Stock In Action

There are a bunch of sites out there that sell stock html templates. I put the biggest against a new up and comer. I’ve bought files from both, received support from both, and I have some pretty strong opinions of both, and the winner is… well, read on.

ThemeForest.net
Pros: Library is growing quickly, quality files, not “stocky”
Cons: Small library

I want to give it a higher rating, I really do. I even think it deserves it. For the most part the files are unique, creative, and visually appealing. I’m happy with the search function and really like the larger image on rollover, similar to what TemplateMonster uses. The community is fantastic and I’m even happy with the support. Sounds like a rave review to me, so why not four stars or more? Right now ThemeForest is new and exciting. Most sites like these tend to become less exciting as they outgrow themselves. Based on what their parent company, Envato, has done with FlashDen, I think ThemeForest will just get better, but it is just too soon to tell. By the way, stockinaction.com is a ThemeForest template so I must have some faith in them.

TemplateMonster.com
Pros: Great search function, some cool files, HUGE library
Cons: Screams stock, poorly built

There are some great things that TemplateMonster does, but most of them are related to the site itself and have nothing to do with the file you actually buy. They have a massive library and one of the only search functions equipped to handle it that I’ve used. I like the larger image that appears when you rollover the thumbnail. I also like the file detail pages and the previews. Unfortunately a quality product is more important than a good site. This may not be the case with all of their files, but I’ve found that in general they are very poorly built. Though there are thousands of templates I feel like there are really only 20 templates with 1000 variations. My biggest complaint with them is that they are very “stocky.” Please read this article to see what I mean.