11 Best Free Astro Themes in 2026 (Checked for Astro 7)

A theme is a finished design you start from, so your site looks good on day one. The official directory at astro.build/themes has hundreds, with a Free filter that still shows over 30 pages.

Most “best themes” lists are copied from each other and out of date. So we did one thing differently. For every theme here, we looked at the code on GitHub and checked which Astro version it uses today. Astro 7 came out in 2026 and changed a lot. A theme on Astro 7 is ready to use. A theme stuck on an older version will likely need fixing before it’s yours.

The quick list

Theme	Best for	Astro version	Stars	License
AstroPaper	A blog	7.4	5,200	MIT
AstroWind	A business site	7.3	6,100	MIT
Starlight	Documentation	7.2 and up	9,500	MIT
Astro Cactus	A minimal blog	7.3	1,700	MIT
ScrewFast	A product or startup	7.4	1,400	MIT
Astroship	A startup landing page	7.3	2,000	GPL
Accessible Astro Starter	Any site, done accessibly	7.2	1,200	MIT
astro-erudite	A writer’s blog	7.0	870	MIT
Dante	A personal blog and portfolio	7.3	520	GPL
Astro’s own Blog	Learning how themes work	7.4	Official	MIT
Astro’s own Portfolio	A simple portfolio	7.4	Official	MIT

For a blog

1. AstroPaper

The most popular free blog theme, and the one we’d hand a beginner. Clean, fast, readable, with Pagefind search, tags, light and dark mode, and high scores on Google’s speed test. It was updated two days before we checked, on Astro 7.4.

npm create astro@latest -- --template satnaing/astro-paper

See it on astro.build.

2. Astro Cactus

A quieter, more minimal blog. Lots of white space, good typography, and short notes alongside full posts. On Astro 7.3, updated last week.

npm create astro@latest -- --template chrismwilliams/astro-theme-cactus

3. astro-erudite

A blog made for long writing, with clean reading pages and a table of contents that follows you as you scroll. On Astro 7.0.

npm create astro@latest -- --template jktrn/astro-erudite

4. Dante

A calm single-author site with a blog and a portfolio of projects together. On Astro 7.3. Its GPL license means if you share your changed version of the theme, you share its code too. Using it for your own site is fine.

For a business or product

5. AstroWind

The most-starred free Astro theme of all. A full business or startup site: homepage sections, pricing, features, blog, contact. A big theme, so there’s more to learn, but nearly anything you’d want on a company site is already there. On Astro 7.3.

npm create astro@latest -- --template arthelokyo/astrowind

It moved from its old home at onwidget/astrowind to arthelokyo/astrowind. Old tutorials use the old address, which still redirects.

6. ScrewFast

A product or software site with a strong design, docs pages built with Starlight, and a blog. Updated on the day we checked, on Astro 7.4.

npm create astro@latest -- --template mearashadowfax/ScrewFast

7. Astroship

A startup landing page: one strong homepage and a working contact page. Small enough to understand in an afternoon. On Astro 7.3, GPL license. A paid Pro version adds more layouts, but the free one is complete.

npm create astro@latest -- --template surjithctly/astroship

For documentation

8. Starlight

Astro’s own documentation theme, made by the Astro team, and our pick for docs about anything, not just Astro. Sidebar, search, dark mode and support for many languages, all built in. We built a test site with it.

npm create astro@latest -- --template starlight

It’s so central we gave it its own guide, with screenshots.

For any kind of site

9. Accessible Astro Starter

A starter built so that people who use screen readers or keyboards can use your site. Skip links, good focus styles and proper landmarks are all done for you. A good base for anything, and a good habit. On Astro 7.2.

npm create astro@latest -- --template incluud/accessible-astro-starter

10 and 11. Astro’s own Blog and Portfolio

The Astro team’s starter templates are plain on purpose. They’re the best way to see how a theme is put together, because there’s nothing extra in the way. Always on the latest Astro.

npm create astro@latest -- --template blog

Swap blog for portfolio for the other one.

Popular, but behind on Astro

Two well-known free themes you’ll see on other lists are behind:

• Fuwari is a beautiful anime-style blog with 5,100 stars. It was still on Astro 5 and last updated in March 2026 when we checked.
• Astrofy, a personal portfolio with 1,400 stars, was still on Astro 4, with its last update in July 2024.

They may still work, but a beginner will hit errors updating them. Start with one from the list above instead.

How to pick

1. Pick by what your site is, not by the prettiest screenshot. A business theme makes a poor blog.
2. Open the live demo on your phone. Most visitors will see it there.
3. Check it’s on Astro 7. Open the theme’s GitHub page, then package.json, and look for "astro": "^7.
4. Check the license. MIT lets you do almost anything. GPL asks you to share your changes if you share the theme.

Where to go next

• How to install an Astro theme, step by step.
• Best Astro integrations to add features to your theme.
• What is Starlight? if you’re building docs.

Frequently asked questions

Are Astro themes really free?

Most are. The astro.build directory has a Free filter, and every theme on this list is free and open source. You can use them for a business site. Check the license first, MIT allows almost anything, GPL asks you to share your changes if you share the theme.

How do I install one?

Most themes give you a single command, like npm create astro@latest -- --template satnaing/astro-paper. That copies the theme into a new folder. Our install guide walks through it.

What does "on Astro 7" mean?

Each theme lists the Astro version it uses in its package.json file. A theme still on Astro 5 or 6 will usually run, but it misses Astro 7's features, and updating it can take some fixing. A beginner should start with one already on Astro 7.