Design & development · 5 min read
What Makes a Great Jekyll Theme in 2026?
The themes that age well are fast, readable, and opinionated about the right things.
A good Jekyll theme does not ask a content author to think about its implementation. It gives them a clear content model, sensible defaults, and enough flexibility for the site to feel like their own.
The best themes are also performance-minded from the first component: system-friendly typography, responsive images, no surprise JavaScript, and a layout that stays legible when the content gets long.
Our favorite test is simple: can a new project publish something useful in the first hour?