Website templates & layouts, you ask, yes?
There are a lot of different kind of website templates etc.

Also, how to choose between Free website template and Paid website template?
You should account in that if you are aiming to get cash from your website, how long it would approximately get to cover your template fees?
If the template fee is fastly covered and it enhances your website enough, then sure go for a paid one!
It's a "simple" ROI(Return on Investment) calculation :)

Couple places to acquire templates is:
TemplateMonster <-- Only paid templates
ArticHost Premium Templates <--- Registered users get 1 free website template at the moment


Following contains a lot of free ones or are sites with only free templates:
FreeWebTemplates.com
Templates Resource Free Web Templates
Free Photoshop Website Templates <-- these are some real quality too! :D

Some of the differences are something you perhaps wouldn't instantly think about:
TemplateMonster templates are recognizeable, while acquiring templates from a place such as AH is completely different, and hard to recognize!

Also the price is quite different, and the type of the templates. AH doesn't offer such a "numedia" or "multimedia" like templates, but more like functional, basic ones which are easy to read & emphasis on the content & it's worth. and especially, while their templates are quite nice to look at, they differ from the masses!

While TemplateMonster templates are more of eyecandy, only short snippets of content here and there, a lot of trickyness to make the user to look at specific spots (ie. what you are selling) instead of the real content.
It's your choice which you want more: Content Rich, or Eyecandy. From Marketing i know this: Sell Time is Not Show Time.


Make emphasis on the offer you have, choose a template which will get your IDEA out the best, and most notably, whether one it might be take your time in picking out a website template, take a closelook at your closest & best competitors on what kind of they have.
I'd recommend choosing the same or very close to same basic layout as your best competitors, but better looking, somewhat enhanced.

There is no AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) templates floating around yet, but i wouldn't wonder if there would soon start to appear such ones. For examples of AJAX driven websites: start.com and Gmail

About the Author
Aleksi Ursin is CEO of ArticHost, author of:Interpreneurs - Entrepreneur's Information Source, Wallpaper Haven, Life of a webhost and Hosting and Webmaster Tips