👋 Introduction
Carrd is my go-to destination for making quick and simple websites. You can genuinely get a site live in under 5 minutes. I’ve been using Carrd consistently since 2018 and have designed and built over 200 sites to date. The tiny team behind Carrd have created a decent library of templates for you to use. In August 2021 they hit the 100 template milestone and since then have over 50 more.
Some of the templates are only available on a paid plan (which starts at $9 a year!), but many are 100% free. Before we dive into my top 10 free Carrd templates, let me explain what Carrd can and should be used for.
🤔 What Type of Sites Can I Build with Carrd?
Carrd is a one-page website builder, meaning that all your content is included on a single page. It is possible however to use section breaks to divide parts of your page up – this gives the illusion that your site has multiple pages. Sections are useful for basic things like having a separate area for your contact information, or a ‘meet the team’ page.
The way I decide if I should use Carrd or not is to ask 3 questions:
- Does my site need a blog?
- Does my site need a shop?
- Is my site going to have more than 10 pages?
If you answer no to all these questions, then 9 out of 10 times, Carrd is right for your project.
There are plugins for blogs and shops but there are other much more useful tools available on the market for these problems, such as WordPress (which this site is built with), Shopify, Wix or many more.
Some examples of types of websites that work great on Carrd are:
- Personal Homepages
- Freelance Workers
- Restaurants
- Mobile Apps
- LinkTree Styled Sites
- Holiday Home Rentals
- Birthday / Celebrations
- Temporary Event Sites
🆓 Free Carrd Templates
Here are my Top 10 Official Free Carrd Templates from 2022 (so far). All templates can be accessed from here and are listed in release order from newest to oldest.
Ava Park – Template #151
The Ava Park Carrd Template is a business card shaped site perfect for detailing your basic contact information. The templates makes use of two full-width rectangular buttons at the top.
Imagine partnering this site with an identical designed physical business card with a QR code linking to the digital version! 😍
Templates uses:
- Business Card
- LinkTree Styled Site
- Newsletter Signup (just add a form)
Magna – Template #143
Magna shines with its fullscreen background image under a honeycomb (hexagon) overlay.
Another central aligned site but with a vastly different vibe to the first template. The down/up arrows move the visitor through the site, bringing a new bright image at every click.
Template uses:
- Meet the Team
- Multi Product Preview Site
- Personal Portfolio
- Real Estate Showcase
Vala M. – Template #142
A dark themed, mobile oriented social media links Carrd theme.
Big bold social media icons make this a great Carrd templates for streamers to showcase all their social links.
Template uses:
- LinkTree Styled Site
- Gamer Showcase
Henry D. Case – Tempalte #141
This is arguably my favourite theme that I will probably never use. 😭
Is this the perfect portfolio template? This Carrd template is a fullscreen scrolling gallery of images with a very clean, subtle transition between images. The yellow bar at the bottom is neatly decorated with triangular shapes and has space for two lines of text and all your social and contact links.
Template uses:
- Photography Portfolio
Lorem Ipsum – Template #139
The name of this suggests that perhaps the Carrd team don’t put too much thought into the titles. 🤦♀️
Everyone seems to have their own newsletter these days (including me)! Carrd is the single best solution for throwing up a site in a few minutes. It is perfect for a one-page email capture screen like this. Don’t waste anymore time on thinking about how you’re going to capture emails, use this and get then get writing.
Template uses:
- Newsletter Signup
Very Bold Statement – Template #132
This dark themed site makes use of the new animated stars background option within Carrd.
A big and bold central header gives a sense of authority. A rounded button with a subtle purple gradient invites you to click. From there you are pulled down through the site experiencing a mix of rendered images, grand headers, text and more buttons.
Template uses:
- Coming soon / teaser page
- Event detail site
- EDM (Electronic Dance Music) site
The Next Big Thing – Template #127
I know we have a purple vide going on, but you can’t blame Carrd using their flagship colour. I know you are imaginative enough to look past the purples.
This nicely sectioned Carrd template offers an immersive scrolling experience with some clever subtle element movements and animated background. The inviting lines between boxes make it clear to the user there is more to experience below. The gradient on the text adds to this futuristic vibe.
Template uses:
- Software showcase
- Gamer/Streamer homepage
- Personal Profile
Gravida – Template #125
This is a very substantial template in terms of elements and length. A lot of potential uses here for business or profession needs.
This well sectioned Carrd Template showcases many of Carrd‘s elements including bordered images, a pricing table, meet the team section and social links. It is important to note this theme requires a Pro account to use.
Template uses:
- Single product showcase
- Luxury business listing
- Niche service offering (e.g. wine tasting or guided walks)
- Agency information page
- Offer page from advert click
Untitled – Template #121
I had to include the full-length of this stunning Carrd template. I’m getting an Apple website feel from clean rounded image corners and loads of white space to give that elegant feel.
I love the drop shadow on the images, I may have to get the settings for a future project – good artists steal and all that… 😉
This site could be used for any type of business that want to show a positive attitude with a minimal aesthetic.
Please note this is a Pro account template.
Template uses:
- Any minimal aesthetic business
- Design Services
- Single Product Showcase
Hi! – Template #116
Two Dogs, a Cat, Budgie, Rabbit and a Giraffe for good measure. You had me at two Dogs!
The internet + animals = take my money. Joking aside this is a great Carrd template for photographers. Each image could link to a new section of photos from a specific project, or take you to a portfolio elsewhere.
Template uses:
- Photography Portfolio
- Pet Inventory Checklist
🥰 I Love Carrd!
So that wraps up my ten picks from the Official Carrd Template library. A lot of my picks are more recent releases, but I’ve tried to pick a variety from across the year. The final template being from February.
It amazes me how much Carrd improves over time. Every little update adds to huge changes across a year.
I say it all the time, but I really believe Carrd is still in its infancy in terms of its user base and functionality. I know it is in great hands with AJ – he won’t allow the product to become bloatware.
If you are keen to learn more about Carrd, I have a number of resources that I’m actively improving.
- Carrd Templates (my own library of Templates I’ve built + a list of some of the best Carrd libraries around)
- Carrd Resources (a host of great sites that can help you take your designs up a gear)
- Carrd Fonts (every font available on Carrd, listed for your convenience)
- Carrd Icons (a slightly neglected site, but showcasing a good proportion of Carrds Icon library)
- YouTube (I’m back making videos about Carrd)
You’ll also find a signup form for my Carrd Newsletter on any of the first four links. Or if you’re interested in my projects outside of Carrd, I have another Newsletter signup on this page.
Thanks for reading! ✌️
