Envato Elements vs ThemeForest: Subscription or One-Time Purchase?

By Manob Editorial · November 5, 2026

ThemeForest sells one item for a one-time price, with a license for that item and six months of item support included. Envato Elements rents its whole library by subscription, from 16.50 dollars a month as of November 2026, and gives no direct item support. Which is cheaper depends on how many items you need, and for how long.

The short answer

Both are run by Envato, which Shutterstock says it finished acquiring on July 22, 2024. They sell the same kind of goods in two different ways.

• ThemeForest is a pay-per-item marketplace. You buy one theme, you get a license for that theme, and the author supports it for a set period.
• Envato Elements is a subscription. You pay a recurring fee and download as much as you like from a library of photos, video, fonts, graphics and templates. Each download licenses one project.

So, ThemeForest or Envato Elements? If you need one WordPress theme for one site you plan to keep, a single purchase is usually simpler. If you need a steady stream of assets for many short projects, the subscription can work out cheaper.

Envato Elements vs ThemeForest side by side

Facts come from each vendor's own page on the date shown; the last row is our summary.

Sources: Elements pricing and FAQ, ThemeForest licenses, ThemeForest catalog, Envato's item support and refund pages.

Elements' site menu lists WordPress themes, plugins and template kits. Its higher plans mainly add more monthly AI credits.

What a year costs: 1 theme, 3 themes or 10 assets

There is no single ThemeForest price. Each author sets their own, and the buyer fee comes on top. For reference, one ThemeForest author's survey (the ThemeREX blog, September 2026) reports that several top WordPress themes raised their prices in 2026, often from 59 to 69 dollars. The7's developers say ThemeForest buyers pay a fixed 12-dollar fee that goes to Envato. Treat those as examples, not as the going rate.

Elements' entry plan is listed "from" 16.50 dollars a month. Twelve months at that rate comes to 198 dollars. The plan cards don't state the billing period, so check what you'd actually be charged before you compare.

One theme for one site

One theme priced like the survey's examples costs well under a year of Elements at the entry rate. You also get six months of author support. If you want a full year of support, Envato prices an extension at 37.5%, 62.5% or 87.5% of the item price. Even with an extension, a single purchase usually comes out ahead here.

Three themes in a year

Three themes at those prices land close to a year of Elements at the entry rate. Then support and next year decide it. ThemeForest gives you support on each theme. Elements gives you none, but adds the rest of its library.

Ten assets for a project

Say you need a theme plus fonts, photos, icons and a short video. ThemeForest sells themes and templates, so you'd buy the rest elsewhere, one item at a time. Elements covers all ten under one fee, as long as each project gets its own download. This is where the subscription usually wins.

Year two changes the sums. A ThemeForest theme costs nothing more unless you renew support. On Elements, projects you already licensed stay covered after you cancel, but any new project needs a new download, and that needs an active plan. For theme prices in general, see how much a WordPress theme costs.

License traps to know

Most surprises come from the license, not the price.

• Canceling mid-project. Elements' FAQ says canceling leaves you with access "until the day your next subscription payment is due to be billed", and that existing licensed uses stay covered. For a project you started but hadn't finished when you canceled, check Elements' license terms. That page didn't load for our fetch tool on November 5, 2026, so we quote only the pricing FAQ.
• One download, one project. On Elements, each download licenses "a single, specific project". Using the same theme on a second client site means downloading it again for that project.
• Regular vs Extended on ThemeForest. Both list one end product. ThemeForest's license page says: "If your end product including the item is going to be free to the end user then a Regular License is what you need." It adds that "an Extended License is required if the end user must pay to use the end product." Our Regular vs Extended license guide works through examples.
• No author help on Elements. Elements "does not provide direct item support". For a WordPress theme, that matters: some ThemeForest buyers report demo imports that don't match the demo, in item comments, and author support is where that gets fixed.
• Support has a clock. ThemeForest's included support lasts six months. Longer cover costs extra and tops out at 12 months.
• One-time doesn't mean every future version. See the The7 example below.

What changed in 2026

Envato changed ThemeForest's author terms on July 1, 2026. Its Author Hub announcement says exclusivity requirements were removed, so authors may sell the same items elsewhere, and every author now receives 50% of the item price.

The same announcement explains Envato's thinking. Envato Market "has faced challenging market conditions for some time", customers are "increasingly moving toward subscriptions and bundled offerings", and Elements "continues to be our core focus". It also says Elements author applications are open only for selected content types: video, 3D, animated graphics and fonts. Themes aren't on that list. On Elements, authors share 50% of each subscriber's net revenue, split by usage (25% for enterprise), as of October 2026.

Some theme makers responded by selling outside ThemeForest:

• The7. Its update policy says "The7 14 is now a legacy version and will only receive security and essential maintenance updates." ThemeForest purchases older than 12 months can't upgrade to The7 15, which is sold on the7.io by the year: one site costs 39 dollars the first year, then 49 dollars a year (a launch offer, as of November 2026). The7's developers say Envato has moved buyers toward Elements and that one-time ThemeForest sales have been falling for years. That is their view; they publish no figures.
• Avada. Its May 2026 post says "The original Avada will continue to be sold on ThemeForest", with new features, maintenance, security fixes and support. Avada says a new product, Avada One, will be sold directly through avada.com on a subscription.

So "subscription or one-time" is no longer only a choice between Elements and ThemeForest. Some theme makers now sell yearly plans of their own. ThemeForest is still running and still large. Whether it is shrinking is a question we take up in Is ThemeForest dead?

A third option: one-time marketplaces outside Envato

Other marketplaces also sell per item:

• TemplateMonster includes 6 months of free support, extendable at 50%, 75% or 100% of the price. It grants refunds only in exceptional cases and adds a customer fee on top of the price. Its footer listed 21,416 products in October 2026 (support policy, refund policy).
• manob.ai (ours) sells templates and themes per item, with a Regular license for one end product whose end users aren't charged and an Extended license when they are. Every product is reviewed by hand before it goes live, and every item can be previewed before you buy. Each purchase includes 6 months of free seller support, extendable at 30% before it expires or 75% after. Compatible themes and starter kits can be edited with plain-English prompts in your manob.ai workspace after purchase, then deployed. Not every item is compatible.

manob.ai is much smaller. Its homepage said "Browse all 2508 templates" on October 27, 2026, against ThemeForest's 67,200-plus. For sellers it is non-exclusive, and sellers keep 65% of each product sale (35% commission). A free migrator imports existing ThemeForest, CodeCanyon and TemplateMonster items. Our guide to where to buy WordPress themes compares more places, and how to preview a template lists what to check first.

Our view (we run a marketplace)

We sell one-time licenses, so weigh this accordingly. For a business site you'll run for years, we think a one-time purchase with author support is the calmer choice: the cost is known up front, and someone answers when setup goes wrong. For a studio turning out many short projects, the subscription's math is hard to beat.

When Envato Elements is the better pick

Elements wins plainly in several cases:

• You need many assets. Themes plus fonts, photos, music and video add up fast when bought one at a time. One fee covers them all.
• Your projects are short. Landing pages, event sites and campaign pages that live for weeks suit a library you rent while you need it.
• You build often. An agency starting new sites every month gets more value from unlimited downloads than from single purchases.
• Your team handles support. If you don't need the author's help, the missing item support costs you little.

And if a one-time marketplace is what you want, ThemeForest's range is far larger than manob.ai's: over 67,200 items against our 2,000-plus. For subscription sites outside Envato, see Envato alternatives. For per-item sites, see ThemeForest alternatives.

Frequently asked questions

Is Envato Elements worth it for WordPress themes?

For one theme, usually not: a single ThemeForest theme priced like the examples above costs less than a year of Elements at the entry rate, and it includes author support. Elements pays off when you also need many other assets or build many sites a year.

What happens to my Envato Elements license after I cancel?

Elements' FAQ says "any existing licensed uses are still fully covered forever", and your access lasts until your next billing date. New projects need a new download, which needs an active plan. For unfinished projects, check Elements' license terms.

Do Envato Elements themes come with support and updates?

Elements says the subscription "does not provide direct item support" and points you to the documentation in the download. Its pricing page says nothing about updates, as of November 2026.

Are ThemeForest and Envato Elements the same company?

Yes. Both belong to Envato, which Shutterstock says it finished acquiring on July 22, 2024. ThemeForest sells per item, and Elements sells a subscription.

Can I get a refund on either?

ThemeForest assesses refunds case by case. Elements says it does not refund canceled subscriptions. Preview a theme's demo before you pay on either one.