and they’ll just disappear. Gradually, but they will disappear. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?

I still think there’s nothing wrong with publishing free themes in order to drum up business for your premium service. I’ve never been more tempted to pay for wordpress themes than when I’d already used free ones from a particular company.

Don’t forget that a lot of people will want to release free themes to make a name for themselves and make connections – like how Tim Ferriss always says one of his key reasons for blogging is making connections and the lifestyle those connections afford him. More valuable than a few paltry sales every month?

I’m planning to release a bunch of premium-quality free themes soon mostly for the above reason.

Keep making free themes free theme makers!

Much love

That being said, I did pay $30 yesterday for a premium theme for another of my site and would do it again – I have no problem paying for quality work.