📘 1000 Side Hustle Ideas Home ← Online Freelancing & Gigs ← Web & App Development
HUSTLE #029 1.3 Web & App Development

Create and Sell Website Themes on ThemeForest and Template Marketplaces

💰 Startup Cost $0-50
⏰ Time/wk 5-15 hrs
📊 Difficulty ★★☆☆☆
🏆 1st Month $ $50-200
💵 Monthly Range $200-1,500
⏱ First $ In 2-4 weeks
ThemeForest (largest WordPress theme marketplace with built-in buyer traffic), Creative Market (design-forward marketplace for website templates at higher price points), Gumroad (sell templates directly and keep 90%+ of revenue versus marketplace fees).
Build one high-quality WordPress or HTML template once and sell it indefinitely. Study top-selling themes in a specific niche (restaurants, law firms, yoga studios), build a beautiful, well-documented theme tailored to that niche, and submit it to ThemeForest. Quality niche themes sell for $39-59. One solid theme can earn $300-1,000/month passively after initial effort.
🚀 First Step
Browse ThemeForest's top 20 best sellers in one niche, note common features and design styles, then outline your own theme concept.
  • Niche themes ('dentist WordPress theme') convert better than generic multi-purpose themes because they solve specific buyer problems.
  • Write genuine documentation with setup screenshots — the number one complaint in ThemeForest reviews is poor documentation.
  • Include a Figma file of the design in your download package — designers who buy themes want to customize them and will pay more.
🛠 Tools & Resources: WordPress, ThemeForest, Creative Market, Figma, Local by Flywheel