Best Free Jekyll Themes for GitHub Pages (2026)
The best free Jekyll themes that work seamlessly with GitHub Pages — no build step, no plugins, just push and deploy.
GitHub Pages is the easiest way to host a Jekyll site — free, reliable, and zero configuration. The catch is that it only supports a whitelist of plugins and runs Jekyll in safe mode. That means not every theme works out of the box.
This list covers only themes that are fully compatible with GitHub Pages — no workarounds, no GitHub Actions required. Push to your repo and your site is live in minutes.
What “GitHub Pages Compatible” Means
A theme is GitHub Pages compatible if it:
- Uses only whitelisted plugins (
jekyll-feed,jekyll-sitemap,jekyll-seo-tag, etc.) - Does not require a custom build step
- Works with the Jekyll version GitHub Pages currently runs (Jekyll 3.10)
The Best Free GitHub Pages Themes
Minimal Mistakes
The most popular free Jekyll theme in existence, and for good reason. Nine colour skins, multiple layout options, built-in SEO, six comment systems, and support for 35+ languages. Minimal Mistakes is completely GitHub Pages compatible and has some of the best documentation of any open source theme.
| Best for: Blogs, personal sites, documentation | View on JekyllHub |
Chirpy
A modern blog theme with a sidebar, dark mode, full-text search (powered by Algolia or local JSON), categories, tags, and a table of contents on every post. Actively maintained with regular updates.
| Best for: Developer blogs, technical writing | View on JekyllHub |
Minima
The official default Jekyll theme — minimal, clean, and completely frictionless. Not the most feature-rich, but if you want to focus entirely on writing with zero distraction, Minima delivers.
| Best for: Simple blogs, getting started quickly | View on JekyllHub |
Just the Docs
If you need to document a project, tool, or API, Just the Docs is the clear choice. Three-column layout, instant search, nested navigation, and colour schemes. Used by hundreds of open source projects.
| Best for: Documentation sites, developer tools | View on JekyllHub |
Hydejack
A boutique portfolio-blog hybrid with a fixed sidebar, offline support via Service Worker, blur-up image loading, and smooth page transitions. The free version is genuinely complete — the premium version adds extra layouts.
| Best for: Developer portfolios, personal sites | View on JekyllHub |
Cayman
GitHub’s own official theme — the clean, green-accented theme you have seen on countless project pages. Simple, fast, and perfectly suited for project landing pages.
| Best for: Project pages, open source repos | View on JekyllHub |
Getting Started
All of the themes above can be installed in under five minutes. Our installation guide walks through every step — from cloning the repo to going live on GitHub Pages with a custom domain.
Want More Options?
Browse the full collection of free themes on JekyllHub — filter by category, dark mode support, and more.