PremiumPress
WordPress Directory Theme

All-in-One WordPress Theme for Business Directories

Create your own Yelp-style website with paid listings, built-in reviews, location maps, and AI site building with your own AI account.

4.6/5 on Trustpilot · Rated Excellent
Key Features

Popular Directory Website Features

All built into the Directory Theme, with no extra plugins to buy.

Transfer Tool

Moving from MyListing, ListingPro, Listeo, Listivo or Listify? Your listings, photos, owners and reviews come across in one click. Or import from a spreadsheet.

Bookings & Appointments

Visitors book appointments and reservations straight from a listing. Owners approve requests and can take a deposit or full payment.

Subscription Listing Plans

Sell listing plans that renew automatically, so businesses keep paying while their listing stays live.

Designs

A Directory for
Everything

Nine kinds of directory, each with its own designs, categories, pictures and demo listings. Pick yours and add your businesses.

42 ready-to-use designs

Pick a Design to Start From

Change the words, pictures and colours of any design to suit your business.

Browse all 42 designs
Free guide

The Directory Playbook

How to plan, build and grow a directory website that earns money from the businesses listed on it. 40 pages, from choosing a niche to your first 90 days.

Free. We email you a link to read it online or download the PDF. Privacy


Monetisation

Make Money From Your Directory

Charge businesses to list, to stand out and to hear from customers. Every way to earn is already in the theme.

Paid Listings & Plans

Sell listing plans with their own price, length and limits. Plans can renew automatically, so businesses keep paying while their listing stays live.

Claim Your Business

Fill the directory yourself, then let owners claim their listing. You check each claim, and once you approve it the listing moves to their account.

Pay Per Lead

Visitors send an enquiry from any listing. The business sees a locked lead and spends credits to open the name and contact details.

Featured & Homepage Upgrades

Sell extras on top of any plan: a featured badge, a place at the top of search and a spot on the homepage. Each upgrade runs for as long as you choose.

146 Payment Gateways

Take payments with PayPal, Stripe and 144 more, straight into your own merchant account.

Banner Ad Space

Sell banner and text adverts in set places around the site. Members buy them from their account, and every advert counts its own views and clicks.


Search & Discovery

Easy Search, Clear Listing Pages

Visitors judge a directory on two things: how quickly they find a business, and what they see when they open it.

Search & Maps

Visitors search by place or keyword, narrow it down with filters and see the results on a map.

Modern Listing Pages

Every listing gets its own page with photos, details, a map and contact buttons. You choose what shows and in what order.

Custom Search Filters

Add location search, category filters, price ranges and custom fields, so visitors find the right business in a few clicks.

Custom Listing Fields

Ask businesses for the details your visitors care about. Add text boxes, drop-downs, tick boxes, files and more to suit your kind of directory.

Market StPark AveStation RdRiverside DrHill LnMill RdNORTH QUARTERHARBOURCity Centre3
The Garden Restaurant
4.8 (120)
Restaurant · City Centre
Open nowView listing →

Location & Maps

OpenStreetMapMapboxGoogle Maps

Google Maps, Mapbox or OpenStreetMap. Visitors search near them, see what’s close by and browse every listing on the map.

OpenStreetMap works out of the box, with no Google API key needed.


Member Dashboard

A Dashboard for Everyone Who Uses Your Site

Customers and business owners each get their own dashboard, with only what each of them needs.

Customers

For Your Visitors

Business owners

For the Businesses Listed

What Members Get in Their Account

Everything happens on the front of the site, in the member’s own account. You decide which checks and tools are switched on.

Verification tools

Choose how members prove who they are: email or SMS codes, photo ID, a live camera selfie, an automatic ID check, a card check, documents or your own approval.

Two-factor login

Members can add a 6-digit code at sign-in, and staff accounts can be made to use it.

Messages & files

Members message each other inside the site and send files like menus, quotes and price lists.

Saved listings & searches

Customers save their favourite places and searches, and can get an email when new ones match.

Invoices & billing

Every plan, upgrade and payment is listed in the account, with an invoice ready to download.

Account & privacy

Members edit their details, get sign-in alerts and can delete their account themselves, with a 30-day hold.


Admin Tools

One Admin Area Runs Your Entire Directory

See what’s new, approve listings, check members and design your pages, all from one place.

Try the admin demo

One Dashboard

New listings, members and reviews over 7, 30 or 90 days, a to-do list of everything waiting for you, and every other screen one click away.

The admin dashboard

Manage Every Listing

Every listing in one list: search and filter them, see what's pending or reported, and check views, completeness, Featured and Verified at a glance.

The admin list of listings

Custom Fields

Add the details your niche needs, like parking, accessibility, Wi-Fi or languages spoken.

The custom fields screen
Design tools

Shape Every Page

Site Generator Page Builder

Build your homepage and pages from ready-made sections. Add, move and change them right on the page, and check how it looks on desktop, tablet and phone before you publish.

The Site Generator page builder

Logo & Brand Colours

Add your logo, pick your brand colours and fonts, and see a live preview of how your site will look before you save.

The Company & Brand page

Edit Any Listing

Open any listing in the admin to change its details step by step, mark it Featured or Verified, change its owner, status or expiry date, and see how complete it is.

Editing a listing in the admin

Customisation

Make It Look Like Your Business

Change the colours, fonts and logo in a few clicks, or design every page with Elementor if you already use it.

Your Colours, Fonts & Logo

Pick your brand colours, fonts and logo once, and every page follows. No code and no theme files to edit.

Works with Elementor

Prefer Elementor? Drag the directory’s own blocks, like hero searches, listing grids and review strips, into any page you build with it.

Built-in page builder

No Page Builder Plugins Needed

The theme comes with its own site editor. Add sections, change words and pictures right on the page, and publish, all without installing anything else.

Try the site editor

Built-In Essentials

Everything Built In

The everyday things a directory needs come with the theme, so there are no extra plugins to buy or set up.

Automatic Emails

Members get an email when a listing goes live, a message arrives or a review is left.

Any Language

Install any of 13 ready-made translations in one click, or add your own translation for any other language.

Works on Any Screen

Every page fits phones, tablets and desktops, with no extra work.

One-Click Demo Import

Start with the demo pages, listings and categories, then make them yours.

Unlimited Installs

Use the theme on as many of your own websites as you like.

Video Tutorials

Short videos show you how to set up every part of your directory.

Social Proof

Small pop-ups show visitors what's happening: new listings, fresh reviews and how many people are browsing.

SMS Messages

Send members their verification codes by text message through Twilio, Vonage, MessageBird or Plivo.

Social Login

Members sign in with their Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple and other accounts, with no new password to remember.

Spam Protection

Google reCAPTCHA on the sign-up and login forms, and a block list for throwaway email addresses.

Built-In Blog

Write guides and news for your directory to bring in visitors from search engines.

Events

List local events with dates, times and places, so visitors have another reason to come back.


Compare

Directory Theme vs the Alternatives

How it compares with the most popular directory themes and plugins, and what each one costs.

Directory ThemeListingProListeoMyListingDirectory plugins
Price (year 1)$99 one-time$69$119$119Free core + $49–$153 / yr add-ons
Sites per licenceUnlimited (sites you own)1 site1 site1 site1 site to unlimited, by plan
RenewalNoneOptional support renewalOptional support renewalOptional support renewalEvery year
Paid listings built inYesYesVia WooCommerceVia WooCommercePaid add-on
Claim-a-listing built inYesYesVia WooCommerceVia WooCommercePaid add-on
Payment gateways built in146 incl. PayPal & StripeStripe, PayPal, 2Checkout, bankWooCommerce requiredWooCommerce requiredGetPaid or WooCommerce
Extra plugins requiredNoneNone for paymentsWooCommerceWooCommerce + Subscriptions2–3 add-ons + payments plugin
AI site builderYes—AI search & summaries——
100% open source (GPL)YesProprietaryProprietaryProprietaryCore is GPL

Competitor prices and features checked on 10 September 2026 against each vendor's own page. ListingPro, Listeo and MyListing are ThemeForest Regular licences. “Directory plugins” covers GeoDirectory and Directorist, whose free cores need paid add-ons to charge for listings.


Step by step

How to Build a Business Directory Website with WordPress

Six simple steps to your own business directory website. Local businesses pay to be listed, visitors search your site to find them, and you earn from every paid listing. It all runs on WordPress, with no coding required.

  1. 1

    Add the Directory Theme to WordPress

    Add the Directory Theme under Appearance → Themes and activate it. Paid listings, map search and custom fields are all part of the theme.

  2. 2

    Get Updates with Your Licence

    Pop in your licence key to switch on updates and support. One key covers every directory site you own.

  3. 3

    Load the Demo Directory

    One click imports the demo directory with sample business listings, categories and map-search pages. You customise a working directory instead of building from blank.

  4. 4

    Add Your Directory Categories and Listings

    Set up your directory categories and add listings, or let businesses submit their own.

  5. 5

    Enable Paid Listings and Map Search

    Turn on paid and featured listings, reviews and map search, and set your prices.

  6. 6

    Customise the Design with Elementor

    Restyle headers, listing pages and layouts with the 200+ Elementor directory blocks. Then put your business directory live.


FAQ

WordPress Directory Theme FAQ

Answers to the questions directory owners ask us most.

Install the WordPress Directory Theme on any WordPress site, import the demo directory and add your categories and listings. Or let businesses submit their own. Map search, reviews and paid listings are built in, so there's nothing extra to wire together and no coding involved.

Yes. That's exactly what the theme is built for. You get Yelp-style listing pages with photos, opening hours, Google Maps, customer reviews and star ratings, plus zip/postcode radius search so visitors can find businesses near them.

Yes. Paid listings, claim-a-listing and PayPal/Stripe payments are built into the theme, so no extra directory plugins are needed. Businesses register, create and manage their own listings from the front end. You decide what's free and what's paid, and featured placement, homepage spots and sponsored ads can all be charged for. Owners can also claim listings you've pre-added, which is a great way to seed a new directory.

Yes. Every directory page can be edited in the free Elementor plugin. The theme ships with 200+ directory blocks, such as hero search bars, listing grids, category strips and map sections, and you drag them into place.

Yes. The one-click import recreates the live directory demo on your own domain, with sample listings, categories and search pages included. You replace the placeholder businesses with real ones instead of starting empty.

No. Approving listings, setting listing prices, moderating reviews and changing the design all happen in the admin area or the free Elementor editor. Video tutorials walk through the directory setup step by step.

Yes. Listing pages, map and radius search and the business submission forms all adapt to small screens. Visitors can browse the directory, and owners can manage their listings, from any phone or tablet.

Yes. A User License covers unlimited directory websites that you own. Run a city directory, a trades directory and a niche directory side by side on one licence. If you build directories for clients, choose the Developer License instead.

Yes. If your site runs MyListing, ListingPro, Listeo, Listivo or Listify, activate the Directory theme on the same website and use Settings › Migrate to convert every listing, photo, owner and review in place. Any other site can be imported from a CSV file.

No, and nulled copies of the Directory Theme are worth avoiding. They're outdated and often bundle malware, which is a real risk on a site that stores business details and takes listing payments. The licensed theme is a one-time purchase with 6 months of updates and support and a 14-day money-back guarantee.

There's a 14-day money-back guarantee. Import the demo directory, load some listings and test the paid-submission flow on your own hosting. If the theme doesn't fit, contact us within 14 days for a full refund.

The Directory Theme is updated regularly for WordPress compatibility and new features, and every purchase includes 6 months of updates and support. Extending after that is optional at $49 per 6 months. Your directory keeps working either way.

No. Everything a directory needs is in the theme, from listings and paid submissions to maps, reviews and search. It works with free plugins such as Elementor. Beyond your hosting and domain, the only optional cost is extending updates and support after the first 6 months, at $49 per 6 months.

Still have a question?
Send us a message and our team will help.
Contact us
Reviews

What Customers Say About the Directory Theme

Rated 5.0 out of 5 by our customers.

“I hired a few developers to work on a normal WordPress theme but it cost me an arm and a leg! Working with this theme was much easier and faster. You can easily change the design as you prefer, save lots of time to communicate on color, small changes, etc. Thanks guys.”

Gary

Gary

“Thanks for everything Mark, Iv had a directorypress theme since version 7 and the updates just keep getting better.”

Mateus Graz

“well built themes, they load fast, code is clean and optimised for seo”

Alistair Kelsall

“Honestly, your themes are great! Thank you.”

Temmy Flavianus

Temmy Flavianus

“I have been using Directory Press since 2012, good value for money and I always look forward to the next updates.”

Alan Johnston

Alan Johnston

“I love this directory, it makes it very easy to add listings with a couple of clicks. I love the customer service they make many things work like a charm. Great value for the money”

Horacio Ramos

Horacio Ramos

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