Free template or paid theme.
Every one of the fourteen themes has a free one page HTML version, with its own live demo and its own public repo. Here is precisely what separates the two, so you can pick on facts rather than on a feature list written to sell you something.
Side by side
| Free HTML version | Paid Astro theme | |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | One, the home page | Three to six, the whole site. CRU, Forever and Spritz are one pagers by design |
| Build step | None, open index.html | Astro 7, npm install and build |
| Where the content lives | In the markup | JSON files, one per section |
| Client can edit it themselves | Not really | Yes, wire the JSON folder to Decap or Pages CMS |
| Colour packs | One, the designed default | Four with a one click switcher, on 12 of the fourteen |
| The working parts | Static | Live hours, price boards, timetables, booking forms, lightboxes, RSVPs |
| Licence | Unlimited personal and client projects | Unlimited personal and client projects |
| Price | Free | £20 to £30, or £99 for twelve |
Which one fits the job
If the job is a one page presence for a business that mostly gets found on a map and booked over the phone, the free version does that job properly and you can hand it over today.
If the client needs more than one page, or needs to change their own prices and opening hours without ringing you, or the trade has a real moving part, a class timetable, a bookable price list, an RSVP, that is what the paid theme is for. It is the same design either way; you are buying the structure underneath it.
Why the free versions exist
Because the fastest way to judge a theme is to run it. Every free version is the real code from the real theme, not a cut down demo with the interesting parts removed. Fourteen of them are on GitHub, so you can read the CSS before you spend anything.
Common questions
What is the difference between the free HTML template and the paid Astro theme?
The free version is the theme's home page as one HTML file: the same design, same CSS, no build step. The paid theme is the whole site, three to six pages on eleven of the fourteen, with the content moved into JSON files, the working parts that trade needs, and on twelve of them four colour packs with a switcher. CRU, Forever and Spritz are one pagers by design, so on those you are buying the structure and the working parts rather than extra pages.
Is the free template good enough for a real client site?
For a single page business card site, yes, and it is yours to use on client work. What it does not have is the rest of the site, the content layer that lets a client edit their own hours and prices, or the booking, timetable and price list engines.
Do I have to buy the paid theme to use the free one?
No. The free templates are finished work, free for unlimited personal and client projects, and free directories may host them. The only thing nobody may do is sell them. They exist because the fastest way to judge code is to run it.