20 Obscure WordPress Theme Providers

There are hundreds if not thousands of WordPress theme shops out there.  Many are blow-your-socks-off amazing.  Conversely, many are just throwing themes against the wall and seeing if they stick.

Rather than just list all of the well-known, popular WordPress theme providers, I decided to identify some of the more obscure theme shops.  The following are high quality, lesser-known WordPress theme shops you may never have heard of.  Go ahead, try them out.  This post has no affiliate links.

Theme Trust

They claim “beauty and function” and I would agree.  Very professional, clean and easy to navigate themes.  Nice work Theme Trust.

Para.llel.us

A creative shop mainly selling their stuff through ThemeForest.  They make one of the most popular themes of all time on ThemeForest.

Chimera Themes

Not the top of the list in terms of cool designs.  But there are many themes to choose from, many of which are unique and serve a specific purpose which is convenient.

Shaken and Stirred

Some neat and clever, creative themes here.  One designed for the sole purpose of accepting invoice payments only.  Neato.

ThemeShift

Lots of high quality themes with an elegant, minimalist style throughout their portfolio.  Like the big boys, ThemeShift will soon be releasing their own theme framework upon which to build their future themes.

ThemeFuse

Slightly higher priced ($59-99) put the “premium” in premium themes.  But they back up the price with some nice designs with specialized functions and clean, stylish lines.

Dessign

Beautiful, minimalist designs pulled off with a classy and professional look.  In this case, minimalist does NOT mean boring.  This provider was once featured on SmashingMagazine.com, but still remains under the radar.

Mint Themes

Nice, run-of-the-mill themes, basic functions and designed well.  Mint Themes wins the award for “keep your eye on them, they’re going places.”

My Theme Shop

Great styles come out of this obscure theme shop.  Clean, grid-based designs offer a creative spin on simplistic design.

WPCrunchy

Clean, crisp themes with a professional spin.  I’d call this an economy theme provider at the tune of $39 per year.

ThemeZilla

Gotta say, one of my favorites.  Orman Clark and ThemeZilla can really put together a slick WordPress theme.  They are clean, professional, simple and fast.

CSS Igniter

Cool, usable themes using some of the latest but important techniques like responsive designs.

SoloStream

Business-y themes with a true blog feel.  Many of their themes are really just built for standard blogging.

Rockable Themes

Some nice forward-thinking designs for professionals and graphics design folks.  Nothing ground breaking here, just good wholesome themes.

Gavick Pro

Like Rockettheme, Gavick Pro started with Joomla Templates and realized just how awesome WordPress was.  They now offer both.  I’ve no personal experience with Gavick themes but they sure look nice.

Theme Warrior

Badass name. They offer some inexpensive and free themes with a classic flair.

OKAY Themes

Very simple themes with designers in mind.  Lots of portfolio and media focused themes.

Press75

Some excellent themes, some for just $5.  Press75 calls their themes “unique, clean and efficient.  I would agree.

Designer Themes

Cool block-style themes with a nice color-contrasting kick.  Creative use of minimalism and scrolling effects are sprinkled around their portfolio.

WP Explorer

Great themes, very well conceived and put together.  They are usable and professional at the same time.  This one is more of a collection of themes from various providers.