Best ThemeForest Alternatives With Low Fees, High Earnings & Multiple Licenses
ThemeForest is still one of the biggest marketplaces for WordPress themes and website templates. Many authors use it because of its large buyer audience. The problem is that ThemeForest is not always the most profitable or flexible option.
High marketplace fees, limited pricing control, strict review rules, and restricted license options can reduce your earnings. That is why many theme creators now look for platforms with lower fees, better payouts, more license flexibility, and more control over their products.
This guide covers the best ThemeForest alternatives, starting with PressLayouts.
Why ThemeForest Is Not Always the Best Choice
ThemeForest can help you get traffic, but many authors leave or add extra sales channels because of these issues:
- High commission fees reduce your profit
- Limited control over pricing and discounts
- Strict submission and review process
- Standard license model instead of custom license packages
- Heavy competition from thousands of similar themes
- Less control over branding, customer data, and repeat sales
- Harder to sell bundles, agency licenses, subscriptions, and add-ons
If you want to earn more from the same theme, you need platforms that let you:
- Keep more of each sale
- Offer Personal, Commercial, Agency, and Extended licenses
- Sell directly to customers
- Create product bundles
- Build your own brand
1. PressLayouts
PressLayouts is a strong starting point for authors who sell website layouts, WordPress themes, HTML templates, and design products.
Unlike relying only on ThemeForest, PressLayouts helps you reach people looking specifically for website design resources. It is useful for developers, designers, and agencies that want another sales channel besides Envato.
Why PressLayouts can be better than ThemeForest
- Focused on website layouts, themes, and templates
- Helps you expand beyond one crowded marketplace
- Useful for niche website designs and ready-made layouts
- Can support a broader product range, including templates and website assets
- Helps authors build more visibility for their work
What to sell there
- WordPress themes
- HTML templates
- Landing page layouts
- Business website designs
- Niche templates for restaurants, real estate, law firms, SaaS, education, portfolios, and eCommerce
Visit PressLayouts first if you want another marketplace for your themes and website layouts.
2. TemplateMonster
TemplateMonster is one of the most established ThemeForest alternatives. It has a large buyer base and supports many product types.
Why it can be better than ThemeForest
- Large audience for website templates
- Supports WordPress, Shopify, HTML, Joomla, Magento, and more
- Useful if you create templates for multiple platforms
- Extra exposure through subscription-based marketplace models
Best for
Authors with a large catalog of CMS themes, eCommerce themes, and website templates.
3. Creative Market
Creative Market is a strong option for design-focused products. It works well if your themes come with UI kits, Figma files, graphics, and template packs.
Why it can be better than ThemeForest
- Strong creative and designer audience
- More shop branding flexibility
- Better fit for UI kits, website kits, and visual template bundles
- Easier to package themes with extra design assets
Best for
Web designers, UI/UX designers, and authors selling Figma files, landing page kits, and creative bundles.
4. Gumroad
Gumroad is not a traditional marketplace. You sell directly to customers from your own product pages, which gives you more control than ThemeForest.
Why it can be better than ThemeForest
- No marketplace review bottleneck
- Full control over pricing
- Custom license tiers
- Coupons, bundles, and email list building
- Direct relationship with buyers
Example license structure
- Personal License
- Commercial License
- Agency License
- Extended License
Best for
Theme authors who want more profit, custom licenses, and direct customer ownership.
5. Lemon Squeezy
Lemon Squeezy is a strong direct-selling platform for themes, templates, plugins, and digital downloads.
Why it can be better than ThemeForest
- Multiple pricing plans and license levels
- Recurring payments and subscriptions
- Professional checkout
- Better for selling updates, support plans, and premium theme access
- More control over your product business
Best for
Developers and theme businesses that want subscriptions, annual licenses, and direct sales.
6. Codester
Codester is a marketplace for scripts, apps, themes, plugins, and code products.
Why it can be better than ThemeForest
- More focused on developers and code-based products
- Less crowded in some categories
- Good for selling themes together with plugins, dashboards, and scripts
Best for
Authors who sell WordPress themes plus PHP scripts, admin dashboards, plugins, or app templates.
7. Your Own Website
The highest-earning option long term is selling from your own website using WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, Shopify, SureCart, or similar tools.
Why your own store can beat ThemeForest
- No marketplace dependency
- You keep the customer relationship
- Unlimited license types
- Higher lifetime value through add-ons, support, and updates
- You can sell bundles, memberships, and installation services
- You can run affiliates and email marketing
Sample license table
| License Type | Best Use |
|---|---|
| Personal License | One personal website |
| Single Site License | One business website |
| Developer License | Multiple client sites |
| Agency License | Unlimited client projects |
| Extended License | SaaS, resale, or paid products |
| Lifetime License | Lifetime updates and support |
| Subscription License | Annual updates and support |
How to Earn More Than ThemeForest Authors
Switching platforms is not enough. You also need a better product strategy.
Sell niche themes
Niche themes often convert better than generic multipurpose themes.
Examples:
- Restaurant themes
- Real estate themes
- Lawyer themes
- Medical clinic templates
- Travel booking themes
- Coaching websites
- Construction company themes
- SaaS landing pages
- Hotel booking templates
Offer multiple licenses
One theme can generate more revenue when you sell several license levels instead of one standard license.
Create bundles
A bundle can include:
- WordPress theme
- Elementor templates
- Figma file
- Demo content
- Icon pack
- UI kit
- Social media graphics
- Installation or support
Keep products updated
Regular updates improve trust, reduce refunds, and increase repeat sales.
Final Recommendation
ThemeForest can still bring traffic, but it should not be your only sales channel. High fees and limited license control make it weaker for long-term earnings.
Start with PressLayouts, then add TemplateMonster, Creative Market, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Codester, and your own website.
The best strategy is simple:
- Use marketplaces for extra visibility
- Use direct sales for higher profit
- Offer multiple licenses
- Sell niche themes and bundles
That combination usually earns more than relying on ThemeForest alone.