Jekyll has been powering static sites since 2008, making it the most established static site generator in the ecosystem. With 50,000+ GitHub stars and native GitHub Pages integration, it offers the smoothest path from Markdown to a live website — push to a repo, and your site builds and deploys automatically with zero configuration, zero CI/CD scripts, and zero monthly hosting costs. That kind of simplicity is hard to beat.
While Jekyll’s free theme ecosystem is the largest of any SSG, premium themes deliver a step-change in design quality, developer support, and production readiness. You get polished layouts designed by professionals, dark/light mode switching, responsive design tested across real devices, contact form integrations, SEO configuration, and ongoing updates when Jekyll releases new versions. For client work, business sites, or any project where first impressions matter, the $24–$79 investment in a premium theme saves days of custom CSS and layout debugging.
We’ve reviewed ThemeForest, Gumroad, jekyllthemes.io, and independent theme studios to find the 17 best premium Jekyll themes available in 2026. Every demo URL has been verified as live, and every theme is actively maintained by its developer.
Category: Multi-purpose / Business | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: Gumroad
The most complete multi-purpose Jekyll theme available. Features configurable homepage sections driven by front-matter (no HTML editing required), six service pages, a portfolio/projects section with case studies, and a full blog engine. The theme is fully responsive, SEO-optimized out of the box, and includes social media links, a contact page, and legal pages for privacy and terms. Hosted on Netlify for instant deployment. Zerostatic’s attention to clean code and semantic HTML makes this a solid foundation for any business site.
Best for: Agencies, consultants, and small businesses that need a professional multi-page site with services, portfolio, and blog — all configurable through front-matter.
Category: Blog | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A sleek, modern blog theme designed for developers, designers, and content creators who want their writing to look as polished as their code. Ships with dark/light mode toggle, full-text search, newsletter signup integration, and a distinctive visual design that avoids the generic blog look. Categories and tags keep content organized, while syntax highlighting handles code snippets beautifully. The layout adapts seamlessly from desktop to mobile, and the vanilla JavaScript codebase ensures fast, dependency-free performance.
Best for: Developers and technical writers who want a visually unique blog that handles code content elegantly and doesn’t look like every other Jekyll blog.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
An elegant portfolio theme crafted for designers and photographers who want their work to take center stage. The clean, gallery-focused homepage displays a curated grid of nine portfolio images, supported by recent blog posts and a newsletter subscription section. The design emphasizes large-format imagery with generous whitespace and refined typography. Dark mode support, search functionality, and social media integration are all built in. One of the more visually sophisticated portfolio themes in the Jekyll ecosystem.
Best for: Photographers, illustrators, and visual artists who need a gallery-first portfolio where images dominate and text takes a supporting role.
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Category: Portfolio / Services | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A professional portfolio theme with a services focus, featuring dedicated pricing sections (starting at $2,599–$5,399 in the demo), client testimonials from companies like Nintendo and Twitch, and project filtering by category. The dark mode design gives it a premium, agency-grade feel. Includes a blog/writing section for thought leadership content, a newsletter signup for audience building, and search functionality for navigating large project archives. Well-suited for freelancers who want to present both work and services in a single, cohesive site.
Best for: Freelancers and consultants who sell design or development services and need to display pricing, testimonials, and a project portfolio in one place.
Category: News / Magazine | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A content-rich magazine theme organized around multiple content categories — Lifestyle, Shopping, Business, Food, Sport, and more. The homepage uses visual hierarchy to guide readers through featured articles, category sections, and recent posts. Includes dark/light mode toggle, author profiles, video content support, newsletter subscription, and tag-based navigation. The multi-category layout handles high-volume content gracefully, making it suitable for editorial teams publishing across different verticals.
Best for: Online magazines, news sites, and multi-author editorial teams that publish across multiple categories and need a structured content hierarchy.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: Gumroad
A stylish portfolio theme from Zerostatic designed for showcasing projects, case studies, and creative work. Features dark mode toggle via localStorage, GDPR-compliant cookie consent management with customizable preferences, and a clean blog section alongside the portfolio. The project pages use large imagery and structured content to tell the story behind each piece of work. Social media integration, responsive design, and Netlify-ready deployment round out the feature set.
Best for: Architects, interior designers, and creative studios who need a clean portfolio with proper GDPR compliance and a professional project presentation format.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: jekyllthemes.io
A creative portfolio theme that positions you as an established professional from the first scroll. The homepage features a personal intro, a brand logo strip (Google, Spotify, Pinterest in the demo), portfolio work samples with category filtering, client testimonials, and a blog/writing section. Light/dark mode support with CSS variables ensures the design looks polished in both themes. The layout balances personal branding with work showcasing, making it ideal for designers who want to sell themselves alongside their portfolio.
Best for: Graphic designers and marketing professionals who work with recognizable brands and want to lead with social proof alongside their portfolio.
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Category: Blog | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: Gumroad
A premium blog theme that ships with three distinct layout variations, dark mode support, and GDPR-compliant cookie consent for analytics and comments tracking. The blog feed displays post cards with thumbnail images, author information, and publication dates in a clean, magazine-like grid. Social links cover all major platforms including Twitter, GitHub, Discord, TikTok, and RSS. The theme creator at Zerostatic is known for clean, semantic code and reliable long-term maintenance.
Best for: Personal bloggers and content creators who want a polished blog with multiple layout options and built-in privacy compliance.
Category: Digital Agency / IT Services | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A complete digital agency theme with 17+ pre-built pages, three homepage variants, and a structured workflow for service-based businesses. The three-step process section (“Submit Your Design Request” -> “We Start Working” -> “Get Your Projects Done!”) is a smart conversion pattern. Includes portfolio with filters, a lightbox gallery, client testimonials, blog grid and post pages, modern scroll animations, and call-to-action forms. At $24, it’s the most affordable agency theme on this list and punches well above its price point.
Best for: Digital agencies, IT services companies, and web studios that need a complete agency website with service pages, portfolio, and a clear conversion funnel.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: jekyllthemes.io
A portfolio and blog platform designed for art directors and graphic designers. Features a “Latest Works” section for project showcasing, “My Happy Clients” testimonials, and “Recent Blog Posts” for content marketing. Comes with a built-in contact form (no external service needed), mailing list subscription, and social media integration. The design emphasizes visual storytelling with project galleries and a refined, editorial-quality reading experience for blog content. Tags and categories keep content organized as the site grows.
Best for: Art directors, brand designers, and creative directors who need a portfolio that communicates both creative skill and professional credibility.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A bold portfolio theme built for artists, designers, and illustrators who want a strong visual identity. The homepage showcases work across categories (Poster, Photography, Design, Illustration) with a services section, client testimonials, and a detailed FAQ addressing the creative process and turnaround times. Dark/light mode toggle, search functionality, and newsletter subscription are all included. The blog section provides a content marketing channel alongside the portfolio. The design leans into personality rather than corporate minimalism.
Best for: Artists and illustrators who want a portfolio that reflects their creative personality rather than defaulting to corporate minimalism.
Category: Personal Portfolio / CV | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A personal portfolio theme suitable for designers, developers, freelancers, and photographers. Ships with dark and light versions plus a live UI switcher, parallax scrolling effects, one-page and multi-page modes, and portfolio with category filters. Dedicated sections for skills, experience, education, and expertise make it work as both a portfolio and an online CV. Disqus comments and Google Analytics are pre-configured. Like Terio, it’s priced at $24 — remarkable value for the feature set.
Best for: Developers and designers who need a combined portfolio and CV site with parallax effects and real-time dark/light mode switching.
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Category: Blog (Multipurpose) | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A multipurpose blog theme designed for collaborative publishing with multiple authors and content categories spanning Lifestyle, Technology, and Design. The homepage curates featured content with visual hierarchy, and each post carries author attribution and category tags. Email subscription, dark mode, and clean minimalist aesthetics make it feel like a premium publication rather than a personal blog. The design emphasizes readability and content discovery across a growing archive.
Best for: Multi-author blogs, small publications, and content teams that want a polished editorial platform with proper author attribution and category organization.
Category: News / Magazine | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A modern news and magazine theme with a standout feature: built-in podcast episode support alongside traditional articles. Covers six content categories (Fashion, Food, Health, Lifestyle, Sport, Technology) with a four-person writing team in the demo. Includes featured articles, recommended reading sections, tag-based categorization, newsletter subscription, and dark/light mode toggle. The podcast integration makes it one of the few Jekyll themes that handles both written and audio content natively.
Best for: Content creators and media startups that publish both written articles and podcast episodes and want a unified platform for both formats.
Category: Portfolio / Blog | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: jekyllthemes.io
A dual-purpose portfolio and blog theme that combines project case studies with a content publishing engine. Portfolio pages feature large-format imagery and detailed project descriptions, while the blog handles categories and tags for organized content. Client testimonials, a FAQ section covering the designer’s expertise and process, and a newsletter signup round out the feature set. The design strikes a balance between showcasing creative work and building a content marketing presence.
Best for: Product designers and UX professionals who want to showcase case studies alongside thought leadership blog posts.
Category: Portfolio | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: ThemeForest
A dark, modern portfolio theme designed for designers who want their creative work displayed against a striking dark background. Features a curated project gallery organized by categories like calligraphy, lettering, and illustration, a blog section with topic tags (workflow, lifestyle, travel), and five client testimonials. The dark mode toggle and email signup for project inquiries add functionality beyond the visual showcase. A polished option for creatives who prefer dark-first aesthetics.
Best for: Lettering artists, typographers, and brand designers who work with dark presentations and want their portfolio to reflect that aesthetic by default.
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Category: Blog / Personal | CSS: Custom | Marketplace: jekyllthemes.io
A modern personal blog theme with a clean, content-focused design. Features a tag system for content organization (fashion, hobby, lifestyle, notes), a gallery section with thumbnail images, and a dark mode toggle. The layout prioritizes the reading experience with clean typography, comfortable line lengths, and generous whitespace. Social media links and author branding are tastefully integrated without overwhelming the content. A solid choice for personal bloggers who want a refined writing platform.
Best for: Personal bloggers, lifestyle writers, and creative professionals who want an elegant, distraction-free writing platform with gallery support.
Jekyll’s premium theme ecosystem in 2026 is anchored by a few prolific developers who consistently deliver high-quality work. Anvod Studio (Artem Sheludko) dominates the portfolio and blog space with distinctive designs across ThemeForest and jekyllthemes.io. Zerostatic offers fewer themes but each one is engineered for performance, privacy compliance, and clean code. And bslthemes delivers agency and portfolio themes at the $24 price point that punch well above their weight. The common thread is that every theme on this list works with GitHub Pages’ free hosting — your only ongoing cost is the time spent creating content.
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