TemplateMonster Review 2026: Is It Still Worth It for Buyers and Authors?

By Manob Editorial · November 5, 2026

TemplateMonster is legitimate and still running. For buyers it can still be worth it: a large catalog and 6 months of free support, with a customer fee added on top. For authors, 2026 changed a lot: non-exclusive since January 1, 2026, a flat 20% share from July 1, 2026, and no bulk WordPress or HTML submissions.

TemplateMonster at a glance

Every row below comes from one of TemplateMonster's own pages. We read the help desk pages on November 5, 2026. The catalog, support and refund rows come from TemplateMonster's main site as of October 2026. Where a page is silent, the cell says "not listed".

For buyers: catalog, support, refunds and the customer fee

Catalog

TemplateMonster's footer listed 21,416 products in October 2026. Its commission table shows how wide the range is: WordPress and WooCommerce themes, Elementor templates, HTML website and landing page templates, admin templates, Shopify, PrestaShop, Magento, OpenCart, Joomla and Drupal themes, plugins, presentations, graphics, video, audio and 3D files. If you need a niche layout or an older platform, the odds of finding it there are good.

Support

Each purchase includes 6 months of free support, per the support policy. Extending it costs 50%, 75% or 100% of the product price. For comparison, as of October 2026 ThemeForest also includes 6 months on supported items and caps support at 12 months, with extensions at 37.5%, 62.5% or 87.5% of the item price.

Refunds

TemplateMonster's refund policy covers exceptional cases only. In practice, that makes the live demo your main check before you pay. Look at the pages you actually need, the mobile layout and the listed requirements. Our guide to previewing a template before buying lists eight checks that work on any marketplace.

The customer fee

The price an author sets isn't the price you pay. TemplateMonster adds a customer fee, which its commission page calls "an additional fee the marketplace charges to the client". In the page's main example, a 50-dollar product carries an 8-dollar fee, so the storefront shows 58 dollars. The page gives no general rate, and a second example on the same page uses a 6-dollar fee. Compare the checkout price, not the author's price. ThemeForest works the same way: its buyer fee is added on top of the list price.

For authors: what changed in 2026

Three changes landed in the same year. Each one is dated on TemplateMonster's own pages.

1. Non-exclusive from January 1, 2026. Section 5.2 of the author agreement says items are "accepted on a non-exclusive basis only", and the author "retains the full right to sell, license, and distribute the Item(s) through any other platform".
2. Tighter intake from January 1, 2026. The items-we-accept page says the marketplace "will no longer accept bulk new product submissions" of WordPress themes, HTML templates, landing pages and graphics. It also lists multipurpose, multiconcept and business WordPress themes as crowded niches, where "unique, quality design is the main aspect affecting the acceptance".
3. A flat 20% from July 1, 2026. Every product type in the commission table pays the author 20% of the price they set.

The commission page doesn't list the rates authors earned before 2026, and we don't repeat older figures we can't verify. For the payout and exit rules, see the table above or our TemplateMonster commission guide.

Worked example: TemplateMonster's own numbers

This is the example on TemplateMonster's commission page, read November 5, 2026:

• The author sets the price at 50 dollars.
• The product carries a customer fee of 8 dollars.
• The storefront price is 58 dollars.
• The author receives 50 dollars times 20%, which is 10 dollars.

So the author gets 10 of the 58 dollars the buyer pays, about 17%, before taxes and payment costs. Discounts make the base smaller: the page says "the discount fee is deducted from the Your Price value", not from the customer fee.

The same 50-dollar price elsewhere, at each platform's published rate as of October 2026: ThemeForest pays 50% of the item price, so 25 dollars. manob.ai, which we run, pays sellers 65% on products, so 32.50 dollars. Put the other way round, the 10 dollars TemplateMonster pays would take a 20-dollar price on ThemeForest or about 15.40 dollars on manob.ai. A percentage says nothing about how many buyers a platform brings, and we have no sales data comparing them.

MonsterONE: TemplateMonster's subscription

MonsterONE is TemplateMonster's subscription product, sold alongside one-off purchases. MonsterONE's page didn't load for us in November 2026, so we give no plan numbers here. See MonsterONE's page for current plans and prices, and read its license before you subscribe, including what happens to your downloads if you cancel.

For authors, TemplateMonster's help desk explains the money side. As of November 2026:

• Author share. The profit calculation page, updated effective December 2024, says "the total amount paid out to MonsterONE Authors is 50% of net revenue". Net revenue is what's left after affiliate and payment processing fees, refunds, chargebacks and promo discounts.
• How it is split. Each product type has a points value (WordPress themes 9, website templates 7, Elementor templates 6, landing page templates 6). Your share of a subscriber's month is your points divided by all the points that subscriber downloaded.
• Payouts. The MonsterONE FAQ for authors says payouts are scheduled "for the first five days of a new month".
• Automatic adding. The same FAQ says that from January 1, 2025, new presentations, graphics, video, audio, admin templates, Elementor kits, HTML5 templates, landing page templates, newsletter templates and 3D products "will be automatically added to MonsterONE subscriptions". It doesn't say whether authors can opt out.

In other words, new HTML and landing page templates go into the subscription without a separate step. If that matters to you, ask TemplateMonster how it applies to your items before you upload.

Is TemplateMonster dead?

No. The evidence shows a working marketplace that rewrote its terms. Its help desk published a new author agreement dated January 1, 2026 and a commission page dated July 1, 2026. Its footer listed 21,416 products in October 2026, and it still takes new author applications, reviewed one by one.

What changed is the deal for authors: no exclusivity, a flat 20% share, and limits on bulk submissions. Envato made a similar move on the same date. Its Author Hub announcement says Envato Market dropped exclusivity and set a 50% author fee for all authors from July 1, 2026.

What nobody has shown is a sales trend. TemplateMonster publishes no sales totals, and we found no independent figure for 2026. So we can't say its sales are up or down. A lower author share and tighter intake are changes to the terms, not measurements. For the same question about Envato, read is ThemeForest dead? and what will replace ThemeForest.

Alternatives for buyers and for sellers

For buyers

• ThemeForest: over 67,200 website templates and themes, bought one at a time, as of October 2026. It's the main TemplateMonster vs ThemeForest choice for per-item buyers.
• Envato Elements: a subscription from 16.50 dollars a month as of October 2026. Access to downloaded items needs an active plan.
• manob.ai (ours): more than 2,000 products as of October 2026, much smaller. Every product is manually reviewed and can be previewed before purchase, each purchase includes 6 months of seller support, and compatible items can be edited with AI prompts in your workspace.
• Free themes: for a simple WordPress site, start at WordPress.org.

For sellers

• ThemeForest: 50% of the item price and non-exclusive since July 1, 2026. Envato's help center says new Market authors join by invitation only.
• manob.ai (ours): sellers keep 65% on products (35% commission), non-exclusive, with manual review. The free manob Migrator imports TemplateMonster items with files, images, demo, description, tags and price, and never asks for a password.
• Your own store: direct-sale tools take a small cut, but you bring every buyer.

The full comparisons are in TemplateMonster alternatives and ThemeForest vs TemplateMonster vs manob.ai. To copy listings across, see how to move TemplateMonster products.

Our view (we run a marketplace)

We sell templates too, so weigh this accordingly. For buyers, TemplateMonster is worth checking when range matters. Since refunds are for exceptional cases only, judge each product by its demo before you pay, and compare the price at checkout.

For authors, 20% is the lowest share among the marketplaces in our comparisons. But the terms are non-exclusive now, so keeping your TemplateMonster listings costs little beyond upkeep. Adding a second channel is a cheap test. Dropping a channel that already sells is a bigger decision, and nothing in this review should push you into it.

When TemplateMonster is still the better pick

• You need range. Its footer listed 21,416 products in October 2026. manob.ai had more than 2,000 at the same time, so TemplateMonster's catalog is several times ours. ThemeForest is larger again, with over 67,200.
• You need a platform we barely cover. TemplateMonster sells Joomla, Drupal, Magento, OpenCart and PrestaShop templates, plus presentations, video and audio. Our catalog is mostly WordPress themes and HTML templates.
• You want many assets under one plan. MonsterONE is a subscription. manob.ai sells templates one at a time.
• Your sales there are steady. Twenty percent of many sales can beat 65% of a few. Its buyers may not find you anywhere else yet.

Frequently asked questions

Is TemplateMonster legit?

Yes. It is an operating marketplace with a published author agreement, support policy and refund policy, and its help desk published new terms in 2026. Check the demo and the checkout price before you buy, because refunds are for exceptional cases only.

What commission does TemplateMonster take?

From July 1, 2026, authors receive 20% of the price they set, on every product type, and TemplateMonster keeps the rest. A customer fee is added on top for the buyer. In TemplateMonster's own example, a 50-dollar product sells for 58 dollars and the author earns 10 dollars.

Is TemplateMonster exclusive?

No. TemplateMonster says that as of January 1, 2026 it no longer supports exclusive products. Its author agreement accepts items on a non-exclusive basis only, so authors can sell the same items elsewhere.

Can I get a refund on TemplateMonster?

Only in exceptional cases, according to its refund policy as of October 2026. Treat the live demo and the product details as your main check before you pay.

What is MonsterONE?

MonsterONE is TemplateMonster's subscription. For plans and prices, see MonsterONE's page. On the author side, TemplateMonster says authors share 50% of net revenue, split by how many points their downloaded items carry.