Best Website Builder for Artists – Top 7 Options for Beautiful Portfolio Sites
Building a website is a great way to show off your work, sell your products, and attract clients and future opportunities. Finding the right website builder, on the other hand, can be a daunting task.
With so many website builders out there, we rounded up the seven best website builders for artists. These sites all meet specific criteria geared toward artists, including creative control and affordable pricing. The right website builder for you is just around the corner!
Best Website Builders for Artists
- Wix – Best all-around.
- Webflow – Easiest customization.
- Pixpa – Most adaptable to artists.
- Format – Best features for creatives.
- WordPress – Best integration.
- Strikingly – Most flexible pricing.
- Duda – Fastest.
What is the Best Website Builder for Artists?
Wix is a great all-around website builder with flexible options, while Webflow, Pixpa, and Format are great contenders for artists with minor setbacks. Our other picks—WordPress, Strikingly, and Duda—work best for artists with limited website building experience looking for easy-to-use website builders.
Artist Website Builder Comparison
| Free Plan/Trial? | Starting Plan (/month) | Templates | App | 24/7 Support | |
| Wix | Free plan | $13 | 500+ | Y | Y |
| Webflow | Free to build website | $12 | 100+ | Y | N |
| Pixpa | 15-day free trial | $6 | ~50 | Y | Y |
| Format | 14-day free trial | $7 | ~60 | Y | Y |
| WordPress | Free plan | $4 | 300+ | Y | N |
| Strikingly | Free plan; 14-day free trial | $8 | ~30 | Y | Y |
| Duda | Free plan; 14-day free trial | $14 | 90+ | Y | Y |
#1 – Wix: Best All-Around Website Builder for Artists
Wix is a strong contender for website builder overall, but its tools for creative professionals make it one of the best website builders for artists. With several levels of customization and easy-to-use interface, Wix has all the tools for creating a portfolio or shop for your art.
| Wix Pros | Wix Cons |
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Ease of Use
The ease of use of Wix depends on your skill level with website development. Overall, it is relatively straightforward, with a lot of room for creativity and customization. The Wix ADI feature is another way to get started with designing. This tool prompts you to answer questions about your intended website, and it generates a site for you.
Design Flexibility
Wix is very flexible in its design options. Wix Editor hosts 500 templates to customize or the opportunity to start from scratch, while Corvid by Wix is suited for open development for artists who can code. The creative tab on the templates page further breaks down different art forms with templates suited to each discipline.
Website Features
Wix’s templates include specific options for photography and video. Still, features like multiple fonts, scrolling options, galleries, and more make Wix websites suitable for any kind of art form you want to display on your website.
Help and Support
The support page on Wix delineates dozens of topics related to creating your website from top to bottom. Higher-cost plan holders also have access to priority support.
Value for Money
For websites, Wix offers a free plan and four paid plans starting at $13 (not including eCommerce).
- Combo: $13/month
- Unlimited: $17/month
- Pro: $22/month
- VIP: $39/month
#2 – Webflow: Best for Customization Options
Webflow is ideal for graphic designers and animators with its array of customized animations and visual effects.
| Webflow Pros | Webflow Cons |
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Ease of Use
With a focus on visuals, Webflow’s designer is easy to use and opens the door for a lot of customization. Customization tools include creating unique symbols and other reusable elements on the website, responsive layouts, and specific fonts. The editor is also intuitive, allowing you to make edits on the page without plugins.
Design Flexibility
There are over 100 templates on Webflow, including subsections for designers, photographers, and general portfolios. Some templates are free of cost, but others reach prices up to $79.
Website Features
Webflow incorporates many design features well-suited to artists, particularly with its animation properties. Customization is also possible with a lot of CSS classes and customizable templates that work across pages.
While you can easily share art to your social media pages, integration is a bit limited on Webflow, with MailChimp, Google Analytics, and only a few other options.
Help and Support
Webflow has a support page listing an email address and community forum but prioritizes the queries of users with Pro, Team, or Enterprise plans. The customer service page includes FAQs regarding your account, design elements, etc.
Value for Money
Using Webflow is free through the creative process, but publishing your website requires the purchase of a plan. There are site plans and account plans, with site plans covering the publishing of your website and account choices used to start creating the website.
Website (without eCommerce)
- Basic: $12/month
- CMS: $16/month
- Business: $36/month
- Enterprise: Contact Webflow
Account (individual)
- Starter: Free
- Lite: $16/month
- Pro: $35/month
Unlike most website builders, Webflow does not have a free trial period. Instead, you can build your website for free with a starter plan that does not go live online.
#3 – Pixpa: Most Creativity-Oriented Website Builder
Pixpa specifically gears itself towards artists and photographers, with features suited to advertising your work and selling it online with client galleries.
| Pixpa Pros | Pixpa Cons |
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Ease of Use
The Pixpa website is easy to navigate, and like many other website builders on this list incorporates a drag-and-drop tool to customize your website.
Design Flexibility
You can browse templates by art discipline with a handful of clean, simple themes for each one and around fifty themes total. You can also change your website theme at any time and save specific features or layouts for future use.
Website Features
Pixpa’s features list is extensive, allowing a breadth of customization from borders and margins to content-specific customization, including image display options.
When it comes to sharing your website on social media, Pixpa enables the integration of several social media pages and does not advertise on your website.
Help and Support
The Pixpa website has an entire help page with subsections dedicated to FAQs, design features, marketing tools, and billing. A pop-up message icon in the lower right corner also provides live chatting within a few minutes of asking a question.
Value for Money
Pixpa offers a free 15-day trial for any plan but advertises paid plans specific to photographers, creators, and client galleries. The cheapest plan across the board is $6/month billed annually and is somewhat limited in its options. However, 24/7 support is available across plan options.
Photographer
- Base: $6/month
- Pro: $9/month
- Biz: $15/month
- Ultimate: $25/month
Creator
- Start: $6/month
- Grow: $9/month
- Plus: $15/month
Client Galleries
- Essentials: $6/month
- Standard: $12/month
- Premium: $21/month
- Unlimited: $36/month
#4 – Format: Best for Sharing Visuals
Format is another website builder particularly useful for photographers. With a focus on images and visuals in general, this website builder is ideal for photographers, but a bit limiting for artists in other fields in the art world.
| Format Pros | Format Cons |
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Ease of Use
Format themes are easy to navigate with a simple interface, but the aesthetically-pleasing templates do not offer a lot of options. A sleek design makes the pages easy to navigate, but the location of some buttons is a bit odd at times.
Design Flexibility
Designed with mobile responsiveness, all of Format's themes should load correctly on your phone or tablet. While all the templates are clean and visually-appealing, there is not a lot of customization that goes outside the mold.
Website Features
Format offers dozens of templates with a sleek appearance ideal for displaying photos. The Online Portfolio page also includes FAQs about how to structure and build your portfolio before orienting you to the website building home page.
Help and Support
Format offers 24/7 support and an FAQ section on its website. The resources section includes blog posts with tips and tricks for growing your photography business and developing your skills, but there is no dedicated help page on the website.
Value for Money
Like most other website builders, Format offers a 14-day free trial period. Afterward, there is a $7/month basic plan aimed at beginners and three other plans with additional features.
- Pro: $12/month billed annually
- Pro Plus: $18/month billed annually
- Unlimited: $25/month billed annually
#5 – WordPress: Most Versatile Site Builder
WordPress is one of the most popular website builders globally, with 37% of the web relying on WordPress sites. While this site builder offers a lot of customization to its themes, a wide range of plugins, the somewhat awkward user experience make it a more challenging choice for artists.
| WordPress Pros | WordPress Cons |
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Ease of Use
Of all the website builders, WordPress is by far the most difficult to use. Going back to edit content is time-consuming and complicated, and organizing multiple pages is challenging. However, embedding content is relatively simple, along with making minor edits to your code.
Design Flexibility
WordPress themes allow some room for customization, mainly if you know how to code. Customizing your site becomes more difficult without coding, but there are dozens of themes geared toward portfolios that artists can adapt for their needs.
Website Features
WordPress supports many plugins, and they are great for integrating social media feeds and other media. The downside is that a surplus of plugins can clutter up your dashboard and make it difficult to keep track of all your features.
Help and Support
The amount of support you receive increases with the amount of money spent on your website plan. Business and eCommerce plan holders have access to 24/7 priority live chat, while personal and premium plan holders can utilize email and basic live chat. Free users can check out the support page to find answers to their questions.
Value for Money
WordPress offers a handful of plans, including a free option. The higher the price of the plan, the more significant number of features and storage provided.
- Free
- Personal: $4/month
- Premium: $8/month
- Business: $25/month
- eCommerce: $45/month
#6 – Strikingly: Best Selection of Plans
For artists with limited website building experience, Strikingly is a great option to gain familiarity with the process at an affordable price.
| Strikingly Pros | Strikingly Cons |
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Ease of Use
Working in Strikingly is fairly simple, partially due to the lack of flexibility in customization. However, you can create a simple website and launch it within minutes with this website builder.
Design Flexibility
Of all its templates, the portfolio templates on Strikingly work best for displaying art compared to other categories. Since the templates on Strikingly are majority one-page, expanding your website to a portfolio with multiple pages is not feasible.
Website Features
Strikingly's features are somewhat limited compared to other website builders, with most changes related to color and some layout options. Customization is not the strong suit of this website builder.
One helpful feature is that the templates are all responsive on mobile devices.
Help and Support
Strikingly has a 24/7 live chat feature, ideal for problem-solving at any point in the website-building process.
You’ll find a FAQ on the pricing plans page, and the support page breaks down multiple topics related to website-building, including questions about SEO, domains, templates, and privacy.
Value for Money
Like most other website builders, Strikingly offers a 14-day free trial. However, Strikingly has the most extensive payment options of all the website builders. There is a free monthly option, along with a limited plan for $12/month and pro plan for $20/month. Several variations on paid plans exist depending on the number of years you select.
Yearly
- Limited: $8/month charged yearly
- Pro: $16/month charged yearly
- VIP: $49/month charged yearly
2 Years
- Limited: $7/month billed every two years
- Pro: $14/month billed every two years
- VIP: $43/month billed every two years
3 Years
- Free
- Pro: $12/month charged every three years
- VIP: $39/month charged every three years
5 Years
- Free
- Pro: $11.20/month billed every five years
- VIP: $34.40/month billed every five years
#7 – Duda: Fastest Site Builder for Artists
While not the most artistic upon first appearance, Duda is a simple, straightforward option for building a website. With a good selection of core features, you can quickly create a website and tweak it as needed to showcase your work.
| Duda Pros | Duda Cons |
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Ease of Use
Operating on Duda is relatively straightforward, with templates that get straight to the point and are relatively no-frill. A bonus is that each template lets you view the template in different aspect ratios on a phone or tablet for a clear understanding of how the content will appear on other devices.
Design Flexibility
While Duda is easy to use, there is some difficulty in customizing a website that stands out in terms of design and aesthetics.
All the templates are mobile-responsive, so there is no need to fret over displaying your site correctly on mobile devices. You can add your own HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but images and other design metrics are more challenging to adapt.
Website Features
Duda incorporates widgets along with a widget builder for you to develop your own customized elements. You can also embed videos, audio, and calendars and link to social media pages.
Help and Support
Duda has a pop-up icon on every page to contact and chat with support. It also has a thorough support page relating to various parts of the website-building process like customizing code and editing content.
Support also varies depending on your plan, with basic support relegated to email and other plans receiving phone and chat.
Value for Money
After a 14-day free trial, Duda has three paid plans and add-ons for eCommerce. The basic plan begins at $14, which is a bit steep for lack of customization.
- Basic: $14/month
- Team: $14.50/month (part of a 50% special)
- Agency: $29.50/month (part of a 50% special)
How to Choose a Website Builder for Artists
Let’s take a closer look at the features we considered when evaluating each website builder.
Ease of Use
Ease of use ensures that putting the website together is a streamlined and cohesive process for people of all skill levels. Website builders with too many options are overwhelming for newcomers, while those with too few options limit the creative spirit of more experienced users or those involved in the arts.
Templates and Design
For artists, design freedom and flexible, creative options are critical for making a website that reflects your style and showcases your work. Website builders with limited options or rigid layouts stifle creativity and make it difficult to showcase your unique style.
Apps and Plugins
Plugins and apps expand the ways you share and display content on your website, but they can be tough to navigate and clutter up your pages. Finding a balance between the native features of your website builder and additional apps and plugins will help you make your dream portfolio come to life.
Domain Name
Domain names help your website stand out from others and help with branding. Some website builders allow you to import your domain name while others require you to buy one through them. Either way, you will likely have to pay to renew that domain every year, so make sure it is a name you like.
Marketing Tools
Marketing tools, like the integration of other sites and social media feed, are extremely helpful in spreading your work to more viewers and generating sales to new customers. Website builders that possess these tools are useful for delivering your art to fresh eyes and potential buyers.
SEO
Search engine optimization or SEO helps your website stand out from competitors on Google and other search engines. Website builders that include SEO tools typically help you with keywords, URLs, meta descriptions, and more.
Value for Money
Subscriptions vary significantly in price across website builders, and some sites that charge extra for themes and additional features can increase the monthly cost of having a website for your art.
Help and Support
Designing a website requires time and effort, and creating one on a website builder with limited support only prolongs the process. Website builders with live chats or reliable customer service alleviate the stress of website building and can help you get your website online faster.
FAQs
Here are a few questions to consider before choosing a website builder for your portfolio.
What Is the Cheapest Website Builder for Artists?
WordPress is the only website builder on this list that offers a free option. Excluding this option, Pixpa’s cheapest option is $6/month, and Format’s least expensive option is $7/month.
What Is the Easiest Website Builder for Artists?
Strikingly and Duda provide the most straightforward interfaces for beginners but with limited customization. For more creative freedom, Wix has a lot of customization but an easy-to-use layout.
How Long Will it Take to Build my Art Website?
You can launch a site within a few minutes with site builders like Duda or Strikingly. However, the more customization you do, the longer it will take to perfect your website.
Which Website Builder for Artists Is the Most Versatile?
While Pixpa and Format market themselves primarily toward photographers, they provide a lot of room to adapt templates to your art form. Wix has hundreds of customizable themes and it should be easy to find one you like.
Which Website Builder for Artists Gives me the Most Creative Freedom?
Webflow’s animations and customizable elements give artists, especially animators and graphic designers, immense creative freedom. Format also gives photographers room to showcase images at a high resolution with different gallery and display methods.
