100 stunning professional portfolio WordPress themes
If you work with WordPress, you are a web developer of some kind. Whether it is your full time job or just a side gig, you may want to display your work. As WordPress themes become more and more specialized, portfolio themes have developed rapidly. From their beginnings as a simple blog built for displaying images… all the way to stunning sliders and interfaces, here are some of our favorite Portfolio themes for WordPress.
These themes are a mix of commercial and free. They are all stunningly impressive themes to display your work. This post was recently updated for October 2012. We removed some old, dead or broken themes and we added some very cool new ones. Enjoy and please leave your comments. We love to hear from folks who read Pingable.
Just updated for new WordPress Portfolio Themes for March 2013, enjoy!
Consider one of the best premium theme providers out there:
Coco | Download | Demo
A nice, clean and professional business and portfolio theme with a responsive and progressive design.
Bellezza | Download | Demo
Sirens | Download | Demo
Photo Squares 2 | Download | Demo
With five color schemes at a price of $70, you can use this portfolio theme for displaying any kind of media. A simple and fast theme that is open for customization.
Wordfolio | Download
This theme comes with fully layered PSD files and a very cool slider. This portfolio theme falls into the “slick” category because of some pretty nifty features.
Display 3-in-1 | Download
A 3D and fading slider bring this portfolio theme up a notch. Nice navigation is also hard to find with portfolio themes because designers spend all their time on the media display.
Twicet | Download
Five skins and jQuery integration make this a very solid portfolio theme option. There are also lots of back end customization options so you won’t be left with a boring, common theme.
Smart Portfolio | Download
The Smart portfolio theme is minimalist, and done well. A custom admin panel lets you make it your own, even changing the layout from 1-4 columns.
Folio Portfolio | Download
The Folio Portfolio Theme includes category sorting which is not common. It also incorporates Google Analytics and a custom design-icon tagging system.
Levitation | Download
Full PSD access and a robust back end admin panel let you take this theme from boring to custom. A nice jQuery slider complements the overall nice “feel” of this theme.
Cadmus | Download
The designers of this portfolio theme thought of almost everything. Nested comments, AJAX under the hood, and 6 color schemes let you customize the crap out of this theme.
Pacifica | Download
Choose from three custom jQuery sliders and 8 custom skins to make Pacifica your own. Full support of the WordPress 3.0 menu system is included as well.
Gridly | Download
Gridly is a personal favorite because it has the grungy feel without feeling dirty. Using featured images and jQuery masonry, this portfolio theme becomes fully responsive.
Comments (89)
Very nice themes. I found a few I really liked, I might change my theme to one of them.
Thanks for the post, some very nice themes indeed. I have in fact used a couple of them before on some personal blogs of mine to get me started and then edit them to how I would like them so I don’t have to do the whole thing from scratch.
Sorry to have to say this though, but the fact you don’t have image previews of them all on this page is a bit of a let down as I got a bit bored clicking them all to view em
Would be nice if you could edit the post to have all images maybe?
I like the office space theme
thank you for this nice themes.
Great styles. Thanks for sharing!
WebDesign Orange County´s last blog ..Get Paid NOW Taking Free Surveys – A New Program That Works
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I see the glossy/shiny graphics element of 2.0 starting to fade away. Now when i come across a site with big glossy icons, i find it tacky. Thought this is strange, since just a couple years ago it seemed that it was a necessary element of your design. While i still feel glossy is good in some cases, it’s getting a lot more subtle than it used to be back when the 2.0 craze started.
Matthew Heidenreich´s last blog ..Showcase of 50 Outstanding Abstract Vector Designs
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I love the depth and perception example; I’ve never seen that done before. It would look amazing in a nice deep colored blue IMHO.
Mark´s last blog ..Video from the Fresh Prince.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
While I agree with most of your points (especially typography, large images, and depth/perspective), the web 2.0 arena has warn it’s welcome. If anything, simplistic designs with the trends you described are replacing it.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
wow really so nice…………bravo
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I like the simple :<
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I would make a prominent place for white space usage. Designer are exploring and using white space more effectively than ever. Just take a look at Drawar, Andy Ruthledge’s Design View, Astheria and 52 Weeks of UX.
Vladimir Remenar´s last blog ..Hacking websites: The Series
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
mir is nicht ganz der sinn des artikels klar
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Very interesting.
Thank you for this article!
Theo´s last blog ..Suchmaschinen-Optimierung, der Weg nach vorn
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
thanks…
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Nice overview, but all of them were already trends in 2009. So we have to see, if something “new” is coming into 2010?
Webstandard-Blog´s last blog ..Navigation Menu made by jQuery – Best of Tutorials
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I thought that I will experience something interesting over the list of design trend 2010.
sarbartha´s last blog ..iPad CONTEST: 3 Chance to win a FREE Apple Tablet
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Nice showcase!
a lot of inspiration
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Interesting post about web design trend.
insic´s last blog ..Stunning & Inspiring HD Wallpapers for your Desktop
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Great Read! Thanks for sharing!
Cher Cabula´s last blog ..Project 365 January Roundup
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
2010 blogları çok güzelmiş. tşk.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Interesting list, thanks for that.
Ian Devlin´s last blog ..iandevlin.com mentioned on Web Design Ledger
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
i like the designs you showcased. but in one point i disagree. web 2.0 is – imho – much more than just a “design trend” or how a website looks. it’s the whole concept of interaction between creator and consumer, which changed the web to version 2.0, not only the look and feel of it.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Nice article. I really agree with the one page trend.
jeprie´s last blog ..Membuat Poster Wanted Bergaya Koboi dengan Sobekan Kertas
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Thanks for this great article and resources
AnggaRifandi´s last blog ..Wallpaper Blogger in Your Own Word
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Yes, web with large image quite popular for now.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
I guess it depends on how you define trends. What you describe here are random observations of the past. Any possible trends happened years ago. The Web 2.0 look and feel was a trend overt two years ago.
This article stats the obvious and provides no insight and little value. Your title must have been created for SEO purposes as it has all of the buzz words – 2010, trends, etc. although your content does not deliver.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Agreed.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Some really nice insights
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
thanks for the sharing
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Very great overview! I personally like the simple and typography stuff as todays trends. Like designwise, grafik and sanguine. Keep it up!
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
From what I can tell as far as trends for 2010 go the concentration seems to be on two main things:
- Nice big headers that are pretty, but more importantly, functional.
- Ample use of whitespace to promote clarity
I’m not sure the content here describes trends as such, but they sure are a nice collection of inspiring designs.
Josh Kohlbach´s last blog ..The Lazy Mans Guide To Designing Your Customer’s Website
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Thanks for a great compilation of these blogs. I have been reading regularly from a few of these but there are some that i missed.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Coming from a web design company myself we are getting more customers wanting blogs for their sites or want us to re-design their existing. Seeing these blogs have given us some great ideas for our future customers. Thanks.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Thanks for that post. I made this one of my three links today on my Design Thought for the Day blog:
http://designthoughtfortheday.blogspot.com/2010/02/02-04-blog-design-trends-great.html
All the best, Ted
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Thank you! Great to see your appreciation for this research! Thanks to Cyrus!
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Hey, good point though you should agree it’s hard to define what’s really new in Year 2010, because big trends will stay all the time, they just will change – for example web 2.0 is staying more subtle, but trend as name is still staying.
This article tries to define and show some new and subtle changes which could be interesting to notice.
I am sorry if you were expecting more than you received. We definitely try our best to deliver.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
IEMAI was the best… A very Nice Concept… Really Cool… Everythings Nice and great!!! :X
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Great, thanks for sharing.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Wow nice to see the new web3.0 trends already.
andrew´s last blog ..Free ashampoo winoptimizer 6
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Web 3.0 is going to be brilliant. I’m starting to look at AJAX as well! I still can’t believe that there are a lot of sites that are still distinctly Web 1.0!?!?!?!?!
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Agree with Ian Devlin – your logo really stood out to me!
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
web 2.0 finished,
welcome to web 3.0
this is thank you..
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
very nice article, thanks
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Nice collection. Thanks
SM´s last blog ..Новое доменное имя блога
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Wow great selection of themes! Must of taking you a while to write that post
All the best
Dan
Nice Designs thanks.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Nice designs. Will try some.
KARTHIK KUMAR´s last blog ..Dolphin declared as National water animal of India
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
really its awesome ….
very useful for designing
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Looking Ahead to Print Design in 2010…
I recently ran across a blog that talks a little bit about web advances that have lead to design changes online. It also talks a lot about elements of design that cross over from web design to print design. You can read Design Trends among Blogs to see…
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Its indisputable how technology changed. Even the simplest of websites have evolved throughout the years.
I remember the first Internet where websites were only text – now we have dynamic portals, flash animated websites and what more. Technology has changed everything and its evolution will never end – as long as its used for the good of the people and not vice-versa.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Thanks for the article and interesting collection.
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
i think the best trend is to keep the design more simple than just putting up too much of an eye candy.It also talks a lot about elements of design that cross over from web design to print design
This comment was originally posted on 1stwebdesigner – Love In Design
Video Flick theme is craaazy! I really love it! And the others too… It’s acctually hard to decide my second favorite
Thank you on that!
These are really stunning designs! I was really inspired after looking at these photos. You gave me ideas on how I could improve my designing skills.
This is about the most complete, the most useable and the most cool collection of portfolio themes I ever saw. Makes me turn my site into WordPress immediately… now if I could only decide what theme to use. With this kind collection of possibilities, finding the perfect theme is easy and hard at the same time. Nevertheless, thank’s for sharing this “list”.
Excellent themes, thanks for the inspiration! I’m a big fan of the Proudfolio theme. I love the lighting on that homepage. Looks really great. Have you got more of these WP theme articles coming up?
Hi Angela,
Thanks for the kudos. I actually just published this post on WordPress News Themes, and will definitely be working on more soon.
Regards,
Cyrus
With so many sites listing “top wordpress themes” its hard to find a good list of great themes. This list is by far one of the best ones out there, in my opinion better than the one listed by smashing design magazine.
Thanks Walter!
Very Impressive. Thanks for the effort. You inspire me to improve my site. I’ll be sharing this with my friends and this will surely be a hit.
Great post! Thank you for collecting so many nice themes, I really like the style of Cafe Press and Office Space. I will try some of them out.
the themes are awesome!
I really like many who are there
but definitely going to focus on the display 3 in 1
is fantastic
Thanks for share it
I really liked!
Great post! I really like the Reflection and Photoblog themes, and will try them out. Thank you!
I developed a free and open-source WordPress theme for artists called WPFolio:
http://wpfolio.visitsteve.com
I both work as an artist and work with professional artists often and this theme was designed to meet their needs – large images, minimal design, lots of options, and free and open-source.
Wow, This help me a lot, I will buy some of this wp themes and I will gonna use it for my 2 website http://www.webdesigner-for-hire.com and http://www.flashdriveinc.com , both now are in joomla and joomla is super slow and not search engine friendly.
wow.. huge list! Thanks!
Great list Cyrus! How did you find all hundred of these? Must have taken ages, right?
I like the London Creative theme. Those diagonal yellow stripes in the background: very original and refreshing. Nice input!
wow that is a one big giant list i wasn’t able to check all of them. Some are crappy though, better search themeforest for “portfolio” themes, can find them and sort them by popularity.
obscorp is probably the nicest theme for a personal site that you want to look professional
this list also contains some very nice themes, but too bad i didn’t find about it when i was looking for a theme for my personal website.. but now i bookmarked it so i’ll be back for the next blog theme
It was really stunning. I am so amazed on the choices available. WordPress is the most popular blog software in use today. It was first released on May 27, 2003, by Matt Mullenweg. It has a templating system, which includes widgets that can be rearranged without editing PHP or HTML code, as well as themes that can be installed and switched between.
Woah, so many to choose from. I’m really loving the Wordfolio theme at the moment. I’ve been looking to change my theme over, and have always used free themes, but that one is so gorgeous, I must just have get my wallet out
The Website Designs are stunning examples, as a Web Designer in Weston we have quite alot of competition for business but with such powerful software it makes a conversion much easier with examples of such work. Trends for Web Design are constantly changing but emphasised by software developments that are the foundation of design ability. Thanks for the Display and discussions.
The collection that can be seen here amazed me to the fullest. I would really invite my friends to see this kind of site. Awesome!
Thanks for this large selection of professional portfolio WP themes. But frankly speaking, I wouldn’t call all of them stunning. Of course, some of these designs I like very much, but most are just a bit trivial, or too plain and dull. I’ll tell you which ones I liked most: Innuendo, Paper Made, Fotofolio, Photocrati Focus, Grace. Perhaps, Grace is the most cool of them, as to my taste.
Regards,
Claire
Excellent themes! I like the Twicet theme a lot: love the extensive use of all the colours and bright lights. You don’t see that very often, do you?
From what I can tell as far as trends for 2010 go the concentration seems to be on two main things:
- Nice big headers that are pretty, but more importantly, functional.
- Ample use of whitespace to promote clarity
I’m not sure the content here describes trends as such, but they sure are a nice collection of inspiring designs.
This is the second place on your site i found good collection of themes as was hunting few good theme which would go with my new site.
Thanks for sharing.
Have to say the choice here is incredible! I am looking for really high quality themes for my
city breaks blog and would probably try a few themes from here to see which one fits best. Thanks!
Wow, Innuendo is really the bst for me
Great list, pretty handy. Look cool, taste nice, sounds great
I like some of these, but most are over ally complicated.
Word Folio looks promising. All that black will provide such a stunning contrast to photographs, colors and images. This is such a great line up, Dusty. I don’t know where to start exploring!
Wow, those are really beautiful templates, they are an inspiration. The is one I will definately buy tonight