Selling books online is different from selling most products. A bookstore can list thousands of titles, sell print books next to eBooks and audiobooks, and needs ways to help readers browse by genre, author and series. An author or a publisher has other needs again: a page for each book, news of the next release and links to buy.
The bookstore WordPress themes below help you sell books online in all of these ways. Every one works with WooCommerce, the free plugin that handles your catalogue, cart and payments, and each comes with at least one ready-made bookstore, library or publisher demo you can import and edit. Each entry says which page builder it uses, what it costs and when it was last updated.
What a bookstore website needs
- Browsing by genre, author and series. Readers rarely search for one title. Look for category pages, filters and a mega menu that can list genres and sub-genres.
- Print and digital in one store. WooCommerce can sell physical books and downloadable eBooks or audiobooks side by side, as long as the theme has templates for both.
- Book pages that sell. A good book page shows the cover, the blurb, the author and related titles, and makes the format choice clear.
- Events and community. Many bookstores run signings, readings and book clubs, so event templates or support for an events plugin are a plus.
A few plugins make a WordPress bookstore work better whichever theme you choose. Merchant adds frequently bought together offers, bundles and buy-one-get-one deals, which suit books in a series. WPForms handles book club sign-ups, manuscript submissions and special order requests. And because eBook buyers get their download link by email, WP Mail SMTP makes sure those emails reach the inbox.
Table of Contents
- What a bookstore website needs
- Bookstore themes compared
- 11 best bookstore WordPress themes for selling books online
- 1. Botiga
- 2. Kalium
- 3. BookChoix
- 4. Bookworm
- 5. Bookshelf
- 6. Scientia
- 7. Booklovers
- 8. ChapterOne
- 9. Auteur
- 10. Lorem Ipsum
- 11. Writer
- Bookstore theme or a general WooCommerce theme?
- Selling eBooks and audiobooks from your bookstore website
- How to set up a bookstore website with WooCommerce
- How to choose a bookstore WordPress theme
- FAQs about bookstore WordPress themes
Bookstore themes compared
Here is the short version before the details. Prices are for one site.
| Theme | Page builder | Best for | Price | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botiga | Elementor or block editor | Small bookstores on a free theme | Free, Pro from $79/yr | Oct 2026 |
| Kalium | Elementor or WPBakery | Independent bookshops | From $59/yr | Oct 2026 |
| BookChoix | Elementor | eBooks, PDFs and ISBN search | $45 | May 2026 |
| Bookworm | Block editor | Large online bookstores | $59 | Jul 2026 |
| Bookshelf | Elementor | Books, media and courses | $69 | Oct 2026 |
| Scientia | Elementor or WPBakery | Libraries and event-led shops | $69 | Oct 2026 |
| Booklovers | Elementor or WPBakery | Publishers selling direct | $69 | Oct 2026 |
| ChapterOne | WPBakery | Publishers and children’s books | $79 | Mar 2026 |
| Auteur | WPBakery | Authors and reviewers | $60 | Nov 2026 |
| Lorem Ipsum | Elementor or WPBakery | Books plus music and video | $69 | Nov 2025 |
| Writer | Elementor or WPBakery | Authors who blog | $59 | Oct 2026 |
11 best bookstore WordPress themes for selling books online
1. Botiga
Botiga is our own WooCommerce theme. The free version is a fast, light base for a bookstore website and holds a 4.9 rating on WordPress.org, and its Books starter site, part of Botiga Pro, gives you a clean bookstore layout to start from. You can preview it on the live Books demo.
You get a header and footer builder, several cart, checkout and product card styles, and you can make deeper changes in Elementor. Pro adds product filters and variation swatches, which help when one title comes in hardcover, paperback and eBook, plus extra checkout layouts.
Pair it with Merchant for a sticky add-to-cart bar, advanced reviews, a wishlist and frequently bought together offers, all of which help readers add the next book in a series.
Pick it if you want a fast, simple bookstore on a free theme and room to grow.
Setting up is quick: import the Books starter site, add your titles as WooCommerce products, use categories for genres and an attribute for the author, and the shop filters let readers narrow the list by both.
Botiga is free, and Botiga Pro starts at $79 a year for one site. It was updated in October 2026.
2. Kalium
Kalium is a creative multipurpose theme with a dedicated bookstore starter site, built for a high street bookshop that also sells online, or for an online-only store.
The bookstore demo comes with book page layouts that present each title well, and you can design custom book pages with the included page builder. It works with Elementor and WPBakery.
Kalium also has a catalog mode, so you can show your stock without selling online, which suits a shop that wants people to visit in person.
Pick it for an independent bookshop that wants a stylish site and the choice to sell online or not.
Every Kalium plan includes all starter sites, a header and footer builder, popups for newsletter sign-ups or promotions, and translations into 30+ languages, which helps a shop that serves readers in more than one language.
Kalium is sold on its own site from $59 a year for one site, and it holds a 4.9 rating from more than 2,300 ThemeForest reviews. It was updated in October 2026.
3. BookChoix
Elementor is a bookstore theme for selling print and digital books, built for Elementor and WooCommerce.
It has some features no other theme here offers: you can embed PDFs, add an ISBN search and publish a library of free eBooks that visitors read on your site or download in one click. It can also sell online courses, which suits authors and publishers who teach.
Slider Revolution is included for homepage slides.
Pick it if you sell eBooks and want readers to sample or download them from your site.
The ISBN search matters more than it sounds. Many readers arrive with an ISBN from a reading list or a school, and finding the exact edition in one step saves a lost sale.
BookChoix costs $45, holds a 5.0 rating from 21 reviews and was updated in May 2026.
4. Bookworm
Bookworm is a modern bookstore theme with 13 homepage templates, so you can promote an offline bookshop or build a full online bookstore.
It is built for the block editor, with blocks you can arrange without installing a page builder, and it has several header layouts for genre-heavy navigation. Full WooCommerce support covers the store.
Pick it if you prefer the WordPress block editor to a page builder.
The 13 homepages range from a large online bookstore with many sections to a simpler page for a small shop, so you can pick the one closest to the size of your catalogue and remove what you do not need.
Bookworm costs $59, holds a 4.3 rating and was updated in July 2026.
5. Bookshelf
Bookshelf is a books and media store theme for selling eBooks, audiobooks, video games and other products alongside printed books.
It is built to work with LearnDash, so you can sell courses next to books, for example writing classes or study guides. It also supports the Events Calendar plugin for book tours, festivals and readings.
It works with Elementor and the block editor, and includes Slider Revolution.
Pick it for a store that sells books, digital media and courses from one site.
Because it was designed for several product types, its shop templates make it clear whether a title is a printed book, an eBook or an audiobook, which cuts down on wrong orders.
Bookshelf costs $69, holds a 4.8 rating from 56 reviews and was updated in October 2026.
6. Scientia
Scientia is a library and bookstore theme. It works for a public library as well as an online bookstore that sells print books and eBooks.
WooCommerce powers the store, and the theme has templates for product pages, the customer account area and checkout. If you hold events, the Events Calendar plugin and the Booked plugin let visitors see what is on and reserve a place.
It works with Elementor, WPBakery and the block editor.
Pick it for a library, a community bookshop or any book site that runs events.
For a library, the same templates work as a catalogue of titles, with the blog for news and the events pages for reading groups and talks. For a shop, they become product pages and a checkout.
Scientia costs $69, holds a 4.9 rating and was updated in October 2026.
7. Booklovers
Booklovers is a theme for a publishing house that also sells books online. It comes with 4 bookstore demos and suits a publisher, a bookshop or both.
Built around WooCommerce, it lets you take payments, manage stock in the dashboard and deliver eBooks automatically. Slider Revolution is included for promoting new releases and featured authors, and you can edit pages with Elementor or WPBakery.
Pick it for a small publisher that wants to sell direct to readers.
Publisher pages let you present authors, upcoming releases and the house itself, so the site works for readers, booksellers and authors looking for a publisher.
Booklovers costs $69, holds a 4.8 rating from 89 reviews and was updated in October 2026.
8. ChapterOne
ChapterOne is a bookstore theme for publishers and authors as well as shops. Its 6 homepage demos range from a general bookstore to an audiobook site and a children’s bookstore.
Templates include book sliders, product carousels and a featured authors panel that links to each author’s books, plus a blog and event support for signings and talks.
Pages are edited with WPBakery, and Slider Revolution is included.
Its designs look like the online bookstores readers already use, so visitors know how to browse and buy straight away.
Pick it for a publisher or a children’s bookstore that wants a familiar store layout with room for authors and events.
ChapterOne costs $79, holds a 4.6 rating and was updated in March 2026.
9. Auteur
Auteur is a WordPress theme for authors, reviewers and publishers. It has 4 homepage layouts and many blog layouts, so it works for a book review blog, an author site or a bookstore.
It includes WPBakery and Slider Revolution, a mega menu builder and one-click demo import, and WooCommerce covers the store.
Pick it for an author or reviewer who writes a lot and sells a few books.
Each new review or article can use a different blog layout, which keeps a busy review site from looking repetitive.
Auteur costs $60, holds a 4.1 rating from 88 reviews and was updated in November 2026.
10. Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum is a books and media store theme with 11+ demos. Beyond bookstores, it can run a library, a literature blog, or a store that sells music, video and online courses.
Its homepage layouts include featured book grids, a promotions panel and space for quotes and testimonials. It works with Elementor, WPBakery and the block editor.
The one-click demo importer and the documentation make it easier to set up than its long feature list suggests.
Pick it if books are one part of a wider media store that also sells music, video or courses.
Lorem Ipsum costs $69. Its last update was November 2025, so check it against your WordPress version before you buy.
11. Writer
Writer is a theme for writers and journalists with a bookstore built in. It has 5 homepage layouts, and the main one has product sections for bestsellers and featured books and a large slider for covers and authors.
Built for WooCommerce, it suits a regular bookstore as well as niche stores for eBooks or audiobooks. You can edit pages with Elementor or WPBakery, and Slider Revolution is included.
Pick it if you are an author who blogs and wants to sell your own books from the same site.
Its blog templates make it easy to share news, events and releases, so readers have a reason to come back between books.
Writer costs $59, holds a 4.8 rating from 58 reviews and was updated in October 2026.
Bookstore theme or a general WooCommerce theme?
A dedicated bookstore theme gives you book-shaped templates from day one, such as author panels and genre menus. A general WooCommerce theme such as Botiga is lighter and faster, and you build the book-specific parts with categories, attributes and a few plugins. If you sell a few hundred titles and care about speed, a general theme is often the better long-term choice. If you sell thousands of titles across formats, or you need events, courses or a library catalogue, a specialist theme saves you weeks of setup.
Selling eBooks and audiobooks from your bookstore website
Digital books are where a small bookstore can compete. You hold no stock, skip shipping, and readers get the book the moment they pay. WooCommerce handles this out of the box: mark the product as downloadable, upload the file and set a download limit or expiry if you want one.
Three things make digital sales smoother. Offer the eBook as a format option on the same page as the print edition, so readers who prefer digital do not have to search for it. Make sure the order email with the download link reaches the inbox, because that email is the product. And if you sell to readers in the EU, check that your tax settings handle VAT on digital goods, which is charged at the buyer’s rate.
If you want readers to sample before they buy, BookChoix lets you embed PDFs on the page, and Bookshelf has templates for audiobooks as well as eBooks.
How to set up a bookstore website with WooCommerce
Whichever theme you pick, the setup follows the same steps. If you are new to online stores, our guide on how to create an eCommerce website with WordPress covers the basics.
- Install the theme and WooCommerce, then import the bookstore demo. You start from a finished design and replace the sample books with your own.
- Use categories for genres and attributes for authors and formats. This powers the filters, so readers can browse fantasy by one author in paperback only.
- Set formats as variations. Hardcover, paperback and eBook become options on one book page, each with its own price and stock.
- Mark eBooks and audiobooks as downloadable. WooCommerce emails the download link after payment, so check those emails arrive with a plugin such as WP Mail SMTP.
- Add shipping zones and payment methods. Print books need shipping rates; digital books do not.
How to choose a bookstore WordPress theme
Start with how you want to sell books online. A store with print and digital books should look at BookChoix, Bookshelf or Lorem Ipsum, which handle both formats and more. An independent bookshop that wants a stylish site, online sales optional, fits Kalium or Botiga. A publisher should look at Booklovers or ChapterOne, and an author who blogs should look at Writer or Auteur. If you run events or a library, Scientia covers that best.
Then check the page builder and the last update. Most themes here work with Elementor, Bookworm is built for the block editor, and ChapterOne and Auteur use WPBakery. For more store designs, see our list of the best eCommerce WordPress themes.
FAQs about bookstore WordPress themes
Can I sell eBooks with a WordPress bookstore theme?
Yes. WooCommerce sells downloadable products, so any theme on this list can sell eBooks and audiobooks next to print books. BookChoix, Bookshelf and Lorem Ipsum have extra templates for digital books and media.
Is there a free bookstore WordPress theme?
Botiga is free on WordPress.org and works well for a small bookstore. Its ready-made Books starter site is part of Botiga Pro.
Do I need WooCommerce to sell books on WordPress?
For a full store with a cart, checkout and payments, yes. WooCommerce is free, and every theme here is built for it. If you only want to show books and link to other stores, you can skip it.
How do I run book club sign-ups or author events on my bookstore site?
Use a form plugin such as WPForms for sign-ups and an events plugin for the calendar. Scientia and Bookshelf already support the Events Calendar plugin.
How much does it cost to build a bookstore website?
The theme is usually a one-off $45 to $79, or a yearly plan for Botiga Pro and Kalium. WooCommerce is free. Your recurring costs are hosting, a domain and any paid extensions, such as a premium payment gateway or a bundles plugin. A small bookstore website can start for little more than the price of the theme and a year of hosting.
