My paid Framer templates got no results for 2 months. Then I built 16 free ones in a month. Here’s the data.

Before this experiment, I had two paid templates sitting on the Marketplace for two months with no results.

So I tried a different approach: build 16 free templates in about a month and see whether Framer referrals could make it worthwhile.

Marketplace stats for October 1–30:

9,362 unique visitors

~14,300 views

488 remixes

12 conversions reported by Framer

Several templates have already reached the top 50 in their categories.

What did that actually earn?

The templates are free, so the money comes from Framer referrals.

Dub shows $503.04 in total commissions, including $284.69 for October, currently pending. The total also includes September.

Three annual plan purchases contributed roughly $341. The rest is a smaller stream of payments. My rough estimate is around $100/month from monthly referrals for now, depending on how long those customers stay.

What surprised me:

The three templates behind those annual purchases are all very simple. Each has a distinctive WebGL/Three.js gallery or visual effect, but the rest is straightforward and quick to customize before launch. My working hypothesis: one memorable feature helps attract attention, while an easy path to publishing helps people actually use it.

Competitive niches still brought in money. Some of the templates that earned commissions are in crowded categories. I wouldn’t rule out a niche just because it already has lots of templates.

The audience geography was better than I expected. By my estimate, roughly 60% of installs came from countries with relatively high purchasing power. That surprised me for free templates, although geography alone doesn’t prove purchase intent.

Views, remixes, rankings, and revenue tell different stories. Muscat generated 5 conversions with fewer views than Lavanda, which generated 2. Niche had 47 remixes and no conversions this month.

It’s still a small experiment. The templates launched at different times, and this doesn’t prove free always beats paid. But after two months of no results with paid templates, it finally gave me some real usage and revenue to learn from.

All the templates are free to browse and remix: https://www.framer.com/@oleksandr-demydov/

Other creators: have you seen better results from elaborate templates, or simple ones people can customize and launch quickly?