35+ Free & Premium Parallax WordPress Themes & Plugins

Parallax scrolling is a web design trend that took off a couple of years ago and still remains popular today. It’s an interactive effect designed to catch a visitor’s attention. It uses one or more layers that move slowly as you scroll down a webpage, creating a somewhat 3D effect. Parallax WordPress themes typically feature moving backgrounds and text that appear to flow with one another as you scroll down the page.

35+ Free & Premium Parallax WordPress Themes & Plugins

The problem with parallax scrolling is the fact that it can appear clunky and bloated when implemented poorly. Your webpage loads slowly when this happens, and the scrolling effect isn’t as smooth as it could be. It’ll appear laggy and “bouncy” as your visitor scrolls down, creating an unfriendly user experience.

Unfortunately, a lot of parallax WordPress themes, free and premium, have succumbed to clunky, bloated versions of the parallax-scrolling effect. They do feature beautifully-designed homepages and demos, but this means very little when users can barely load your homepage let alone scroll down it. Fortunately, we’ve created a list filled with WordPress themes that use not-so-clunky versions of parallax-scrolling effects.

So, let’s get on with it. Here are over 35 free and premium parallax WordPress themes and plugins.

1. Zerif Lite

Zerif Lite WordPress Theme

Zerif Lite is a free, one-page landing-page theme. It uses one of the smoothest versions of parallax scrolling you’ll find on the net, bringing your header image along with you as you scroll down the page.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

2. Lobo

Lobo WordPress Theme

Lobo is a minimalist, artistically-designed portfolio theme for creative freelancers and agencies. It uses subtle parallax-scrolling effects, only moving the background ever so slightly.

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3. Avoc

Avoc WordPress Theme

Avoc is another minimalist portfolio theme designed for creatives. It uses subtle parallax scrolling to make it appear as though your text is moving.

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4. Latte

Latte WordPress Theme

Latte is a simple yet highly-effective landing-page theme for portfolios. It uses a smooth, parallax-scrolling effect that moves several backgrounds throughout your page.

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5. Verk

Verk WordPress Theme

Verk is a multipurpose business theme that uses a clean yet fully-featured design. It uses a parallax scrolling effect in a couple of the background elements on the page.

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6. Altitude Pro

Altitude Pro WordPress Theme

Altitude Pro is a child theme of the Genesis framework. It’s a landing-page theme for freelancers and service-based businesses that uses smooth parallax-scrolling effects on its backgrounds.

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7. Avatar

Avatar WordPress Theme

Avatar is a multipurpose WordPress theme that comes with a variety of different demos. The multi-page Avatar demo, for example, features smooth parallax-scrolling effects.

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8. Freelance Writer

Freelance Writer WordPress Theme

Freelance Writer is a portfolio theme designed for freelancers. It uses parallax scrolling effects on the background images it uses.

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9. Story

Story WordPress Theme

Story is a multipurpose creative theme capable of designing a variety of different websites. Its fullwidth page demos use smooth, parallax-scrolling effects on background images.

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10. Pixova Lite

Pixova Lite WordPress Theme

Pixova Lite is a free, one-page WordPress theme that uses smooth parallax-scrolling effects. It also uses a number of different lightweight animations.

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11. Foundry

Foundry WordPress Theme

Foundry is a multipurpose WordPress theme that comes with a number of different demos, many of which use simple parallax-scrolling effects on background images.

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12. Notio

Notio WordPress Theme

Notio is a minimalist portfolio theme that uses a chic, modern style. It comes with a homepage demo called Parallax Effects, which, as you may have guessed, features parallax-scrolling effects that make it appear as though your portfolio items are moving.

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13. Parallax Pro

Parallax Pro WordPress Theme

Parallax Pro is another child theme for the Genesis framework. It’s a simple landing-page theme that comes in numerous color schemes and uses a smooth, parallax-scrolling effect for background images.

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14. Cronus

Cronus WordPress Theme

Cronus is a free blogging theme that features a header with call-to-action buttons and written content beneath that. It uses a simple, parallax-scrolling effect in the header image.

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15. Willow

Willow WordPress Theme

Willow is a clean, one-page business theme. It comes with two demos, one of which uses a fullscreen parallax effect for all background images.

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16. Scroller

Scroller WordPress Theme

Scroller is a one-page WordPress theme for businesses and freelancers. It uses smooth, parallax-scrolling effects on the fullscreen background images it features throughout the homepage.

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17. Vega

Vega WordPress Theme

Vega is a free, one-page business theme compatible with WooCommerce. It uses smooth, parallax-scrolling effects on background images and combines those with smooth animations.

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18. Osmosis

Osmosis WordPress Theme

Osmosis is a multipurpose WordPress theme that comes with a variety of different demos. It comes with a demo called Scrolling, which features several moving layers.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

19. Port

Port WordPress Theme

Port is a stylish portfolio theme that features an elegant and minimalist design. It features a smooth, parallax-scrolling effect for every background image.

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20. Zoo

Zoo WordPress Theme

Zoo is a stylish, one-page WordPress theme designed for businesses and freelancers. It features two homepage demos, both of which feature smooth and beautifully-designed parallax-scrolling effects.

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21. Zephyr

Zephyr WordPress Theme

Zephyr is a business theme that uses Google’s Material Design. It features animations and parallax-scrolling effects, though they aren’t as smooth as other themes’ effects.

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22. Vigor

Vigor WordPress Theme

Vigor is a multipurpose theme that uses a simple, minimalist design. It comes with a number of different homepage concepts, many of which feature smooth, parallax-scrolling effects for background elements.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

23. Axioma

Axioma WordPress Theme

Axioma is a multipurpose business theme that comes with four homepage demos. This theme uses parallax-scrolling effects for background images, though less smooth.

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24. Morpheus

Morpheus WordPress Theme

Morpheus is a one-page business theme designed for a variety of different businesses. It features captivating styles and uses semi-smooth, parallax-scrolling effects.

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25. Ronneby

Ronneby WordPress Theme

Ronneby is one of the most stylish multipurpose business themes on this list. It comes with a Scrolling Content demo, which features parallax-scrolling and animation effects.

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26. Rhythm

Rhythm WordPress Theme

Rhythm is a massive multipurpose theme that comes with over 50 homepage demos. Most feature simple parallax effects while others feature dedicated parallax demos for images.

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27. Uncode

Uncode WordPress Theme

Uncode is a multipurpose theme for creatives that comes with over 30 homepage demos. The parallax-scrolling effects are simple, and they’re paired with animations.

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28. Stormyday

Stormyday WordPress Theme

Stormyday is a one-page, landing-page theme for creatives. It uses parallax-scrolling effects on background images and pairs it with animations.

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29. Revelance

Revelance WordPress Theme

Revelance is a multipurpose WordPress themes that comes with a few homepage demos and several layouts for other types of pages. Its parallax-scrolling effects feature typical movements for backgrounds.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

30. You

You WordPress Theme

You is a multipurpose business theme for creatives. It uses one of the most subtle parallax-scrolling effects in this list.

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31. Baylie

Baylie WordPress Theme

Baylie is a simple portfolio theme for creative freelancers. It uses a just-as-simple parallax-scrolling effect on the header image.

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32. Hipstech

Hipstech WordPress Theme

Hipstech is a stylish business theme designed for the technology industry. The parallax-scrolling effects the demo uses features numerous layers, making each individual piece of tech move as you scroll.

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33. Jkreativ

Jkreativ WordPress Theme

Jkreativ is a multipurpose business theme that comes with business landing-page demos and portfolio demos. It features semi-smooth, parallax-scrolling effects.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

34. Stardust

Stardust WordPress Theme

Stardust is a multipurpose business theme. It uses parallax-scrolling effects on homepage demos, but you can also use a page built with fullwidth parallax-scrolling effects.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

35. Corpus

Corpus WordPress Theme

Corpus is a minimalist multipurpose WordPress theme designed for businesses, especially creative businesses. It uses parallax-scrolling effects on backgrounds and animations.

Details | Demo | Get Hosting

36. Parallax Scroll

Parallax Scroll WordPress Plugin

Parallax Scroll is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to add a parallax-scrolling effect to a background image. You can even use it to add parallax-scrolling images to a post or page.
Details | Get Hosting

37. Easy WordPress Parallax Slider

Easy WordPress Parallax Slider

Easy WordPress Parallax Slider is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to add a slider that uses parallax effects to your site.

Details | Get Hosting

38. WP Fullpage

WP Fullpage WordPress Plugin

WP Fullpage is a free WordPress plugin that comes with parallax-scrolling effects. It allows you to turn a webpage into a fullscreen slider rather than a typical webpage you can scroll through.

Details | Get Hosting

39. The Parallaxer Pro

The Parallaxer Pro WordPress Plugin

The Parallaxer Pro is a premium WordPress plugin that allows you to build your own parallax-featured elements.

Details | Get Hosting

Final Thoughts

Parallax WordPress themes help you captivate casual site visitors by complementing your content with aesthetically-pleasing effects, if implemented properly. All of these themes use parallax scrolling in one way or another. However, they each feature a different purpose and style.

If you’re having trouble deciding what theme to use for yourself or a client, narrow down your options to themes that best fit the purpose they’re meant to serve. For example, if you’re creating a website for a graphic designer, choose a theme that has a dedicated portfolio demo, such as Lobo or Avoc.

If you’re creating a website for a service-based business, use something like Osmosis. If you need something that does a bit of everything, use a multipurpose theme, such as Vigor.

We talked about parallax scrolling being a sustainable web design trend in an earlier post. Click the link below to check it out:

5 WordPress Mobile Design Trends That are Here to Stay

About Lyn Wildwood

Lyn Wildwood is a freelance blogger who specializes in writing about such topics as WordPress and online business. Check out her portfolio at LynWildwood.com.

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