What Do Free Portfolio Websites For Photographers Online Do?
Whether you work as a UX designer, independent writer, or photographer, a strong online portfolio is essential for attracting potential clients and being hired in the future. But creating a strong digital portfolio might seem like a difficult undertaking, particularly if you’re unsure of which website to utilize.
To make sure you can display your finest work in any profession, we’ve put together a list of the top portfolio websites for designers, independent contractors, and professional photographers.
As a result, whether you’re wanting to build your first online portfolio or you already have one but are looking for a better choice, you may discover a solid answer in this article, which lists the top best portfolio websites for professional photographers in 2022.
What is an Online Portfolio
A digital collection of details about your previous work, experiences, credentials, talents, or recognition you’ve received and desire to display online is known as a portfolio site. They offer your work credibility and help other specialists in the field realize what you are capable of.
An online photography portfolio might showcase examples of your work like:
- Photographs
- Writing samples
- Case studies
- Spreadsheets
- Lesson plans
Depending on your specialty and field, you could put different things in your web portfolio. Let’s look at some of our top portfolio websites to help you create your own, customized to your demands, in order to better assist you in selecting a portfolio builder for your purposes.
10 Best Free Online Portfolio Websites for Photographers
Behance
One of the most well-known brands in this industry is Behance, which has the support of Adobe, one of the leading names in the photography industry.
Behance could be of interest to you if you often use other Adobe products, like Lightroom and Photoshop, because you can log in with your existing account. Indeed, Adobe has incorporated certain features so that you may upload to Behance straight from their products.
Behance is absolutely free to help you create your own portfolio site, so even if you don’t have an Adobe membership, you can use it to display your photographs. However, because it falls between a social network profile and a portfolio website, it’s not suitable for creative professionals.
An intriguing feature I haven’t noticed on other photography portfolio websites is that Behance does accept NFT. (This could change soon, given how well the NFT market is doing). Even employment applications may be sent directly from your account on Behance. After that, the person posting the position may visit your portfolio site to view your work.
The community on Behance, which is used by hundreds of designers and with whom you can engage in conversation, is really what makes the platform so significant. You can do things like send messages and view live feeds.
Flickr
Flickr is definitely one of the first names in the online picture industry. Despite multiple ownership changes since its founding in 2004, the website is still one of the biggest online picture hosting services for photographers. Given the size of everything, about 3.5 million photographs were uploaded per day as of 2015.
With billions of photographs and millions of users, Flickr is unquestionably one of the most well-known portfolio websites. It’s a great place to share your own work, get in touch with other photographers, and get ideas for new projects.
It’s also among the finest portfolio websites since it’s simple to use, allows for rapid photo sharing, and is easy to navigate. By default, your images will appear in your photostream, but if you’d want a more focused collection, all you have to do is create an album, upload your photos to it, then share the album’s URL with the recipient.
Once you subscribe for a premium subscription, you won’t have to deal with building a website and you can still display hundreds of your images without worrying about storage space.
Flickr’s community-focused platform, however, can make it challenging to present your finest work and come off as professional, especially given that the site is used to exchange photographs with friends and family. Because of this, several designers also advise building a more professional portfolio website and connecting to it from Flickr.
Adobe Portfolio
While there’s already a website from Adobe on this list, Adobe Portfolio differs slightly from that one. Behance focuses more on users that don’t wish to create their own websites, whilst Adobe Portfolio does the opposite. The procedure is far easier on this website than it would be if you attempted to create your own photographic portfolio on your own, which is hosted by Adobe.
Adobe Portfolio is already a part of your membership if you use Photoshop or Lightroom. Why not utilize it to launch your internet presence as it is “free”?
The Portfolio page features a number of examples created by the site’s professional photographers. If you enjoy this sort of style, it would be worthwhile for you to check out these designs as they all have a smooth and clean appearance and frequently use white as their major color. They all appear to be quite excellent and professional.
You may create five sites with an infinite number of pages using Portfolio. You can link your sites to Lightroom or Behance to sync your galleries and streamline your workflow, and it offers configurable layouts that you may customize using building blocks. Additionally, you may establish password-protected sections or even the entire website.
You can get a personal domain name if you require a business website (which you can link for free to your Adobe Portfolio website). Additionally, MailChimp lets you make a contact form for possible customers. Unfortunately, your Portfolio website cannot be used to sell goods or services. The same is true of Adobe Portfolio; there are no upgrades available.
Visit Adobe’s Example page to discover further websites made by Adobe Portfolio users. Prices for acquiring an Adobe membership start at $9.99 if you don’t already have one.
YouPic
YouPic is one choice that focuses on the social part of photography, which may be more appealing to people searching for something a bit less straightforward than simply uploading your photographs and leaving them there.
The firm presents itself as a social network, at least, and constantly reminds users that it’s more than just a website; it’s a community, giving off the sense that it is.
YouPic claims to have a more thorough feedback system that enables people to be more particular when assessing your photographs. Photos from other users are one of the first things you’ll encounter when looking at the site of the service.
Additionally, this website allows you to purchase and sell photographs, so if you’re looking for a photography website with the goal of selling images, YouPic could be a good option.
Known photographers like Joel Meyerowitz and Julia Fullerton-Batten are among YouPic’s users. YouPic, a website created especially for photographers, gives you the option to create a magnificent portfolio to display your work for free. You may also sell your own prints or buy ones from other photographers to make extra money.
Additionally, the website provides interactive photography courses to help you hone your talents, as well as an “Explore” area modeled after Pinterest where you may view well-known images, fresh works of art, and inspiring tales for your gallery.
It’s also noteworthy that YouPic, the first decentralized photography site, enables users to copyright their photographs on the blockchain. YouPic is therefore one of the few sites that won’t claim ownership or any rights to your work.
It’s interesting to note that hiring is another function you can conduct without ever leaving the website. The value of being able to refer someone to your portfolio and have them employ you without having to send them to various locations is obvious.
YouPic says that you may be hired for new jobs directly from the site. There are several solid reasons for a novice photographer to check out this location, including the interactive training it has to offer.
Crevado
Compared to some of the other websites on our list, this one doesn’t have the sexiest UI, but that isn’t what draws people to it. Instead, Crevado markets itself as a free and easy-to-use website where the essential features are available without charge.
One of the easiest free portfolio websites, Crevado allows you to upload your creations and rearrange them on the screen using an easy drag-and-drop tool. The website is also automatically adapted for any platform, allowing you to see your portfolio on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
Your portfolio website is secure thanks to secure hosting and SSL certification from Crevado. Without writing any code, you may alter your design to fit your tastes. Best of all, the platform’s interfaces with PayPal and Fotomoto make it possible to sell your work online.
The only drawback is that free users are unable to delete the Crevado link from the footer of their website. To achieve this, you must upgrade to a pro account.
Photo.net
I highlighted Flickr as one of the first photo-sharing websites on the internet earlier in my list. However, Photo.net, which launched spectacularly back in 1993, predates Flickr by about ten years. You may host up to 100 photographs for free on the site’s basic plan, which is free to join but requires payment if you want to go beyond.
You are also given a certain number of criticism entries under the free plan to assist you in improving your photography. Photo.net is the only place you need to search if you want a well-established website with a vibrant community.
Portfoliobox
A fantastic choice for creating a professional-looking responsive gallery of your greatest work is Portfoliobox, a website builder created particularly for photographers.
This one doesn’t simply apply to photographers. Although it is comparable to several other website builders geared at the e-commerce business, this one is exclusively for creatives. That includes photographers, and this website builder is an excellent choice if you want one that’s focused on showing portfolios.
You may sell your prints or other works of art directly from the website thanks to the ecommerce connection that Portfoliobox provides (without paying any commission). You may further develop your blog with the free plan to draw site visitors and prospective clients.
In addition, this website offers a free domain name, which is a feature that most similar sites lack. The benefit is that you’ll stand out more and may invite more people to visit your customized portfolio website.
The best part of Portfoliobox is that you aren’t forced to utilize a preset theme; rather, you may incorporate any design for any page to create a one-of-a-kind, distinctive website. It’s a wonderful alternative for both experienced and new photographers, with over a million members.
500px
Although 500px is not the oldest website on this list, it has been around long enough for you to have some confidence that it is not just a hip startup. It was established in 2009 and describes itself as a worldwide community for photo sharing.
It’s renowned for assisting creative professionals, both new and experienced, to establish their careers and showcase their skills to clients in addition to just enabling you to create a portfolio.
They also assert that its Pulse algorithm promotes fresh photographs rather than merely those taken by well-known photographers, which may be helpful if you don’t already have a sizable fan base.
You’ll need to become a member if you want access to all the features. However, a free membership still entitles you to seven weekly image uploads, which, depending on the kind of photography you do, could be plenty.
Additionally, you may make and share galleries and freely license your works. You don’t actually need to pay to start developing your customized portfolio here because those elements are accessible without a membership.
WordPress
You may build a blog with a separate portfolio page for free using WordPress, a popular content management system. Despite not being specifically designed for freelance writers, WordPress has more than 100 free themes to help you create a distinctive blog and promote your work.
If you want total creative control over your portfolio, this is an excellent alternative for you.
WordPress provides two platforms, and they operate very differently from one another. There is WordPress.org, which takes some technical knowledge, and WordPress.com, which is the one you want if you don’t have any technical knowledge (it functions similarly to the other portfolio builders featured on this list).
If you wish to highlight your writing abilities and other capabilities, you may also decide to use WordPress. Imagine you want a page for, say, writing or photography. In such situation, WordPress has a selection of themes and is adaptable enough to let you showcase different types of creative work.
You can create a free website using WordPress.com, and you’ll get a WordPress.com subdomain name and restricted hosting (3 GB). Then, you may upgrade to one of the four paying plans to acquire additional features such as links to individual domain names and greater capacity.
You may access more sophisticated themes by upgrading to a subscription membership; among the most well-liked choices for photographers are Flothemes, Novo, and ProPhoto.
Now, check out WordPress.org if you’re interested in creating a fully customized photography website and you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Everything will need to be done by you, including choosing a third-party hosting plan, obtaining a domain name, building the website, and adding various plugins.
Although you may start for free, the charges will soon mount, and for the majority of photographers, the effort is not worth it.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a different blogging platform that enables customisation and is free to use at first. Although the website has seen better days, it still has enough users to warrant consideration. You might be interested in the customisation Tumblr provides if you prefer your own photography portfolio site than one created using a drag-and-drop website builder.
For other people, though, Tumblr will be a more appealing alternative because designing a Tumblr blog is a simpler and less complex procedure than doing the same for a WordPress site.
The community is another benefit. If you enjoy a particular style or specialty of photography, you may find that Tumblr will help you connect with other like-minded users using tags that make it easy for others to discover your images and reblog them.
It’s not the first choice that comes to mind when you think of creating a photography portfolio, but it does have the benefit of being cost-free and having a lot of design flexibility.
Final Thoughts: Are Online Portfolio Websites for Photographers Worth It?
This concludes our discussion of the top free photography portfolio websites for 2022.
As you can see, there are a lot of excellent possibilities, making the decision difficult. Determine where you are in your photographic career, is my suggestion. Consider your objectives carefully, too.
A straightforward, inexpensive website builder is the way to go if you’re just getting started and don’t have any plans to take your business in a professional path. On the other hand, creative professionals and ambitious amateurs can want a more personalized, more expensive route.