The 6 Best Free Genesis Child Themes

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The Genesis Framework by StudioThemes is the most popular WordPress framework out there. It’s a lightweight and designed with the end-user in mind. The best way to customize the look and feel is with child themes. So, we curated the best free options to help you get started.

Best Free Genesis Child Themes: Our Shortlist

To use any of the child themes listed below, you need to buy the Genesis Framework–it’s $360 per year. However, if you host your website with WP Engine, you get access to it and all StudioPress themes at no cost.

Our Top Picks

Genesis Sample

Made by StudioPress

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Journal

Made by Rafal Tomal

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Fresh

Made by Restored 316

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Tote

Made by Themedy

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One Pager

Made by Sridhar Katakam

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Center

Made by MagikPress

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The Top Free Genesis Child Themes

StudioPress logo

Genesis Sample

Made by StudioPress

Features

  • Includes six page layouts
  • Custom header, menu, and footer design
  • WooCommerce ready

Price
Free with Genesis Pro

Sidebar
Yes, on the right

Great for
Multi-purpose

Support
Yes, via ticket

Read More

The Genesis sample is a starter theme included for free when you buy the Genesis Framework. It features six page layouts; a custom background, header, and menus; footer widgets; threaded comments, and more.

Live demo of the Genesis Sample theme
Rafal Tomal logo

Journal

Made by Rafal Tomal

Features

  • Clean, minimal, lightweight design
  • Made by former lead of Rainmaker Digital
  • Great for simple, personal blogs

Price
Free, join email list

Sidebar
No

Great for:
Personal journal

Support
Email for bugs only

Read More

Journal is a free Genesis child theme for WordPress from Rafal Tomal (the former lead designer at Rainmaker Digital). The very lightweight design is intended primarily for simple personal blog sites. Its home page has one content area above the recent posts.

The theme doesn’t have visible sidebars, but the primary sidebar is hidden behind the screen, which can be accessed by clicking the Menu button.

Note: you have to join Rafal’s newsletter to download the theme.

Live demo for the Journal theme by Rafal Tomal
Restored316 logo

Fresh

Made by Restored 316

Features

  • Light, airy, feminine design
  • Puts content and images front & center
  • Very lightweight design

Price
Free, join email list

Sidebar
No

Great for
Blogs

Support
Email

Read More

Fresh is a free feminine Genesis child theme for WordPress made by Restored 316. The design is modern, fresh, and light — perfect for blogs.

Note: you have to join Restored316’s newsletter to download the theme.

Live demo of Fresh by Restored316
Themedy logo

Tote

Made by Themedy

Features

  • Inspired by Tumblr
  • Infinite scrolling, great for long articles
  • Range of styles and features

Price
Free

Sidebar
Yes, on the left

Great for
Blogs, long posts

Support
No

Read More

Tote, a free Genesis child theme, is inspired by Tumblr and its infinite scrolling themes. The theme is perfect for showcasing your blog and comes with a range of styles, features, and clever backend options.

Live demo of the Tote theme
Sridhar Katakam logo

One Pager

Made by Sridhar Katakam

Features

  • Designed for single page websites
  • Option to add additional pages if desired
  • Built-in parallax, back to top button

Price
Free

Sidebar
No

Great for
Single-page sites

Support
Via GitHub

Read More

One Pager is a free parallax website child theme for Genesis. Created by Sridhar Katakam, this theme is primarily meant for single page websites that have several horizontal sections with the nav menu items scrolling smoothly to their corresponding sections.

Live demo of the free One Pager theme
Kavya Gokul

Center

Made by Kavya Gokul

Features

  • Two color schemes: light and dark
  • One header widget & two footer widgets
  • One widget below the navigation menu

Price
Free

Sidebar
No

Great for
Simple blogs

Support
None

Read More

Center is a free blog child theme for the Genesis Framework. The theme comes with two color schemes, light and dark. It also has customizable footer text, two footer widget areas, one header widget area, and one widget area below primary navigation.

Live demo of the Center theme

What Is the Genesis Framework?

Genesis is currently used on more than 6,000 of the top 1 million websites. It’s a powerful, secure, search engine optimization (SEO)-friendly, and mobile-responsive framework designed to be used with a child theme — one of the StudioPress premium child themes or a third-party premium or free child theme.

What Is a Genesis Child Theme?

Explanation of a Genesis child theme. Text says "WordPress is the engine of your car. Genesis Framework is the frame and body. Genesis child themes are the paint job."

The Genesis Framework is the parent WordPress theme, and the Genesis child theme is a WordPress one built on top of the framework; the child theme inherits the functionality from the parent theme.

Using a child theme lets you quickly and safely update the framework.

When a new upgraded version of the Genesis Framework comes out, you can safely update it because all your customizations are saved in the child theme, as it automatically inherits the parent theme’s features, styles, and templates. You don’t need to touch the core files in the parent theme (nor would you need to).

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