Newspaper WordPress Theme Review: $59 Verdict
The Newspaper WordPress theme by tagDiv is the right buy for an ad-funded news or magazine site that will stay on one theme for years: $59 once on ThemeForest, updates for life, 157,352 sales and a 4.80 rating from 8,000 buyers. It is the wrong buy if you want to keep the option of changing theme later, because its layouts live in tagDiv Composer, a page builder that only runs on tagDiv themes, and tagDiv’s own documentation says a deactivated layout plugin leaves your header “displayed as a series of text and symbols”. For a blog with one author, the free ColorMag does the same job with nothing to unwind. See the current price on ThemeForest.
Jump to: the comparison · is it the wrong buy for you · what it costs over three years · what happens if you leave · the three themes, verified · the “Newspaper plugin” question · the verdict · questions
How does the Newspaper WordPress theme compare with the alternatives?
Three themes cover the realistic choices for a news site: Newspaper itself, Soledad as the other big ThemeForest magazine theme, and ColorMag as the most-reviewed free news theme on WordPress.org. They differ on the things that decide a long project — what the layouts are built in, whether those layouts survive a theme change, and what a second site costs.
| Theme | Price | Layouts built in | Layouts survive a theme change? | Proof | Last update | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newspaper (tagDiv) | $59 one-off, one site | tagDiv Composer, bundled, tagDiv themes only | No | 157,352 sales · 4.80 (8K ratings) | v12.7.7, 22 July 2026 | Ad-funded news or magazine site with many sections |
| Soledad (PenciDesign) | $69 one-off, one site | Elementor or WPBakery, plus 40+ theme-specific elements | Partly — Elementor pages stay, theme elements do not | 60,424 sales · 4.87 (1.4K ratings) | v8.7.6, 21 August 2026 | Magazine site already committed to Elementor |
| ColorMag (ThemeGrill) | Free, unlimited sites | Block editor, plus the Magazine Blocks plugin | Yes — blocks stay editable in any theme | 40,000+ installs · 4.9 (1,566 reviews) | v4.2.4, 7 September 2026 | Blog or small news site that may change theme later |
Prices, sales and ratings read from each theme’s ThemeForest or WordPress.org page on 9 September 2026. ThemeForest prices are the Regular License.
Is Newspaper the wrong buy for you?
Most reviews of this theme list features. The useful question is whether one of the three conditions below applies to you, because each one turns a $59 bargain into an expensive mistake, and each has a better answer.
Newspaper is the wrong buy if…
- You want to keep the option of changing theme later. Every homepage, category page and header you build lives in tagDiv Composer, which tagDiv describes as “a required plugin for the proper functionality of the theme” and which is available only on tagDiv’s own themes. tagDiv’s guide to its layout plugin says that with it switched off “your header will be displayed as a series of text and symbols on the frontend”. Leaving means a rebuild.
Better pickColorMag with the Magazine Blocks plugin. Post grids and sections are ordinary blocks, so the content stays editable under any theme. - You run a blog with one author and a handful of posts a week. Newspaper ships 155+ demo sites, a front-end builder, a cloud template library and eight tagDiv plugins, and tagDiv’s requirements page asks for a 256 MB PHP memory limit. On a small site that is a large machine idling.
Better pickColorMag, free, 40,000+ installs, 4.9 from 1,566 reviews. If you would rather start from a general-purpose block theme, Kadence is the one to read about next. - You need it on more than one site, or you build sites for clients. The Regular License covers “a single end product”, and tagDiv’s activation guide says “only one theme per install is legally allowed”, with a sub-domain staging copy as the only exception. Three client sites means three licences, $177.
Better pickNo ThemeForest theme fixes this, since Soledad is sold on the same one-site terms. ColorMag is GPL and free on every site; if you want a paid theme with multi-site licensing, look outside ThemeForest.
One more line to read before you pay: the Regular License is for an end product “which end users are not charged for”. If readers will pay to get past a paywall, the ThemeForest listing points you to the Extended License at $1,200. Check Envato’s licence FAQ against your own model before you rely on the $59 price.
Buy Newspaper if…
- The site sells display advertising and the homepage needs forty headlines in a hierarchy, not ten blog cards. Ad boxes, article ads and background ads have their own chapters in tagDiv’s documentation rather than being left to a plugin.
- You want a finished magazine design on day one. 120+ importable demos on ThemeForest, and tagDiv’s site claims 155+, with a cloud library of 1,300+ templates on top.
- It is one site and you intend to stay on it. On those terms $59 with lifetime updates is $10 less than Soledad and nothing more after the first purchase, and 157,352 sales is as much evidence as this category offers.
- You want everything from one vendor. Newsletter, social counter, AMP, mobile theme and opt-in builder are tagDiv plugins that update from the theme panel, so there is one support desk to ask.
Licence wording read from the ThemeForest item page and tagDiv’s activation and plugin guides on 9 September 2026.
What does the Newspaper theme cost over three years?
The $59 headline is honest but incomplete. Updates are included for life on the Regular License, so the theme itself is a one-off. Support is not: you get six months, and every extension is priced by Envato as a percentage of the item price — 37.5% if you add it at checkout, 62.5% if you renew before it runs out, 87.5% after it has expired. The table works that through for a site that wants an answer from the vendor available for the whole three years, next to a site that buys the licence and relies on the documentation.
| Over three years, one site | Newspaper | Soledad | ColorMag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence, updates included | $59 | $69 | $0 |
| Support included | 6 months | 6 months | WordPress.org forum only |
| Extend to 12 months at checkout | $17.63 | $21.38 | — |
| Each further 6 months, renewed before expiry | $29.38 | $35.63 | — |
| Licence only, documentation and forums after month six | $59 | $69 | $0 |
| Licence plus vendor support for all 36 months | $194.15 | $232.90 | $0 |
| Each additional site | +$59 | +$69 | $0 |
Licence prices and checkout support extensions read from each ThemeForest item page on 9 September 2026; renewal prices computed from Envato’s published 62.5% rate on the same base price that produces each checkout figure. The 36-month line is the licence, the checkout extension to 12 months, and four further 6-month renewals. ColorMag’s Pro upgrade exists but its price is not on the WordPress.org listing, so the free theme is what is costed.
Two things fall out of that. The gap between Newspaper and Soledad is small either way, so the choice between them is about the builder, not the money. And $17.63 at checkout is the cheapest six months of tagDiv support you will ever buy; the same six months costs $29.38 later and $41.13 once support has lapsed.
What happens to your pages if you leave Newspaper?
This is the fact the listing does not tell you, and it is worth more than the price. Newspaper’s layouts are made in tagDiv Composer, a front-end builder that ships inside the theme package and, in tagDiv’s own words, “is a required plugin for the proper functionality of the theme so it must be activated after each theme install or update”. It is not sold separately and it does not run on other vendors’ themes.
The theme’s default headers, templates and many Composer elements come from a second bundled plugin, tagDiv Standard Pack. tagDiv’s guide to that plugin is explicit about what a missing layout engine looks like: “If your website uses one of the default headers from the theme panel, and you deactivate the Standard Pack, your header will be displayed as a series of text and symbols on the frontend”, and “all of the default templates from the theme and some of the elements from the tagDiv Composer will be disabled”. Those “text and symbols” are shortcodes, and switching to a theme that does not know them produces the same result across every page you built with the builder.
Ordinary posts are safe. Article bodies written in the WordPress editor are plain post content and move with you. What you lose is the homepage, the category templates, the header and footer, the mega menus and any landing page — the parts you paid $59 to get. Budget the rebuild before you buy, not after.
The same package also means updating is a security task. The three most recent releases in tagDiv’s changelog — 12.7.5, 12.7.6 and 12.7.7 — each list cross-site scripting fixes in the theme or the Composer, and the plugins update through the theme panel rather than through WordPress.org. A site that gets logged into twice a year is running an unpatched page builder for most of that time.
The three themes, verified
Newspaper by tagDiv
For a news, magazine or review site that runs on display advertising and will live on this theme for years. Version 12.7.7, released 22 July 2026; 157,352 sales; 4.80 from 8,000 ratings; ThemeForest lists compatibility with WordPress 6.0.x through 6.8.x; tagDiv’s requirements page asks for WordPress 6.5 or later and PHP 8.0 or later.
The deciding capability is the publishing-specific builder. tagDiv Composer’s elements are post grids, category blocks, trending sections and mega menus rather than generic columns, so a forty-headline front page is faster to build here than in a general-purpose page builder. Around it sit 120+ importable demos, a cloud library of 1,300+ templates, and a suite of tagDiv plugins for newsletters, social counts, AMP, a separate mobile theme and an opt-in builder, all updating from the theme panel.
The honest limitation is the one above: those layouts do not leave with you. A smaller one is that the ThemeForest compatibility list stops at WordPress 6.8.x while the changelog’s newest compatibility note is for 6.4, so check the tagDiv forum for the WordPress release you are on before a major upgrade.
Soledad by PenciDesign
For a magazine site whose owner already works in Elementor or WPBakery and wants a theme designed around that. Version 8.7.6, updated 21 August 2026; 60,424 sales; 4.87 from 1.4K ratings; ThemeForest lists WordPress 6.0.x through 7.0.x; $69 Regular License, $2,200 Extended.
The deciding capability is that Soledad does not ship its own page builder. It adds 40+ elements to Elementor and WPBakery and leans on a demo library that ThemeForest describes as 6,886+ homepage designs. If your team is fluent in Elementor, the learning curve is close to zero.
The limitation is that “built in Elementor” is only half portable. The page structure survives a theme change because Elementor is theme-independent, but the Soledad-specific widgets inside it do not, so a swap still means reworking every post grid. It also costs $10 more than Newspaper and its support extension is $21.38 against $17.63.
ColorMag by ThemeGrill
For a blog or small news site that wants the magazine grid without a proprietary builder or a licence per site. Version 4.2.4, updated 7 September 2026; 40,000+ active installs; 4.9 from 1,566 reviews; requires WordPress 5.0 and PHP 7.4.
The deciding capability is portability. ColorMag’s listing describes full block-editor support and a companion plugin, Magazine Blocks, that adds 21+ post-layout blocks. Because those are Gutenberg blocks, the homepage you assemble is ordinary block content that any other block-aware theme can render, which is exactly what Newspaper cannot offer. It is free under the GPL, so a second, third or client site costs nothing.
The limitation is depth. There is no bundled ad manager, newsletter or AMP plugin, the Magazine Blocks plugin is young (6,000+ installs, 4.9 from 9 reviews, updated in August 2026), and the Pro upgrade’s price is not stated on WordPress.org. For an ad-heavy publication with many sections you will be adding plugins that Newspaper includes.
Newsmatic by BlazeThemes is the other free option worth a look for a plain news layout: version 1.5.0, updated 15 July 2026, 10,000+ installs, 4.8 from 86 reviews. It has a smaller review base than ColorMag and no comparable block plugin, so it is not costed above.
Is there a “Newspaper plugin” for WordPress?
People searching for a Newspaper plugin usually mean one of two things, and the answers differ.
If you mean the plugins that come with the Newspaper theme: they exist, but they are not sold on their own. tagDiv Composer, tagDiv Standard Pack, tagDiv Cloud Library, tagDiv Newsletter, tagDiv Social Counter, tagDiv AMP, tagDiv Mobile Theme and tagDiv Opt-In Builder all install from the theme panel of a licensed copy, along with bundled licences for Revolution Slider and WPBakery. Buying the theme is the only way to get them, and they only work on tagDiv themes.
If you mean a plugin that gives any theme a newspaper layout: the block-editor route is a post-grid block plugin such as Magazine Blocks (6,000+ installs, 4.9 from 9 reviews, tested up to WordPress 7.0.4), which builds front pages from category and post-list blocks on whatever theme you already run. The other route is a general page builder with post-grid widgets; the trade-offs between those are in the page builder comparison.
One thing to avoid confusing with either: “Newspaper Builder” on WordPress.org is a free theme by Superb, 800+ installs and no reviews, and has no connection to tagDiv.
Should you buy the Newspaper WordPress theme?
For an ad-funded news or magazine site that will stay put, yes. $59 once, updates for life, a builder made for headline grids, and 157,352 buyers ahead of you. Add the $17.63 support extension at checkout and treat the theme panel as a security setting you keep up to date.
If you may change theme within a few years, ColorMag. Its block-based layouts are the only ones of the three that stay editable after a switch, and at $0 per site it is also the answer for anyone running several sites or building for clients.
Choose Soledad only if Elementor is already your workflow. It costs $10 more, its support extension is dearer, and it is not more portable in practice, so the builder is the only reason to prefer it. Skip Newspaper altogether for a single-author blog; you would be paying for magazine machinery you will not switch on.
Once you have chosen
- Best Google AdSense WordPress plugins — a news site lives on ad revenue, and this compares the plugins that place, rotate and hold ads for consent on any of the three themes.
- WordPress page builder plugins compared — if you are leaning towards Soledad or ColorMag, this is where the builders you would actually live in are weighed against each other.
- Google AdSense WordPress themes — the wider list of ad-ready themes if none of the three here is the right shape for your site.
- WordPress gaming themes — if the news site is about games or esports, Newspaper is one of the picks there and this page shows what else fits that niche.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Newspaper WordPress theme cost?
The Regular License is $59 and the Extended License is $1,200, both one-off payments on ThemeForest that include future updates and six months of tagDiv support. Extending support to twelve months costs $17.63 at checkout. There is no subscription and no free version, and each additional site needs its own licence.
Is there a free newspaper theme for WordPress?
Yes. ColorMag on WordPress.org has 40,000+ active installs and a 4.9 rating from 1,566 reviews, and it builds magazine layouts with the block editor and the free Magazine Blocks plugin. Newsmatic is a second free option with 10,000+ installs. Neither includes the ad manager, newsletter and AMP plugins that Newspaper bundles, so expect to add plugins for those.
Is Newspaper a WordPress theme or a plugin?
Newspaper is a theme, made by tagDiv and sold on ThemeForest. It ships with its own plugins, including tagDiv Composer, tagDiv Standard Pack and tagDiv Cloud Library, which is why some people search for a Newspaper plugin. Those plugins install from the theme panel, are not sold separately, and only work with tagDiv themes.
Can I use the Newspaper theme on more than one website?
Not on one licence. The Regular License covers a single end product, and tagDiv’s activation guide states that only one theme per install is allowed, with a sub-domain staging copy as the exception. Each live site needs its own $59 purchase code, so three client sites cost $177. A free GPL theme such as ColorMag has no per-site limit.
What happens to my layouts if I switch away from Newspaper?
Pages built with tagDiv Composer do not transfer. The builder only runs on tagDiv themes, and tagDiv’s own documentation says that with its layout plugin deactivated the header is displayed as a series of text and symbols on the front end. Ordinary post content survives; the homepage, category templates, header and landing pages need rebuilding in the new theme.
How do I install the Newspaper theme in WordPress?
Download the theme package from your ThemeForest account, upload the theme zip under Appearance, Themes, Add New, and activate it. Open the Newspaper theme panel, enter your Envato purchase code to register the site, then activate tagDiv Composer and the other plugins the panel prompts for. Import a demo from the panel to start from a finished design.
