Responsive is a WordPress theme from CyberChimps built around Elementor templates rather than one fixed design. Live-site data puts it among the few hundred most used themes we track, a spot it has held steadily rather than climbed into recently. If you want a fast, template-driven launch without hand-coding a layout, it's worth a serious look — with a few catches explained below.
A theme built around templates, not one look
CyberChimps has been shipping Responsive since at least 2018 by our tracking, which makes it a long-established name rather than a new entrant chasing trends. Unlike many popular free themes, it isn't distributed through the standard wordpress.org repository — you get it from CyberChimps directly, with paid tiers layered on top. That licensing path explains why so many installs run alongside the author's own responsive-add-ons plugin: the real feature set is split across the theme and that extension, not bundled into one download. The theme also has a fair number of child themes and sibling products, a sign this is a small product family built around one core design rather than a one-off release.
Who actually runs it
Studying the sites running it reveals a mild lean toward software and SaaS companies, religious and community groups, photography portfolios, nonprofits, schools, and sports clubs — no single category dominates, so treat this as a general-purpose theme rather than a niche pick. By business type, nonprofit and services organizations show up most, which fits a theme chosen when there's no in-house developer and the goal is a decent site, fast. Koha, an open-source library software project, runs its site on Responsive; so does a legal-compliance plugin company. Neither needed a custom design — they needed pages up quickly.
Elementor is the default door, but not the only one
Responsive is built with Elementor's drag-and-drop editor in mind, but it's also compatible with Beaver Builder, Divi, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, and Brizy, so you're not locked into one tool if preferences change. Contact Form 7 and Yoast SEO top the plugin list alongside it, which is typical of almost any theme, but how often responsive-add-ons itself appears confirms that most owners install the companion plugin rather than relying on the theme alone. WooCommerce, LearnDash, and BuddyPress compatibility round it out for shops, courses, and membership sites.
What holds up, and what to watch for
The builder flexibility is a genuine strength — you can start in Elementor and move to Beaver Builder later without a full rebuild, which most single-builder themes don't allow. The template library and Schema.org support mean an SEO-decent, presentable site is achievable without much design skill. The trade-offs: it's not a repo install, so there's an extra step to get it; the feature set spreading across theme-plus-add-on plugin means more updating to track; and that broad builder compatibility comes at the cost of a strong design opinion of its own — you'll spend time assembling pages in Elementor rather than getting a finished look out of the box. Pair it with WooCommerce, Elementor, and a handful of plugins and pages can get heavy fast, so a caching plugin isn't optional.
Other names worth comparing
If a leaner, classic-editor blog theme is closer to what you need, ColorMag or Primer sit near Responsive in overall usage and skip the builder dependency entirely. If you want a full design system rather than templates layered on Elementor, Pro from Themeco is the closer comparison. CyberChimps itself sells narrower options too — Responsive Mobile, iFeature, and iFeature Pro 5 — for buyers who want a smaller footprint under the same company.
Questions worth answering first
Is Responsive free?
Not through the standard wordpress.org repository. CyberChimps distributes it directly, with a free tier and paid add-ons — most notably responsive-add-ons — that unlock extra templates and options.
What page builder does it use?
It's built primarily around Elementor, but it's also compatible with Beaver Builder, Divi, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, and Brizy, so you can switch tools without a full rebuild.
How does it compare to ColorMag or Primer?
Both are simpler, blog-first themes without a page-builder focus. Choose Responsive for ready-made Elementor templates and builder flexibility; choose ColorMag or Primer for a lighter, more finished-out-of-the-box design.
Where that leaves you
Responsive makes sense for nonprofits, schools, community groups, and small services or SaaS sites that need a presentable, multi-page site fast, without a developer on staff — the template library and builder flexibility do real work here. It's the wrong pick if you want a lightweight blog-only theme or a finished design straight out of the box; ColorMag or Primer will get you there with less setup. And if avoiding non-repo licensing and add-on plugins is a priority for you, factor that in before installing.
Last updated 2026-08-10
