So, agencies that can deliver fast, reliable websites can satisfy clients and position themselves as leaders in a super-competitive space. Of course, this is also where managing performance at scale becomes a challenge.

Kinsta’s performance-enhancing Premium Add-ons make boosting your clients’ WordPress sites much easier. These add-ons can help you overcome these challenges by offering flexible, scalable solutions that cater to each client’s unique needs.

This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, agencies can customize hosting resources to ensure each site performs at its best.

Let’s talk about what Kinsta’s add-ons can do for WordPress performance.

The role of add-ons in scaling WordPress performance

Kinsta’s add-ons provide extra features, but they also provide agencies with the means to scale WordPress performance effectively across multiple client sites. Integrating these add-ons directly within Kinsta’s managed WordPress hosting means you can fine-tune performance based on the specific needs of each site you manage, all from a central location — the MyKinsta dashboard.

Agencies often juggle numerous WordPress installs, so these add-ons offer the flexibility and scalability you need to manage it all. For some, that might mean increasing disk space for media-heavy clients. For others, it means enabling Redis caching for high-traffic WooCommerce stores.

Each add-on solves specific performance challenges while keeping the overall infrastructure lightweight and efficient. The MyKinsta dashboard makes it easy to monitor and adjust these resources across multiple client sites. This way, you can quickly respond to spikes in traffic, resource demands, or client-specific requirements and preserve site performance.

Now that we have the “why” covered let’s highlight some of the add-ons Kinsta offers (and what you can use them for).

Redis caching

Redis caching is an in-memory data structure store designed to speed up the performance of dynamic websites. For WordPress, Redis works by storing frequently accessed data, like database queries and PHP objects, in memory. This reduces the need to repeatedly query the database and makes for faster page load times, less strain on the server, and improved scalability.

This is a powerful add-on that can be integrated into your managed WordPress hosting environment. By default, Kinsta uses page caching, but not all websites benefit equally from this approach. Dynamic sites — think e-commerce stores or membership sites — often require more sophisticated caching strategies to handle personalized or frequently changing content. Redis solves this problem by caching database requests in real time and delivering faster performance for sites with complex database interactions.

Activating Redis caching in Kinsta is simple and managed entirely through the MyKinsta dashboard. Once enabled, the Redis Object Cache plugin is automatically installed, allowing you to take advantage of its benefits without any complex configurations. Use cases

There are several use cases for this add-on worth mentioning, including:

• E-commerce sites: They’re often data-heavy and dynamic, with constantly changing inventory, pricing, and user data. Traditional page caching is less effective here due to frequent updates. Redis improves performance by caching frequently requested product data and user sessions, reducing the load on the database during high-traffic periods.
• Membership sites: These often feature personalized content, meaning each user’s experience may differ from another. Redis helps by caching user-specific queries and interactions, speeding up the loading of dashboards, personalized feeds, and other dynamic elements.
• Forums and community boards: Highly interactive sites like these with active comment sections or discussion threads see frequent database interactions. Redis caching allows these types of sites to handle large numbers of users simultaneously without performance issues.

Premium Staging Environments

The Premium Staging Environments add-on makes it easier for agencies to thoroughly test changes, updates, or new features before pushing them to a live site. With Kinsta, agencies can create up to five separate staging environments per client site. This allows for more robust testing without risking disruptions.

This is helpful for complex or resource-heavy projects. And since these environments closely mimic live site conditions — including server resources — they provide an accurate setting for performance testing.

Each Premium Staging Environment is equipped with 12 CPUs and eight GB of memory, matching the live site’s PHP worker count. This ensures that tests occur in a setting that closely mirrors the production environment. And that means no surprises once it’s time to deploy your changes.

Use cases

There are a few situations where this add-on is especially pertinent as well, including:

1. Large website redesigns: For agencies managing large websites with complex designs, switching themes or redesigning elements directly on a live site is risky. This add-on offers a controlled setting to test new designs to ensure compatibility and performance before going live.
2. Resource-intensive development: Websites with custom development or heavy third-party integrations (like e-commerce sites with numerous plugins) benefit from resource-heavy staging. This way, you can test site performance under realistic conditions without risking real site crashes or downtime.
3. Testing critical updates: When there’s a major WordPress update, testing these changes on a staging environment is a smart call. If conflicts arise with plugins or the theme you’re using, you can iron out those issues before pushing the major update live.

PHP memory

Another add-on worth checking out is the PHP memory limit add-on. This allows you to increase the default PHP memory allocated to WordPress websites from 256MB to 512MB. This additional memory is essential for websites running resource-heavy themes, complex plugins, or those handling large amounts of data.

It’s important to note that 512MB of PHP memory already comes standard with Kinsta’s agency plans.

Use cases

Agencies can lean on the 512MB memory limit in a variety of situations, including:

1. E-commerce websites: WooCommerce stores with large inventories and complex checkout processes often require more memory to run efficiently. Increasing the PHP memory limit ensures that the site can handle heavy traffic and large product catalogs without performance degradation.
2. Content-heavy websites: Blogs or websites with rich media, numerous plugins, or advanced functionality benefit from additional memory. This is particularly true for sites that regularly upload large images, videos, or other data-heavy content.
3. Custom-built WordPress websites: Sites that use custom code or complex integrations with third-party services may require more memory to handle the additional processes smoothly. The PHP memory add-on ensures these sites have the resources needed to function properly without timeouts or errors.

Disk space

Sometimes, your sites will exceed the disk space allotted to them. And instead of unilaterally opting for a higher-tier plan, you can get the Disk space add-on. It’s designed to provide agencies with flexible storage solutions. You can effectively increase available SSD storage in 20GB increments.

So, if you have clients who require more storage but don’t need the additional features, this would be a good option. The add-on can be enabled directly through the MyKinsta dashboard as well, making it easy to add this across multiple client sites as needed.

This scalable storage solution helps you to avoid the overage fees that can occur when clients exceed their allocated storage limit. It also ensures that websites can handle growing demands, like an abundance of high-resolution images, videos, or other large media files.

Use cases

Several types of clients can benefit from the Disk space add-on:

1. Photographers and videographers: Any website for creative professionals like photographers, videographers, or artists need to store large amounts of high-resolution images or video files. The Disk space add-on ensures they have the storage necessary to handle these large files without affecting performance or requiring a full hosting plan upgrade.
2. E-commerce sites with extensive media: E-commerce websites with numerous product images, videos, and other media files can quickly consume storage space. Adding more storage allows these sites to continue expanding their media libraries without issue.

External backups

Another add-on your clients might need is the External Backups add-on. It lets you offload backups to third-party cloud storage services like Google Cloud Storage or Amazon S3. This add-on offers an extra layer of protection beyond Kinsta’s built-in backups, so it’s especially valuable for agencies working with clients in industries where data loss could have severe consequences. Clients with sites in finance, healthcare, or legal services come to mind.

So, in addition to Kinsta’s daily backups, agencies can maintain secure copies of website data externally. This meets the needs of compliance-heavy industries that require redundancy in their backup strategies and just offers more data security in general.

Use cases

Many clients and site types can benefit from this add-on. But you’ll find the following stand to benefit the most:

1. Finance and healthcare industries: Agencies working with clients in highly regulated industries need to ensure compliance with strict data security and redundancy requirements.
2. Large enterprise websites: If you’re managing large websites with significant amounts of data, the ability to store backups externally helps mitigate the risk of data loss.
3. Websites with sensitive data: Any other website that handles sensitive information, like customer records or legal documents, can benefit from having multiple backups on hand.

Hourly backups

The Hourly backups add-on is another tool for making backups more robust and intuitive. And if you manage an agency dealing with high-traffic or mission-critical websites, it means they often require more frequent updates and rapid content changes.

This add-on lets you increase the frequency of backups beyond Kinsta’s standard daily backup schedule. There are actually two backup frequency options: every six hours and every hour.

This add-on is especially useful for websites that cannot afford significant downtime or data loss, like online stores or news websites where content and transactions change frequently.

Use cases

A few notable use cases for this add-on include:

1. Online stores: E-commerce sites, especially those with high volumes of transactions, benefit from frequent backups to ensure that order data, customer information, and inventory updates are protected.
2. News websites: Websites that publish content frequently, like news outlets or blogs with multiple daily updates, need frequent backups to ensure that new content is securely stored and can be restored quickly if necessary.
3. “Mission-critical” business sites: Companies that rely on their website for essential business operations, like booking systems, customer portals, or real-time communication platforms, can use hourly backups to ensure the most up-to-date information is always saved.

Reverse proxy

Your clients might also benefit from the Reverse proxy add-on, which is a powerful solution for agencies managing multiple websites under a single hostname. If you have clients with super complex site setups, this can help.

A reverse proxy allows several websites — like subdomains or entirely separate websites — to be served through one central domain. This centralization simplifies site management and lets you handle multiple sites efficiently while maintaining high performance across all of them.

The add-on can be set up with the help of Kinsta’s support team by clicking Open Chat after selecting it in MyKinsta. It’s particularly useful for clients who operate a main corporate site alongside regional or language-specific versions.

Use cases

Once again, many site types can make use of this add-on, like:

1. Corporate websites with regional branches: A reverse proxy can serve all regional websites through a main corporate domain, simplifying management and ensuring consistent branding across different regions. An example would be a main site called example.com versus regional sites like europe.example.com and asia.example.com.
2. Multilingual websites: Agencies managing multilingual WordPress sites benefit from reverse proxies by centralizing traffic from all language versions of the website, like example.com/en and example.com/es. This can optimize performance without needing separate infrastructure for each version.
3. Multisite WordPress installations: If you have a WordPress multisite network, you can use reverse proxies to ensure that all sites under the network are served efficiently under one domain. This centralizes content delivery and reduces administrative overhead, too.

Additional WordPress sites

The Additional sites add-on is worth noting, too, since it allows agencies to increase the number of WordPress installs available within their hosting plan without having to upgrade to a higher tier. So, if you’ve reached the site limit for your current plan but only need to add a few more sites, this could be a more cost-effective solution than upgrading to a new plan.

Use cases

Pretty much any type of client under an agency’s care could benefit from this:

1. Agencies reaching site limits: If you’ve maxed out the number of sites allowed on your plan but only need a few additional installs, the Additional Sites add-on allows you to grow without the need for a full upgrade.
2. Clients with expanding project needs: When a client needs additional microsites or temporary websites for campaigns or events, you can easily add these sites without making permanent changes to the client’s hosting plan.
3. Scaling projects with multiple sites: Agencies managing projects that start small but expand over time, like businesses opening new locations or brands launching multiple digital campaigns, can use this add-on to increase site capacity without the full investment of a larger plan.

Dedicated server

The Dedicated server add-on provides agencies with a high-performance, isolated hosting environment made specifically to their clients. It’s ideal for those requiring dedicated resources, like those running enterprise-level websites or dealing with heavy traffic spikes.

The dedicated server ensures these clients receive guaranteed resources, like CPU, memory, and bandwidth, that aren’t shared with other websites. This results in improved site stability, enhanced control over the hosting environment, and greater reliability — especially during high-demand periods.

Agencies often use this add-on for short-term, high-impact campaigns, like Black Friday sales events or when their client’s product or content will be featured in major media outlets.

Use cases

Typically, larger sites are what would benefit the most from this add-on, including:

1. High-traffic e-commerce sites: During peak shopping events (like Black Friday), dedicated server resources can prevent slowdowns or crashes. The add-on helps these sites handle a large influx of visitors without affecting performance or UX.
2. Enterprise-level websites: Large corporations or businesses running complex sites with numerous applications or integrations can benefit from a dedicated server, too.
3. Campaign-driven websites: If a client’s website is about to receive a surge in traffic due to media exposure or a marketing campaign, dedicated resources provide the necessary bandwidth and stability to handle this increased load.

Summary

Kinsta’s range of performance-enhancing add-ons offers agencies the flexibility and power to optimize their clients’ WordPress sites on the fly. Whether it’s boosting speed, increasing storage, or ensuring smooth migrations, these tools help agencies deliver faster, more reliable websites without overcomplicating things. Each add-on is designed to tackle specific challenges, which means an agency can scale its operations while maintaining top-tier performance for its clients.

To explore how these add-ons can enhance your clients’ websites, visit the MyKinsta dashboard and discover the best solutions for your needs. Or, if you haven’t signed up for an agency plan with Kinsta yet, now’s the time to consider it.

The post How Kinsta’s add-ons supercharge WordPress performance appeared first on Kinsta®.

Having sponsored events in Tokyo, Bangkok, Turin, Athens, and Vienna, we’re excited to continue this tradition at WordCamp Sydney 2024. Our participation allows us to engage with the local community, share insights on optimizing website performance, and explore new ways to leverage WordPress’s potential.

Our track record in supporting Australian businesses speaks for itself. From 5Tales to Get In The Loop, Paramark, Jacaranda Finance, and Blak Brews, Kinsta’s high-performance WordPress hosting has helped companies thrive.

These success stories illustrate our commitment to providing robust, scalable solutions that drive growth and stability across various industries. Find out more about how Kinsta can empower your WordPress experience in Australia.

Saturday evening social and networking: sponsored by Kinsta

One of the highlights of WordCamp Sydney 2024 is the Saturday Evening Social & Networking, and Kinsta will be the exclusive sponsor of this event. Scheduled for the evening of November 2, the networking event is a chance to unwind, make new connections, and enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere after a day of learning.

Kinsta’s representatives

Kinsta’s team at WordCamp Sydney will include:

• Alexander Ando Michaelson – Business Development Manager APAC
• MJ Uy Nicolas – Senior Account Executive APAC

You’ll find Alex and MJ at a shared table with other Gold sponsors. Stop by to chat, grab some swag, and enter our raffle for a chance to win.

Win exclusive Kinsta swag

To add a little extra excitement to WordCamp Sydney, Kinsta will be hosting a raffle giveaway during the event. Attendees who meet us at WordCamp Sydney can enter for a chance to win one of three exclusive embroidered Kinsta hoodies. These unique hoodies are designed with comfort and style in mind, making them the perfect keepsakes.

Participating in the raffle is simple! Just meet our reps and fill out a quick form. Winners will be announced during the event, so make sure you’re present to claim your prize.

Join us at WordCamp Sydney 2024

We’re looking forward to connecting with you at WordCamp Sydney 2024! This is the perfect chance to dive deeper into Kinsta’s Managed WordPress Hosting, explore collaboration opportunities, or enjoy the Saturday evening social. While preparing for the event, you can read our guide on how to make the most of your WordCamp experience.

The post Meet Kinsta at WordCamp Sydney 2024 appeared first on Kinsta®.

Below, you’ll discover our curated picks for the 12 best WordPress block themes, all of which are true block themes that actually use the new WordPress Site Editor experience.

Best of all, almost all of these themes are free to use, which means you can build your site with blocks without breaking the bank.

Beyond sharing our picks for the top block themes, we’ll also cover some other related information, such as how to tell the difference between block themes and classic themes and how to get started with your first block theme.

Let’s get into it…

What is a WordPress block theme?

A WordPress block theme uses the new WordPress Site Editor experience to let you customize every part of your site using blocks.

With a block theme, you’ll be able to use the block editor interface (AKA “Gutenberg”) for more than just the content of a post or page, which is how it works with “regular” WordPress themes. Using the Site Editor, you’ll be able to control what every single part of your site looks like, including your site’s header, navigation menus, footer, blog listing layouts, content layouts, and more.

In slightly more technical terms, you can use blocks to design your theme’s templates and template parts.

You’ll also sometimes see WordPress block themes referred to as Full-Site Editing themes, or FSE themes for short. However, WordPress has moved away from calling the concept Full-Site Editing, so this term isn’t as popular as it once was (and it will probably continue to decrease in popularity as time goes on).

WordPress block themes vs classic themes

Classic WordPress themes refer to WordPress themes that don’t use the new Site Editor experience. Currently, most popular WordPress themes still use the classic approach, and classic themes make up the vast majority of WordPress themes.

For example, there are over 12,000 themes available at WordPress.org, but only around 900 are block themes. The rest are all classic themes.

Some well-known classic themes include Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence, OceanWP, Divi, Neve, Blocksy, etc.

While classic themes still use the block editor as the editor for post and page content (unless you disable it), they don’t use blocks to control the design of your theme templates, such as your site’s header, footer, navigation menu, and so on.

Instead, many classic themes use the WordPress Customizer interface, which looks something like this:

Some classic themes also use their own custom theme settings areas.

How to tell if a WordPress theme is a block theme

The easiest way to tell if you’re using a block theme or a classic theme is to see if your theme supports the Site Editor.

If you’re using a block theme, you should see an Editor option listed under the Appearance tab in your WordPress dashboard.

If you’re using a classic theme, you won’t see the Editor option under Appearance. Instead, you’ll just see options like Customize, Widgets, Menu, Theme File Editor, and so on.

12 best WordPress block themes compared

Now, let’s get into our picks for the 12 best WordPress block themes.

These are not listed in any specific order, and we encourage you to read through the full list, as all 12 themes are high-quality options.

1. Ollie

Ollie is a flexible WordPress block theme from Mike McAlister and Patrick Posner. Mike is a well-respected WordPress developer who’s been in the theme space for a long time, having previously created the Array Themes shop.

Ollie is a multipurpose theme that you can use in a variety of different ways, but most of the patterns are focused on helping you create a business website or personal portfolio. For that reason, it’s probably best suited to those areas.

If you purchase Ollie Pro, you can access patterns for three different site designs:

• Creator — for writers, podcasters, video creators, and “trailblazers.”
• Startup — for business websites.
• Studio — for design studios and creative agencies.

Key features:

• Custom onboarding experience that makes it really easy to set up your site. However, you need to install the Ollie Dash plugin from GitHub, as the developer had to remove the onboarding system from the theme after some back and forth.
• 10+ different style variations, plus a fully customizable design system via the Global Styles feature.
• 66+ block patterns in the free version.
• Multiple patterns for important template parts, including 6+ header patterns, 6+ footer patterns, 4+ post listing layouts (including a nice card option), and 7+ single page templates.
• Ollie Pro adds a cloud-based pattern library that includes hundreds of patterns for multiple site designs, including Creator, Startup, and Studio designs.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org. Ollie Pro starts at $69 and adds hundreds of additional layouts, but the core block theme is totally free.

2. Spectra One

Spectra One is a WordPress block theme from Brainstorm Force, which is the same developer as the massively popular Astra WordPress theme.

While Spectra One is a multipurpose theme, most of its patterns are centered on helping you create a business or portfolio website. Therefore, you’ll get the best bang for your buck if you stay within those areas. For example, you’ll find patterns for pricing tables, team member lists, and so on.

Spectra One is designed to pair with the developer’s Spectra plugin, which extends the block editor with a number of new blocks and features. However, you aren’t forced to use the plugin if you don’t want to.

Key features:

• Tight integration with the developer’s Spectra plugin, which adds a number of enhancements to the block editor. These include new blocks, patterns, and design options, along with other useful features such as the ability to upload custom typography.
• 9+ different style variations.
• 80+ included patterns, including full-page layouts and patterns for parts of pages.
• Lots of patterns for template parts, including 8+ header patterns, 5+ footer patterns, and 4+ page template patterns.

Price: Free at WordPress.org. There is a premium version of the Spectra plugin that starts at $49, which you might want if you’re using Spectra One. However, the block theme itself is currently 100% free.

3. Frost

Frost is a WordPress block theme spearheaded by Brian Gardener. If you’re not familiar with Brian, he was the founder of StudioPress, the company behind the popular Genesis Framework for classic themes.

Frost doesn’t advertise itself as being for any specific niche, but its premade patterns are probably best suited for a business website or personal portfolio. The designs are pretty versatile, though, so you can easily adapt them to various blogging niches, as well.

Key features:

• 8+ different style variations.
• 48+ included patterns, including patterns for testimonials, pricing tables, call to actions, and more.
• Multiple patterns for key templates, including 4+ header patterns, 8+ footer patterns, 4+ page patterns, and 3+ post listing patterns.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org.

4. Neve FSE

Neve FSE is the block theme version of Themeisle’s popular Neve theme. The original Neve theme uses the classic Customizer approach, but Themeisle created Neve FSE for people who prefer using the Site Editor.

With that being said, Neve FSE doesn’t give you access to as many starter sites as you would get with the classic version of the theme. Instead, Neve FSE’s patterns are mostly focused on helping you create a business website, or maybe a personal portfolio.

You do get lots of patterns to help you display your blog posts, though, so you also have a decent amount of flexibility for using Neve FSE for a blog.

Key features:

• Pairs well with the developer’s Otter Blocks plugin, though you don’t need to use the plugin. When you activate Neve FSE, it will prompt you to install Otter Blocks.
• 8+ different style variations.
• 48+ included patterns, including many section patterns for call to actions, pricing tables, feature boxes, team listings, service listings, and more.
• Patterns for important templates, including 4+ header variations, 5+ footer variations, 2+ page patterns, and lots of post listing patterns. For the post listing patterns, you get options for grids, cards, and more.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org. While there is a premium version of the classic Neve theme, Neve FSE is currently 100% free. The optional Otter Blocks companion plugin has a free version as well as a premium version starting at $49.

5. Bricksy

Bricksy is a WordPress block theme from Anariel Design, an established WordPress theme shop based in Germany.

Unlike a lot of other block themes, Bricksy comes with premade pattern designs for four different blogging niches:

1. Travel
2. Food
3. Fashion
4. Wedding

This gives you a little bit more flexibility for building different types of sites, as many other block themes offer more generic layouts for business or portfolio sites. However, it’s important to note that you’ll need the premium version if you want to access all of the patterns for all 4 sites.

The free version does include patterns for all 4 niches, but only a limited selection. For example, there’s only one homepage pattern for each niche in the free version, but the premium version gives you more flexibility.

Key features:

• Premade designs and patterns for four different blogging niches — travel, food, fashion, and wedding.
• 52+ included block patterns with the free version, including patterns for all four use cases.
• Multiple patterns for important theme parts even in the free version, including 4+ header patterns, 3+ footer patterns, and 5+ blog layout patterns.
• Bricksy Pro adds many more patterns for all four starter site designs (if you’re willing to pay).
• 9+ different style variations in the free version.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org. Bricksy Pro starts at $59 and adds a bunch of new patterns that you can use.

6. Gutenify

Gutenify is not just a single block theme. Instead, it’s a collection of 40+ different block themes all based around the companion Gutenify plugin, which extends the block editor with new functionality.

Each individual theme has its own niche focus — you can browse them all by searching for “Gutenify” at WordPress.org. For example, you can find Gutenify themes for health clinics, fashion stores, educational organizations, photography portfolios, logistics businesses, architects, and lots more.

You aren’t technically required to use the Gutenify plugin to use one of the Gutenify block themes, but you’ll get the best results when using both because they’re designed to work together. For example, if you want to import all of the demo content, you’ll need to install the companion Gutenify plugin.

Key features:

• There are 40+ different niche-specific block themes within the Gutenify umbrella.
• Each theme has multiple style variations — some have just two or three while others have 10+ different style variations.
• Each theme has dozens of block patterns that are specific to that theme’s niche.
• Built to work with the Gutenify plugin, which extends the block editor with new features.

Price: All of the 40+ Gutenify themes are free and available at WordPress.org. The Gutenify plugin comes in both a free and premium version, with paid plans starting at ~$60 for a one-year license or ~$180 for a lifetime license.

7. Raft

Raft is another WordPress block theme from Themeisle, the same company behind the Neve FSE theme from earlier on the list.

It offers a clean, minimal design that can work well for business websites, portfolios, or even a blog. Many of the included patterns support the business/portfolio use case, as you can find patterns for pricing tables, feature/service lists, CTAs, team member lists, testimonials, and more.

Like Neve FSE, Raft pairs well with the developer’s Otter Blocks plugin and encourages you to install it after you activate the theme. However, you are not required to use Otter Blocks to use the Raft theme.

Key features:

• 16+ different style variations, which is more than most other themes offer.
• 52+ included block patterns, including a number for various business use cases such as pricing tables and testimonials.
• A somewhat limited selection of template part patterns, with just 2+ header patterns and 2+ footer patterns.
• WooCommerce-ready if you want to create a store.
• Pairs well with the developer’s Otter Blocks plugin, though you aren’t required to use it.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org.

8. UniBlock

UniBlock is a WordPress block theme that comes from WPZOOM, a well-established WordPress theme shop that’s been around since 2009. Side note — we’ve actually interviewed the WPZOOM founder on the Kinsta blog.

It’s a multipurpose theme that you can use to build pretty much any type of site. While many of the patterns focus on building a business website, UniBlock also offers WooCommerce support and multiple post/page templates, so you could easily adapt it to other areas.

However, you’ll need to purchase UniBlock Pro to access many of the theme’s patterns, so it might not be the most flexible option if you’re specifically looking for a free WordPress block theme.

Key features:

• 6+ different style variations.
• WooCommerce compatibility, which makes it a good option if you’re looking for a WooCommerce block theme.
• 18+ patterns included in the free version, most of which are focused on building a business website.
• UniBlock Pro adds more patterns for your site’s templates, including the header, footer, and page templates.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org. UniBlock Pro gives you access to additional patterns for $69, which supports use on unlimited sites.

9. YITH Wonder

YITH Wonder is a dedicated WooCommerce block theme from YITH, the company behind a number of popular WooCommerce plugins.

There aren’t a lot of dedicated WooCommerce block themes, so this singular focus is definitely something that helps YITH Wonder stand out. If you’re specifically looking for a block theme for your WooCommerce store, this is probably one of the best options to consider.

Key features:

• Built specifically for WooCommerce stores.
• 8+ different style variations.
• 33+ block patterns in total.
• 6+ header patterns and 3+ footer patterns.
• 4+ premade homepage templates, plus lots of additional page templates for other pages that WooCommerce stores need.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org.

10. Basti

Basti is another WordPress block theme from Anariel Design, the same company behind the Bricksy theme from earlier on this list. Anariel Design has really embraced the Site Editor, so it’s no surprise to see them have two popular themes on this list.

Like the YITH Wonder theme above, the most unique thing about Basti is that it’s built specifically for WooCommerce. That makes Basti another good option for people searching for a WooCommerce block theme. It also includes patterns for four different ecommerce-focused designs, which gives you a good amount of flexibility for setting up your store:

1. Fashion
2. Marketplace
3. Yoga
4. Outdoors

Basti only comes in a premium version, though, so it’s not going to be an option if you’re searching for a free block theme.

Key features:

• Built specifically for WooCommerce stores.
• Four different starter site designs for various ecommerce niches.
• 85+ patterns in total, including multiple patterns for your store’s header, footer, and other templates.
• Custom onboarding wizard to help you set up your site.

Price: $79 for one year of support and updates or $179 for lifetime support and updates. Both licenses allow you to use the Basti theme on up to 10 websites.

11. Björk

Björk is a minimalist WordPress block theme from Anders Norén, a prolific creator of free themes at WordPress.org. In addition to his large library of free themes, Anders was also the design lead for the Twenty Twenty default theme.

Anders offers several quality free block themes, but Björk seems to have generated the most traction. It’s a minimalist theme that can make a great option for blogs or personal websites. It includes multiple patterns to let you control how to display blog posts, along with other patterns for elements like testimonials and a “work with me” CTA.

Key features:

• Designed for blogs and personal websites.
• 8+ different style variations.
• 15+ included patterns.
• 4+ different patterns for your site’s blog listing page, including 2 different list styles, a 2-column grid, and a 3-column grid.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org.

12. GreenShift

GreenShift is a WordPress block theme that’s designed to pair with the GreenShift block plugin, though you aren’t required to use the plugin to use the theme.

It’s a multipurpose theme that you can use for any type of site, though most of the patterns are focused on creating a business website. For example, you’ll find multiple patterns for feature/service lists, pricing tables, reviews/testimonials, and so on.

It also offers full WooCommerce compatibility, which can make it a good option if you’re looking to build a WooCommerce store with blocks.

Key features:

• While it is a standalone theme, it’s designed to pair with the developer’s GreenShift plugin.
• 5+ built-in style variations, including light and dark designs.
• 46+ block patterns, including patterns for important section areas such as feature/service lists, FAQs, pricing tables, and more.
• Multiple block patterns for important template parts, including 7+ header patterns, 6+ footer patterns, and 9+ query patterns for your blog listing page.
• Full WooCommerce compatibility, including optimized loading for WooCommerce scripts.

Price: Free and available at WordPress.org. If you’re using the companion GreenShift plugin, it comes in a free version at WordPress.org as well as a premium version that starts at ~$40 for a one-year license or ~$140 for a lifetime license.

How to choose a block theme for your site(s)

Because block themes use a different approach to classic themes, you’ll also want to employ a slightly different approach to choosing the best WordPress block theme for your site.

For example, because all block themes use the Site Editor, it’s a lot easier to customize your theme templates without code. Therefore, it’s not quite as important that the theme includes the exact layout that you need, because you can always tweak things using the Site Editor.

With that being said, here are some of the most important things to look at when choosing a block theme:

• Theme template patterns — having multiple theme template patterns (header, footer, blog listing page, etc.) can save you time if you want to customize parts of your theme, even if you don’t technically “need” them.
• Content patterns — tying with the point above, having a good selection of patterns for various content elements can also be useful. For example, elements such as a pricing table, testimonials, feature/service lists, and so on.
• Style variations — premade style variations make it easier to switch up the style of your site without needing to do the work of choosing your own colors and typography.
• Compatibility with other plugins — make sure your chosen theme plays nice with other essential plugins that you’re using. For example, if you’re building a WooCommerce store, it’s essential that your theme offers full WooCommerce compatibility.
• Developer support and longevity — because block themes are still somewhat new, a lot of developers are experimenting with them. If a theme is experimental, that increases the chance that a developer might abandon it once the experiment is done. For that reason, you’ll want to pay special attention to the developer behind your block theme and whether you think they’ll be in it for the long haul.
• Performance — as with any WordPress theme, you’ll want to make sure that your chosen theme is optimized for performance so that you can create a quick-loading website.

How to choose a WordPress host that sets you up for success

In addition to choosing the right block theme, you’ll also want to make sure that you’re choosing a WordPress host that sets up your block-powered site for success.

With Kinsta’s managed WordPress hosting, you can be confident that you have fast, secure, and reliable hosting powering your WordPress site.

This means that you’ll be able to work quickly in the Site Editor when you’re customizing your theme and that, once you’re finished, your site will load just as fast when people visit it.

If you want to learn more, check out Kinsta’s managed WordPress hosting here. And if you want to make the switch, Kinsta will migrate your sites for free.

Where to find WordPress block themes

While we’ve done our best to highlight the best WordPress block themes in this post, you still might want to browse an even larger library to see what else is out there.

However, if you browse a niche-specific post like our collection of the best blogging themes, you’ll quickly notice that most of the themes still use the classic approach.

So — where can you find more WordPress block themes?

The best place to start is the WordPress.org Theme Directory. If you select the Block themes filter, WordPress.org will only show themes that use this new approach. You can then refine your search by adding keywords or using the other available filters.

How to use a WordPress block theme

To finish things out, let’s go through a quick rundown on how to use a WordPress block theme, because it’s a little bit different from the older “classic” approach that many WordPress users are familiar with.

We’re not going to cover every single step here — just the basics so that you know how to get started.

We’ll use the Björk theme from Anders Norén as our example, but the same concepts will apply to any block theme.

How to open the Site Editor

Once you install and activate your block theme, you’ll customize pretty much everything from the Site Editor interface. You can launch the Site Editor by going to Appearance → Editor in your WordPress dashboard.

If you don’t see the Editor option under Appearance, you’re probably using a classic WordPress theme. You will only see this interface if you’ve activated a block theme on your site.

How to choose your theme’s style

One of the first things you might want to do is choose which style variation you want to use for your site.

To access these, click on the Styles option in the Site Editor.

On the next screen, you can choose from the available styles. You can also click the pencil icon to further tweak your selected styles in the full editor.

How to customize your theme templates

To customize all of your theme templates — header, footer, blog listing page, single post template, and so on — you can click the Templates option in the Site Editor sidebar.

This will open a list of all of the templates associated with your theme. You can then edit any of the existing templates or create your own template by clicking the Add New Template button in the top-right corner.

How to customize your navigation menu

With a block theme, you can no longer manage your navigation menus from the classic WordPress menu interface (Appearance → Menus). Instead, you can do it by clicking the Navigation option in the Site Editor sidebar.

By default, WordPress will automatically add all the pages on your site to the menu. If you want to customize this, you can click the “3 dots” icon and select Edit to make changes to your navigation menu.

Then, you can edit your navigation menu using the full block editor interface.

Summary

That wraps up our big guide to the best WordPress block themes, along with some other tips on how to choose and use block themes for your site.

Almost all of these themes have free versions at WordPress.org, so you can experiment with any themes that you find interesting before you make your final decision. If you don’t want to install them on a live website, you can always use DevKinsta to easily create test websites on your local computer.

If you’re looking for optimized WordPress hosting to go with your new block-powered WordPress site, you can then use Kinsta’s managed WordPress hosting to ensure a fast, secure, and reliable foundation for your site.

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