LearnDash is by far the best LMS for WordPress, and it’s the easiest way to build a WordPress educational site with all of the bells and whistles. But it’s not a theme — so once you get LearnDash, you’ll need to pick a theme that suits your institution.
Now, LearnDash is compatible with most themes, so you can use one of the built in WordPress themes, or a free theme from the WordPress website. However, that won’t make your site look as good as possible. And it won’t have all of the special page designs needed for a learning website. That’s why many third parties create themes that are designed and tested by their creators to work with LearnDash.
So in today’s roundup, we take a look at the best themes out there that are specifically designed for use with LearnDash, and compare their features. Take a look and let us know what you think.
Pros | Cons |
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is SEO optimized has a drag and drop builder has a 1-click install process offers free suppport is mobile friendly is highly reviewed background images custom widgets |
may require additional plugins |
University is a contemporary education theme offered by Themeforest. In addition to having dozens of different looks, University is one of our favorite themes because it includes multiple plugins, has many customization options, is SEO optimized, has a drag and drop builder, supports WooCommerce, has a 1-click install process, offers multiple color choices, and offers free suppport.
This theme is great for a LearnDash WordPress website because it was designed just for education and has been thoroughly tested with LearnDash. This theme is easy to configure — although it could take time to fully master, when combined with LearnDash.
University is popular with a large user base, so it is quick and easy to find help and support. Included with this theme are icons, background images, fonts, a slider plugin, custom widgets, and demos. University works well on tablets and mobile devices. It is also multilingual.
Pros | Cons |
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is SEO optimized offers multiple color choices is skinable offers free suppport is multilingual is popular is highly reviewed a slider plugin |
may require additional plugins |
This theme is called Education Center, and you can find it on Themeforest. This theme works perfectly for a LearnDash website because it has templates for all of the LearnDash functions, and it has been tested to work with the LearnDash plugin.
We chose it since it is visually appealing and clean, and among users, it's very highly reviewed. The salient aspects of Education Center are that it includes plugins, has many customization options, is SEO optimized, has a drag and drop builder, supports WooCommerce, has a 1-click install process, offers multiple color choices, is skinable, offers free suppport, and includes multiple layouts.
Education Center is popular with a large user base, so it is simple to obtain help and support. This theme is simple to configure although it might take some usage to completely understand. Education Center works well on tablets and mobile devices. It is also multilingual.
Education Center is a great, asthetically pleasing option for your LearnDash website.
Pros | Cons |
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includes plugins is SEO optimized has map integration offers free suppport icons custom widgets Retina images |
may require additional plugins |
This theme is called Invent, and it's also available from Themeforest. This theme is designed to work with LearnDash on WordPress, and it has all of the features you need with a simple, professional design.
Invent is well reviewed, and it includes plugins, is SEO optimized, has map integration, offers multiple color choices, is skinable, offers free suppport, and includes multiple layouts.
Included with Invent are icons, background images, fonts, a slider plugin, custom widgets, Retina images, and demos. This theme is easy to set up although it might take time to completely understand all of the functionality (with LearnDash). Invent works well on tablets and mobile devices.
Pros | Cons |
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is SEO optimized has a drag and drop builder is multilingual Retina images |
may require additional plugins has many options, making configuration complicated |
This theme is called Unidash, and it's one of our favorite themes of all time. Unidash is built around LearnDash, and it includes dozens of pre-built pages for courses, events, educators, course lists, and more.
Unidash is extremely good looking and popular. It comes with dozens of different variations, so you're bound to find a look that perfectly suits your requirements.
Some of the main features of Unidash are that it includes plugins, has many customization options, is SEO optimized, has a drag and drop builder, supports WooCommerce, has a 1-click install process, offers multiple color choices, is skinable, offers free suppport, and includes multiple layouts.
Additional stuff included with this theme are icons, background images, fonts, a slider plugin, custom widgets, Retina images, and demos.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
offers multiple color choices offers free suppport includes multiple layouts is mobile friendly |
not free |
Once you buy LearnDash and select a theme, you may be looking for some help to install everything — or even make customizations. Fortunately, there are developers on Fiverr who will install and perform minor customizations for LearnDash for only $20.
If you're not too familiar with WordPress or LearnDash, check this out, as it could save you a lot of time and effort.
Other Themes To Check Out
The themes below didn’t make our list because they don’t directly fit the
topic, but they definitely warrant a look.
Pros | Cons |
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offers multiple color choices is skinable offers free suppport is mobile friendly custom widgets |
may require setup support |
While not designed for LearnDash, Academica Pro 3.0 is one of our favorite educational themes because of its professional, understated look. It includes plugins, has many customization options, has a drag and drop builder, supports WooCommerce, offers multiple color choices, is skinable, offers free suppport, and includes multiple layouts.
Academica Pro 3.0 is intended for more advanced users, and may take time for novices to get working with LearnDash. Included with this theme are icons, background images, fonts, a slider plugin, custom widgets, and Retina images. Academica Pro 3.0 is mobile friendly.
Although it is may require setup support, we love Academica Pro 3.0 because it is well designed. There's no doubt it will look stylish on your site.
Pros | Cons |
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is SEO optimized custom widgets |
may require additional plugins |
This theme is called Erudito, and you can find it from WPZOOM. Although not made for LearnDash, this theme would make a great addition to any educational WordPress site.
Erudito is simple to setup and use. A few of the main benefits of Erudito include: it has many customization options, is SEO optimized, has a drag and drop builder, has a 1-click install process, offers multiple color choices, and offers free suppport.
Some of the things that come with Erudito are icons, and custom widgets.
Pros | Cons |
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has many customization options background images fonts custom widgets |
may require additional plugins |
Kiddlez is a primary-level educational theme from TemplateMonster. In addition to being attractive, Kiddlez includes several free Jet plugins, has many customization options, is SEO optimized, offers multiple color choices, integrates with social media, and offers free suppport.
This is another theme that was not directly designed for LearnDash, but nevertheless may be a good bet. This theme is a breeze to install and comes with icons, background images, fonts, custom widgets, and Retina images.
Pros | Cons |
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has many customization options offers free suppport is mobile friendly |
not free |
If you already have a standard HTML website, you can get a theme made out of your current website look, starting at $40. This is a great option if you like the look of your current website, but need to move to WordPress for its additional functionality.
Getting your current site converted is a cheap and easy way to get into WordPress, without the complexity of finding a prebuilt theme.