Are Authors Leaving ThemeForest? What Changed in 2026, With Sources

By Manob Editorial · October 27, 2026

We found no public data on how many authors are leaving ThemeForest, so we can't say. What is documented: on July 1, 2026 Envato removed exclusivity and set the author fee at 50% for everyone. Authors may now sell the same items elsewhere without removing them from Envato Market. This guide sets out the dated facts so you can judge.

What Envato changed on July 1, 2026

Envato published the change in its Author Hub under the title Changes to Envato Market revenue share and exclusivity. We read it on October 27, 2026. The points that matter to a seller:

• One non-exclusive model. From July 1, 2026, exclusivity requirements were removed entirely. Authors can sell the same content on other platforms and channels without taking it off Market.
• One author fee. Authors receive 50% of the item price component of the list price. For exclusive authors, Envato says this "represents a reduction in earnings". For non-exclusive authors, the share moved from 55% to 50%.
• First payout. The new split first showed up in the August 15 payout.

Envato's terms point the same way. The Market Author Terms say authors list items "on a non-exclusive basis", and that the author fee applies "irrespective of whether you make your Items available elsewhere".

Why Envato says it did this

The announcement gives its own reasons. Envato says Market "has faced challenging market conditions for some time", and that customers are "increasingly moving toward subscriptions and bundled offerings". It calls Envato Elements, its subscription product, "our core focus". Those are Envato's words about Envato's business. They are not a sales figure, and the page doesn't publish one.

Elements is a separate business from Market. As of October 2026, Envato's help center lists plans from 16.50 dollars a month with unlimited downloads, and access to downloaded items needs an active plan. The same announcement says Elements author applications are open only for selected content types: video, 3D, animated graphics and fonts. Themes and templates aren't on that list.

The company behind it also changed in 2024. Shutterstock announced on July 22, 2024 that it had completed its acquisition of Envato.

What the fee means in dollars

The rule is simple: the author's share is 50% of the item price, and the buyer fee is added on top of the list price. Take an item you price at 50 dollars. Under the flat rule you receive 25 dollars before taxes and payment costs, and the buyer pays more than 50 because of the fee. Whether that is more or less than before depends on which author you were:

An independent author worked through the exclusive case. The Pure Themes blog, written by an author who sells themes and so has a stake in the topic, says top exclusive authors previously paid as little as 12.5% on the item price. It gives an example of a 79-dollar theme with a 12-dollar buyer fee, falling from roughly 58.62 dollars to roughly 33.50 dollars per sale. Treat those as one author's numbers, not Envato's. Other blogs give conflicting figures for the old top rate, so we don't repeat any of them.

What authors are saying

We looked for first-hand accounts we could open and quote. The clearest is the Pure Themes post above, which argues the change hits long-time exclusive authors hardest. Beyond that, we found no thread or survey we could verify, and we won't paraphrase forum rumors. If you've read a good primary account, check who wrote it and what they sell before you lean on it.

One older source is worth naming only as history. In 2014 and 2015, WP Tavern reported that some top theme authors saw sales drops and complained about Elements marketing. That is a decade-old story. It says nothing about 2026.

What we could not find

This section is the reason to trust the rest, so here it is plainly:

• No author counts. We found no figure for how many authors have left, joined or paused since July 1.
• No sales data. Neither Envato nor an independent source we could open publishes ThemeForest sales for 2026. So we can't say sales are down, and we won't.
• No migration numbers. We have no count of authors moving items to manob.ai that we're willing to publish.
• No view of the old rates beyond Envato's own. The 55% non-exclusive figure comes from Envato. The old exclusive range comes from one author's post.

The honest summary: the terms changed, Envato explained why, and the effect on any one author depends on the fee they used to pay and how they sell. "Are authors leaving?" is a fair question. Nobody we could find has published the answer.

Options for authors compared

Because nothing is exclusive any more, staying and expanding aren't opposites. Here is how the main routes compare, with the rates each platform publishes as of October 2026:

Our ThemeForest alternatives and Gumroad alternatives guides cover the sources and the buyer side of each row. For how to run several listings without losing track, read selling on multiple marketplaces.

Moving items without starting over

If you decide to add manob.ai, you don't have to rebuild every listing by hand. The free manob Migrator imports a seller's ThemeForest, CodeCanyon and TemplateMonster items with their files, images, demo, description, tags and price. It runs as a Chrome extension (Edge and Brave work the same way) and never asks for a password. It uses the marketplace session you already have open. Items still go through manob.ai's normal review, and the commission is taken only when an item sells.

One honest caution: Envato's user terms ban scripts or bots that mass-download items. So the extension works one item at a time after your click. We don't present this as approved by Envato, and you should read the terms for yourself. The full steps are in how to move ThemeForest items to another marketplace, and the tool itself is at manob.ai/migrator.

When to look elsewhere

Don't move anything because of a headline, including this one. If your ThemeForest sales are steady, a second listing adds upkeep for every update, and that may not pay back. If you sell to your own audience, a direct store may suit you better than any marketplace. If you don't have a product yet, our guides on selling WordPress themes and selling website templates start from zero. And if you only want to compare buyer-side options, browse the manob.ai catalog to see how listings look.

Frequently asked questions

What is Envato's author fee now?

As of October 2026, Envato says authors receive 50% of the item price component of the list price. The buyer fee is added on top. Envato says this took effect on July 1, 2026, with the first payout under it on August 15.

Is ThemeForest exclusivity gone?

Yes. Envato's announcement says exclusivity requirements were removed entirely from July 1, 2026. Authors may sell the same content on other platforms and channels without removing it from Envato Market.

Can new authors join ThemeForest?

Not through an open application. Envato's help center says author applications are paused and new authors join by invitation only. That page can change, so check it before you plan around it.

Can I sell the same theme on manob.ai?

Yes. manob.ai is non-exclusive, so you can sell on other marketplaces at the same time. Envato's author terms allow it too.

How does the migrator work?

Add the free extension, sign in to manob.ai, check the list of your items, and approve the ones you want to move. Files are fetched on manob.ai's side after you approve, so you can close the tab. Items go through review before they go live.