7 Best Portfolio Website Builders

And if you need extra features, you can access third-party apps via Squarespace Extensions, giving you plenty of room to enhance your portfolio without having to upgrade.

You can also subscribe to one of Squarespace’s paid tools, such as Squarespace Scheduling to take bookings from customers – prices start at $16 per month (billed annually). Alternatively, if you want to sell products with your portfolio site, you’ll need to upgrade to one of Squarespace’s ecommerce-friendly plans that start at $23 per month (billed annually).

There’s a suite of tools to enjoy via Squarespace’s SEO panel, including:

• SEO page settings
• Sitemaps
• Clean URLs for indexing
• Built-in mobile optimization
• Automatic SEO-friendly pages for products
• Google My Business listing

The platform also offers an in-depth SEO checklist to explain how to optimize each part of your portfolio, helping you improve your website’s visibility. This is essential to drumming up traffic and gaining some potential new clients.

Its on-site guides include both text and video, which is really helpful for different types of learners. Some people learn best by watching and repeating, but others might process information better by reading a text explanation instead. Thankfully, Squarespace caters to both!

A lot of other builders limit the amount of storage you can get on their cheaper plans. Squarespace gives you unlimited storage from day one, but Wix – which is our second highest-rated provider for portfolios – starts you out with a 2GB storage limit on its $16 per month plan.

For example, contact forms and other design elements can be added for free when editing your pages, but you’ll need to pay extra for member areas – subscriptions start from $9 per month, billed annually.

You can also add feature testimonials to your portfolio, as well as a blog and a newsletter sign-up. Social media icons and live social feeds connect your website with other platforms, allowing you to build a cohesive brand image.

In addition to these handy features, Squarespace also offers email marketing software to expand your portfolio’s reach. You’ll get plenty of email layouts to choose from, allowing you to match your emails to your portfolio’s branding.

However, Squarespace’s Email Campaigns feature isn’t included in your monthly subscription. You’ll get a limited free trial to start with, but if you want full access then you’ll need to pay an additional fee – pricing starts at $5 per month.

So, if you’re looking to build an online portfolio, you can rest assured knowing that Squarespace will make the process headache-free!

Squarespace uses a grid-style editor, meaning you can’t drag anything anywhere, but you can create a clean and professional portfolio without any coding skills. This style of editor ensures your site will still look good no matter the changes you make, while building with a drag-and-drop editor, like Wix, can easily result in a messy-looking site.

If you do get stuck, Squarespace has some of the best customer support, scoring 4.8 out of 5, sharing the top position with Wix (again). It offers in-depth tutorial videos and guides in its Help Center, as well as 24/7 email and social media support. You can also reach out to Squarespace through its live chat feature, available Monday to Friday.

While you can enjoy its 14-day free trial, Squarespace’s four paid plans start at $16 per month:

• Personal: $16 per month (annual)
• Business: $23 per month (annual)
• Basic Commerce: $27 per month (annual)
• Advanced Commerce: $49 per month (annual)

You can sell through your website if you opt for the Business plan or above. These fully specialized ecommerce plans start from $27 per month and are useful if you want to sell artwork directly through your portfolio.

However, you must upgrade to one of Wix’s paid plans to unlock the top features. These are jam-packed with high-quality internal features, including visitor analytics, the ability to create events, managing and adding videos to your site, and showcasing music.

With all of these powerful features, you won’t need to rely on third-party apps like Shopify. But don’t fret – Wix still offers a huge app store if you do need any extra services.

Wix’s SEO Wiz has been enhanced since last year’s research, but the most notable SEO improvement is Wix’s integration with the keyword support tool, Semrush. With this, your portfolio should easily target new clients who are searching the web.

• Free: 500MB
• Light: 2GB

These are Wix’s non-ecommerce plans, so they’re best suited to portfolios. But if you want to accept payments from clients through your portfolio website, then you’ll need one of Wix’s ecommerce plans which come with generous storage allowances:

• Core: 50GB
• Business: 100GB
• Business Elite: Unlimited

So, you’ll need to pay $159 per month (billed annually) for Wix’s Business VIP plan if you want unlimited storage. In comparison, Squarespace offers unlimited storage from its cheapest plan.

Wix lets you add a blog with a click of a button, which is ideal for content marketing and when sharing your expertise and updates with fans or clients. Keeping a blog is also a great way to create fresh content for Google to crawl (which is the term used to describe how Google reads and sorts your website content) and potentially boost your site’s rankings, too.

Additionally, Wix comes with a massive app library, which is great for expanding your portfolio’s functionality. You can add a live social media feed, as well as integrate with one of the many email marketing solutions, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact.

It’s also worth mentioning that a free version of Ascend by Wix is pre-installed on your account. It offers you a comprehensive business solution that provides amazing marketing tools, from social integrations and on-site live chat to email marketing. If you want to upgrade this feature, Ascend by Wix plans start at $10 per month.

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor is a familiar and intuitive system that makes designing your portfolio incredibly simple. Unlike Squarespace, Wix has hover-over tooltips on hand to explain what features do, and you can drag elements to wherever you want for an unrivaled level of control.

That being said, it doesn’t score a perfect 5 out of 5 rating because this type of interface and editor isn’t ideal for everyone. For many, the large number of tools and elements on offer can be overwhelming and it’s easy to end up with a messy-looking portfolio.

The good news is that Wix scores an eye-watering 4.8 out of 5 for its help and support – the same as Squarespace. This means that if you ever get stuck, you can contact Wix easily for assistance, whether that’s via 24/7 live chat or phone support. There’s also priority customer support available if you upgrade to Wix’s Business Elite plan.

This is largely because we’ve had to adapt our pricing algorithm to reflect marketwide price increases, which has impacted Wix negatively. It’s an expensive option, and what really lets Wix down is the fact that it locks its strongest features – including advanced SEO tools and localized currency – behind its premium plans.

If you want the best for your site, you’ll need to pay more for it if you go with Wix.

You can get started with Wix’s free plan, which is a great option if you’re looking to get your portfolio up and running quickly and affordably, but you’ll be limited when it comes to growing your site.

If you upgrade from the free plan – and we highly recommend that you do – you can expect these annual costs:

• Light: $16 per month
• Core: $27 per month
• Business: $32 per month
• Business Elite: $159 per month

The Core and two Business plans are equipped for selling online, so you’ll need to choose one of these if you want to allow clients to purchase directly from your portfolio.

For example, if you want to add a blog to your portfolio, you’ll be limited to simply writing and scheduling posts – that’s all!

Its free plan is incredibly limited, so we’d recommend upgrading to its cheapest paid plan to unlock the following website features:

• Website and marketing analytics
• Consolidate customer messages in one inbox
• One-time appointments
• GoDaddy Studio (for branded content)
• Social media integration
• Email marketing

… and more. You’ll need to upgrade to the Premium plan or above for recurring classes, event scheduling, online payments, and ecommerce functionality.

However, it’s important to note that although basic SEO tools are included in GoDaddy’s cheapest plan, you won’t have access to advanced features. For example, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium plan to access Google Smart Campaign and social post boosting – tools that help improve your site’s visibility on search engines and attract new customers.

GoDaddy also has a team of SEO experts to help you take that extra step – you talk through your goals and they put a plan in place. To put it simply, the SEO team will analyze your site and market before making regular SEO updates, improving your site’s chances of appearing in search results.

However, this doesn’t mean your storage is unlimited. It’s unlikely you’ll reach GoDaddy’s cap, and it really shouldn’t be a problem for the majority of portfolios. If you use video as a medium, though, it’s worth considering whether GoDaddy is the right fit for your needs. You could opt for a builder with guaranteed unlimited storage instead, such as Squarespace.

No matter which plan you choose, your site will automatically come with helpful marketing tools, covering email, social media, and ads. While you can’t connect directly with third-party marketing apps due to GoDaddy’s lack of an app store, you’ll receive some really useful in-house features.

For example, its cheapest plan allows up to 100 email marketing sends per month, but this increases to 100,000 on the Commerce Plus plan. GoDaddy also supports Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can even use GoDaddy’s software to create social media posts that reflect your portfolio branding.

After your tailored website has been built, you can tweak your pre-made template to suit your brand once you get into the editor. However, customization and design flexibility are limited, so we’d recommend GoDaddy for basic portfolios. If you’re looking to build something unique or want more control, you’d be better off with Wix.

There are four paid plans to choose between:

• Basic: $11.99 per month, billed annually
• Premium: $21.99 per month, billed annually
• Commerce: $24.99 per month, billed annually
• Commerce Plus: $44.99 per month, billed annually

If you aren’t ready to commit to a premium plan just yet, GoDaddy also offers a free plan to help you find your footing. It doesn’t offer much in the way of features, but it does keep the costs down! Based on our research, we’d suggest upgrading to a premium plan as soon as possible.

If you find yourself stuck or think a process could be streamlined when using Shopify, take a look at the 6,000+ apps and widgets available. You’ll likely find a solution to any problem – whether that’s Shippo, Pinterest, or DSers. The only downside is that most of these apps come with an additional charge, so bear that in mind before choosing Shopify.

That being said, there are a handful of SEO-related video tutorials and guides if you want to learn more. You just won’t have a checklist of tips or an SEO wizard – like Wix – to hand with Shopify.

Though Shopify’s plans are more expensive than others on this list, it can be worth the price if you get all the storage allowance you need. In this case, the sky’s the limit!

We know that marketing is important for portfolio websites, so we’ve taken the time to really investigate Shopify’s performance in this area and there’s a lot to unpack. Make the most of Shopify’s built-in features, including blogs and social media integration. Or you can target customers in a different way, whether that’s via email with personalized campaigns, or through direct messages with Shopify Inbox.

You’ll also have access to a detailed marketing dashboard, so you can view your data and track your portfolio’s performance.

Some of our website testers found Shopify a little tricky to get to grips with, largely because you have to bounce between the editor and backend for certain website elements.

If you’re prepared to dedicate time to learning the ins and outs of Shopify, you can create a powerful portfolio with ease. Still, we’d probably recommend Shopify to those with web-building experience as opposed to total beginners – unless you’re keen to sell a lot of products.

• Basic: $29 per month
• Shopify: $79 per month
• Advanced: $299 per month

Due to the lack of a free plan and its expensive prices, Shopify scores 3 out of 5 in our value for money category. However, you can start all of these plans from just $1 per month for the first three months – which cuts down the costs just a smidge!

Alternatively, if you don’t want to set up a whole online store alongside your portfolio, you can opt for the Shopify Starter plan for $5 per month. This will let you sell across social channels.

While Pixpa’s cheapest plan includes an SSL certificate, 24/7 support, multilingual capabilities, social media integration, and custom forms, it also has its limitations. Users will be restricted to 10 website pages and 200 images.

You’ll need to upgrade to the Creator plan or above to unlock unlimited photos, client galleries for sharing and proofing, ecommerce tools, advanced marketing tools (such as pop-ups), blogging features, and a free domain for the first year.

From here, you can tweak your SEO title and description for your website and pages, toggle search engine indexing, and even review Pixpa’s SEO checklist to make sure you’re following best practices with your online portfolio, such as setting up 301 redirects or optimizing your content for keywords.

And, for an extra helping hand, we found plenty of SEO support in Pixpa Help, the website builder’s knowledge base full of tutorials and guidance.

• Creator – 3GB
• Professional – 25GB
• Advanced – 100GB

If you need additional space, you can add further storage capacity to your plan at any time for an extra cost. To do this, simply navigate to your settings and click “Billing and Subscription” and then “Add Space”. Pixpa will then present you with a range of storage plans for you to choose from.

You can also build a loyal base of customers, fans, and potential clients, with Pixpa’s email subscriptions and newsletters. We had no trouble adding sign-up forms to our website during testing, and we appreciated the range of layouts available in the element library.

In addition to the above, there are also marketing pop-ups available if you’re subscribed to at least the Creator plan, and you can add announcement bars to your pages if you’re on the Professional plan and above.

That being said, Pixpa uses a section-based editor which lacks the creative freedom of Wix’s drag-and-drop editor and Squarespace’s clean grid-style editor. With Pixpa, design elements need to be stacked on top of one another, rather than simply dragging an item to where you want it. This frustrated some of our users in testing who wished for more creative control, especially when building a design-focused portfolio.

• Basic: $7.50 per month
• Creator: $12 per month
• Professional: $18 per month
• Advanced: $24 per month

These prices are for a one-year subscription, which gives you 25% off with its introductory deal. You can also pay monthly (though this is the most expensive route), or save 40% with Pixpa’s two-year deal if you’re happy to commit long-term.

As mentioned already, Pixpa is one of the most affordable options on this list. Pixpa’s cheapest plan is half the price of the leading builders, with Squarespace and Wix both starting from $16 per month, but it’s not quite as cheap as Hostinger’s plan which costs $2.99 per month.

And Pixpa’s affordable price is just as well since the website builder doesn’t offer a free plan to help you settle in. There is a 15-day free trial instead, but if you want to save on plan costs, we’d recommend Wix’s free plan as an alternative.

For example, you can expect basic ecommerce features, the ability to take online bookings, marketing tools, and unlimited storage. While this pales against competitors, you should be pretty comfortable if you’re looking to build a simple portfolio website.

Drawing on the power of AI again, Hostinger also has an AI heat map tool that helps website owners keep track of and predict visitor behavior. Not only will this inform relevant updates to your portfolio, but it’ll also help you target your clients effectively since you know what’s important to them.

However, once you’ve settled into the editor yourself, Hostinger’s customization options are limited and the lack of design elements makes it difficult to put your own stamp on the site. You also can’t swap templates once your website is live – so be sure you’re happy with your choice before publishing!

However, it’s also worth noting that this price is simply an introductory price – the plan’s fee will increase to $11.99 per month after the first year. The good news is even the renewal price is much cheaper than others, especially if you consider that Squarespace and Wix both start at $16 per month.

With all plans – including the free plan – you’ll have unlimited backups, mobile optimization, and weekly email support. But you’ll need to opt for a paid plan if you want to remove ads, have access to a custom domain, and create up to 100 static pages.

• 301 redirects
• Sitemap controls
• Help optimizing SEO rankings
• Open Graph meta tags
• Search support to improve site visibility

These are all valuable tools when promoting a portfolio online – it’s just a shame that you have to pay for them.

• Free: 1GB
• Basic: 50GB
• CMS: 200GB
• Business: 400GB
• Standard: 200GB
• Plus: 400GB
• Advanced: 400GB

The same can be said for your site’s capacity for visitors. Your maximum monthly site visits vary, with the free plan permitting 1,000 per month while the Business plan jumps up to 300,000 per month.

Still, it’s a shame Webflow hasn’t improved its internal functionality, especially when it’s competing against the likes of Wix, which has so many amazing built-in features, including social sharing and Wix Multilingual to support your content around the world.

We have to admit that our website testers didn’t enjoy their experience with Webflow either, ranking it as their least favorite with a customer satisfaction score of 2.3 out of 5.

• Basic: $14 per month
• CMS: $23 per month
• Business: $39
• Standard (Ecommerce): $29
• Plus (Ecommerce): $74
• Advanced (Ecommerce): $212

There’s also a free plan if you aren’t ready to subscribe fully, and an Enterprise plan for those with large-scale businesses. For portfolio creators, we’d recommend the CMS plan out of the six plan options, due to its enhanced storage space, CMS tools (including post scheduling and API access), and search function.

Its starting plan is fairly affordable – with a similar price to GoDaddy – but Webflow doesn’t put much on the table, with weak website features and little in the way of additional tools, such as SEO or marketing. You’re better off spending your money with GoDaddy, for instance, since you’ll get more for your cash!