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Shopify themes

The Shopify themes top DTC brands actually run

Almost half of the biggest advertisers on Shopify run a custom theme. The rest mostly start from Dawn or a paid theme.

We read the theme each store reports in its own page code, on the landing pages of about 420 Shopify brands running the most Meta ads.

Check any store's theme
run a custom theme
46%
run a paid theme
32%
run a theme built on Dawn
1 in 7

The themes top brands start from

Ranked by how many of the stores we checked run each one. Custom themes are left out.

  • Dawn · Free14%
    Dawn: 14%
  • Horizon · Free5%
    Horizon: 5%
  • Broadcast · Paid4%
    Broadcast: 4%
  • Prestige · Paid3%
    Prestige: 3%
  • Impact · Paid3%
    Impact: 3%
  • Pipeline · Paid1%
    Pipeline: 1%
  • Impulse · Paid1%
    Impulse: 1%
  • Debut · Free1%
    Debut: 1%
  • Stretch · Paid1%
    Stretch: 1%
  • Streamline · Paid1%
    Streamline: 1%
  • Palo Alto · Paid1%
    Palo Alto: 1%
  • Concept · Paid1%
    Concept: 1%

What their pages look like

  • Dog is Human landing page, on the Dawn theme

    Dog is Human

    Dawn · Pet Vitamins & Supplements

  • 12th Tribe landing page, on the Horizon theme

    12th Tribe

    Horizon · Clothing

  • Cowboy Colostrum landing page, on the Broadcast theme

    Cowboy Colostrum

    Broadcast · Fitness & Nutrition

  • Little Words Project landing page, on the Prestige theme

    Little Words Project

    Prestige · Clothing Accessories

  • Smackin Sunflower Seeds landing page, on the Impact theme

    Smackin Sunflower Seeds

    Impact · Nuts & Seeds

The bigger the ad budget, the more custom the theme

Brands grouped by how many Meta ads they had live when we checked.

Theme type by live Meta ads
  • Custom
  • Paid theme
  • Free theme
  • 1,000+ · about 40 stores70% custom · 16% paid theme · 14% free theme
    1,000+, Custom: 70.0%1,000+, Paid theme: 16.0%1,000+, Free theme: 14.0%
  • 300–999 · about 170 stores48% custom · 29% paid theme · 23% free theme
    300–999, Custom: 48.0%300–999, Paid theme: 29.0%300–999, Free theme: 23.0%
  • 100–299 · about 170 stores36% custom · 40% paid theme · 25% free theme
    100–299, Custom: 35.6%100–299, Paid theme: 39.6%100–299, Free theme: 24.8%
  • Under 100 · about 30 stores57% custom · 23% paid theme · 20% free theme
    Under 100, Custom: 57.0%Under 100, Paid theme: 23.0%Under 100, Free theme: 20.0%

We read the theme each store reports in its own page code, on the landing pages of about 420 Shopify brands running the most Meta ads.

Clothing brands buy themes most

The four categories with enough stores to compare.

Theme type by category
  • Custom
  • Paid theme
  • Free theme
  • Health and beauty · about 170 stores50% custom · 28% paid theme · 22% free theme
    Health and beauty, Custom: 50.0%Health and beauty, Paid theme: 28.0%Health and beauty, Free theme: 22.0%
  • Food and drink · about 70 stores47% custom · 30% paid theme · 23% free theme
    Food and drink, Custom: 47.0%Food and drink, Paid theme: 30.0%Food and drink, Free theme: 23.0%
  • Clothing and accessories · about 60 stores36% custom · 41% paid theme · 23% free theme
    Clothing and accessories, Custom: 36.0%Clothing and accessories, Paid theme: 41.0%Clothing and accessories, Free theme: 23.0%
  • Home and garden · about 50 stores51% custom · 31% paid theme · 18% free theme
    Home and garden, Custom: 51.0%Home and garden, Paid theme: 31.0%Home and garden, Free theme: 18.0%

We read the theme each store reports in its own page code, on the landing pages of about 420 Shopify brands running the most Meta ads.

See any store's theme

Type a store address to see its theme, version and whether it came from the Theme Store. Paste a list to compare competitors.

Replo's Shopify Theme Detector with five stores checked: laurageller.com on Dawn 15.3.0, 12thtribe.com on Horizon 3.2.0, saltair.com on Broadcast 3.1.0, glamnetic.com on Prestige 10.7.0 and boka.com on Impact 7.0.1 from the Theme Store
Five brands from this study pasted in at once: each comes back with its theme, version and whether it was bought from the Theme Store.
Check a store

Add pages to your theme

Drag in sections or start from a template, then publish pages to your Shopify theme without code.

Replo theme builder editor showing a Shopify landing page being assembled
A landing page built in the theme builder, published to the store's own theme with its cart and apps.
Try the theme builder

Frequently asked questions

What is the most popular Shopify theme among top brands?
Dawn, Shopify's free theme. About 1 in 7 of the top brands we checked run a theme built on it, about three times as many as the next theme, Horizon.
Do big brands use custom Shopify themes?
Many do. Almost half of the brands we checked run a theme built for them. Among brands with 1,000 or more live Meta ads, 7 in 10 do.
Which paid Shopify themes do top brands buy?
Broadcast, Prestige and Impact lead, followed by Pipeline, Impulse, Stretch, Streamline and Palo Alto. No paid theme is on more than about 1 in 25 of the brands we checked.
How do I check which theme a store uses?
Paste the store's address into our Shopify theme detector. It reads the theme name and Theme Store id the store reports in its page code, the same way we built this study.
How is this study made?
We took the Shopify brands with the most landing pages behind live Meta ads, kept one page per brand, and read the theme name and Theme Store id each page reports. Themes named after the brand or an agency count as custom.