The Best Astro Themes in 2026

The best Astro themes in 2026 depend on the site you’re building. For free starting points, AstroWind is a solid general-purpose landing and blog theme, AstroPaper is a clean, minimal blog, and Starlight is the standard for documentation. If you want a finished site for a specific business, such as a SaaS product page, a restaurant, an agency portfolio or a real estate listing site, a niche paid theme saves the most build time. Komal Nakrani sells 2,577 of those across 26 categories at $19–$39 each.

We sell Astro themes, so we have an interest here. This list includes the free options we’d recommend to a friend, explains what each is good at, and sets out the criteria we use so you can apply them to any theme, including ours.

Key Takeaways

• Free themes (AstroWind, AstroPaper, Starlight) are excellent foundations if you’re comfortable building out the pages your site needs.
• Paid niche themes are worth it when they already include the page set your business needs, such as menus, listings, case studies or pricing.
• Check the Astro version, licence, build output and how content is stored before you choose any theme.
• A theme should use current Astro APIs: src/content.config.ts, astro:assets, no deprecated Astro.glob.
• Every Komal theme is a complete Astro 7 project, delivered as a private GitHub repo, with commercial use included.

How we judged

The same criteria apply to free and paid themes:

1. Current Astro. Built for a recent major version, using current APIs. Upgrading an old theme across several majors can take longer than building fresh.
2. Real source, real structure. Components, layouts and content split cleanly, so you can change one without breaking another.
3. Static by default. Builds to plain files with no required server, so it deploys anywhere.
4. Content handled properly. Content collections or data files, not copy hard-coded across dozens of components.
5. Fit for purpose. Ships the pages your type of site actually needs.
6. Clear licence. You know whether you can use it for clients and commercially.

Free and open-source Astro themes worth knowing

AstroWind

AstroWind is a free, open-source theme built with Tailwind CSS, covering landing pages, a blog and common marketing sections. It’s popular as a general starting point for startups and small businesses because it gives you a broad set of components to assemble pages from.

It suits developers who want a flexible marketing site and are happy to compose their own pages. Because it’s general-purpose, niche page types such as menus, listings and case studies are yours to build.

AstroPaper

AstroPaper is a minimal, accessible blog theme with a focus on readability, search and SEO basics. It’s a favourite with developers who want a personal blog that stays out of the way.

It’s a good fit for personal and developer blogs. The design is deliberately minimal, so a brand-heavy look means restyling.

Starlight

Starlight is Astro’s official documentation framework. It handles navigation, search, i18n, dark mode and accessible components, and is used by many open-source projects for their docs.

Use it for documentation sites, knowledge bases and product docs. It’s opinionated about docs layout, so for a marketing site with docs attached you may run Starlight alongside a separate theme.

The official Astro themes directory

The Astro themes directory lists free and paid themes from many authors, filterable by category and features. It’s the best place to browse widely. Quality and Astro version vary between listings, so apply the criteria above.

Komal Nakrani themes by site type

Our catalogue focuses on finished sites for specific businesses. Each theme is a complete Astro 7 project with TypeScript, a page set built for its niche, and static output. You get access to a private GitHub repository after purchase, and the licence covers unlimited sites for yourself or paying clients.

Portfolio and agency

Cast & Render ($19) is a portfolio with Works, Journal and a “Start a brief” enquiry page, built to show case studies rather than a grid of thumbnails. The portfolio and agency category is our largest, with options for studios, freelancers and creative teams.

SaaS and technology

Aegis Console ($25) is a product site with Product, Pricing, Customers, a customer story template and a demo request page. For more startup and product sites, see the technology category.

Blog and editorial

Ampify ($39) includes a blog, category pages and a shop page for publishers who sell. Browse the blog and editorial category for magazine, newsletter and personal blog layouts.

Documentation

Aid ($34) has guide pages (getting started, basic use, advanced use, errors) and article templates. The documentation category covers product docs and help centres. If you need full docs features like versioned navigation and built-in search, compare with Starlight above.

Restaurants and food

Lantern Broth ($25) ships a menu, dish detail pages, locations and a reservation page. More in food and drink.

Real estate

Cabin CMS ($39) includes listing, pricing, FAQ and blog pages for property and rental sites. See the real estate category.

Professional services and B2B

Cordex ($29) is built for manufacturers and B2B suppliers, with a product range, product detail spec pages, industries and a sample request form. More in professional services.

Personal and CV

Allex ($39) is a personal site with CV, case study and bookmark pages, and several home page variations. See personal themes.

Every theme has a live preview, so you can click through all of its pages before buying. Browse all Astro themes or go by category.

What to check before you choose any theme

Whether a theme is free or paid, open the repository or preview and check:

Astro version. Look at package.json. A theme several major versions behind will need migration work before you can use current features.

Content setup. Open src/content.config.ts. Collections with schemas mean you edit Markdown, not components. If there’s no content config and copy is spread through .astro files, editing will be slower.

Image handling. Images should use <Image /> or <Picture /> from astro:assets. Large files in public/ rendered with plain <img> will hurt performance.

Deprecated APIs. Search for Astro.glob, src/content/config.ts, entry.slug and <ViewTransitions />. They indicate an older codebase.

Build output. Run npm run build. A static theme writes to dist/ with no adapter. If it requires an adapter, make sure that matches your host.

Licence. Can you use it for client work? Can you use it on more than one site? Most open-source themes use MIT, which allows almost anything. Paid themes vary; read the terms.

Page set. List the pages your site needs and check the theme has them. Building three missing page types can cost more time than the theme saved.

Red flags in any theme

A few signs that a theme will cost you time later:

• No live demo, or a demo that doesn’t match the source. You should be able to click every page before you commit.
• Content hard-coded in components. Changing a heading means opening a .astro file and editing markup. Fine for a landing page, painful for a blog or catalogue.
• A large client-side framework for a static site. If the home page hydrates a React app to render a hero and some cards, you’re paying for JavaScript you don’t need.
• Unclear licence or no licence file. You may not be allowed to use it for clients, or at all.
• Abandoned dependencies. Check the last commit and whether the theme’s integrations still exist under their current names.
• Custom build scripts you don’t understand. A standard Astro theme builds with astro build. Extra steps are a maintenance cost.

None of these are automatic deal-breakers, but each one should be a decision you make knowingly.

Keeping a theme up to date

A theme is a starting point, and after you customise it, it’s your codebase. Plan for upgrades the same way you would for any project.

Upgrade Astro with the official tool.

npx @astrojs/upgrade

It updates astro and official integrations together, to compatible versions. Read the upgrade guide for each major version before running it on a customised theme; breaking changes are documented with before-and-after code.

Don’t try to merge upstream theme changes. Once you’ve edited components and content, pulling a newer version of the theme usually produces more conflicts than value. Copy individual fixes across if you need them.

Pin and commit. Commit package-lock.json so every build uses the same versions, and upgrade deliberately rather than by accident.

Check after every upgrade.

npx astro check
npm run build
npx astro preview

Then click through each page type. A theme built on current APIs (content collections with loaders, astro:assets, no deprecated helpers) upgrades with few or no code changes. That’s the strongest argument for choosing a theme built for the current major version.

Licences in plain terms

MIT and similar open-source licences let you use, change and redistribute the code, for personal or commercial work, as long as you keep the copyright notice. Most free Astro themes use MIT.

Commercial theme licences vary by seller. Questions to check: how many sites, whether client work is allowed, whether you can resell a site built with it, and whether you can redistribute the theme itself. The Komal licence allows unlimited sites for yourself or paying clients, full modification and permanent use, and doesn’t allow reselling or redistributing the theme files as a template. The full text is on the licence page.

Customising a theme in an afternoon

Whether you start from AstroWind or a Komal theme, the order of work is the same. Doing it in this order avoids redoing steps.

1. Run it unchanged.

git clone <theme-repo> my-site
cd my-site
npm install
npm run dev

Click every page. Note what you’ll keep, change and delete.

2. Set the basics in config. Update site in astro.config.mjs to your domain, and the site name, navigation and footer in the theme’s data file (often src/data/ or a config.ts).

3. Change design tokens. Colours, fonts and radius in the global stylesheet or Tailwind theme. One file, and the whole site updates. The Astro styling guide explains how tokens are usually organised.

4. Replace content. Markdown in src/content/, images in src/assets/. Delete demo entries you don’t need.

5. Remove unused pages. Delete their files in src/pages/ and their links in navigation. Run npm run build to catch broken references.

6. Adjust components last. Only now change layouts or components, because steps 2 to 5 often make changes unnecessary.

7. Deploy. Push to Git and connect the repo to your host. The Astro deploy guide covers every major host.

Theme categories at a glance

If you’re browsing by business type, these are the categories where a niche theme saves the most work, because the pages are specific:

Site type	Pages a good theme should include
Restaurant / café	Menu, dish or item detail, locations, reservations
Real estate	Listings, listing detail, agents or about, contact
SaaS / startup	Product, pricing, customers or case studies, demo request
Agency / portfolio	Work index, case study, services, enquiry form
Documentation	Sidebar navigation, guides, search, versioning (optional)
Blog / publication	Post, archive, categories or tags, RSS, author pages
Medical / clinic	Services, practitioners, locations, booking
Personal / CV	About, experience, projects, contact

Use the table as a checklist when you click through any theme’s demo. Komal themes are organised into 26 categories along these lines.

Free vs paid themes

Free themes are excellent when you’re a developer who enjoys building and your site is a fairly standard shape: a blog, a docs site, a landing page with a few sections. You get a solid base and full control, and the cost is your time.

A paid theme makes sense when:

• your site needs a specific page set (menus, listings, case studies, pricing tables) that a general theme doesn’t have,
• you’re building for a client and time is billable,
• you want a design that’s already finished rather than a component kit.

Customising any theme follows the same workflow: change design tokens first, then swap content, then adjust components. The Astro styling guide covers how tokens and Tailwind are set up, and the deploy guide shows where to host the result.

FAQ

Are there free Astro themes?

Yes. AstroWind, AstroPaper and Starlight are popular free options, and the official Astro themes directory lists many more.

What is the best Astro theme for a blog?

For a free, minimal developer blog, AstroPaper. For a branded publication with categories and more layout options, look at blog and editorial themes, such as those in our blog category.

What is the best Astro theme for documentation?

Starlight, Astro’s official docs framework, for most documentation projects. A themed docs site is an option when docs are part of a branded marketing site.

Can I use an Astro theme for client projects?

It depends on the licence. MIT-licensed free themes allow it. Komal themes include a commercial licence for unlimited client sites; reselling the theme itself as a template isn’t allowed.

How do I install an Astro theme?

Clone or download the repository, run npm install, then npm run dev. Komal themes come as a private GitHub repo; the getting started docs cover the steps.