I have recently been asked by friends and customers about what my favorite free WordPress.com/WordPress.org themes are. This is always an interesting question because it just depends on your goals. This list is a simple guide for themes that will work for the most basic of sites. All can be customized with various plug-ins to make most every type of site work while also being scalable.

Dara by Automattic and on WordPress.com – Enumclaw Plateau Farmers’ Market is using this theme with multiple plugins, including Give and Wired Impact Volunteer Management. Makarios Acres is using this theme as well.

Fictive – King-Pierce Farm Bureau is currently built on this theme with minimal plugins.

Dyad 2 from Automattic – THIS site is built on this very theme right now, as well as Farming The Dead, Darci’s Pure & Natural and Gramma Berta’s Pantry.

Radcliffe 2 by Anders Norén – Cedar Spring Farm of Enumclaw is using this clean and simple theme.

Twenty Twelve by WordPress.org/Automattic and on WordPress.com – Boise Creek Boer Goats is built with this theme and a few plugins.

Twenty Sixteen by WordPress.org and on WordPress.com

There are many other themes out there that will work for your needs, but these seem to be the ones I come back to pretty consistently right now. As you can see, even the best sites can be built on a minimal budget and have high impact. Also, they are secure because they are running on themes built and maintained by trusted developers/companies.

Share YOUR favorite free and reliable WordPress themes with me in comments. I will share some favorite plug-ins in a future post.