ThemeGrill
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersKathmandu, Nepal
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What ThemeGrill does
ThemeGrill is a privately held, bootstrapped WordPress product company founded in 2014 in Nepal by Sanjip Shah and Rabin Shrestha. It designs, develops, and distributes a portfolio of GPL-licensed WordPress themes and plugins targeting SMBs, individual website builders, bloggers, freelancers, agencies, and educators. Flagship themes include ColorMag (magazine), Zakra (multipurpose), eLearning, eStore, Spacious, and Flash; the plugin portfolio spans Masteriyo (LMS), Everest Forms (form builder), User Registration, SmartSMTP, Registration Form for WooCommerce, and the BlockArt/Magazine Blocks Gutenberg plugins.
The underlying technology is PHP-based and WordPress-native, built to be compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor, WooCommerce, WPML, Yoast SEO, and other major ecosystem plugins. Themes are optimized for sub-1-second load times and ship with one-click starter site demos. Distribution and monetization are handled through the WordPress.org repository (free) and themegrill.com (premium), with licensing, billing, and the affiliate program operated via the Freemius platform.
The business model is a freemium, product-led motion: free themes/plugins drive organic top-of-funnel acquisition through WordPress.org and SEO, with conversion to paid annual subscriptions ($56 single theme, $104 all themes, $599 agency) or a $1,799 lifetime license. Premium buyers receive automatic updates, priority support, and access to starter demos. The company also runs a 30%-commission affiliate program and is mentioned by major WordPress hosting brands, supporting organic demand generation.
ThemeGrill firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ThemeGrill
- Legal name
- ThemeGrill
- Website
- https://themegrill.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ThemeGrill industry classification
Industry- Product category
- WordPress Themes and Plugins
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content Asset Libraries & Template Marketplaces (stock, characters, themes) (EDAFAHAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms (BPAMAJAL)
Keywords
Where ThemeGrill is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kathmandu
- HQ country
- Nepal
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
ThemeGrill business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Premium WordPress Theme Licenses: Annual and lifetime licenses for premium WordPress themes (Single Theme Plan from $56/year, All Themes Plan from $104/year, Agency Plan at $599/year). Licenses include support, automatic updates, and access to premium starter demos. GPL-licensed themes can be used on unlimited sites, but support/updates require an active license.
- Premium WordPress Plugin Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to premium plugin versions and add-ons, including Everest Forms (39 add-ons), Masteriyo LMS (27 add-ons), User Registration (31 add-ons), and BlockArt Blocks. Included in Agency and All Themes plans.
- Affiliate Program Commission: Affiliates earn up to 30% commission (up to $391 per sale) by promoting ThemeGrill products through their websites, blogs, and social media. Commission is paid per conversion via the Freemius affiliate platform.
- Free Theme/Plugin Distribution: Free versions of themes and plugins distributed via WordPress.org and themegrill.com to drive organic user acquisition and brand awareness, with conversion to premium.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Single Theme Plan — $56/year |
| Subscription | Annual | All Themes Plan — $104/year |
| Subscription | Annual | Agency Plan — $599/year (worth $1,004/year) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | All Themes Lifetime — $1,799 one-time (worth $2,934) |
| Freemium | Annual | Registration Form for WooCommerce — Free / $49/year Pro |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
ThemeGrill product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ThemeGrill designs, develops, and sells premium and free WordPress themes and plugins for building professional websites across niches including magazines, business, e-commerce, LMS/education, blogs, and portfolios. Products include ColorMag, Zakra, eStore, Flash, Spacious, Everest Forms, Masteriyo LMS, User Registration, SmartSMTP, and others, distributed via themegrill.com and the WordPress.org repository under a freemium model with annual subscriptions and lifetime licenses.
Product overview
ThemeGrill offers a portfolio of WordPress themes and plugins for building websites. The theme lineup includes multipurpose themes (Zakra, Flash, Accelerate), magazine/news themes (ColorMag), e-commerce themes (eStore), LMS/education themes (eLearning, Online Education), and blogging themes (Radiate, Cenote, eStory). The plugin offerings include Masteriyo (LMS), Everest Forms (form builder), User Registration & Membership, SmartSMTP (email delivery), Registration Form for WooCommerce, BlockArt Blocks, and Magazine Blocks. Themes are GPL-licensed and integrate with popular tools like Gutenberg, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPML, and Yoast SEO. The company also provides Starter Sites as pre-built demos for quick website setup.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ColorMag: WordPress magazine/news theme, #1 popular magazine theme
- Zakra
- Masteriyo
- Everest Forms
- User Registration
- SmartSMTP
Products and services
- ColorMag WordPress magazine/news theme designed for news sites and publications, featuring a live customizer, advanced typography, category colors, a unique post system that prevents duplicate post appearances across widgets, and Elementor compatibility. Powers 80,000+ active installs on WordPress.org.
- Zakra Versatile multipurpose WordPress theme with 80+ ready-to-import starter demos for business, e-commerce, magazines, blogs, and portfolios; trusted by more than 50,000 users and supports WPML/Polylang multilingual sites.
- eStore WooCommerce-optimized WordPress theme for building online stores with multiple layouts, widgets, and color options; integrated with WooCommerce product display, cart, and checkout features.
- Spacious Business WordPress theme with 30+ starter sites, one-click demo import, and WooCommerce compatibility for SMB and corporate websites.
- Flash Multipurpose WordPress theme with starter demos, multiple blog layouts, and page builder support across diverse content and business use cases.
- Radiate WordPress theme focused on blogging with clean design and customization options.
- Accelerate Multipurpose WordPress theme with multiple layouts and page builder compatibility for business and personal websites.
- Cenote Modern blogging WordPress theme with drag-and-drop element customization for content publishers.
- Himalayas Parallax WordPress theme with one-page menu, video header support, and portfolio widgets for creatives and small businesses.
- FitClub Fitness and gym WordPress theme with service widgets and testimonial sections for fitness businesses.
- FoodHunt Food and restaurant WordPress theme with menu and recipe features for restaurants, cafés, and food bloggers.
- Ample Business WordPress theme with multiple layout options and customization features for SMBs and corporate sites.
- eStory WordPress block theme (FSE) for blogging with drag-and-drop features and starter demos.
- Online Education LMS WordPress theme designed for online course websites, compatible with Masteriyo LMS plugin.
- eLearning WordPress LMS theme designed for creating online schools; compatible with Masteriyo LMS plugin, with customizer options, AMP-ready design, and a sticky menu.
- Masteriyo LMS WordPress LMS plugin for creating and managing online courses with advanced course and quiz builders, streamlined learner registration, and distraction-free learning pages; premium version includes 27 add-ons.
- Everest Forms Drag-and-drop form builder plugin for WordPress that lets users create contact forms, surveys, and other form types without coding; premium version includes 39 add-ons.
- User Registration & Membership WordPress plugin for building membership sites with custom registration forms, user accounts, registration fees, and form submission analytics; premium version includes 31 add-ons.
- SmartSMTP WordPress SMTP plugin for reliable email delivery with OAuth authentication for Gmail/Google Workspace, Brevo integration, custom SMTP support, and mail logging.
- Registration Form for WooCommerce WordPress plugin extending WooCommerce registration with custom fields including billing/shipping addresses, radio buttons, and reCAPTCHA spam protection; free and $49/year Pro tiers.
- BlockArt Blocks Gutenberg blocks plugin providing additional content blocks for the WordPress block editor.
- Magazine Blocks Gutenberg blocks plugin designed specifically for magazine-style WordPress websites.
- Starter Sites Pre-built website demos created with Gutenberg, BlockArt Blocks, Elementor, and Brizy for one-click import and quick WordPress website setup across multiple niches.
Quantifiable outcome
- Themes are optimized to load under 1 second
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ThemeGrill
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
ThemeGrill technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration20 records
Feature5 records
ThemeGrill partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.
- Gutenberg (WordPress)coreThemeGrill themes are fully compatible with the Gutenberg block editor (WordPress's native editor). Themes are tested to run on the latest stable version of WordPress and support Gutenberg's block-based content editing.
- WooCommercecoreThemeGrill themes offer seamless WooCommerce integration, providing features like product display, cart icons, checkout layouts, and compatibility with WooCommerce wishlist plugins. eStore theme is specifically designed as a best WooCommerce theme.
- ElementorcoreThemeGrill themes are fully compatible with the Elementor page builder plugin, allowing users to build custom layouts. The company also provides Font Awesome 4 support for Elementor users to ensure social icons display correctly.
- WPMLmoderateThemeGrill themes are WPML-compatible, allowing users to create multilingual websites. Zakra theme specifically supports WPML and Polylang for multilingual sites.
- Yoast SEOmoderateThemeGrill themes are Yoast SEO-compatible, ensuring that sites built with their themes can properly utilize SEO best practices.
- FreemiuscoreThemeGrill uses Freemius as its licensing, billing, and affiliate platform. Freemius handles license key management, automatic updates, renewal billing, and the affiliate program. The company transitioned to Freemius from an earlier licensing system.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ThemeGrill competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Kadence WP: Kadence WP sells the Kadence Theme and Gutenberg-focused plugins like Kadence Blocks. Highly comparable to ThemeGrill's block-based strategy (BlockArt Blocks, Magazine Blocks) and growing fast in the freemium WordPress theme space, particularly with site builders and agencies.
- YITH (Yithemes): YITH is a major WordPress plugin vendor (WooCommerce add-ons, form, membership, SMTP plugins) with a freemium-plus-subscription model. Comparable to ThemeGrill's plugin business (Everest Forms, User Registration, SmartSMTP) and similar agency-friendly licensing.
Direct peers
- ThemeIsle: ThemeIsle produces WordPress themes (Hestia, Neve, Flavor) and plugins (Optimole, Revive Social, WPForms Lite). Direct competitor to ThemeGrill in the SMB-friendly WordPress theme market with a similar freemium-to-premium model and WooCommerce/magazine theme coverage.
- GeneratePress: GeneratePress is a lightweight, developer-friendly WordPress theme with a freemium-plus premium tier aimed at builders and agencies. Comparable to ThemeGrill in monetization model (annual subscriptions, premium add-ons) and target customer (WordPress professionals and SMBs).
- Elegant Themes: Elegant Themes is the creator of Divi and Extra, two of the most recognized WordPress themes/page builders, sold on annual/lifetime subscriptions. Closely comparable to ThemeGrill's subscription-driven theme business model, agency-oriented pricing, and broad vertical coverage.
- Brainstorm Force (Astra): Brainstorm Force sells Astra, the leading free multipurpose WordPress theme, and a portfolio of plugins (Convert Pro, Portfolio Gallery, etc.). Directly comparable to ThemeGrill in terms of target audience (SMBs and agencies), product breadth (themes + plugins), freemium distribution via WordPress.org, and paid plan tiers.
- LearnDash: LearnDash is a leading WordPress LMS plugin for selling online courses, sold as an annual subscription with add-ons. Direct peer to ThemeGrill's Masteriyo LMS offering in terms of target market (educators, course creators) and product monetization model.
Broad incumbents
- ThemeForest (Envato): ThemeForest is the world's largest third-party WordPress theme marketplace, hosting thousands of themes including competitors of ThemeGrill. While not a direct peer in product, it is a major alternative purchasing channel for the same SMB/agency buyer and shapes pricing dynamics throughout the market.
- StudioPress (WP Engine): StudioPress, now owned by WP Engine, sells the Genesis Framework and premium child themes. A larger, well-capitalized incumbent in the premium WordPress theme space, comparable on the agency/developer audience but with broader integration into WP Engine hosting.
Others
- Masteriyo (internal): Masteriyo is an LMS plugin under the ThemeGrill umbrella but competes externally with established LMS plugins like LearnDash, Tutor LMS, and LifterLMS. Relevant as an adjacent competitor in the WordPress LMS space, a fast-growing segment of ThemeGrill's portfolio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ThemeGrill social profiles
Digital presenceThemeGrill compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
ThemeGrill financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ThemeGrill leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ThemeGrill funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ThemeGrill M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ThemeGrill
What does ThemeGrill do?
ThemeGrill designs, develops, and sells premium and free WordPress themes and plugins for building professional websites across niches including magazines, business, e-commerce, LMS/education, blogs, and portfolios. Products include ColorMag, Zakra, eStore, Flash, Spacious, Everest Forms, Masteriyo LMS, User Registration, SmartSMTP, and others, distributed via themegrill.com and the WordPress.org repository under a freemium model with annual subscriptions and lifetime licenses.
Is ThemeGrill a public or private company?
ThemeGrill is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ThemeGrill founded?
ThemeGrill was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ThemeGrill based?
ThemeGrill is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the Asia region.
How does ThemeGrill make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Premium WordPress Theme Licenses are the primary driver. The others are premium WordPress Plugin Subscriptions, affiliate Program Commission and free Theme/Plugin Distribution.
Who are ThemeGrill's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Kadence WP and YITH (Yithemes). Direct peers are ThemeIsle, GeneratePress, Elegant Themes, Brainstorm Force (Astra) and LearnDash. Broad incumbents are ThemeForest (Envato) and StudioPress (WP Engine). Masteriyo (internal) is listed as an others.
Does ThemeGrill have an API?
No public API is recorded for ThemeGrill.
What industry is ThemeGrill in?
ThemeGrill's product category is WordPress Themes and Plugins. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAHAI, Content Asset Libraries & Template Marketplaces (stock, characters, themes), with a secondary code of BPAMAJAL, Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132.