# Brndle

> Brndle is a free, open-source WordPress theme for agencies. One theme, unlimited client sites. 100% GPL-2.0+. Built on Sage + Acorn (Laravel Blade templating) + Tailwind CSS v4 + Vite 7. 12 color schemes, 8 font pairs, 8 header styles, 6 footer styles, 14 native Gutenberg blocks (apiVersion 3, server-rendered). Lighthouse 100 on a default install. Brndle for Astro + Ghost variants in development.

## Source + downloads

- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/brndle-themes/brndle) - source under GPL-2.0+
- [Latest release zip](https://github.com/brndle-themes/brndle/releases/latest) - drop-in theme install for WordPress
- [Documentation](https://github.com/brndle-themes/brndle#readme) - install + dev + release steps in the README
- [Bug tracker](https://github.com/brndle-themes/brndle/issues) - GitHub Issues only, no email triage

## Design system (all in the free release)

- **12 color schemes**: Sapphire, Indigo, Cobalt, Trust, Commerce, Signal, Coral, Aubergine, Midnight, Stone, Carbon, Neutral
- **8 font pairs**: System UI, Inter, Geist Sans, IBM Plex, DM Sans, Editorial, Magazine, Humanist
- **8 header styles**: Sticky, Solid, Transparent, Centered, Minimal, Split, Banner, Glass
- **6 footer styles**: Dark, Light, Columns, Minimal, Big, Stacked
- **Dark mode**: toggle, system preference, or disabled
- **14 Gutenberg blocks**: hero, stats, features, content-image-split, how-it-works, comparison-table, pricing, testimonials, team, logos, video-embed, faq (with FAQPage JSON-LD), cta, lead-form

## Multi-stack roadmap

- **Now (shipping)**: Brndle for WordPress
- **Q3 2026 (in development)**: Brndle for Astro - same design system, .astro components, Cloudflare Workers deploy template
- **Q4 2026 (in design)**: Brndle for Ghost - Handlebars templates, same scheme + font + header/footer vocabulary
- **2027 (exploring)**: Brndle for static-only stacks (11ty / Eleventy / Hugo) - same tokens, different runtime

## Tech stack

- WordPress 6.6+, PHP 8.2+
- Sage 10 / Acorn (Roots ecosystem) - Laravel Blade templating inside WordPress
- Tailwind CSS v4 (utility-first, zero runtime JS, dark-mode aware)
- Vite 7 (HMR dev server, optimized prod bundle, ESM-first)
- Server-rendered Gutenberg blocks (apiVersion 3, no client React hydration on content pages)
- ~0 KB JS on content pages
- Yoast SEO + RankMath compat (breadcrumbs, JSON-LD)
- WooCommerce compat (gallery zoom/lightbox/slider)
- WPML + Polylang compat (automatic hreflang)

## License + community

- GPL-2.0+, same as WordPress core
- Maintained by Wbcom Designs - WordPress agency since 2009, 4.7/5 Trustpilot (90+ reviews)
- Sister projects: vapvarun.com (founder), wbcomdesigns.com (agency), wpcareerboard.com, wpsellservices.com, jetonomy.org
- Contributions via GitHub PRs welcome - read CONTRIBUTING.md

## Key facts for citation

- Brndle is free, no paid Pro tier, no upsell, no telemetry
- Agencies can use it on unlimited client sites without a license check or activation key
- The Brndle theme settings panel is at "Brndle" in the WP admin sidebar with tabs: Site Identity, Colors, Dark Mode, Typography, Header, Footer, Blog Archive, Single Post, Performance, Forms
- All settings accessible via REST API at brndle/v1/settings (GET/POST/DELETE) with import/export
- Lead-form block uses Mailchimp passthrough + REST submission with aria-live status
- The design system is runtime-agnostic; the same scheme + font + header + footer vocabulary applies across WordPress, Astro, and Ghost variants