Thinking of selling Webflow templates in 2025? Here’s an honest look at my first year, what worked, what didn’t, and what you really need to know before diving in.
I published my first Webflow template at the end of May 2024, and now that it’s almost been a year, it feels like the right time to pause and reflect. Over the past several months, I’ve received messages on LinkedIn and emails from designers, developers, and even entrepreneurs who came across my templates and wanted to know more about the process or if it’s even worth it.
So that’s what this post is about.
Unlike other blog posts I’ve seen on the topic, this isn’t a full-blown guide to becoming a Webflow template creator. I won’t be walking you through the application process or how to submit your first template (we’ll save that for another day). Instead, I want to talk about the part most people are really curious about:
If you’ve been thinking about designing and selling Webflow templates, especially now that the space is more competitive, I hope this gives you some honest perspective before you dive in.
Quick heads-up before we get into it:
I’m not a full-time Webflow template creator (yet), and this isn’t my main income stream right now. So naturally, the time and energy I’ve put into it reflect that, and the results I’ve seen probably will too. If someone goes into it full-time, they’ll likely have a different experience.
Also, just to clarify: I’m not a Webflow affiliate or partner. Everything in this post is based purely on my own experience over the past year.
Maybe you’ve been designing client websites for a while and you’re craving more creative freedom. Or maybe you’re tired of the feast-or-famine cycle of freelance work and looking for a more sustainable income stream.
You’ve probably seen other designers talk about selling templates as a form of passive income and the idea sounds tempting. Create once, sell multiple times. No client meetings, no endless revisions, just pure design work (and a bit of marketing, of course).
Or perhaps you’ve browsed the Webflow Marketplace and thought, "Hey, I could do this."
If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. That’s exactly where I was a year ago.
When my first Webflow template was published in May 2024, I had this image in my head: it would get approved, go live, and boom! Sales would start rolling in instantly. I was literally checking my phone every other minute the day after it went live, expecting to see that first sale notification.
Spoiler alert: that did not happen.
The first few days were quiet. It took time for people to discover the template. But eventually, sales did start coming in, and more importantly, they haven’t stopped since. In fact, my first template is still my best-selling one by far, even accounting for the fact that it’s been up there longer than the others.
Now, I know people usually want to see the numbers, so here are a few I feel comfortable sharing:
Before you do the math and start calculating whether it’s all “worth it”, I’ll say this: I’ve been pretty lazy about keeping track of how many hours I spend on each template. But if I had to guess, I’d say around 30 hours per template on average (some less, some more).
That puts my average hourly rate at roughly $13.3 for template work so far. Not exactly dream numbers but the way I see it, templates are assets. Once they’re live, they keep earning without me putting in additional hours.
So that hourly rate is increasing (even as you read this) because the longer they’re out there, the better the return gets.
Important: I've only recently realized what I can do to significantly improve these numbers and I’ll share those lessons later in this blog post.
Also, I’m quite certain I’m not what you’d call a top-tier template seller (yet), but I am proof that you can start small and still build something meaningful, both financially and professionally.
What surprised me even more, though, were the things I didn’t expect:
People have really taken the term "passive income" and run with it.
Yes, templates can become a form of passive income over time but only after a lot of upfront (and ongoing) work. Not only does creating a good template take time, getting it approved and published on the Webflow Marketplace also comes with its own learning curve.
And here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough: The days of “it will sell itself once it’s published” are long gone.
With over 6,000 templates and 300+ approved creators (some of which are full-time agencies) getting your template discovered especially as an independent creator is a much bigger challenge than it used to be.
Solely counting on organic discovery within the Webflow Marketplace is not a good strategy. I made this mistake early on, and if I could go back, I’d absolutely do things differently. You need to actively market your templates and not just once.
You should be showing up on platforms where your potential customers hang out (LinkedIn, X, Reddit, Dribbble, and wherever else your audience might be). If you don’t, it’s very unlikely you’ll see good results.
I only started doing this a few months ago, and it made a noticeable difference in my sales. But again, there’s nothing “passive” about that. You have to be willing to keep putting yourself out there.
This is a big one. And unfortunately… it’s just not true. Being a good designer definitely helps but it’s far from the only thing that matters when it comes to template sales.
One of the biggest factors is the niche you pick. Templates that are built for a specific, timely, and in-demand use case almost always perform better than generic “business” templates. Right now, for example, AI tools and SaaS products are all the rage. That will change and you’ll need to evolve with it. The more clearly your template solves a problem for a specific audience, the better chance it has of selling.
Then there’s marketing. Even if your design is beautiful and solves a real problem, if nobody sees it, it won’t sell. You need to actively promote your template on LinkedIn, X, Reddit, Dribbble, wherever your potential buyers are hanging out. This was a huge learning curve for me, and once I started showing up consistently and sharing my work, my sales noticeably improved.
Finally, timing and discoverability matter more than most people realize. Getting a head start on an emerging trend (like AI landing pages early on) or releasing templates during periods when businesses are planning new launches (like Q1 or mid-year) can make a big difference. Launching at the right time and being early in a niche can give you an edge, even if you’re not the “best” designer in the room.
Webflow doesn’t let just anyone start selling templates. You first need to apply and get accepted as a template creator. Once you’re in, each individual template you submit also goes through a separate review process before it can go live.
This means if you sell a $79 template, you’ll receive $63.20 after the commission. Keep this in mind when you’re calculating pricing and potential earnings.
This is something many new creators don’t realize: Webflow sets the final price of your template and it’s based solely on the number of pages and functionality, not the design quality, demand, or niche.
Here’s how it generally breaks down right now in April 2025:
So even if you design the most visually stunning single-page template, it will still be priced at $29. That’s just how the system is structured. It is worth noting that Webflow as announced that it will be making changes to its template pricing model in Q2 of 2025 and I’ll address them when/if they take effect.
This one caught me off guard because no one seems to talk about it.
Webflow lets you host templates for review on their .webflow.io subdomains but you can only publish 2 active staging sites at a time under a free Workspace.
To publish more than 2 templates, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid Workspace plan, (starting at $16/mo as of April 2025) which is something to budget for if you’re planning to go all-in on template creation.
That said, Webflow has shared with creators that this is something they’re working on, and that they don’t want this limit to be a blocker for template submissions but as of now, no action has been taken, so the limit still stands.
Not to beat this one to death, but it really can’t be emphasized enough: getting your template approved and published on the Webflow Marketplace is just step one. I made the mistake of thinking that once it was live, sales would naturally roll in.
In reality, you need to treat each template like a product launch—share behind-the-scenes content, create anticipation, promote it across platforms like LinkedIn, X, and wherever you are active and have an audience, and keep reminding your audience it exists. Discovery is harder now, and creators who show up consistently are the ones who stand out.
Early on, I created a bunch of $29 single-page templates thinking the low price would drive high volume. But what I ended up doing was undervaluing the effort that goes into creating a solid landing page.
We all know the homepage or landing page takes a disproportionate amount of time and thought compared to the rest of a website so pricing it low just didn’t make sense. If I could do it again, I’d repackage those into CMS or e-commerce templates, where you can justify a higher price point and get better margins.
To give you an example:
My $129 multi-layout CMS template has done 10 sales so far but it’s made me more money than my best-selling $29 landing page template.
It’s not just about good design, it’s about presentation. Templates that are visually striking and clearly positioned for a niche perform better, both in getting approved and in sales. Thumbnails, naming, and preview content make a huge difference.
Even if the structure is solid, if the thumbnail doesn’t pop or the copy feels vague, people will scroll right past it. Think of your template thumbnail as the “hook” you’d use on a social media post.
You might think, “A good template should be generic enough to suit a variety of businesses and easy to customize,” and while that’s true to some extent, it’s not enough anymore. The current Webflow Marketplace is competitive and bland doesn’t cut it.
Templates need visual flair, polished typography, interactions, color choices, layout creativity... something that grabs attention. Generic, minimal layouts that prioritize flexibility over style often don’t get approved, and even if they do, they struggle to sell.
So while usability and structure matter, aesthetics and personality matter just as much, if not more, when it comes to selling.
One thing I didn’t fully expect going in was how much subjectivity can come into play during the review process. A design you feel really confident about might not get accepted on the first try and sometimes, the reasons aren’t always immediately clear.
To be fair, Webflow provides detailed guidelines to help creators prepare for submission, and the bar for quality has definitely risen over time. But like any review process, human judgment is involved, and that means interpretations can vary slightly between reviewers.
This isn’t unique to me—many creators have shared similar experiences. I’ve had two of my templates rejected the first time around. I ended up overhauling both designs, and they were accepted after resubmitting. It was frustrating in the moment, but also incredibly helpful for leveling up my future templates.
My advice? Don’t take it personally, and don’t let one rejection stop you. Instead, spend time looking at the "Featured" templates on the Webflow Marketplace. These are a great indicator of what the team is currently prioritizing, both in terms of design style and niche focus. Use those as a benchmark when evaluating your own submissions.
After a year of creating and selling Webflow templates, here’s my honest take:
