In the grand scheme of things, magazine-style layouts are becoming more and more popular with website builders. Not sure what a magazine theme is? Don’t worry, we are going to cover it together. Let’s take a look at some of the best magazine themes for WordPress.
Why a WordPress Magazine Theme?
If you are starting to build a website with WordPress, you will have a lot of different choices when it comes to themes. However, if you have a news or informational website, then a magazine-style theme is very ideal.
WordPress news themes provide a specific content layout, unlike other themes. Sure, a lot of your website traffic comes from Google searches. That being said, many people still see the front page of your website.
The best WordPress magazine themes provide a selection of layout styles that allow you to categorize and display a lot of different articles and content on the front page of your site.
This is ideal for someone who is both a first-time visitor and a returning reader. Displaying content options in dynamic layouts not only makes your website more interactive but also creates an easy-to-navigate layout that your visitors can use.
Instead of displaying a blog roll-style layout with all articles in a row, you can display categories, features, videos, music, articles, and photo galleries. These can all be accessed from the homepage of your website.
You will see more of what I am talking about by viewing some of the following magazine themes in WordPress.
Let’s take a look at 30 of the best WordPress magazine themes available.
The Best Magazine Themes for WordPress
1. Newspaper
The Newspaper theme allows you to create all sorts of content with relative ease. It is a newspaper-style template and is widely considered to be one of the best WordPress news themes around.
With a ton of built-in functionality, you can’t go wrong with this one.
For instance, with the Opt-in builder, you can build lead-generating calls to action to help boost subscribers, and by extension, revenue.
It is also compatible with plugins like WooCommerce, so you can build a full online store. However, no matter what you build with it, you can rest easy knowing that it will get a great performance, as the theme is optimized for speed.
Benefits of Using Newspaper
- Choose from over 150 pre-built templates
- Use the Header builder to create your own header styles
- Google AMP ready
- Gain access to a talented support team that is standing by to help
- Easily create your own YouTube or Vimeo playlists
2. Magazine Pro
Magazine Pro is one of the best magazine themes for WordPress even now. The theme has been around for several years, but the developers keep updating and upgrading it.
This theme features several versatile layouts and provides you with a media-ready design.
For instance, one of the first things you will want to do is brand your website with your own logo. This theme allows you to easily upload your logo to replace the default one in seconds.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can load all of the demo content in a single click. This will act as a great starting point when building a website as everything can be customized to fit your needs.
Benefits of Using Magazine Pro
- Built using the Genesis Framework
- Includes several accessibility options
- Great responsive design to keep mobile users happy
- Supports WooCommerce integration
- Utilize the theme customizer to make sitewide changes in a minute
3. Gillion
Gillion is a multi-purpose design and is one of the most recommended magazine themes in WordPress. It allows you to easily create magazine-style websites in just a few minutes thanks to a great selection of pre-built layouts.
With over 15 different one-click installations available, there is a pre-built layout for everyone. It also includes over 50 modular sections that you can build with.
These are small pre-built sections you can add to a page or post. They can blend in seamlessly with one another and allow you to create unique content for your site, which can save a lot of time.
Give this WordPress magazine theme a shot for simplicity of use.
Benefits of Using Gillion
- Choose from multiple layout options
- Create sliders with ease with Slider Revolution
- Build your own modules that you can reuse
- Choose from over 9 header variations
- Includes access to the WPBakery page builder
4. Divi
The Divi theme makes the list of magazine themes for WordPress because it is a multi-purpose designer that you can use to build anything. As such, building a magazine-styled website is quite easy thanks to the built-in page builder.
The theme has pre-built templates you can use to get started, including several for magazines. However, you could also choose to build your own site using the tools and features within the excellent page builder.
One of the best parts about Divi would be making large-scale global changes to your site. This allows you to easily and quickly change the colors, font size, font type, and other general elements throughout your site in a few seconds.
Benefits of Using Divi
- Undo or redo any move in your site editing history
- Add your own custom CSS anywhere in Divi
- Everything within Divi is naturally responsive
- Choose from over 200 pre-made websites
- Easily add hover styles over any site element
5. SmartMag
SmartMag is a modern, clean, responsive magazine theme for WordPress. It also includes a drag-and-drop page builder that allows you to create stunning homepage layouts for your audience.
This is also another theme that has been around for some time and continues to deliver regular updates and improvements. For instance, one of its latest updates included a Footer builder to add even more customization options.
Perhaps one of the more unique features is the ability to include a Dark Mode button for visitors to use., This allows them to seamlessly switch between Light and Dark Modes, which is always a great option.
Benefits of Using SmartMag
- Autoloads the next post to help keep visitors engaged
- Access 26 pre-built headers or make your own
- Supports Google AMP
- Offers integration options for Elementor
- Control your image ratios from a single area
6. Astra
Considered by many to be the best multi-purpose WordPress theme on the market, Astra comes fully ready for you to create the magazine layout theme you have always wanted.
You can add a WordPress page builder plugin if you want or use one of the many starter site layouts it comes with. In fact, it boasts having the largest selection of pre-built sites, with many focusing on the magazine style.
That said, you’ll be able to easily make sitewide changes by just using the built-in tools. It also includes its own header and footer builder to ensure you have all of the options you will need.
Benefits of Using Astra
- Integration with the most popular plugins like WooCommerce or Yoast
- Take advantage of limitless Hook & Filter options
- Translation and RTL ready
- Great performance with pages loading in just half a second
- Live editing allows you to see the changes you make in real-time
7. Tribune
The Tribune add-on is a very powerful WordPress news and magazine theme. Display your articles, categories, and videos in a number of ways on the front page. You can also highlight featured posts with a carousel-type display.
What’s even better is that the carousel is at the top or the bottom, so you have complete freedom in how it appears. You can add a lot of features via the Jetpack integration. This includes things like anti-spam to other features like lazy loading.
Another one of its core features is the inclusion of Infinite Scrolling. This will allow your pages to display more posts as the user keeps scrolling, which increases the time they stay on a page, and can keep them engaged with more content.
Benefits of Using Tribune
- The custom video widget makes it easy to embed videos anywhere
- Translation ready and supports RTL
- Gain access to a breaking news ticker to show your latest stories as they go live
- Easily match site colors with your logo
- Compatible with popular page builders
8. MagPlus
MagPlus not only gives you a solid magazine-style theme, but it also leaves plenty of room for advertising. The theme comes with multiple layouts and styles to choose from and it even includes over 40 demo sites.
And yes, that means you’ll have a demo site specifically made for a magazine-styled website.
It also offers you the ability to build and display ads in a number of pre-built locations, all of which are Adsense approved.
When it comes to general web design, you’ll have a great selection of freedom. This includes control over the colors, fonts, images, and just about everything else you would expect from a modern WordPress theme.
Benefits of Using MagPlus
- Add YouTube playlists to your website
- Choose between 18 header styles to find the right fit
- Gain access to an impressive selection of over 10 custom widgets
- Create your own Mega menus
- Integration options for WooCommerce
9. JNews
JNews is one of the best premium magazine themes available in WordPress. It has an excellent modern design for news websites to utilize, with a lot of freedom when it comes to where elements go.
Its most unique feature is the JegAI Assistant, which is an AI-writing assistant that can help you write content quicker and improve quality. And it also works in both Gutenberg and the Classic editor.
JNews was also built with the employees in mind. It offers several tools that allow you to keep track of writers’ performances and even keep track of any payments you make to them. As such, it is well suited for team environments.
Benefits of Using JNews
- Pay writers directly using PayPal
- Easily set up a donation button to your site
- Includes a built-in audio player that is perfect for delivering sound bits
- Gain access to over 8 style options
- Allow users to switch between light and dark mode
10. Webify
Webify is another multi-purpose theme that comes complete with a ton of pre-built layouts. One of these layouts is a magazine-style and news-style option that is ideal for displaying the latest in breaking news.
You can also use the Elementor page builder that is included in the theme to easily add drag-and-drop functionality to the front-page design. This can boost your creative freedom to new levels, and virtually eliminate limits.
You can also save time when designing pages by utilizing over 60 shortcodes. They allow you to quickly add site elements like a testimonial slider or a YouTube video playlist. There are a lot of options and shortcodes to make them easy to add.
Benefits of Using Webify
- Excellent typography options from margins to fonts
- Plenty of options for video and audio file displays
- Translation ready with WPML support
- Integration options for popular form builders like Contact Form 7
- Excellent UI & UX design helps both developers and visitors alike
11. Gridlove
Gridlove continues our list of magazine themes for WordPress. It is a creative WordPress theme built specifically to focus on magazine and news-style sites. You’ll have all of the tools needed to design your own layout.
That said, it comes with several pre-defined masonry layouts that you can use to build and create the front page of your website in a quicker fashion. It also has an amazing header and footer builder you can take advantage of.
You can easily highlight popular posts by adding an accent color to them. This helps them stand out when visitors are scrolling through your posts, which can help keep visitors on the site.
This is just scratching the surface as Gridlove has a lot more to offer.
Benefits of Using Gridlove
- Create unique templates for each category
- Compatible with your favorite plugins like Disqus or MailChimp
- Includes plenty of room to run advertisements
- Optimized for high speed with nearly perfect ratings from Pingdom
- Includes features to make it GDPR compliant
12. The Wonderwall
The Wonderwall theme is a very stylish and flexible WordPress theme that is built to tailor to magazine and news-style websites. The theme comes with 9 pre-built front-page layouts that you can pick and choose from.
This will allow you to build and customize your magazine-style website how you want. It also has tools to help you gain followers and subscribers like a built-in newsletter subscribe widget.
There are also a variety of social share buttons you can utilize to help make your content more sharable on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter.
Overall, it is a terrific theme for building a magazine-styled website.
Benefits of Using Wonderwall
- The theme is easy to customize and does not require a line of code
- Includes several areas created specifically for ads
- The theme was built with performance in mind, thus you can expect fast load times
- Includes a 7-day money-back guarantee
- Notification will appear inside the WordPress dashboard when updates are available
13. TheGem
TheGem is one of the best magazine themes for WordPress around. It is very versatile, highly responsive, and modern. The theme comes complete with a huge collection of demos, demo content, layouts, and styling options.
Perhaps one of its most powerful and versatile features would be the popup builder. With it, you can build any kind of popup from cookie consent to email newsletter opt-ins.
You can do more than just build a news site as it integrates with WooCommerce and even has an extended WooCommerce builder to help flesh out your storefront.
Simply put, if you need a WordPress news theme, then TheGem is worth a look.
Benefits of Using TheGem
- Choose from over 400 pre-built demos
- Offers a great performance and it is optimized for high search rankings
- Includes access to the WPBakery page builder
- Create your own templates and reuse themes throughout your site
- Choose from over 2500 font icons
14. Felt
Felt is the perfect theme if you are looking for flexibility and style, and it excels at both of these when it comes to building a magazine website. It offers you the ability to create a simple, yet modern magazine-style appearance with a lot of creative freedom.
It also includes a dynamic carousel and slideshow widget that can be used in a number of ways. Like showcasing your most popular posts or the latest in breaking news. There’s a lot you can do with it.
It’s also worth mentioning how easy it is to use this theme. The UI is really intuitive and everything is where you would expect it to be, which makes it great for beginners.
It’s definitely one of the best magazine themes for WordPress out there today.
Benefits of Using Felt
- Gain access to excellent customer support that is ready to help
- Compatible with WPML to ensure translations are quick and easy
- Excellent performance
- Compatible with WooCommerce
- Use CSS to customize the theme into whatever you want
15. HitMag
HitMag is not only a fantastic magazine theme for WordPress, but it is also free. This is one of the better free magazine themes for WordPress available due to the high level of customization it offers.
In terms of design, it gives you access to four-page layouts to switch between a variety of magazine widgets to build a great home page and access to an amazing image slider. All of this allows you to build your website the way you want.
If you are looking for something that offers a ton of features and functionality for free, then HitMag is worth a few minutes to try. And since it is free, you lose nothing by exploring what it offers.
Benefits of Using HitMag
- Display posts by category to help visitors find what they are interested in
- Utilizes three footer widget areas
- Clean code ensures that pages load fast
- Use the live customizer to see changes in real-time
- Display your latest posts in the image slider
16. Journo
The Journo WordPress magazine theme gives you the ability to create a stunning website. The theme has limitless header and footer styles available, which allows you to build your site any way you want.
It also comes with several pre-built layouts that you can install in a single click. Another neat feature would be the flexible social media share buttons that you can place just about anywhere. There’s one for every major social network.
It’s also worth pointing out that you can do more than just magazines with this theme. Blogging and eCommerce are also in the realm of possibilities.
Add all this functionality together and you have a fantastic WordPress magazine theme to work with.
Benefits of Using Journo
- Gain access to the Slider Revolution plugin
- Create stylish Mega Menus to improve navigation
- Integration options with Contact Form 7
- Utilize dedicated ad space to get more eyes on your ads
- Utilize the WPBakery page builder to build your site the way you want
17. The Essence
While you can create a feminine WordPress magazine layout with a lot of the themes on this list, The Essence is specifically made and designed to be more feminine from the start.
With 17 different blog and magazine-style layouts, as well as a mobile-friendly look, It also has built-in social network sharing buttons that you can take advantage of to help share your content on popular platforms like Facebook or Twitter.
There are also some custom-built widgets that you can use like the Instagram Photos widget to easily share photos straight from your Instagram account.
Overall, the Essence is great for anyone wanting to create a more feminine-focused website.
Benefits of Using The Essence
- Utilize custom home page promo boxes to show off specific content
- Make detailed changes without writing a single line of code
- Includes access to a knowledge base and one-on-one support
- Setting up is quick and easy
- This theme was built with performance in mind
18. Soledad
When it comes to the best magazine themes in WordPress, Soledad is certainly among them. It offers users an incredible level of customization that very few themes can match.
This includes access to over 220 pre-built templates and an additional 6000+ homepage designs. By using these, you can build your website quickly and ensure it has a professional quality behind it.
While it has several options for magazine websites, it is a multi-purpose theme at its core, so you can build just about anything with it.
Overall, it’s a terrific option to choose when building a website in WordPress.
Benefits of Using Soledad
- Includes an RSS Aggregator plugin
- Gain access to the Penci Podcast System plugin
- Track your writer’s content and issue payments to them
- Switch between a light and dark mode
- Includes access to a footer builder
19. Barta
The Barta theme is a very clean, smooth, and fresh magazine theme for WordPress. You can build and display content in boxes, grids, sliders, tabs, and lists. It really has something for everyone.
You’ll be able to choose between 7 unique homepage designs that give your website a professional touch. Each one is customizable, so you can make changes to make it your own.
Magazine themes often have specific spaces dedicated to ads, and this theme offers several areas you can use. The theme is easy to work with and leaves a lot of options available for displaying advertising as well.
Benefits of Using The Barta
- Includes access to the Elementor page builder
- Excellent responsive design
- Include a reading progress bar for users to see their progress
- Includes WooCommerce compatibility
- Install demo content with a single click
20. The Issue
The Issue is a very stylish and professional-looking WordPress magazine theme. It comes with a ton of features and support. Some of the highlights include WooCommerce support, page builder integration, and more.
It has excellent social media network integration. For example, you can display content based on the number of likes it gets, or in other words, share it based on popularity. And this is just one social feature.
It also ensures that the theme is translation ready by including .po/.mo files which are compatible with most major translation plugins. This is a dynamic theme to consider if you have a professional agency.
Benefits of Using The Issue
- Fully responsive design saves you time and ensures the website looks great on any device
- Built with SEO in mind for higher rankings
- Includes access to design files
- Install demo content in a single click
- Excellent performance
21. Navigation Pro
Navigation Pro is one of the newer magazine themes for WordPress. That being said, the theme offers you a whole new way to build and display your content. You can use bright colors, bold images, and several different display options.
The theme also uses Atomic Blocks and the Gutenberg block editor to style and build the homepage. And with the theme Customizer, you can see the changes you make in real-time, which is perfect for beginners.
This theme also makes it easy to upload your own logo to properly brand it as your own. Overall, this theme is truly great for making a magazine-styled website and worth checking out today.
Benefits of Using Navigation Pro
- Includes several accessibility options
- Load demo content in a single click
- Includes WooCommerce support
- Built on the Genesis Framework
- Mobile responsive design ensures it looks good on any device
22. Newsmag
Newsmag is a very modern WordPress magazine and news theme that allows you to create content quickly and easily. The theme is packed with both basic and pro features.
It also has an excellent mobile design. Everything is naturally responsive and it was built with Google AMP in mind. This ensures that mobile users get the best performance and experience possible.
What you can do with Newsmag is create a stylish and unforgettable magazine website. Newsmag is considered one of the best magazine themes for WordPress because of its functionality.
Benefits of Using Newsmag
- Integration options for Mailchimp
- Includes a custom weather widget you can display
- Gain access to the Exchange Widget to compare currencies
- Excellent ad system that is recommended by AdSense
- Build galleries with drag-and-drop controls
23. Public Opinion
The Public Opinion theme was designed to help publishers create flexible and dynamic content for their readers. It comes complete with multiple layouts, unlimited colors, plenty of custom widgets, and advertising sections.
In terms of delivering the news, it has a featured post layout, and a dedicated section for breaking news, which highlights your most recent posts. It even tells visitors the category at a glance to help pique their interest.
The theme gives you everything you need to create a WordPress magazine website, and you can take it to the next level by incorporating a page-building plugin like Elementor. With it, you have an unlimited amount of customization available.
Benefits of Using Public Opinion
- Make global changes in a single location
- Choose your favorite Google font
- This theme is translation ready
- Compatible with most major plugins like Yoast SEO or HubSpot
- Built for speed
24. Buzzy
Buzzy is yet another creative magazine theme that helps you publish content like a pro. It is a contemporary magazine-style WordPress theme that will have you up and running in no time at all.
There are plenty of post and page block templates for you to choose from. There is also a built-in selection of shortcodes that you can use to display content where and how you would like.
You’ll also gain access to a page builder plugin to give you even more design options to explore. It uses a drag-and-drop interface, which makes it perfect for beginners, but has great options that veterans will appreciate.
Benefits of Using Buzzy
- Choose from over 800 Google Fonts
- Display the weather using the custom Weather widget
- Anchor functionality for One Page sites
- Utilize three different pagination styles
- Compatible with most major plugins
25. OriginMag
OriginMag touts itself as a simple, yet sophisticated magazine theme for WordPress. It has a very customizable homepage that you can make your own. It also offers eCommerce support.
So, if you are selling physical or digital goods from your website, OriginMag has you covered.
One of its signature features would be the Featured Slider, which allows you to showcase the most popular or latest posts on your site.
Another key feature to be excited about would be its Video Widget. With it, you can easily embed video content from your favorite video streaming site like YouTube or Vimeo.
This theme really has something for everyone.
Benefits of Using OriginMag
- Mark specific categories as featured to promote them further
- Add eCommerce support by integrating with WooCommerce
- Easily import demo content in a single click
- Translation ready & WPML compatible
- Clean code ensures the theme is SEO friendly
26. Jannah
The Jannah theme is one of those magazine themes for WordPress that is also perfect for content marketing. With responsive designs, one-click install, and Gutenberg support.
In terms of design, there is a lot to talk about, but perhaps the most unique option is block shadows. You’ll be able to control the shadow effects within any block, and even have different effects on the same page.
You’ll also be able to customize your widget styles or you can create your own. The Jannah theme is everything you need to market a website and add magazine and news-style content.
Benefits of Using Jannah
- Control the size of featured images from one location
- Includes a short link box that you can use to quickly copy the links for use elsewhere
- Utilize sticky share buttons to improve sharability
- Add an author signature to the bio box
- Auto load post system to improve load times
27. PenNews
If you want to create a magazine-style website in WordPress in a short amount of time, then PenNews is the theme to use. It gives you powerful design possibilities by coming with an intuitive drag-and-drop page builder in the back end.
The theme is multi-purpose, thus you can actually build any kind of website with it, but it has several features that are perfect for magazine-style websites like multiple post styles for different categories.
In terms of design, you’ll have access to over 150 demos that you can import in a single click. Each one can be customized to fit your needs and has a professional touch to it. Overall, it is a fantastic theme.
Benefits of Using PenNews
- Supports Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles
- Includes a white label tool to help with branding
- Utilize the WPBakery plugin to build pages with
- Autoload the next post when scrolling down
- Several social counters and share buttons are available
28. Patch
Patch is a more minimalistic magazine theme for WordPress. You can create and display amazing content, while at the same time keeping it simple, clean, smooth, and professional.
It comes complete with a flexible design and layout system that automatically adapts to any screen size and device. Thus, mobile users will get an excellent experience and it can help boost rankings.
It also excels at handling different types of content. Thus, regardless if you plan on just sticking to text, using tons of images, or inserting plenty of video content, Patch can handle it and has several tools to help you maximize the effect.
Benefits of Using Patch
- Easily translate your content
- Adaptive design will work with content of any size
- Provides detailed documentation and offers support
- Built for high SEO rankings
- Mobile responsive
29. The Voux
The Voux is another one of the best feminine magazine themes in WordPress. It offers users a wide variety of layouts and features that allow you to build beautiful websites with a nearly unlimited amount of freedom.
It also comes with built-in access to the WPBakery plugin, so you can really build anything you want. That said, you’ll also gain access to a variety of pre-made demo sites that you can use as a basis for your website.
It also has eCommerce functionality as it integrates with WooCommerce. With it you can build a beautiful online store to sell merchandise or list the products you review inside your magazine.
Benefits of Using the Voux
- Includes sharing buttons for your favorite social networks
- Add infinite loading to your posts or products
- Choose from multiple header styles
- Includes unique video monetization options
- Easily insert lightboxes or create entire galleries around them
30. Click Mag
Click Mag is a fully responsive WordPress news theme. It is an older theme that still provides a ton of features and functionality for anyone using it. Thus, there is a lot to love about this theme.
The featured posts layout function is particularly stunning, as it gives you several ways to display important content that is important to you and your readers. It also has some features that normally require plugins to add.
For instance, you can show small excerpts of your content that contain a “Continue Reading” button. It’s a great way to get visitors excited about the content and get more visitors to your post content.
Benefits of Using Click Mag
- Choose between three featured post layouts
- Includes access to over 800 Google Fonts
- Translation ready with RTL support
- Easily embed YouTube and Vimeo videos in your content
- Integrations options for WooCommerce
Final Thoughts
Creating a magazine or news-style website in WordPress has a lot of the same functions and steps as creating a business website. That being said, the layouts and delivery of content are much different. That is why you need to find certain magazine themes for WordPress. Using some suggestions from the list above will put you on the right track.
These are some of the very best magazine themes for WordPress. They all offer different features and functions, but all of them give you the ability to design and create the magazine-style website you have always dreamed of.
Take a look at some of them and see if you come across a few you like. There are a lot of choices, so you should be able to find the perfect one to fit all your needs.
Is there a current magazine theme for WordPress that you use and love? We might have missed it, so feel free to tell us about it.