We rank vendors based on rigorous testing and research, but also take into account your feedback and our commercial agreements with providers. This page contains affiliate links. Advertising Disclosure
Not every website builder can give you what you need to build a high-quality, stylish photography website that stands out in an exclusively visual industry.
You’re looking for a builder that offers beautiful templates and gallery layouts and allows you to upload hi-res photos, but there’s more to it. Your website builder should also provide SEO and marketing tools to help potential clients find you online.
Choosing the wrong website builder can mean wasting time and money on a website that doesn’t suit your aesthetic. But if you choose right, you can build a fully functioning site within hours to display your photos in the best light – and do it for free.
I tested all the major website builders on the market to see which ones provide exactly that. Wix has my favorite free planand gives you the most design freedom, but there were some other good ones as well.
If you’re ready to step up your game and move to the professional photographers league, you might have to invest a few bucks a month to get a personalized domain name and remove ads – no matter which builder you choose to use.
What We Look For in the Best Website Builders for Photographers
I tested dozens of website builders, but only ten made it to this list. Here’s what instructed my selection process:
Clean, professional, and attractive design. A clean, well-designed layout is crucial for photographers because it highlights your images without distractions. Every builder on this list prioritizes showcasing your work with attractive, minimalist templates.
Personalization. Because your website should be a reflection of you and your business, all the builders on my list let you customize templates, layouts, colors, and fonts for 100% creative freedom.
Bulk image uploader. Uploading large portfolios one photo at a time can be tedious. That’s why I selected builders that allow you to upload multiple images at once, saving time and effort.
Ease of use. Drag-and-drop tools and pre-designed themes make these builders accessible, even if you have no technical experience. You can focus on creating your portfolio instead of learning to code.
Mobile responsiveness. With so many people browsing on smartphones, it’s essential that your website and images display beautifully on all devices. Every builder I recommend ensures a seamless mobile experience.
Wix photography templates come with all the essential features built-in
Wix is my favorite photography website builder for many reasons, but mainly because it really lets you create the exact site you have in mind. The free plan gives you everything you need to create a fully functional, high-quality website, including 35+ professionally designed photography website templates to choose from.
The clean, minimalist template designs have lots of white space so that your images can do the talking. Any template can be fully customized, and it’s easy to use the drag-and-drop editor to change colors and fonts, adjust the layout, and much more. You can create a website that really reflects your personal style – and do it for free.
If you shoot video as well as still images, you’ll appreciate how Wix lets you create multimedia and password-protected client galleries, which is ideal for photographers who cater to weddings and other events. Another great thing about Wix is the App Market, where you can choose from 800+ apps (many free) to add features and functionality to your website. You’ll find helpful marketing tools, SEO solutions, online photo editing apps, and tons of other cool features.
Just keep in mind that once you choose a template and start editing, you won’t be able to switch to a different template without redesigning your site from scratch.
Beautiful, full-screen gallery pages. The most effective way to showcase your best work, grab visitors’ attention, and keep them scrolling is with well-designed gallery pages. Wix gives you full creative control over gallery layouts and effects.
Excellent image quality. Wix doesn’t wash out colors like some other platforms do, and will automatically optimize your images for quality and load time. It also offers no-frills image editing tools to sharpen and enhance your photos for the web.
Eye-catching visual effects. Add advanced design features to your website like scroll effects, animations, and video backgrounds to give it a premium look and feel.
Built-in contact and booking pages. Most templates come with these pages and the Wix Bookings app already built in. This makes it easy to manage your appointments, calendar, and clients, and just as easy for visitors to contact you about your photography services.
SITE123’s photography templates are simple but effectiveSITE123 makes creating your photography website a hassle-free process – in fact, you can have your website online in a matter of minutes. If you’re a beginner, you’ll really appreciate SITE123’s tutorials that walk you through the process of building your website. And if you get stuck, the customer support team is available 24/7 to help get everything running smoothly again.
There are 10+ free photography website templates to choose from – all of them mobile-responsive. You can use these templates to build a single-page layout (all the content displayed on one page) or multi-page website and switch between the two – even after you publish.
SITE123 supports e-commerce features, so if you want to sell your photos rather than just display them, you can add an online store to your website by upgrading to a paid plan. If you choose to sell your images as digital files, you can upload the files and have these automatically sent to your customers’ email addresses when they complete checkout.
One thing to consider is that SITE123’s two entry-level paid plans limit storage to 10GB – 30GB and bandwidth to 5GB – 15GB. If you intend to upload lots of photos to your site or expect to attract lots of visitors per month, you may be better off choosing Squarespace, which gives you unlimited bandwidth and photo storage, even on its cheapest plan.
Eight gallery layouts. You’re not limited when it comes to displaying your photographs, as SITE123 gives you multiple gallery options, including a rounded gallery grid that really breaks from the “ordinary” square grid layouts you commonly find in website builders.
Full-size image display. Whenever a visitor clicks on any of your portfolio images, our system will open it in a full-screen format. This feature enables your visitors to truly appreciate the details and quality of your photographs. Please note that this full-screen display is applicable to all gallery types except for the carousel.
Bulk image upload. SITE123 supports bulk uploading for your images, so you can upload your whole portfolio in one go and then organize and add titles and descriptions later.
Custom image categories. Keep your portfolio neatly organized by creating custom categories for your images. You can create a gallery page for each category so your visitors can easily find the type of image they’re looking for.
Webador offers clean and professional templates
Webador is perfect if you want a clean and straightforward aesthetic. While it only offers two photography-specific templates, its 50+ mobile-friendly designs are versatile enough to customize for your brand. I found it refreshingly simple to tweak fonts, sizes, and colors to create a site that matches my style. Although it’s not as intricate as other builders like Wix, sometimes less is more, especially when you want your photos to take center stage.
During my tests, adding elements like photo albums and slideshows was smooth and intuitive, and embedding videos, files, and social media buttons was seamless. I found the slideshow option especially useful for adding a professional touch to portfolios. These features let you showcase your work creatively while connecting clients to your social platforms.
Webador’s free plan gets you started quickly but has limitations. Ads stay on your site unless you upgrade, and e-commerce features aren’t available with the cheapest plan. However, the second-tier plan is surprisingly affordable and free for the first six months – enough time to determine if Webador fits your business.
Simplified SEO for visibility. Webador’s SEO tools make it easy to add titles, descriptions, and images for every page or blog post. There’s also an option to enable indexing in Google search, which helps people find your work.
Blogging for connection. If you’re a photographer who likes to share stories behind your shoots, Webador’s blog feature is handy. It lets you add and edit posts or reorganize them in a snap.
Client interaction widgets. Webador’s star rating system is an interesting way to gather feedback on specific photography services. You can also add comment sections anywhere on your site and embed a map of your studio’s location if you want people to drop by.
Custom forms. The form builder is solid even on the free plan. You can customize the confirmation message, add Captcha to avoid spam, and give your clients the option to receive a copy of their submission.
Squarespace templates keep text to a minimum – the focus is on your workFor a website with a high-end look and feel, Squarespace is a great choice, especially for creatives. There are over 25 visually stunning photography templates designed to present your work at its best.
Templates come with multiple gallery options, including slideshow, carousel, grid, and stacked. You can set transition timing for image carousels and regulate the speed of fade-in and slide-in animations. All these features can create a more engaging experience for visitors and can prompt them to contact you or buy a print.
In addition to great gallery features, Squarespace templates also have essential pages and sections built in. You can share your photography services, your creative approach, and post client testimonials. Despite its merits, Squarespace isn’t free. It’s actually on the pricier side, but it does come with a 14-day free trial where you can explore, build, and edit your site as much as you want.
Features
Pre-designed starter layouts. Make your job quicker and easier by choosing one of the beautiful page layout options. These include About, Portfolio, Contact, and other important pages ready for your content.
Eye-catching image presentation. Squarespace offers multiple gallery effects and photo editing tools that let you add color filters and optimize images by adjusting aspect ratio, brightness, saturation, sharpness, and contrast.
Unlimited bandwidth and storage. Squarespace doesn’t put a cap on your bandwidth or storage, so you can upload and display as many images as you want without slowing down your site.
Appointment management. With Squarespace Scheduling, clients can check your availability and book photography appointments online. You can automate confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups, and sync appointments to your Google, iCloud, or Office 365 calendar.
You can use Hostinger’s AI designs or premade layouts to get online fast
When I first tried Hostinger Website Builder, I was impressed by how its AI tools simplified the building process. You describe your ideal website – its type, style, and colors – and the AI instantly generates something that feels custom-made. As a photographer, time is precious, and this tool is a lifesaver when you need a professional-looking site without diving into the technical weeds.
Hostinger’s suite of AI tools makes refining and optimizing your site easy. These tools include an AI Blog Generator for easily sharing your expertise through blog posts and the AI Heatmaps feature, which identifies the most attention-grabbing areas of your site. There’s also an AI Writer, Image Generator, and SEO Assistant to help optimize your site for search engines, which is crucial for drawing potential clients.
Hostinger isn’t entirely free, but its 7-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee are excellent for trying it risk-free. If you’re on the fence, these options give you ample time to explore its capabilities without commitment.
Features
Wide range of templates. If you prefer starting with a template rather than letting AI take the reins, Hostinger has you covered. Its 150+ templates include 16 specifically tailored for photographers, complete with key pages like galleries, portfolios, and contact forms.
Powerful mobile editor. Hostinger’s mobile editor gives you full control, whether you’re tweaking designs, updating your blog, or checking analytics. You can even switch between your phone and computer without losing progress.
WordPress staging tool. You can test changes on a duplicate before applying them on your Hostinger site. This can be set up directly from the hPanel and is a smart way to experiment with new designs or updates without worrying about breaking things.
Free automatic website migration. If you already have a photography website on WordPress or another open-source platform, migrating it to Hostinger is straightforward. All you have to do is request this service, and Hostinger’s team takes care of everything.
IONOS’s one photography template is great for building an online presence
While searching for free website builders for photographers, IONOS caught my attention with its budget-friendly pricing. Although it’s not free, its entry-level and second-tier plans cost just $1.00 per month for the first year – almost free. Plus, there’s a 30-day, risk-free money-back guarantee to test the waters without any financial commitment.
One of my favorite features of IONOS is its automatic image optimization. As a photographer, ensuring your images look great on all devices is crucial. IONOS resizes and optimizes images for PCs, tablets, and smartphones, saving you the hassle of manual adjustments and ensuring a consistent viewing experience for your audience.
One thing about IONOS is that it doesn’t offer that many pre-made templates – just about 35, with only one specifically for photography. That said, you can use its AI design tool to generate a unique photography template. You’ll be able to customize and tweak the design to your liking, providing a personalized touch to your website despite the limited initial template selection.
Features
Free professional email. IONOS offers a free professional email with every plan. Having an email address that matches your domain, like [email protected], adds a layer of professionalism to your communications and helps build your brand identity.
Online booking tool. The online booking tool allows clients to schedule appointments directly through your website anytime. This feature streamlines the booking process, making it convenient for clients and helping you manage your schedule more efficiently.
Social media integration. IONOS’s web apps facilitate seamless connections between your website and various social media platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This integration enables you to showcase your photography work across multiple channels, broadening your reach and engaging with a wider audience.
RankingCoach SEO tool. IONOS integrates with RankingCoach, offering automated SEO tools that help potential clients find your photography website. If you don’t have the time to manage SEO marketing yourself or the budget to hire an expert, this tool is invaluable in improving your site’s visibility.
You can switch between Pixpa’s templates anytime, without losing your edits
Pixpa was built specifically for photographers to showcase and sell their work. It provides tools like gallery layouts and mobile gallery apps. It has over 180 image-focused, mobile-responsive templates you can easily customize with a drag-and-drop editor. It also has some great client-oriented tools, like a robust proofing system that lets you set up a proofing page where your clients can provide feedback and choose photos to buy.
While Pixpa doesn’t have a free plan, its commerce-enabled plans are some of the most affordable, even compared to general website builders. Plus, its 15-day free trial gives you ample time to test the platform. Just note that Pixpa’s editor can feel clunky at times, and the lack of centralized media storage means you’ll need to upload the same image multiple times if you want to use it on different pages.
SmugMug’s templates highlight your work in elegant and attractive ways
SmugMug is another website builder designed specifically for photographers. It offers 25 stylish templates and unlimited storage across all plans. The platform includes robust tools for organizing and selling photos and a dedicated plan for RAW file storage. Its Organizer feature lets you manage photos in searchable folders and galleries, and you can implement privacy settings like password-protected galleries to secure client images.
For monetization, SmugMug provides tools for selling prints and digital downloads, with functionalities such as discount codes, custom pricing, and bundle options. However, some advanced features require the highest-tier plan. Despite its strengths, I found SmugMug’s editor and user interface challenging to navigate.
Zenfolio is one of the easiest solutions for creating portfolio sites
Zenfolio’s block editor is designed to be as simple as possible. You start by choosing from 14 templates and uploading a gallery of photos. After that, you can easily edit your website colors, fonts, and button styles. You add content using “blocks,” which allow for easy adjustments to settings like image size, alignment, focal point, and scroll effects. Blocks can also be reordered for better design flow.
I’d have liked it if Zenfolio didn’t limit storage on its entry-level plan and if offerings like a free domain and blogging capabilities didn’t require an upgrade. Also, while you can switch templates in Zenfolio if you want, doing so erases all of your text and SEO settings. Basically, you’ll be starting your site from scratch, so make sure to back up any important content before switching.
You can add customized gallery pages to any WordPress themeWordPress.com offers 35+ striking themes for photography websites, most of which are free. While it’s less beginner-friendly than builders like Zenfolio and SITE123, it stands out for its flexibility. It even allows complete control over source code, a rarity among website builders.
What sets WordPress apart is the level of customization it offers, which can seem overwhelming at first. Once you get used to navigating around the dashboard and using the block editor, tweaking and managing your site is pretty easy. WordPress is free to set up and use, but you’ll have limited access to themes and no plugins unless you pay. However, it’s entirely possible to create a simple yet beautiful photography website with the free option alone.
Which Free Website Builder for Photographers is Right for You?
Feel free to utilize any of the builders listed below to craft a professional photography website. Each builder possesses its unique strengths, and determining the most suitable option for you hinges on your specific requirements.
If you want the freedom to design your website exactly how you like, thenyou can’t do better than Wix. With its endless customization options, you’ll be able to create the best website for your brand.
If you’re looking for the easiest way to get a portfolio online fast,go for SITE123. Granted, you won’t get as much creative freedom as Wix. But you will get enough customization, gallery, and e-store features to create a unique and appealing site for showcasing and monetizing your work.
If you don’t mind minimal flexibility and just want a simple website,you may prefer Webador. Its drag-and-drop editor is pleasantly easy to use and provides all the basics to create a minimalistic yet professional photography site.
For more details, check this handy comparison table:
Free Plan
Best Feature
Best For
Starting Price
Wix
✔
User-friendly builder with the best template selection
Definitely. Wix has over 40 templates specifically created with photographers in mind. Each of these templates takes a “less is more” approach to design and offers a lot of white space to highlight your art. Wix also has incredible image editing tools, and it’s able to compress and optimize photos in order to speed up screen loading times for your customers.
Which free website builder is best for photographers?
There are two great ones to choose between – Wix and SITE123. Wix has better image editing tools, a larger range of templates, and full-screen gallery capabilities. SITE123 is definitely easier to use for beginners, but it has fewer templates on offer. Both have great customer support, e-commerce capabilities for an online store, and the ability to bulk upload your photos.
Is Squarespace good to build a photography website?
Yes, it’s one of the best builders for photographers. Squarespace templates allow you to display full-screen photos or lay them out in a grid format. It also offers advanced photo editing tools, integrated marketing features, and e-commerce and booking management. Overall, Squarespace is a great choice for a photography portfolio.
When should I upgrade to a paid plan?
Free plans come with limitations. Certain features or functionalities are offered for free – for example, the amount of storage provided – and if you want more gigabytes of storage, then you will have to upgrade to a paid plan. You’ll want to upgrade or choose a builder with paid plans if you want to connect a custom domain for a more professional-looking site or add e-commerce capabilities.
Ana specializes in writing about web building platforms, project management software, and other digital tools. She has been a freelance writer for 7 years, and has published countless product reviews and comparisons in that time. Ana has a passion for language and all things tech, and she combines the two to provide accessible and insightful resources for anyone interested in building websites or managing projects.
Thank you, - your comment was submitted successfully!
We check all user comments within 48 hours to make sure they are from real people like you. We're glad you found this article useful - we would appreciate it if you let more people know about it.
Share this blog post with friends and co-workers right now:
Thank you, , your comment was submitted successfully!
We check all comments within 48 hours to make sure they're from real users like you. In the meantime, you can share your comment with others to let more people know what you think.
Thank you for signing up!
Once a month you will receive interesting, insightful tips, tricks, and advice to improve your website performance and reach your digital marketing goals!
