5 Best Website Builders for Artists [2024] Free & Paid Options 

Last updated: December 10, 2023

For artists and those starting out in the business, having a website is essential to getting your name out there and establishing sustainable income. But building a website from scratch can be difficult and time-consuming. That’s why many artists are turning to website builders to create their own professional websites. Website builders are easy-to-use, cost-effective, and offer many features that can help you promote and sell artwork on a website that is both visually appealing and easy to build.

In this article, we will take a look at the five best website builders for artists and provide some tips to help you make the most of your artist website. We’ll also consider features that are relevant to artists such as storage space and customizability of the website to showcase your artwork.

5 Best Website Builders for Artists in 2024

• Payhip
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Adobe Portfolio
• Pixpa

1. Payhip – Best Website Builder Overall

Payhip is an eCommerce platform that allows you to build powerful websites with built-in eCommerce features for free.

Payhip’s simple drag and drop website builder is beginner friendly and fully customizable for creating websites that can beautifully showcase your online portfolio. Your professional website can be created without any technical skills or design skills.

And..here comes the internet’s best-kept secret: If you’re looking to create a static online portfolio website (i.e. you won’t be selling anything from your website), then creating your website on Payhip is 100% free – no strings attached.

Payhip only charges a 5% fee when you receive orders or transactions on your website. Even if you decide to publish a bunch of product listings later on, you still won’t be paying anything until you actually receive orders on your website. Payhip has maintained this pricing for years, and you can have a peace of mind that this pricing isn’t going anywhere.

Payhip is the best website builder for artists overall in terms of affordability and value.

Pricing

Payhip has a generous forever-free plan that gives you permanent access to their entire platform’s features for free! You have a choice between these pricing plans:

• Free-forever: No monthly fees + 5% fees per sale
• Plus: $29 per month fees + 2% fees per sale
• Pro: $99 per month fees (no other fees per sale)

Regardless of which pricing plan you choose, you will get the same unlimited access to Payhip’s amazing features.

Pros of Payhip

• Very generous forever free plan. Perfect for artists who want to own a beautiful website without breaking the bank because Payhip is the most affordable website builder for artists that comes with very powerful features
• Unlimited storage space – you can upload tons of heavy videos and images without worrying about space
• Intuitive website builder with drag and drop editor
• Ability to create responsive websites that look beautiful on desktop and mobile devices
• Payhip’s website builder allows you to create stunning online art portfolio
• Free website themes
• Free fully hosted website domain (you can also connect custom domains if you’d like to)
• Features for selling online from your own website. Payhip provides eCommerce tools for you to sell art online and/or various other products e.g. digital downloads (e.g. digital art, design assets), online courses and art tutorials, coaching services or custom art commission sessions, memberships, and physical products
• Integration with Paypal and Stripe so you can get paid instantly when orders come in
• Powerful marketing tools like affiliate marketing, referral system,  upselling, cross-selling, coupon codes, email marketing, and more
• Blogging tools so you can publish art content to increase your chances of getting organic traffic from search engines

Cons of Payhip

• No multi-account functionalities. You’ll have one website or storefront per email
• Payhip’s features are more geared toward selling digital products. If you’re selling artwork in a physical form, bear in mind that there is no automatic shipping label integration on Payhip (albeit you can still comfortably sell physical products using Payhip)

2. Wix 

Wix is another popular option for artists – it’s easy to use and allows you to create stunning galleries to showcase your artwork.

Pricing:

Wix Website Paid Plans (no eCommerce functionalities):

• Combo: $16/month
• Unlimited: $27/month
• Pro: $27/month
• VIP: $45/month

Business and eCommerce Paid Plans (best for eCommerce stores):

• Business Basic: $27/month
• Business Unlimited: $32/month
• Business VIP: $59/month

Pros of Wix

• Wix is known for its intuitive website builder with powerful drag and drop editor. This allows you to create beautiful customizable websites
• Wix has hundreds of free website templates that you can choose from and customize accordingly

Cons of Wix

• Expensive pricing. While Wix’s website builder is quite powerful and customizable, their pricing plans might not be too friendly for your pockets, especially if you’re planning to sell anything from your website as you will need at least the Business Basic plan that starts at $27/month
• Lack of features on the free plan. If you’re looking to save some money, you can use Wix’s free plan to build a static website (i.e. you can’t sell anything from it). However, bear in mind that your website will be plastered in Wix ads and you won’t be able to connect to a custom domain. This will make your website look quite unprofessional – which might defeat the reason why you’re creating an artist website in the first place

3. Squarespace

Squarespace is popular with artists because it focuses on design and offers a wide selection of templates and tools to help you create a professional-looking website and showcase your art online.

Pricing

The lowest plan on Squarespace starts at $23/month with the Personal Plan. However, the Personal Plan does not offer eCommerce features  i.e. you won’t be able to sell anything from your website

Beyond that Squarespace provides the Business plan at $33/month, the Basic Commerce plan at $36/month, and the Advanced Commerce plan at $65/month where you can unlock all sorts of features. All of these plans include eCommerce functionalities to create an online store.

If you’re planning to use Squarespace to sell anything from your website, be aware that Squarespace’s Business Plan has an additional 3% fee per sale on top of the monthly cost.

Squarespace has a free version that you can try out the platform for 14 days before committing to any paid plans.

Pros of Squarespace

• Free website templates (and a lot of them are meant for artists and designers)
• Unlimited storage space – great for artists who need to showcase heavy images and videos
• Blogging tools and SEO tools. You can adjust most of the key search engine optimization elements such as headings, meta descriptions, page title tags, and more

Cons of Squarespace

• No free plans. If you’re looking to save some money for your artist website, Squarespace isn’t the platform for you
• The interface on Squarespace website builder might not be as intuitive as other website builders with better drag and drop editor

4. Adobe Portfolio

Adobe Portfolio is one of the best portfolio website builders that allows you to quickly build a personalized professional website to showcase your creative work or online portfolio.

Pricing

Adobe Portfolio’s pricing is quite unique as you’ll also get access to some artist tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom. Their pricing plans are as follows:

• Creative Cloud Photography: US$9.99/month. You’ll also get access to Photoshop and Lightroom
• Creative Cloud All Apps: US$54.99/month. You’ll also get the entire collection of Adobe creative apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign

Pros of Adobe Portfolio

• Great for artists who are already using tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom as you can bundle your costs with your Adobe Portfolio website. While it doesn’t provide free plans, you can technically get it for free if you’re already subscribed to Creative Cloud All Apps
• Seamless connectivity with Adobe applications such as Lightroom
• Adobe Portfolio is known for its ability to showcase artists’ artwork gallery. The platform can automatically resize images for optimal viewing

Cons of Adobe Portfolio

• Severely lacking in terms of eCommerce functionalities. Given that Adobe Portfolio isn’t an eCommerce-focused platform, your ability to create your own online store or establish income streams from your website is little to non-existent. If you’re planning to sell anything from your website, Adobe Portfolio is not the platform for you
• Website builder functionality is limited, and you might not be able to create a website that fully matches your brand aesthetics

5. Pixpa

Pricing

• Basic: $6/month with limited content and website gallery images
• Creator: $12/month with limited content and website gallery images
• Professional: $18/month
• Advanced: $25/month

Pixpa provides a 15-day trial so you can try the platform before committing to one of their paid plans.

Pros of Pixpa

• While it isn’t the most affordable platform, Pixpa’s pricing is still way more affordable than other platforms like Wix and Squarespace
• Pixpa’s features seem to be geared towards artist photographers, so if you’re not, this might not be the platform for you

Cons of Pixpa

• No free plan
• Limited storage space
• Limited design customization for your website. Ability to customize your website fonts is only available with the professional plan and above. This seems to be a basic website customization that should be available for free
• Limited eCommerce functionality for online store. Pixpa imposes limits on the number of product listings you can upload per pricing plan. Even their highest pricing plan only provides up to 1000 listings. If you’re planning to sell anything from your website, Pixpa is not the best option for you

How to Choose the Best Artist Website Builder for You

Now that you’ve seen various options for website builders to showcase your artist portfolio and establish your income streams as an artist, here are several important things to consider when choosing the best website builder for artists:

• Little-to-no upfront costs (generous free plan). Many website builders offer free plans, but these may not include all the features you need. Additionally, some website builders may require a monthly subscription fee, so it is important to compare the cost of different website builders to find the one that best fits your budget
• Customization options with intuitive drag and drop editor. Make sure the website builder you choose has easy-to-use tools for building a website and customizing it according to your needs
• Free web hosting free domain. Website builders like Payhip and Wix provide free domains so you don’t have to spend extra budget on purchasing domains for your website (albeit the format of your domain is typically payhip.com/[yourname] or www.[yourname].wixsite.com – this is still sufficient when you’re just starting out)
• Large storage or unlimited storage so you can upload heavy images and videos for your online portfolio without having to worry about space
• Ability to accept online payments so you can sell your artwork or accept art commissions straight from your website (eCommerce functionality)
• Ability to establish various income streams as an artist e.g. ability to sell online courses or art tutorials, ability to create members-only content for your art fans, etc

Tips for Making the Most of Your Artist Website

Once you’ve chosen the best website builder for your art business, there are several ways to make sure it stands out from the crowd.

• Make sure your website is easy to navigate – use clear menus and labels so visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for
• Use high-quality images to showcase your artwork – this will help draw visitors in and give them an idea of what they can expect from you
• Consider adding an online store so people can purchase your artwork directly from your website
• Include contact information on your website so visitors can easily get in touch with you. Be sure to add information about yourself and your work on your website. This can be done through a biography page or an About Me section
• Use social media to promote your website – this will help increase traffic and potential sales. Make sure to include social media links on your website so that viewers can easily follow you on their favorite platforms
• Make sure to keep your website up to date with fresh content. This will help keep visitors engaged and coming back for more. You can also use your website to showcase any upcoming events or exhibitions you may have
• Consider adding a blog to your website to share your thoughts and ideas with your audience

Frequently Asked Questions about The Best website Builders for Artists

Do I need to know how to code in order to use a website builder?

No, you do not need to know how to code in order to use a website builder. Most website builders are user-friendly and provide easy-to-use tools for customizing your artist website. You don’t need a web designer to build your own website.

Can I add an online store to my artist website?

Yes, many of the best website builders for artists such as Payhip offer the ability to add an online store or accept payments. This will allow people to purchase your artwork or any other products and services that you offer directly from your artist website.

Are there any free website builders for artists?

Yes, there are several free website builders for artists. Payhip offers a forever-free plan, and you’ll only be charged when you make a sale. You won’t be paying anything if you’re only using the website builder to showcase your online portfolio. Wix and Weebly also offer free plans (with limited features) for creating an artist website.

Final Thoughts – Finding The Best Website Builders for Artists

Creating a website for your art business is an essential step in reaching a wider audience and showcasing your work. There are many website builders available, but the key is to find one that fits your specific needs as an artist. Whether it’s an easy-to-use interface, customizable templates, or built-in e-commerce features, take the time to research and compare these best website builders for artists before making a final decision.

Have you used any of the website builders mentioned above? We would love to hear your thoughts on these website builders in the comments below! You might also be interested in learning how to sell digital art online through our comprehensive guide.

And if you’re ready to create a beautiful artist website of your own, sign up for a free account on Payhip— it takes less than 5 minutes to get set up.