I Tested the 5 Best Portfolio Websites Builders: Your Best Options for a 2026 Project

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Squarespace is the best portfolio builder for visual artists who require professional, high-end templates that prioritize imagery, while Wix is ideal for business-focused portfolios. Our in-house research team and I have spent more than 300 hours testing 12 of the top platforms, and have hand-picked the five best portfolio website builders.

To help you decide, I’ve organized them based on the work you need to showcase to potential employers or clients.

💡 Key Takeaways

  • Squarespace is our top choice for portfolios because of its stylish professional templates, but it can have slower loading times
  • Wix is a great alternative for business portfolios due to its wide range of marketing and ecommerce features
  • Pixpa has a unique watermarking feature and high-res image uploads which make it perfect for photographers, although it’s the only platform without an AI website builder
  • When choosing a portfolio website builder, consider showcasing, storytelling, and search visibility

After giving this page a complete revamp earlier in the year to reflect our latest round of website builder research and testing, I’ve reviewed the guide to check pricing and features are up-to-date. I’ve also added additional information to help you make the right choice, including a clear specification of Wix’s storage limits and the exact SEO features you should be looking for in a builder.
We decided our list of best website builders for portfolios based on the findings from our most recent round of website builder research. Overall, we collected 300 hours of data and tested each builder on a six-point methodology.

The methodology areas weighted most heavily are the areas prioritized for portfolios: design features (35%), website functionality (20%), and user experience (20%).

Comparing the Best Portfolio Website Builders

With our table below, you can view a quick comparison of the five portfolio website builders we’ve featured:

Swipe right to see more
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Squarespace

Wix

Pixpa

Overall Rating
4.6
Overall Rating
4.6
Overall Rating
3.5
Today's best price
Today's best price
Today's best price

$9

Free plan or free trial

14-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Free plan or free trial

15-day free trial

Portfolio templates

42

Portfolio templates

219

Portfolio templates

125

Storage space

Unlimited

Storage space

2GB – Unlimited

Storage space

3GB – 100GB

AI website builder
AI website builder
AI website builder

How Much Do the Top Portfolio Website Builders Cost?

Free plan or trial Price of best portfolio plan (billed annually) Deals and discounts
Squarespace 14-day free trial $16 per month • 50% off for student portfolios
Wix Free plan $29 per month • 50% off for student portfolios
Pixpa 15-day trial $9 per month • 55% off for student and educator portfolios

1. Squarespace: Best for Art and Design Portfolios

Squarespace is the top choice for portfolios because of its stylish professional templates, particularly for businesses, agencies, or freelancers in art and design fields. It offers an easy way to create a modern portfolio that reflects your unique design philosophy. 

42 of Squarespace’s 190+ templates are designed specifically for portfolios, and they’re organized by industry, such as “Photography,” “Art and Design,” and “Media and Podcasts.”

Squarespace website design interface showcasing "BRANDI ORTIZ" title with theme options and color palettes for customization.
I found all of Squarespace's recommended template colors appealing. They didn't feel bland or outdated. Source: Website Builder Expert

Key Squarespace Portfolio Features

When I constructed a portfolio website with Squarespace, these are the most helpful tools I came across:

  • Squarespace Blueprint AI – You can follow its five-step onboarding process to create a custom template that has a consistent font, color palette, and tone of voice.
  • Unlimited storage on all plans and a video allowance of between 30 minutes and unlimited, depending on your plan.
  • Acuity Scheduling – Secure bookings and appointments from prospective clients (from an extra $16 per month, billed annually).
  • Sell digital downloads – Sell digital copies of the art or photography prints displayed in your portfolio. You could also sell online video courses and PDF guides to share your creative expertise.
A form to create an individual art commission consultation appointment, detailing duration and description options.
From my dashboard, I could create an appointment type through Acuity Scheduling. Source: Website Builder Expert

What’s It Like To Set Up With Squarespace?

I was impressed by Squarespace’s sleek interface when testing out the platform myself. Its drag-and-drop editor was easy to use, letting me add new design elements to my portfolio and arranging them however I wanted to.

I also found it impossible to create an unattractive design, since the builder’s gray grid overlay kept everything in alignment.

A form for submitting information alongside a gallery image of a person in a studio setting. The layout features labeled fields to fill.
I could drag and drop this contact form on my portfolio page in seconds. The grid helped me align it, too. Source: Website Builder Expert

Which Squarespace Plan Is Best for Portfolios?

  • Basic plan: $16 per month (billed annually)

The Basic plan has suitable tools for your portfolio, since it comes with professional templates for creatives, unlimited storage space, 30 minutes of video storage, and Squarespace ecommerce that enables you to sell your products and services, too.

Who Should Use Squarespace?

  • Creatives in art and design who want unique and highly-customizable portfolio templates
  • Businesses, agencies, or freelancers booking appointment and consultations

Who Shouldn’t Use Squarespace?

  • Content-heavy portfolios may experience performance issues, since Squarespace had the slowest loading speed of all the builders we tested

2. Wix: For Business Portfolios

  • 💰 Wix pricing: $17-$159 per month (billed annually)
  • 💻 Read our full Wix review for additional details
  • 🤖 AI portfolio website builder: Yes

Wix is the best choice for business portfolios, since it comes with the widest range of marketing and ecommerce features on the market, enabling you to add additional functionality to your portfolio page.

A grid layout showcasing various creative portfolio templates for photographers, illustrators, videographers, and artists.
I spent a while looking through Wix's huge template list. I could click on the "View" button to see what they'd look like when live. Source: Website Builder Expert

Key Wix Portfolio Features

Once you have the Wix Portfolio app active on your website, you have access to the following features:

  • 219 portfolio templates – Divided into art, music, modeling, photography, illustration, and architecture.
  • AI Portfolio Generator – Automatically organizes your portfolio work into categories and generates titles and descriptions.
  • Project collections – I could arrange my portfolio projects into different groups. This is useful if you’ve worked on multiple projects for one client, or want to showcase your work from different creative mediums.
Dashboard interface for setting up a portfolio with options for various work types including photography and graphic design.
During AI setup for my portfolio, I could specify the types of projects I wanted to feature on my website. Source: Website Builder Expert

What’s It Like To Set Up With Wix?

Wix’s portfolio templates automatically have the free Wix Portfolio app installed, which unlocks access to portfolio building tools. However, this app can be downloaded to any other template from the Wix App Market.

Wix’s portfolio features will also be included if you use Wix’s AI website builder, since the chatbot builds your site based on your needs.

Wix website editor showing the portfolio page setup, with options for portfolio, collection, and project pages in the site menu.
With Wix Portfolio installed, I could access portfolio page settings from the editor. Source: Website Builder Expert

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor allows  you to drag design elements, like contact forms and client testimonials, anywhere on the page. With no grid guidelines, Wix has much more creative control than Squarespace, although the choice can be overwhelming and lead to messy or overcomplicated designs.

A webpage section titled "Our Team" with three team member profiles displayed and options to edit, featuring names and roles.
I could drag this team profile onto my page. It's a handy way to showcase the people behind each project in a business! Source: Website Builder Expert

💡 Other useful Wix tools

Because Wix has the biggest number of website features, your business may need these tools to take your portfolio to another level:
  • Marketing – To promote your work and reach a wider audience, you can use Wix’s email marketing tool, SEO features, and social media integrations.
  • Ecommerce – If you’re interested in a hybrid portfolio with ecommerce, Wix will let you transition your portfolio website into an online store. With Wix, ecommerce plans start from $29 per month (billed annually).
  • Wix AI ToolsWix’s AI tools can assist you as you create your portfolio. You can enhance your portfolio’s images, get advice on your website’s design, or ask the AI business assistant (Astro) for help.

Which Wix Plan Is Best for Portfolios?

  • Core plan: $29 per month (billed annually)

Wix’s Core plan is most suitable for portfolios, since it comes with 50GB storage space, the ability to stream video and music, and basic ecommerce tools if you want to sell your work.

Who Should Use Wix?

  • Small-medium sized businesses that want to show off their latest projects
  • Businesses that need to stretch their portfolio website with additional functionality, like marketing and ecommerce

Who Shouldn’t Use Wix?

  • Creatives likely to change their portfolio design periodically, since Wix doesn’t support template changes on live websites
  • Writers and journalists may struggle to create a neat, simplistic portfolio with Wix’s unstructured editor, and run the risk of overcomplicating the design
  • Creatives on a budget will be limited by the 2GB storage space on Wix’s $17 Light plan, and may be better suited to Squarespace’s cheapest plan, which comes with unlimited storage

3. Pixpa: For Photography Portfolios

  • 💰 Pixpa pricing: $8-$25 per month (billed annually)
  • 🤖 AI portfolio website builder: No

Pixpa is a dedicated portfolio website builder that I recommend for photographers, thanks to its sleek and mobile-responsive templates, high-resolution image support, and ecommerce tools to help you sell your work.

A selection of customizable website templates featuring layouts for photographers, showcasing portfolio and blog options.
Pixpa's portfolio designs felt modern and stylish, making it a great choice for photographers that want to impress potential clients online. Source: Website Builder Expert

Key Pixpa Portfolio Features

Photography websites will benefit from Pixpa’s portfolio features, which include:

  • Watermarking – You can protect your original photos by adding watermarks via your website settings. This tool can help you safeguard your work while still providing website visitors with a clear view of your recent projects.
  • Progressive image loading – Pixpa uses progressive image loading, a loading technique that gradually loads an image on a page, to load content-heavy portfolios more swiftly.
  • Sell images – On all Pixpa plans, you can build an online store and sell your images as prints or downloads.
Website editor with a blurred photo of man in a red jacket and blue hoodie and a sidebar pop-up with an AI text prompt.
When I added an ecommerce gallery to my portfolio, I could also AI generate a text description for it. Source: Website Builder Expert

What’s It Like To Set Up With Pixpa?

Pixpa’s website structure is fixed to the template you choose and only supports replacing images, adding sections, or customizing colors, spacing, and fonts. Pixpa’s customization is very limited, especially compared to the full creative control offered by Wix and Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editors.

A photographer poses with a camera in a dimly lit corridor, showcasing a professional lifestyle and creative identity.
I couldn't move this text from its fixed position, which limited how much I could change my portfolio's design. Source: Website Builder Expert

Which Pixpa Plan Is Best for Portfolios?

  • Creator plan: $15 per month (billed annually)

This plan unlocks the ability to add unlimited pages and images to your portfolio. You can also add watermarks to your images and sell up to 10 products in total.

Who Should Use Pixpa?

  • Photographers who want to create a professional online portfolio
  • Creatives who need to sell their images online in multiple formats

Who Shouldn’t Use Pixpa?

  • Busy businesses wanting a streamlined setup, since Pixpa’s lack of AI builder and native booking tools requires manual, hands-on configuration than competitors
  • Businesses wanting to elevate their portfolio with additional features, such as email marketing or scheduling tools, should use Wix instead

How We Tested the Best Portfolio Website Builders

To determine the best portfolio website builders, we’ve conducted over 300 hours of in-house website builder research. From these findings, we identified six key criteria that reflected what users (like you!) are looking for in a portfolio builder. They were also weighted based on their importance:

  1. Design features 35% – The quality of portfolio templates and customization options
  2. Website functionality 20% – The features you can add to your portfolio, like bookings or online stores
  3. User experience 20% – How easy the builder is to set up with
  4. Help and support 10% – How easy it is to find help through support lines or resources
  5. Pricing 10% – If the portfolio builder is good value for money
  6. Reputation 5% – The builder’s reputation among existing users online

Alongside this in-house research, I also tested each website builder myself by creating my own portfolios with them. I’ve featured my firsthand experiences throughout this article to help you make a more informed choice.

How Do I Choose the Right Portfolio Builder for My Needs?

A good portfolio website builder should have adequate loading times, storage space, display and customization options, and SEO and marketing tools to help you get found.

This can be broken down into three essential goals that every portfolio should accomplish:

  1. Showcasing – Whether you’re showcasing images, videos, or project case studies, your portfolio should present your work in an engaging and professional manner. For this requirement, look for a platform with plenty of storage, fast content load times, and different gallery options.
  2. Storytelling – Can you tell a convincing story through your portfolio’s presentation? Whether you want to show your achievements or your creative evolution as an artist, seek out an easy-to-use editor and versatile design options. This will allow you to present yourself in the best way possible.
  3. Searchability – Can potential clients find your portfolio online? With integrated marketing tools, like social media sharing and email marketing, your portfolio could be found by the right person at the right time, perhaps leading to opportunities you never saw coming.

Which Portfolio Website Builder Should You Choose?

Squarespace is the best portfolio website builder overall, due to its high-quality templates, versatile customization options, and intuitive editor, you can create a striking portfolio that presents your body of work in the best light possible.

That said, the other portfolio builders I’ve covered might be a more suitable fit depending on your needs – so let’s recap:

  • Wix is best for business portfolios. Its extensive features make it easy to add additional functionality to your website, be it bookings or an online store, based on your business needs.
  • Pixpa’s sleek templates are ideal for photography portfolios. There’s also an integrated selling feature so browsers can purchase image prints and downloads directly from your portfolio.

FAQs

Pixpa is our recommended choice if you’re looking to build a photography portfolio. While Squarespace has great design options and a user-friendly editor, Pixpa’s dedicated photography tools, such as client proofing and watermarking, make it a great option for photographers wanting to showcase their work online.
Squarespace’s editor and interface are easier to use, plus the high-quality design options are ideal for creative portfolios. Squarespace provides a structured grid system, so you can easily snap elements and sections into place to ensure your portfolio looks professional and clean.

While Wix’s drag-and-drop editor gives you total creative control over how your portfolio looks, this can be overwhelming to navigate, especially if you’re a beginner to building websites.

If you haven’t optimized your images, you’re at risk of slowing down your portfolio’s loading speed. This can be especially critical on design-heavy sites, such as art or photography portfolios. Squarespace will automatically compress your images, without losing quality, but it still performed slowly in our speed tests. Pixpa, on the other hand, uses progressive image loading – this is useful for sites with high-resolution images, since it keeps your site running smoothly.
Squarespace is the best portfolio website builder for fine artists and illustrators, thanks to its template options, creative designs, and ability to sell digital downloads. With Squarespace, there are 33 dedicated “Art & Design” templates to choose from, or you can design your own template with the Blueprint AI Builder.
While you can move the content of your portfolio to another platform, you’ll be required to switch to your new provider’s supported templates, meaning it’s hard to make an exact replica. Squarespace has migration tools in its dashboard to streamline content transfers, whereas Wix and Pixpa require users to manually upload portfolio content to the platform by scratch.
Written by:
Holly Choules is a Writer at Website Builder Expert with a background in researching and crafting engaging content for digital platforms. In previous roles, she has demonstrated her wordsmith skills by writing for public facing brands in a range of industries. After gaining hands-on experience using leading website builders, like Wix and WordPress, she is now keen to share her findings through informative, easy-to-follow articles that help small business owners get online and grow their presence. Since joining the team in 2024 and transitioning into the tech sphere, Holly is passionate about applying her three years of content writing experience and upholding Website Builder Expert’s position as an authoritative source on website builders, ecommerce, and digital marketing.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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