Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Shopify Themes

The right theme on Shopify can be the difference between an average and a successful webshop. A good theme ensures not only an attractive and professional layout but also provides flexibility in the construction of your shop, fast load times, and a user-friendly experience for your customers. These elements are crucial to achieving higher conversion rates and increasing customer satisfaction.

At the same time, a well-optimized theme can contribute to better visibility on search engines like Google, as speed and structure also play a role in SEO.

In this article, we'll review the different types of Shopify themes and help you determine if it's time to upgrade your theme. You will also receive our best tips for a successful upgrade.

What is a Shopify theme?

A theme consists of a set of settings for fonts, colors, and overall design, along with a selection of sections and blocks that can be placed according to your preferences. Sections and blocks control how content is presented on everything from homepages, collections, and product pages to blog posts and various content pages. Additionally, a theme can gain extra functionality by using embedded apps. You can read more about apps here.

In the Shopify Theme Store, you can find all the approved Shopify themes, which you can install on your Shopify shop with just a few clicks.

Shopify themes: What options are available?

Shopify offers several options to customize the visual aspect of your webshop. There are 3 different types of themes and an option to build the entire frontend from scratch—completely independent of Shopify. The latter is known as a headless solution, which is significantly different from the other 3 types of themes. This article will focus on the 3 types of themes that use Shopify's framework:

  1. Free theme
  2. Paid theme
  3. Custom built theme

1. Free theme

When you create a Shopify account, you automatically get a theme included. This theme is called Dawn and may be quite suitable for some shops. There are also other free themes in the Shopify Theme Store, which can be downloaded, tested, and published after customization with a single click. These themes are designed to be simple and functional and offer basic features at no cost. All free themes are approved by Shopify.

Advantages:

  • Free
  • Easy to use
  • Includes a basic selection of sections

Disadvantages:

  • Limited features and design options
  • Can seem generic and less flexible, which can be a downside for more established brands

2. Paid theme

The Shopify Theme Store contains a wide selection of paid themes. Paid themes are generally professional themes developed by experts and approved by Shopify. It is possible to download and test these themes, but publication is not possible without payment. The payment is a one-time fee, typically between 200-400 USD. There is a wide variety among the individual themes in terms of design, functionality, and quality. You can filter in the Shopify Theme Store and search for specific features or find a theme that is developed with a focus on a specific industry, such as jewelry, clothing, electronics, etc.

Advantages:

  • Professionally designed with a focus on layout, performance, and flexibility
  • Typically a broader selection of sections with more theme settings, making it easier to customize the layout to the individual brand
  • Regular updates and access to support to a greater or lesser extent
  • Ample opportunity to expand with more sections or minor customizations with the help of a developer

Disadvantages:

  • It can be difficult to choose the right theme without spending time testing thoroughly

If you have multiple shops where you want to use the same theme, you must purchase a license for the chosen theme on each shop. If you export a paid theme from one shop to another and publish it without a license, Shopify will shut down your shop without warning.

For both free and paid themes, the following applies: If there have been changes made by a developer, it is no longer possible to update to a newer version without further help from a developer, as changes are unique to your shop and therefore need to be transferred manually.

3. Custom built theme

Custom built themes are tailored to specific needs and provide maximum control over design and functionality. The theme is built in Shopify's system with sections and blocks, but you determine the layout, which is then coded by a developer. It is crucial to choose a skilled developer who has experience with both Shopify standard functionality and theme development. At DTAILS, we are happy to advise on choosing a theme.

Advantages:

  • Fully customized to your brand
  • Ideal for unique design wishes and advanced functions
  • Can create a differentiated customer experience that is harder to replicate

Disadvantages:

  • Requires higher investments for development and maintenance
  • Dependence on technical expertise and ongoing support from developers

"As a lifestyle design company, branding is everything to us. Our new system has given us the freedom to take back a lot of projects in-house and have some fun with the way we execute them."

– Rhya Johnston-Wallace, Head of Digital, FRAMA.

CASE: Frama chose a custom built theme developed by DTAILS. Everything is pixel perfect and completely aligned with Frama's brand. Read the case story here.

What is a headless solution?

A headless solution separates the frontend (design and user experience) from the backend system, allowing for ultimate flexibility. It is the most expensive solution and something to consider carefully before pursuing.

In a headless architecture, your Shopify backend is only responsible for handling data and functionality, while the frontend can be built in other technologies like React, Vue.js, or something completely different. This allows for creating unique user experiences across platforms.

Advantages:

  • Perfect for brands with very complex structures or omnichannel strategies.
  • Enables even faster loading times and advanced user experiences.
  • Allows integration with external systems without restrictions from Shopify.

Disadvantages:

  • Very high development and maintenance costs
  • Requires technical expertise and dedicated resources
  • Less suitable for smaller shops that rarely need the extra flexibility


Sections and blocks: What can you do without code knowledge?

All current themes in the Shopify Theme Store are designed for Online Store 2.0. Online Store 2.0 was introduced in June 2021. With Online Store 2.0, sections and blocks can be used on all types of content pages. If you have an older theme (Online Store 1.0, also known as vintage themes), you will often be limited in which pages you can make changes to. Before the introduction of Online Store 2.0, there was a much greater need for help from a developer or a page builder app than there is today. Today, merchants can significantly adjust the design themselves without the need for coding knowledge.

Sections are large building blocks on a page, such as a hero banner, product recommendations, or an image gallery. Blocks are smaller building blocks within sections, such as a button or a text field.

With sections and blocks, you can:

  • Change the layout of your shop by dragging and dropping elements
  • Customize content and styling without technical expertise
  • Experiment with different designs to optimize conversions

When should you upgrade your theme?

If you haven't updated your theme since the summer of 2021, it is high time to do so. In June 2021, Shopify launched Online Store 2.0, and with that update, it became possible to use sections on all types of content pages, not just the Home Page.

If you have kept your theme updated, or have changed themes continuously, the following signs may indicate whether an upgrade is in order:

  • Slow load times
  • Poor mobile experience
  • Lack of features (based on your needs)
  • SEO challenges
  • You want a more user-friendly design
  • You want a more professional look or greater adaptation to the brand

What should you remember when upgrading?

If you have no code changes, the upgrade can often be done with a single click. But if even minor code changes have been made, they need to be transferred to the new theme with the help of a developer. With many code changes, you should assess which are still relevant before transferring them. Involving a Shopify expert in this process can be a significant help. At DTAILS, we are experienced in assessing themes, custom solutions, and functionality. There are ongoing updates from Shopify, which can eliminate some previous solutions, thereby reducing the amount of code changes needed.

You should also consider whether to upgrade to a newer version of your current theme or if it would add more value to switch to a completely new theme. In this case, it often makes sense to evaluate your setup. It's about taking advantage of Shopify's newest features, such as dynamic sources, templates with dynamic content, and meta-objects, so you get the most out of Shopify and can instead spend money on areas where there isn't an out-of-the-box solution.

How do you evaluate if a theme is good?

When evaluating whether a Shopify theme is right for your webshop, it's important to start by examining what sections and features the theme offers and how they can meet your needs. A good theme should provide the necessary tools to present your products and content, making it easy for your customers to navigate and reach the checkout. Depending on the products you sell, you may need different sections/presentation options.

Newer Shopify themes may have advantages in terms of modern features and improved performance, but it's also important to look at how often the developer releases updates. Many updates close together may indicate that the theme has had issues or bugs, while a theme without regular updates may indicate a lack of maintenance and support. Both can affect the stability and usability of your webshop. Spend time reading about the types of updates made and visit other shops using the theme. In the Shopify Theme Store, links are often provided to other shops, making it easy to research.

Also, take the time to review feedback from other users, and test the theme yourself to see how it functions in practice. A good theme is not only aesthetically appealing but also functional, flexible, and reliable, making it a crucial investment in your shop's success. In the Shopify Theme Store, under each theme, you'll find the opportunity to dive into Features, Reviews, and Support and Documentation. Additionally, you can often find further information on the theme developer's website.

CASE: Read the story about Kødriget, which received a new theme and increased both conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Read here.

Best Shopify themes 2025

If we extract data on all Danish shops and see what themes they use, we can rank them according to a range of performance parameters. There are quite a few Danish shops using custom built themes. We exclude those. Instead, we look at which are the best free themes and the best paid themes.

We examine the following parameters: Desktop Performance, Mobile Performance, SEO, and Accessibility.

We have to live with not knowing how much extra code has been added to individual shops, nor do we have access to conversion rates or revenue figures.

Free themes

Even so, a clear picture forms of the top 5 free themes across the 4 parameters:

  1. Craft
  2. Studio
  3. Sense
  4. Refresh
  5. Dawn

Looking at each parameter, some vintage themes appear and mix into the top 5, but as these are no longer downloadable and not kept updated, there's no reason to look further into them.

Note instead that all free themes (developed by Shopify) score low on reviews.

Craft, which currently ranks highest (January 2025), has 58% positive reviews based on 24 reviews. Dawn, which has the most reviews of the 5, with a total of 212, only has 35% positive reviews. Today, a shop is born with Dawn, hence there's naturally a learning curve that influences the review.

Paid themes

Looking at the paid themes, there's far greater variation across the 4 parameters. The overall top 5 list looks like this:

  1. Be Yours
  2. Motion
  3. Prestige
  4. Impulse
  5. Impact

Be Yours is a relatively new theme, but with 507 reviews and a positive score of 98%, and first place in both Desktop and Mobile Performance, it is certainly worth a closer look. Be Yours is not in the top 5 for SEO but lands in 4th place for Accessibility for paid themes.

Motion follows closely behind with 508 reviews and a positive score of 97%. Like Be Yours, it only fails to reach the Top 5 in SEO.

Prestige occupies the 3rd place. An older theme, but still popular despite fewer section updates. A positive score of 91% based on 705 reviews.

Impulse, like Prestige, is a theme that has been available for a long time. 95% positive reviews based on 1113 reviews. No doubt it is a theme used by many shops, and for good reason. It is stable and of high quality, making it a solid base for further development.

Impact holds the 5th place as one of the newer themes. Only 138 reviews and the lowest positive score in the top 5 with 86%. Like Be Yours, it is a theme that is lightning fast on both desktop and mobile, offering a wealth of sections and settings.

When delving deeper into individual categories, the SEO part is particularly interesting. Here we find Expanse, Symmetry, and Warehouse in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Impulse is 4th, and Pipeline takes 5th place. Expanse comes from the same theme developer, Archetypes Themes, as Motion and Impulse. Maestrooo, also behind Prestige and Impact, stands behind Expanse.

Conclusion: Which theme should you choose?

There is good inspiration to be found in the Top 5, giving you an idea of what type of sections will grant your brand the flexibility you're looking for. Sticking 100% to a standard theme is near impossible if you want to give your shop a personal touch. A good theme should therefore be seen as a foundation that makes it easy for your development partner to build upon.

A free theme is rarely a saving in the long run. A custom built theme can make a lot of sense, but you can achieve a lot with a paid theme as long as you choose a good partner.

A final piece of advice: Using different developers increases the risk of changes being overwritten. A consistent partner will use standard practices for how updates and changes are made and implemented. Therefore, spend time finding a partner you want to work with.