Luxe Themes
Reru
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Icon rail navigation
- A feed shaped by your images
- Six post layouts
- Saved posts, no account
Free Ghost Themes: What They Include and Leave Out
The best free Ghost themes this page lists are Casper, Ghost's clean default and the strongest pick since it is maintained by the Ghost team, plus the community option Liebling for a magazine-style layout, with Starter and Attila as more limited choices. Consider a premium theme once you sell memberships, need multiple languages, or want dark mode and a distinct design.
Ghost ships with Casper, a clean default theme, and the Ghost marketplace includes a handful of free options. They work — your site will load, posts will display, and newsletters will send. But if you have spent any time browsing Ghost-powered publications, you have noticed that the ones using free themes all look the same.
The gap between free and premium Ghost themes is not about aesthetics alone. It is about features that affect how readers experience your content and how effectively you convert visitors into subscribers. Dark mode, multiple post layouts, built-in search, membership pages, and multi-language support are standard in premium themes and absent from most free options.
This page breaks down exactly what free Ghost themes include, what they lack, and when investing in a premium theme makes sense for your publication.
Feature Comparison
What you get with free themes versus premium Ghost themes
| Feature | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Dark mode | ||
| Multiple post layouts | ||
| Custom color schemes | ||
| Membership pages | ||
| Table of contents | ||
| Reading progress bar | ||
| Built-in search | ||
| 46+ language translations | ||
| RTL language support | ||
| Multiple hero layouts | ||
| Dedicated support | ||
| Regular updates | Limited | |
| Ghost 5 & 6 compatible | ||
| Newsletter support | ||
| Responsive design |
Available Free Ghost Themes
What is available at no cost and what to expect
Casper
Ghost's default theme. Clean and minimal but limited to a single layout with no dark mode or customization options.
Starter
Barebones theme intended as a development starting point. Not designed for production use.
Liebling
Community theme with a magazine-style layout. No longer actively maintained for Ghost 5/6.
Attila
Content-focused blog theme with a full-width header. Limited customization, no membership pages.
Ghost's official theme marketplace lists 19+ free themes. Most were built for earlier Ghost versions and may not support Ghost 5/6 features like native comments, content visibility controls, or the latest card types in the editor.
Premium Ghost Themes
Built for Ghost 5 & 6 with features free themes do not include
Senna
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Sidebar navigation that stays
- Serif headlines on warm paper
- Six post layouts
- Seven color schemes plus system
Tribune
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Multi-column newspaper front page
- Topic sections in three layouts
- Five post layouts
- Light, dark and reader's switch
Luno
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Fixed sidebar menu with groups and icons
- Search with a keyboard shortcut
- Light and dark switch for readers
- Six post layouts
Flow
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Profile-style hero, six layouts
- Round topic highlights
- Square post grid, pinned posts first
- Six post layouts
Rune
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Cover hero with one action
- Editor's Picks from featured posts
- Five post layouts
- Light, dark and reader's switch
Homa
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$69
- Featured story grid up top
- A section for every topic you name
- Highlighted-topic carousel
- Four post layouts
Nio
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$69
- Square post grid, four across
- Featured photo card up top
- Highlighted-topic band
- Four post layouts
Shiro
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$149
- Search field on the homepage
- Search built into the theme
- Nine post layouts
- Seven color schemes
When a Premium Theme Is Worth It
A free theme is enough if you are testing Ghost, running a personal blog with no monetization goals, or building a custom frontend using Ghost as a headless CMS. In these cases, Casper or a community theme will serve you fine.
A premium theme becomes worth it when any of these apply:
- You sell memberships or paid subscriptions — premium themes include dedicated sign-up, sign-in, and account pages that free themes lack.
- Your audience spans multiple languages — 46+ built-in translations versus manually translating template strings.
- Readers expect dark mode — it is a baseline expectation in 2026, and free themes do not offer it.
- You publish diverse content types — multiple post layouts let you present tutorials, interviews, photo essays, and standard articles each in a format that suits the content.
- You want your publication to look distinct — free themes make every Ghost site look identical.
At $69-$149 as a one-time purchase, a premium Ghost theme costs less than two months of most SaaS design tools. It is one of the highest-leverage investments for a Ghost publication.
Related Resources
Free vs Premium Ghost Themes
Detailed feature-by-feature comparison with real examples.
Best Ghost Themes in 2026
Complete roundup of top Ghost themes across all providers.
How to Choose a Ghost Theme
Evaluation checklist for finding the right theme for your needs.
Ghost Pricing Guide
What Ghost costs and which plan you actually need.
Free Ghost Themes FAQ
Are free Ghost themes good enough for a professional publication?
Free Ghost themes work for getting started, but most lack features professional publishers need: dark mode, multiple post layouts, membership pages, built-in search, and language translations. If your publication earns revenue through memberships or needs to present a polished brand, a premium theme is a better investment than spending weeks customizing a free theme.
What is the best free Ghost theme?
Casper is the best free Ghost theme because it is maintained by the Ghost team and always compatible with the latest Ghost version. It provides a clean reading experience but only offers a single post layout, no dark mode, no search, and no membership-specific pages. For a free community theme, Liebling offers a magazine-style layout, though it may lag behind on Ghost updates.
How much do premium Ghost themes cost?
Premium Ghost themes typically range from $49 to $149 as a one-time purchase. Unlike SaaS subscriptions, you pay once and own the theme. Our themes start at $69 and include dark mode, multiple post layouts, 46+ language translations, membership pages, and dedicated support. The All Themes Bundle includes every theme at a significant discount.
Can I switch from a free theme to a premium theme without losing content?
Yes. Ghost themes are interchangeable — your content, members, and settings are stored in Ghost, not in the theme. Uploading a new theme changes only the presentation layer. All your posts, pages, subscribers, and membership tiers remain intact. You can switch themes in seconds through Ghost Admin.