Having a website that features your portfolio is crucial if you want to attract more clients. A WordPress portfolio site is also necessary when you’re trying to land a job in a creative agency or another business looking to hire a designer, illustrator, architect, or anyone else who needs to display their work.
“56% of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool—however, only 7% of job seekers actually have a personal website.” – Forbes
One of the easiest ways to create a personal portfolio website is to use WordPress. Aside from ease of use, WordPress has literally thousands of themes and plugins that make it easy to create galleries and images and display them in a visually attractive way. That makes WordPress a perfect choice for portfolio websites.
25 Best Portfolio WordPress Themes for 2020
In this post, we’ll feature our best portfolio WordPress themes to set you up for 2020. The themes on this list are not only beautiful, but are also responsive to ensure your work looks great whatever device they’re viewed on.
Note: a few of the themes listed here will state that they’re for agencies, but we’ve included them because we think they’re equally suited to personal websites.
These personal portfolio themes have a variety of options to display your body of work and many of those featured here have also been optimized to load fast and rank better in search engines.
1. UltraViolette - Design Portfolio Theme
UltraViolette is a WordPress portfolio template that will make you stand out. The best about this professional theme is that it’s easy to use and doesn’t require coding knowledge.
This template features a powerful admin panel, a large collection of home and inner pages and two premium plugins.
Don’t miss out on this WordPress portfolio awarded with Best Innovation, Best UI Design and Best UX Design.
2. Gleam - Portfolio Photography WordPress Theme
Gleam is a WordPress artist portfolio template designed for photographers, but easily adaptable to other creative professions. It comes with many homepages, albums, galleries and contact pages to customize this WordPress portfolio to your needs.
The theme easy to use and fully responsive. Gleam looks amazing on all devices (desktop, tablet or mobile).
3. Marée - Illustration and Design Portfolio Theme
Marée is a great WordPress portfolio template created for illustrators and designers. You don’t need coding knowledge to build a fantastic portfolio with this template. Marée has a responsive design and multiple customizable layouts for portfolio lists.
4. Bauman - Creative Portfolio Theme
Bauman is a powerful and elegant WordPress portfolio template. The theme features fast loading speed: the high quality code and optimized images make the theme work on high-speed performance.
This WordPress portfolio is SEO Optimized, great for search engines, and the license includes lifetime updates.
5. Sånn - Design Portfolio Theme
Sånn is a fantastic WordPress artist portfolio template. It’s a modern and colorful theme to showcase all types of creative work. Some features of this WordPress portfolio are its responsive design, its large collection of custom shortcodes and its easy-to-use admin interface.
6. Sekko - Creative Portfolio Theme
Sekko is stunning; an uber-stylish personal portfolio theme for creatives and ideally suited to a range of disciplines. It comes with all manner of variants; a masonry portfolio (shown below), a split screen slider, a project reel, floating projects layout, and many more options besides.
This is a powerful personal WordPress portfolio theme and comes bundled with WPBakery Page Builder ($46 value) and Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Slider Plugin ($26 value) to get you on your way.
7. Luxe - Architecture WordPress Portfolio
Luxe is a portfolio theme for architects. Highly performant, and built to show off architectural projects in all their glory (the theme author is GloriaThemes–see what I did there?).
Luxe lives up to its name in terms of its luxuriant aesthetic and will serve many architects perfectly. It features a project filter, an advanced theme customizer, a drag and drop builder, and a range of pre-built single project layouts.
8. Adios - Simple WordPress Portfolio Theme
The Adios personal portfolio theme has a simple design with a homepage that places your past projects front and center. The portfolio images are organized in a two-column grid, giving each image plenty of space. You can even choose a different layout for the homepage and display your projects separately with four versatile portfolio versions. The WordPress portfolio is fully responsive and comes with a drag-and-drop page builder as well as a powerful theme options panel.
Its most recent update gives it Gutenberg compatibility and makes it possible to use both Elementor and WPBakery Page Builder to construct your pages layouts.
9. Invictus - Bold Portfolio WordPress Theme
This is one of our best portfolio WordPress themes. The Invictus theme features a bold color scheme, elegant grid layout for your portfolio on the homepage, and gives you plenty of space to add a call-to-action that encourages visitors to check out the rest of your projects. You can also display testimonials from past clients and display a list of services, or the type of work you specialize in.
Additionally, this theme comes bundled with a couple of event plugins that are perfect for scheduling a consultation session with potential customers.
10. Sprint - Minimal WordPress Theme for Portfolio Websites
The Sprint theme is a minimal WordPress portfolio theme with a stunning full-width slider on the homepage. You can use the slider to feature members of your agency or your past projects as well as highlight the qualities that your brand represents. The homepage also allows you to showcase past projects, testimonials and logos from past clients, as well as your location on the map.
11. Santos - Multipurpose Portfolio Theme
The Santos theme is a great choice if you own a creative agency and want to showcase your portfolio. The theme has a variety of portfolio layouts, prebuilt blocks, and a drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy to edit any layout. You can also create a custom layout from scratch.
Santos also comes with beautiful parallax layouts, FontAwesome icons, and optimized code for faster loading times and better search engine rank. This makes it better than any personal portfolio WordPress theme free to download out there.
12. Dreamy - Clean Portfolio Theme
The Dreamy personal portfolio theme has a clean layout that makes your projects stand out. It can be used by creatives as well as creative agencies and it comes with a plethora of options and add-ins. Main features include:
- Powerful theme options panel
- Visual Composer included
- Typekit and Google Fonts supported with advanced typography control
- Unlimited portfolio layouts
- Unique sortable portfolio
- Unlimited page variations
- Social Media sharing options
- And more
13. Feodora - Creative Portfolio Theme
The Feodora theme is a great choice for studio and agency portfolios with unlimited pages and two different homepage variations. The theme uses a drag-and-drop page builder, which makes it easy to edit. You can import the demos with one click and tweak the settings with the help of the admin panel. Customers love the features and the quick support:
“The theme is a great theme and their customer support is awesome. They were able to help me out with a few questions and kept following up!”
14. Life - Boxed Portfolio WordPress Theme
The Life portfolio WordPress theme has a boxed design and allows you to showcase your portfolio and services as well as create beautiful gallery collages with lightbox or gallery sliders. The WordPress artist portfolio template is fully responsive, easy to customize, and supports all major post formats.
Another benefit of this theme is the integration with WooCommerce, so you can even add an online store to your website. On top of this, Life comes with Mailchimp support so you can focus on building your email list.
15. Metis - Portfolio and Agency WordPress Theme
The Metis theme is perfect for both freelancers and agencies that want to showcase their portfolio. The theme comes in a light and dark version and looks great no matter the screen size thanks to the responsive design. Main features include:
- 9 Portfolio Variants
- 9 Project Pages
- Multilingual support using WPML plugin
- Pricing Tables
- Parallax Effects
- Responsive Video Support
- SEO Optimized
- Google Fonts Support
- Contact Form 7 Support
- 400+ Icons
- And more
16. Cubez - Dark Portfolio WordPress Theme
If you prefer a dark background, give the Cubez WordPress personal portfolio theme a try. Thanks to the dark color scheme, your past projects stand out even more and encourage visitors to click on individual images to learn more about the project.
The WordPress artist portfolio template comes with several unique portfolio layouts and appealing transition animations. Customers praise the design:
“Awesome design and performance!”
17. Qusq Pro - Flat WordPress Theme
Consider the Qusq Pro theme if you love the flat design trend. With bold color schemes, this theme is a great choice for graphic artists or illustrators. This theme is simple to setup and customize as it doesn’t have a ton of bells and whistles to configure, however it more than makes up for it with its colorful and unique design that’s sure to make your portfolio stand out.
18. Norebro - Professional Portfolio WordPress Theme
The Norebro theme includes not only a variety of portfolio layouts, but also numerous hover effects and individual project pages that allow you to showcase each project with great detail, which makes it a perfect WordPress artist portfolio template.
The theme is also fully responsive and optimized to load fast. Thanks to the Visual Composer plugin, you can easily edit the layout of every page and create stunning slideshows with Revolution Slider.
19. Alinti - Light WordPress Portfolio Theme
The Alinti theme is very lightweight, which means your portfolio website will load faster. You can showcase your portfolio, team members, and feature testimonials from past clients. Other notable features include:
- Drag and Drop Page Builder (Visual Composer)
- Revolution Slider
- Powerful, Easy to Use, Admin Panel and Theme Options
- Translation Ready
- Custom Widgets
- SEO optimized HTML structure
- Google Maps
- Portfolio masonry layout
- Pricing tables
20. Veso - Modern Personal Portfolio Theme
The Veso theme features a modern design and comes with several premade layouts focused on grid and portfolio layouts. The WordPress portfolio template is fully responsive and comes bundled with Visual Composer and a few other premium plugins, so you can create a powerful portfolio website. Customers love the feature availability:
“VESO has some of the coolest Welcome/Page/Portfolio etc. Style options via smooth animations and variety of easy to edit layouts AND that also look just as amazing on mobile view (which has been my #1 priority for 3 years, and now finally clients also agree) AMAZING!”
21. Oscar - Fresh Portfolio Theme
The Oscar theme is perfect for portfolio, agency, freelancer, and small business websites with minimal and lightweight designs. The theme features multiple portfolio landing pages, advanced UI elements, and various presentation options. It also includes individual project pages and an extensive theme options panel for easy customization.
22. Aoki - Horizontal WordPress Theme for Portfolios
The Aoki theme offers a default horizontal portfolio layout. However, you can easily modify it thanks to the Visual Composer plugin. The theme is highly customizable and allows you to change every aspect of your site, from fonts and colors to margins, paddings, and more. You can also opt for a different layout such as masonry or grid and thanks to a large collection of inner pages, you can showcase your services, team members, and more.
23. Kaster - Multipage Portfolio Theme for WordPress
The Kaster theme has a clean design suitable for creative agency, design studio, web-development company, or any freelancer that wants to showcase their portfolio and increase the number of clients.
This WordPress portfolio template comes with built-in contact form and gorgeous parallax effects suitable for calls to action. On top of that, it includes a number of useful shortcodes and responsive design.
24. Loft - Beautiful Portfolio WordPress Theme
The Loft is a beautiful WordPress portfolio theme with a modern and clean design that allows you to showcase your past projects as well as feature your team members and testimonials from past clients. You’ll also find a special page for services as well as a blog template to help you attract more clients.
25. Dendrite - Powerful Portfolio Theme for WordPress
The Dendrite WordPress portfolio template may look simple, but packs a powerful punch under the hood. The theme offers hundreds of creative elements and a number of homepage demos that can be imported with a single click. Several portfolio layouts are also included as well as hundreds of customization options. The theme is also optimized to load fast and looks great on any device screen.
5 WordPress Portfolio Themes Free to Download in 2020
We’ve shown you some of our best portfolio WordPress themes to get from Themeforest, which are professional, modern and very easy to use and customize.
But don’t worry if you’re strapped for cash. You can still create eye-catching and fully functional websites. I’ll show you five personal portfolio WordPress themes free to download.
Note: don’t forget to check the WordPress portfolio themes free on Themeforest, which change every month. Get notified of new free WordPress themes by signing up for the Envato Market newsletter.
1. ePortfolio WordPress Theme
This WordPress portfolio theme for free has a minimalist design and it’s SEO optimized. It’s a great option for photographers, digital marketers, graphic designers and other freelance artistic or creative workers.
2. Career Portfolio Theme
A free WordPress portfolio with a high-quality and responsive design. It comes with advanced theme options, plenty of shortcodes, various portfolio pages, and much more for you to build your own professional website. This is a great personal portfolio WordPress theme free to download.
3. Vlogger Video Blog Theme
A great free WordPress portfolio especially designed for those in the video industry. As you’ll see, all its features are industry oriented. The Video Blog theme is sophisticated, responsive and user-friendly with a call to action button.
4. Chique WordPress Portfolio Theme
Chique is a cool free WordPress portfolio created for people in the fashion business. It provides both aesthetic design and functionality. This free template empowers you to craft professional, top-notch fashion sites in the blink of an eye.
5. OsTende WordPress Portfolio Theme
OsTende is a WordPress portfolio theme for free and a great option for performance artists. The template is responsive & SEO friendly. If you’re an actor wishing to showcase your work, or you run a theater website to promote Performing Arts, OsTende will be a perfect match for you.
5 Must Have Plugins For Every Portfolio Site
Once you’ve found a theme that you like, there are a few plugins that you might want to install so you can get the most out of your WordPress portfolio site.
1. SEO Plugin
Although many of the WordPress portfolio themes on this list (such as Metis) have been optimized for search engines, installing an SEO plugin will give you even more control over your site. You’ll be able to tweak meta descriptions not only for your posts, but portfolio items and other pages on your site as well. You can also make use of adding Open Graph tags and other features that will help you rank better. A plugin like Yoast SEO is a great place to start.
2. Newsletter Plugin
You’ll also want a newsletter plugin like Ninja Popups for WordPress so potential clients who aren’t quite ready to hire you can sign up for your email list. This allows you to build a relationship with them and stay top of mind. Consider offering a freebie in exchange for their email address or a free consultation so they can get a taste of what it’s like working with you.
3. Contact Form Plugin
Some of the portfolio WordPress themes on our list come with a built-in contact form. If your chosen theme doesn’t have this functionality, you’ll need a contact form like Contact Form 7 or this by WPForms, so potential clients can get in touch with you. You can also use a contact form plugin to create client questionnaires and collect testimonials.
4. Scheduling Plugin
If you add a scheduling plugin to your WordPress portfolio site, you’ll facilitate the hiring process for those visitors who are ready to hire you. You can insert available time slots, configure your payment options, and automate the whole process. Consider a plugin like Bookly.
5. Social Sharing Plugin
Adding a sharing plugin will help visitors share your blog posts, which leads to an increase of traffic to your site and introduces your services and portfolio to new potential customers. A plugin like WordPress Social Share Buttons makes it easy to add share buttons on any post or page on your site.
Learn More About Using WordPress Themes
Working with WordPress can be a little confusing, especially if you’re just starting to learn how to use its themes and templates. But don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Check these useful resources that will help you navigate the WordPress world.
WordPressHow to Make a WordPress Website
WordPress ThemesHow to Make Modern Websites With Clean WordPress Themes
WordPress ThemesHow to Make Your Premium WordPress Theme Competitive
Find Your Perfect Portfolio Theme
Creating a portfolio website is a vital part of furthering your career as a creative, and it’s easy with WordPress and the right theme.
“A personal website should be considered a part of the job-search package and serve as a positive sales pitch for you.” – Dr. Katharine Brooks
Browse our collection of personal WordPress portfolio themes to find the one that’s perfect for your site and launch your portfolio today.
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