How to choose a website template (and avoid the ones you will regret)
By Core Concepts · · Buying guide
Most templates look good in a screenshot. The difference between a good one and a bad one only shows up later, when you try to change the headline, open it on a phone, or find out the animation you liked was a video. These are the checks worth running before you pay.
1. Use the live demo, do not just look at it
A screenshot tells you about one moment at one screen size. Open the live demo and scroll all the way down. Click the menu. Hover the buttons. Resize the window. If there is no live demo, treat that as the answer.
On our own product pages the demo is embedded, so you can scroll the real site before you buy.
2. Open it on your phone
A large share of visits to any business website now comes from phones. Open the demo on yours. Look for text that is too small, buttons that are hard to tap, and effects that relied on a mouse and now do nothing.
3. Ask how fast it is
Heavy templates are the most common regret. A template that loads a page builder, three sliders and an icon library to show five sections will be slow forever. Look for templates that say what they are built with, and prefer ones that ship only what the page uses.
4. Find out how you edit it
This is the question people forget. Where does the text live? If every headline is buried in a different file, small changes become expensive. A good template keeps all the copy in one place. Ours keep every visible string in a single content file, so changing the text is editing text.
5. Check what it is built with
Technology decides who can work on your site later and where it can be hosted. A template built with a mainstream framework such as Next.js can be picked up by almost any front-end developer. One built on an obscure builder ties you to that builder. If you are unsure which route suits you, read Next.js template or WordPress theme.
6. Read the licence
Look for three things: how many websites one purchase covers, whether you can use it for a client, and whether it expires. Our licence is one purchase for one website, including client work, with no expiry.
7. Check who answers when it breaks
Marketplaces with thousands of sellers have thousands of support policies. Find out who you will be emailing and for how long. Support from the people who built the template is worth more than a ticket queue.
A quick way to decide
- If the demo feels right on your phone, that is the strongest signal you will get.
- If you cannot work out how to change the headline, keep looking.
- If the licence is vague, ask before you buy.
When the template fits the business you are in, most of the work is already done. Ours are grouped by industry for that reason: browse all templates.