It might be very tempting to create a website using a pre-built, off-the-shelf website theme. However, the drawbacks of pre-built website themes are often neglected until much later.

Pre-built themes are enticing from the start because they are a much simpler and less expensive solution, and they can look great in the previews! However, as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for.

Here are some of the main concerns:.
Extremely Bloated
Most pre-built themes will have a variety of features and plugin integrations to address a wide range of site functionality or design components. This isn't usually a benefit because not all of these features are used, leaving the site bloated with unneeded code.

Custom themes, on the other hand, are one-of-a-kind and only include the functionality needed for a particular website.

Expensive for resources
Because pre-built themes feature various template versions and functionality, the extra code might affect site speed, making optimization difficult. Some will also require the installation of plugins, which, if not used, will cause the site to slow down unnecessarily.

Design Restrictions
Customization options for a pre-built theme vary and are often confined to the theme's templates. Because so many pre-built themes have the same design and layout, it will be difficult to distinguish them.

With a custom theme, the designer can start from scratch, resulting in a distinctive design that will appeal to the intended user audience. A custom theme can also be designed to fit existing branding and guarantee consistency throughout the site.

Updates are required
Future version upgrades will be provided in pre-built themes to correct bugs, address security vulnerabilities, and keep up with newer CMS versions. These rely on the theme developer to swiftly notify them when a new theme exploit is discovered or a CMS update is issued. Any plugin integrations must also be kept up to date, and additional licenses may be required if they are not included in theme updates.

Theme upgrades may contain major changes that damage existing functionality or design components, demanding a manual remedy.

When a new CMS update is launched, the theme developer may quit or stop updating the theme entirely, making it vulnerable to hacks and permanently outdated.

Code Accuracy
Most purchased themes offer demos, which allow you to preview how individual pages and templates will appear ahead of time. However, these examples are largely intended to showcase the design and frontend features, and the coding quality is not always visible.

Bugs in themes are frequently not noticed until after they have been purchased and installed.

SEO Restrictions
It is impossible to identify whether the theme is adequately optimized for SEO if the code is not evaluated before purchase. If the theme does not adhere to SEO best practices, an SEO campaign may fail to reach its full potential.

Limited Assistance

Additional support for paid themes varies; most will include a ticketing system or a comment section where users can report bugs, depending on how responsive the creator is. Most themes will have a time limit on how long they will support these requests after the initial purchase. When this expires, there may be an extra charge for receiving a response to a support ticket.

Finally, due to the substantial drawbacks of pre-built website themes, our Web development company only builds custom-built themes, ensuring the quality and longevity of the sites we build.