How To Create An Artist Website For Free

Do you want to showcase your art online? Or sell your work through your website? We want you to achieve your goals, so we're giving you recommendations for both categories. Squarespace is best for showcasing art, thanks to its stunning designs, while Shopify is best for selling art online with it's ability to handle a large volume of artwork.

First up, here are our top recommendations if you simply want to showcase your art:

Our Top Website Builders for Artists Showcasing Their Work:

Squarespace – Best overall builder for showcasing art
Wix – Best for promoting your work
GoDaddy – Best for getting started quickly
Duda – Best for a technically polished art website
Zyro – Best for simple, grid-based drag and drop

Secondly, if you want to make money from your art and sell directly through your website, these are the best builders:

Good question! First, we put every builder on this list through our rigorous research process. That's where we analyze builders in six key areas of investigation:

Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Design Flexibility
Help and Support
Customer Score

After our research and testing, each builder earned a score out of five in every area, and we added those scores together to give each builder its own overall score. Special weighting was given to categories, like design flexibility and value for money, that artists told us were most important to them.

To help create our customer score, we interviewed people after they'd tested a builder out themselves. As part of the interview, we asked everyone how likely they'd be to recommend the builder to a friend.

Then, we spoke to real artists to figure out which research categories are the most relevant for them. Those conversations helped us decide which topics to focus on in this article. As we were researching and writing about each builder, we asked ourselves:

Is there lots of design flexibility, and is it easy to make changes?
Do the templates really let the artwork shine?
Do the price plans fit a reasonable budget?
Is the customer support thorough enough?

The result? This comprehensive ranking of the best website builders for artists!

Best Website Builders for Artists: To Showcase Your Art

Compare all five website builders and their key features below:

#1 Squarespace

Best Overall Builder for Showcasing Art

Best designed templates
Emphasizes visual content
Small learning curve

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $12 - $46 / month

Pros

Sleek templates focus on visuals
Mobile apps allow for on-the-go editing
Restore deleted pages for up to 30 days

Cons

Only one aspect ratio on product pages
Need to code to add more aspect ratios
No autosaves when editing a site

Read Review

Squarespace is the overall best website builder for artists wanting to showcase their work because its stunning, visual-centric templates are easy to set up. When we tested Squarespace for ourselves, we found that it puts a lot of template elements together for you from the start, so we were able to get a sleek site up and running quickly.

Squarespace User Review: Jason Ratliff

jason headshot Jason Ratliff is an illustrator using Squarespace to display his prints and series. We spoke to him about why he trusted his art with this builder.

What Squarespace features stood out to you, as someone looking to showcase their art?

There were lots of templates that were designed to showcase images/art, which was something I don't remember seeing elsewhere. It was like Squarespace had made something specifically for me. Designing a website, especially for yourself, is very intimidating. The way Squarespace presented its templates and the examples it showed from other artists took all the pressure off. You could easily visualize your work on any of the templates – you just had to pick your favorite one and get started.

I also liked the way Squarespace tiered its plans. I wasn't ready to have ecommerce at the start, but I knew I wanted to try it eventually. It was nice that I only had to pick a template that had that option, and I could upgrade whenever I wanted.

Why did you choose Squarespace over other platforms?

I chose Squarespace over other platforms for a few reasons:

Squarespace had BY FAR the best template designs, which you could tailor to your own style/aesthetic
Its features, ecommerce, and UI appeared more user friendly
The way it handles HTML customizations seemed like something I'd be able to tackle with limited experience

I now have three websites through Squarespace, and have had nothing but a positive experience with all of them.

Squarespace doesn't have a free plan, but it does offer a 14-day free trial for you to decide exactly which plan you'll need. If you want our two cents, the Personal plan ($12 per month) is a great pick for smaller personal sites, and comes with a custom domain and unlimited bandwidth and storage (perfect for image-heavy sites). That's everything you need to get off the ground, and you can always upgrade later!

Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder, which makes for super easy design. But unlike some other builders, you can't just drag anything anywhere.

Squarespace templates are more section-based. This can take some getting used to, but it ultimately really helps keep your designs consistent across multiple website pages.

Squarespace's high quality templates are designed to emphasize visual elements, and to keep your artwork front and center. For this reason, even though its templates are less flexible than Weebly's and Wix's, Squarespace never left us feeling boxed in creatively. We especially liked the Kester template for its clean minimalism, which really emphasizes the artwork.

Squarespace sports the best help and support features of all the builders we tested, claiming a perfect 5/5 rating. The platform works fast to reply to messages 24/7 via Twitter, as well as offering a live chat service Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, Squarespace has an extensive knowledge base with a ton of articles to answer your queries. You can also connect with other Squarespace users via its community forum. Essentially, whatever your query may be, you have an array of support options available to you!

If you want to find out more on how Squarespace can aid you, check out our in-depth article on it's customer service options.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization – in other words, what gets your website ranking highly in search results. Good SEO means more potential eyes on your artwork.

Squarespace has all of the tools you'll need to cover basic SEO best practices, from titling pages to adding keywords and image alt text. Squarespace's SEO tools work well, but they're not as beginner-friendly as Wix's. Squarespace's support center offers helpful SEO guides – you'll just need to dedicate an hour or two to learning the ropes.

Jason uses Squarespace to show off his prints and series.

Adding image galleries onto your Squarespace site can be done in a few clicks.

Squarespace offers two plans for showcasing art: Personal and Business.

Squarespace templates are very image-focused, so your art can speak for itself.

Squarespace offers the best Art & Design templates of any builder.

Further Information

Squarespace Review – Learn more about this leader of design.
Squarespace Pricing Review – Find out how much Squarespace costs, and which plan is best for you.
Squarespace Offer Code – Save 10% on the cost of any Squarespace plan.
10 Best Artist Website Templates – Get inspired by some of the most aesthetically pleasing artist site themes in 2021.

#2 Wix

Best for Promoting Your Work

Top pick in user testing
Over 500 templates
SEO helps spread the word

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $14 - $56 / month

Pros

SEO tools are easy to use
Great freedom with drag-and-drop editor
Automatic backups keep your work safe

Cons

Can't switch templates after going live
Not as stylish as Squarespace
Not as cheap as Weebly

Read Review

Wix's ease of use makes it a strong fit for most websites, but it's great for artists in particular because of the Wix Art Store. Wix Art Store is an add-on that allows you to sell your artwork on your Wix site, without any of the business-side hassle.

You might be wondering why we're not saving it for the "selling" list later on. That's because Wix Art Store emphasizes your artwork just as much as it emphasizes sales. That means you get the highest image quality, mobile-friendly viewing, and artistic templates – or in other words, a website with heart.

Wix User Review: Ally Lim

ally headshot Ally Lim is a painter who uses Wix to showcase her prints and originals. We asked her why Wix made the final cut.

What was the process of choosing a builder like for you? When creating my site, my intention was to organize a space where others could find out a little more about what inspires me, display galleries of my work, and have a place where people can ask me questions and get in contact. After doing some research and reaching out to other artists, it seemed like Squarespace and Wix were the most popular, and their users seemed to be satisfied with their experiences.

What made Wix stand out for you? Before I started my site, Wix conducted a short survey to gain insight about my vision for the website. It then provided me with template options that suited my style best based on my answers. It was extremely helpful given that there are a myriad of templates, which can make the process of choosing one overwhelming and time consuming.

I also found that having the ability to link my social media accounts to Wix – specifically Instagram and Google Photos – sped up the process of uploading my artwork into the gallery. As someone who is mainly on Instagram, all of my photos are taken on my phone. This feature eliminates the first step of transferring batches of photos from my phone to my laptop before uploading them all into the builder.

Wix does offer a free plan, so you can build a stunning art gallery for no cost. However, Wix's paid plans offer more storage and unlimited pages. We recommend that you start out on the Combo plan, which costs just $14 per month – you can easily upgrade later if you want to start selling on the side.

Wix's templates are just as easy to customize as Weebly's, and they're more modern-looking, too. Plus, if you ever outgrow the limitations of your template, Wix has the option to start creating with a blank canvas instead.

Squarespace is still the winner for style, but Wix offers the happy medium between ease of use and quality designs.

The Wix editor includes a simple side menu to help you add images and text. There are also measured grid lines to guide you as you drag-and-drop different page elements to exactly where you want them.

In our user testing, we found that Wix's drag-and-drop editor was so simple that:

"Making a functioning website in an hour with no prior experience with the tools is not an unreasonable expectation."

While Squarespace and Weebly provide you with the basics, Wix goes above and beyond with its SEO capabilities. Its built-in SEO tools let you customize URLs and edit meta titles and descriptions.

But the reason Wix's SEO is so great is because so much of it is done for you. Wix creates and maintains a sitemap for you, which keeps all of your pages up-to-date and makes it easy for search engines to find and crawl them.

Wix scored a little lower than Squarespace when we put it under the microscope in our in-house research, mainly because it doesn't offer a live chat service – but that doesn't mean it isn't up to scratch! In fact, Wix integrates its support features throughout the editor, with question mark buttons to guide you as you build.

Each button opens up a step-by-step guide on how to use the element you're working on, and some buttons even pull up a video tutorial. If you're looking for a more personal touch, Wix does provide a 24/7 callback service, or you can check out its Customer Care contact page for more tailored support.

The Wix editor offers plenty of helpful tips to guide you as you go along.

Wix's SEO tools are extremely useful, and very hands-off for you.

Uploading images is straightforward in the Wix editor.

Thinking about Wix?

We loved Wix's state-of-the-art editor.

Further Information

Wix Review – Read our full analysis for more information on Wix.
Wix Pricing Review – How many pricing plans does Wix have, and how much do they cost?

#3 GoDaddy

Best for Getting Started Quickly

Step-by-step builder
One month free trial
Simple onboarding process

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $9.99 - $19.99 / month

Pros

Straightforward, step-by-step editor
Going live in 1 hour is a realistic goal
Relatively cheap starting price

Cons

Templates lack style and originality
No SEO tools on cheapest plan
Less exciting features than Wix or Duda

Read Review

GoDaddy is easy to use, and its prices are on the cheaper side. We found its step-by-step builder so easy that we barely had to think while assembling our sites! However, the catch is that GoDaddy's template designs are nowhere near the level of Squarespace or Wix

GoDaddy doesn't offer any free website builder plans, but it does have a one-month free trial. If you like what you've seen after a month, we recommend beginning with GoDaddy's Standard plan at $14.99 per month. It's not the cheapest (that would be the Basic plan at $9.99 per month), but it includes SEO features that the Basic plan does not – which means your artwork has a much better chance of being found online!

Another reason we recommend the Standard plan is because, while GoDaddy's Basic plan costs less than most builders' cheapest plans, you won't be getting the same level of features. GoDaddy's pricier plans are more in line with the features that you get on the cheapest plans from builders like Wix and Squarespace.

GoDaddy is also relatively cheap, but what you gain in time and money you lose in creativity. Because setting up a site with GoDaddy is such a quick and easy process, you don't have as much say in the design. This means you won't get to customize your site to match your artwork, and you run the risk of ending up with a site that looks "plain" in comparison to others.

GoDaddy's SEO capabilities are really strong for those just starting out. You'll get useful guidance, similar to Wix. However, GoDaddy doesn't offer SEO features on its Basic plan, so you'll have to upgrade to the $14.99 per month Standard plan in order to optimize your site.

If you do choose to upgrade, though, you'll have access to GoDaddy's SEO wizard, which offers everything from customized keyword suggestions to search engine performance tracking over time.

We'd say that you're fine to resort to GoDaddy's help and support features when asking generic questions. But for anything more complicated than that, you'll be better off waiting for an answer over the phone.

Just like Wix, GoDaddy offers 24/7 phone support to handle any queries you may have. Similar to Squarespace, you'll also benefit from a live chat feature – even if it is only available between Monday and Friday.

If you have a query outside of these working days, be sure to check out its knowledge base and community forum for your art website building needs!

GoDaddy's editor lets you add website sections (like photo galleries) in just a few clicks.

We recommend GoDaddy's Standard plan, which lets you make the most of its features.

GoDaddy's Art & Design templates aren't the best out there, but they'll still highlight your work nicely.

Interested in GoDaddy?

This builder can help you get online quickly.

Further Information

GoDaddy Website Builder Review – Check out our full review of GoDaddy.
GoDaddy vs Squarespace – Find out which you should choose in this head-to-head comparison.

#4 Duda

Best for a Technically Polished Website

98 quality templates
Wide range of apps
Pricier than competitors

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $14 - $59 / month

Pros

Template editor is easy to use
Template designs are image-focused
Plenty of apps and widgets included

Cons

Not the best value for money
Lacks SEO guidance
Lacks creative freedom

Read Review

Duda is a design-focused website builder like Squarespace, and we were impressed by its straightforward, clickable template editor. That said, Duda's prices keep it from making the top three. This is a quality builder, but it doesn't offer great value for your money.

Duda's prices start at $14 per month. That's the same as Wix, but you won't get as many features for your money with Duda. And unlike Wix, Duda has no free plan. There is a 14-day free trial period, but afterwards, you're going to have to shell out.

There's no doubt that Duda is an impressive builder, if you're just looking at its design capabilities and features. But when it comes to value for money, you're better off with Squarespace, Weebly, or Wix by far.

Duda offers around 98 high-quality, well-designed templates. You can filter your template search by category, and the "Portfolio" filter is a treasure trove of artistic, image-centric layouts.

The design process itself is also very user friendly. However, you'll have to tweak your template design a little more than you would with Squarespace. Here's what one of our users had to say:

"Rely on the template, but just make sure that you customize it. Don't just put your own text in and change a couple of images. You will need to have a play with it – look to change the background, font type, and font size so your website looks unique."

That said, we still rate Squarespace higher than Duda for creative freedom. With Duda, you have to edit your template as much as you can to make it stand out more. Whereas with Squarespace, you can edit your template a lot if you want to, but the design you'll start with will already be more sophisticated than Duda's.

We'll be honest – Duda isn't really the go-to for SEO tools. It offers the basics, such as:

Customizable titles and meta descriptions
Customizable page URLs
Image alt text
Google PageSpeed optimization

If you're willing to pay for Duda, you won't be left without any SEO capability. It's just that Wix has a better SEO toolbox, complete with beginner-friendly guides.

Duda will show you how your artwork will look when viewed on mobile and tablet devices.

Duda has three paid plans – but the two-week free trial only applies to the Team plan.

We love Duda's image-centric template designs.

Further Information

Duda Review – Learn more about Duda to see if it's the perfect choice for you.

Want to try Duda?

This builder's templates are great for artists.

#5 Zyro

Best for Simple, Grid-Based Drag and Drop

Easy to use
Sell for free
Mediocre templates

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $2.9 - $29.99 / month

Pros

Grid layout functionality
Easy interface for beginners
Modern-looking templates

Cons

No free plan
Limited design options
Less developed SEO functionality

Read Review

If you're a fan of Wix's easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor – but are looking for something on the cheaper side – then Zyro is a great choice. When trying out Zyro for ourselves, we were impressed with the simplicity of its drag-and-drop editor. Unlike Wix, Zyro provides a grid layout as you move elements across the page, so it's easy to keep the page perfectly symmetric.

For a show-stopping online portfolio, you'll want a builder that gives you the functionality to make your site as unique as possible. Saying that, Zyro may be a little too simple for someone wanting to showcase their art – although its templates are beautifully designed, there isn't much room for customization.

Ultimately, Zyro's grid layout makes it a great builder for beginners. Beyond that, we'd recommend scrolling up and trying some of the other builders we've talked about.

Zyro's prices start at $8.90 per month for the Basic plan. You'll benefit from a 30-day money-back guarantee and free hosting across all Zyro's plans, which is handy if you want to avoid the techy part of organizing hosting yourself.

Zyro doesn't offer a free plan, which brings down its 'value for money' rating to a 4.2 out of 5. Builders like Wix offer a no-cost package, so you can publish a stunning site without paying a dime. With Zyro, you'll have to upgrade your site just to be able to publish it – although you will get access to blogging tools and SSL security on all its paid plans.

With a 3.2 out of 5, Zyro's design rating was on the lower end of all the areas we tested it against. There's no doubt about how modern-looking Zyro's templates are, but you may find yourself limited when trying to customize them. Still, our users found it easy to edit and move around block elements, thanks largely to Zyro's simple drag-and-drop functionality and helpful grid layout.

You have the choice to let Zyro's AI functionality build your brand, too. This is ideal if you're not too sure how to brand your business, because Zyro's tools work to create logos and slogans for you

Zyro's SEO tools prove that this builder is still in the early days of its development. There's not much this builder can do to aid you in becoming an SEO wiz – but it won't leave you hanging out to dry, either. You do get some basic SEO features, such as the ability to customize titles and meta descriptions, but that's about it!

If you really want to maximize your SEO capabilities – and ensure you land on all those search engine 'first pages' – then either Wix or Squarespace will be a good place to start.

These are the four pricing plans offered by Zyro. The higher up you go, the more features you unlock!

A few of the beautiful templates Zyro has on offer to help showcase your (even more beautiful) art!

Further Information

Zyro Review – Read our full review for more information.

Are you sold on Zyro?

A quality grid layout means this builder is great value.

Best Website Builders for Artists: To Sell Your Art

Compare all five website builders and their key features below:

If you're ready to make some money from your pieces, you'll need a platform that can handle essentials like payment processing and inventory management. Ecommerce website builders take care of these functions without sacrificing design quality – so you can still tell visitors about yourself, and show off your art in a style that's completely your own.

You've probably heard of online marketplaces like Etsy. These are great for getting your artwork out there, but you will be competing with so many other artists' work, and you won't get to design your own little corner of the web. Also, with online marketplaces, artists just starting out in their career might be shocked by the high commission fees, which can reach up to 40% per sale.

However, with a website builder, every pair of eyes is on your work alone. In terms of cost, you may pay transaction fees, but these are usually only around 2% – nothing that's going to make too much of a dent in your earnings.

So this is where ecommerce website builders come in. They are there specifically to help you sell items online, and make the whole process simple by providing all the tools you need in one place, from managing inventory to customizing your site design.

#1 Shopify

Best for Growing Your Sales

Very scalable
Powerful sales features
Multichannel integration

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

Huge app market
Integrates with Instagram and Etsy
Low stock alerts

Cons

Poor value for money for small stores
Transaction fees with most payment tools
Not as design-savvy as Squarespace

Read Review

Shopify Overview

Shopify is best for serious sellers. It's a great choice if you have lots of different items to sell, and you want the whole selling process to be as smooth as possible. It's not as easy to use as Wix, but if you have a large volume of artwork, then Shopify is the best equipped to handle it.

There's even an app you can download to sell across external channels, like Amazon or eBay. Plus, Shopify's mobile app lets you accept payments and manage your online gallery while you're on the go – ideal for the modern day artist.

Shopify User Review: Carly Chamerlik

carly headshot Carly Chamerlik is a fine artist and web designer, and owner of HeyCJ Media. She told us about her journey from simply showcasing to actually selling art online, and the platforms that helped her along the way.

"I built my first online art portfolio on Weebly back in 2014 when I was in college. It's very basic and cheap – not necessarily a platform I recommend now, but it was a great place to get my feet wet and start learning how to put together websites.

For artists who want to sell their work, I've personally gotten a lot of traction on Etsy, and the great thing about it is that the audience is already there so your focus is just on SEO, taking great photos, and creating great art. But if you're wanting the full control that comes from owning your online store completely, Shopify I'd say is the best out there. It's user-friendly, and has so many integrations that will make your life easier."

Pricing – Starts $29/month

Since Shopify is more powerful than Wix and Squarespace, it makes sense that its prices are a little higher. But even with this difference in mind, Shopify didn't impress us in terms of value for money.

Plans start from $29 per month, and although they come with great features – like the ability to sell on social media – you could find yourself paying for powerful tools that you don't need. That's why we recommend Shopify for artists with a lot of pieces to sell.

Shopify websites offer extreme scalability.

There are three paid Shopify plans to choose from.

Shopify offers a range of both free and paid templates.

Interested in Shopify?

It's a scalable platform that can take your art sales to the next level.

Further Information

Shopify Review – Read our detailed review.
Shopify Pricing Review – Learn about Shopify's plans and prices.
Shopify vs Squarespace – Torn between our top two choices? Check out our head-to-head comparison.

#2 BigCommerce

Best Ecommerce Builder for Large Art Stores

Really easy to use
In-house Art Store
Plenty of integrations

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $29.95 / month

Pros

Advanced SEO features
Multi-channel integration
Provides scalability to existing stores

Cons

Setup is slightly more time-consuming
Technical on-boarding process
More expensive than Wix

Read Review

BigCommerce Overview

BigCommerce is the best ecommerce website builder for fast-growing art businesses because of how highly scalable it is. Selling your artwork with BigCommerce allows you to take advantage of its advanced SEO features, and sell your art across several different platforms with its multi-channel integration.

Unlike Shopify, you don't have to worry about BigCommerce taking any commission fees from your profits, so everything you make is yours. Saying that, BigCommerce is a little more complicated to get to grips with in terms of setting up shop. But with some time and patience, you'll be on your way to creating an awesome online platform to showcase your even more awesome art!

BigCommerce is ideal for:

Ambitious artists looking to scale their online businesses.
Artists looking to sell through other platforms (such as Instagram, Etsy, or eBay) as well as their own online store.
Already well-established online stores . If you've got a successful shop up and running – but you're starting to outgrow your current platform – BigCommerce has a smooth migration process to get you set up on its platform.

BigCommerce isn't so great for anyone wanting a quick and easy store set up, as it only scored a 3.3 out of 5 for ease of use in our research. You may find yourself a little overwhelmed with how technical the onboarding process can be, but the results are worth it.

However, if your goal is to expand your store – while keeping things simple – we'd suggest checking out Shopify instead.

Pricing – starts at $29.95/month

BigCommerce is slightly different to other ecommerce builders out there because your plan is determined by your store's revenue. Each plan comes with a specific revenue bracket, and the features you'll have access to are tailored accordingly.

For example, the Standard plan works for businesses that have made between $0 and $50,000 in the previous 12 months, while the Enterprise plan is best for any store making $400,000+ per year. Don't worry if you want to shift around a little, though – BigCommerce lets you upgrade to different plans if you want access to more features.

Each plan lets you sell an unlimited number of products, and you'll also be able to add discounts and coupon codes to entice new customers. From multi-channel selling to real-time shipping quotes, you won't have to go further than BigCommerce's cheapest plan ($29.95/mo) to get your hands on these features.

Like the sound of BigCommerce?

Try BigCommerce free for 15 days to start selling on multiple channels and expanding your business.

#3 Wix eCommerce

Best for Selling Limited Edition Pieces

Really easy to use
In-house Art Store
Plenty of integrations

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $14 - $56 / month

Pros

Can add product videos
250+ apps available for additional tools
Can connect with your Instagram account

Cons

No abandoned cart recovery feature
Less powerful inventory for large stores
Creative freedom can be overwhelming

Read Review

Wix eCommerce Overview

We love Wix because it's so flexible and easy to use, and Wix eCommerce features are no different. It also has loads of excellent ' creative arts' templates to choose from, which can help present your artwork in the best possible light.

As we mentioned earlier, the Wix Art Store is an all-in-one package for showing and selling your art. It comes with social media integration, which lets customers see your items on channels like Facebook and Pinterest, and sends email notifications so you can stay on top of your orders wherever you are.

Wix eCommerce User Review: Hannah Kaplan

hannah headshot Hannah Kaplan is an artist who creates abstract paintings and illustrations. She told us how Wix has been a flexible choice, growing alongside her business.

"When I was choosing what website builder to use to host my fine arts portfolio and sell my work, I researched all of the options and compared prices and features to find one that worked for me. Since I was just starting my career as an artist at the time, it was important to me to choose a website builder that was within my price range.

I chose to build my artist website with Wix, and as my business has grown, my website has been able to grow and change with me. Now that I'm used to it and how it works, I can't see myself hosting my art portfolio and online shop on any other platform."

Pricing – Starts $23/month

Wix will let you create an online store for free, so there's no risk involved in getting started. That said, in order to actually sell the products that you list, you'll need to start with the $23 per month Business Basic plan. This price is pretty mid-range, but the value you'll get for your money in terms of features and ease of use is unparalleled.

Adding product galleries is just one of many functions you can complete with a few clicks.

Helpful sidebar menus make editing with Wix eCommerce a breeze.

Adding and managing products in your Wix eCommerce dashboard is really simple.

Want to try Wix eCommerce?

It's a high quality platform that's still super easy to use.

Further Information

Wix Ecommerce Review – Read our review for a deeper insight into Wix Ecommerce.
Wix vs Shopify – Find out who comes out on top.

#4 Squarespace Ecommerce

Best for Artists Starting a Small Store

Best template designs
Helps manage inventory
Not the most scalable

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $12 - $46 / month

Pros

Lots of features automatically built-in
Lets you configure sales tax by location
Sleek social media integration

Cons

Offers fewer app integrations than Wix
Small variety of payment options
Small learning curve involved

Read Review

Squarespace Ecommerce Overview

Squarespace has real quality in its features. However, it's best suited to artists looking to sell only a few items. If you're looking to sell more than that, you're better off with Wix eCommerce or Shopify.

Most of the sales tools you need for selling your artwork are built-in and ready to go. If you're looking to manage your online gallery in one place while battling a busy schedule, Squarespace is a good solution.

That said, Squarespace does have an app store called Squarespace Extensions, where you'll find a small but carefully curated collection of third-party integrations. There are 23 apps in total, designed to help you manage, optimize, and grow your site. With apps such as Printful, Quickbooks, and ShipStation, you have a choice of helpful add-ons to support your art sales.

Pricing – Starts $26/month

Squarespace's ecommerce plans start with the Business plan ($18 per month) . We recommend this plan because the price is low for the online store features that you'll get, which include a professional Gmail and Google Workspace account (free for the first year) and the ability to accept donations through PayPal or Stripe (with a transaction fee of 3%).

Before you get started, Squarespace will ask you a few questions about your site.

Once you're ready to get started, you can tackle this to-do list in any order.

Squarespace's online store templates are every bit as stylish as its regular templates.

It's easy to add multiple images for one product.

Interested in Squarespace Ecommerce?

Sleek templates and built-in features make it a great choice.

Further Information

Squarespace Ecommerce Review – Read more about how Squarespace can help you earn cash.
Shopify vs Squarespace – A fair match?

#5 Square Online

Best Value for Money

Beginner-friendly
Great sales features
Unoriginal site designs

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $16 - $79 / month

Pros

Built-in sales and marketing tools
Dashboard to easily keep track of sales
Can sell on the free plan

Cons

Transaction fees for most payment tools
Limited template designs, much like Weeb
Not very scalable

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Square Online Overview

Square Online is the brainchild of Square, a popular payment processing platform that actually bought Weebly back in 2018. Square Online is like a synthesis of Weebly's simple website builder and Square's powerful ecommerce tools.

Square Online is very similar to Weebly in a few important ways: it's quick to learn, easy to use, and its template designs are a little… lackluster. That said, Square Online is more dedicated to ecommerce functions than Weebly. You'll be able to add products, add shipping options, and use the automatic tax calculator to make digital sales as easy as can be.

Pricing – Starts $12/month

You can sell on Square Online's free plan , which is definitely a game changer. Its paid plans range from $12–$72 per month, and you'll need to upgrade to one of these if you want to:

Get rid of ads on your site
Use a domain name that doesn't end in ".square.site"
Use third party payment processors like PayPal

For these capabilities, we recommend the $12 per month Professional plan, which still offers excellent value for money.

Showcase your art and sell on the side with Square Online Checkout Links

If you're sort of in-between wanting to showcase your art and wanting to sell it – in other words, if you just want to sell a few pieces without turning your site into a full-on store – then Square Online's Checkout Links are a great resource!

This free feature from Square Online lets you add checkout buttons to your website so you can take direct payments from your visitors.

The only charge you'll encounter is a 2.5% transaction fee whenever someone makes a purchase through your checkout buttons. It's a cost-effective option if you don't want a whole online store, but still want to make some money through your site.

You can add products and product photos from your Square Online dashboard.

Editing with Square Online is a lot like editing with Weebly – in other words, very easy.

Square Online's three cheapest plans include a free plan, which you can still sell items on.

Thinking about Square Online?

It's like Squarespace, but with more dedicated sales features.

What About Other Website Builders for Artists?

The builders we've talked about above were the 12 highest performers in our research, and we've recommended them because we think they're the best. But of course, there are tons of other website builders out there that provide services for artists.

We'll cover some honorable mentions below (including why they didn't make the top 12), so you can get an even better idea of the options available to you.

Pixpa

Pixpa is a portfolio website builder geared specifically towards photographers and other creatives. Because of its focus on photography, Pixpa is great at providing image-centric templates that let your art steal the show.

Pixpa provides all of the basic requirements, including mobile optimized templates, as well as a reassuring 15-day free trial (plans start at just $7 per month). But it didn't make the cut for our top twelve because the features on its cheapest plan are pretty limiting. Your gallery gets capped at 200 images, and if you want to sell your art, you can only sell up to five products before you'll have to upgrade your plan.

Format

Like Pixpa, Format is a portfolio website builder for creatives. It's mostly aimed at photographers, but artists can get a lot of use out of its image protection feature, which lets you add watermarks to the pictures on your site.

While Format is great for showcasing images – you can upload up to 1,500 on the cheapest plan – this builder just isn't up to standard when it comes to the amount of features you'll get for your money.

For example, Format's cheapest plan starts at $12 per month. That's within the normal price range, but it's not really worth it when you consider that you won't be able to use video on your site unless you upgrade from this plan.

Small Victories

Small Victories ($4 per month) works a little differently than most artist website builders.

If you're a complete beginner and you want the website building process to be as hands-off as possible, then you might like Small Victories. It uses Dropbox folders to collect all of the media (like images and text files) that you want to use, and then puts all of that media together into a website.

It sounds a little confusing, but getting started with Small Victories is as simple as moving all of your artwork into a single folder on your computer. Still, we found this platform a little off-putting, because it gives you no control over the process of creating your website. You can tweak your template once your content is uploaded, but the process is pretty impersonal.

Our Final Thoughts

Website builders have made it easier than ever to display and sell art digitally. For purely displaying your art, you should use a platform like Squarespace. If you're looking to sell your art online, then you should consider Shopify to help manage your store.

Best Website Builders for Artists Showcasing Their Work:

Squarespace – Starts $12/month
Wix – Starts $14/month
GoDaddy – Starts $9.99/month
Duda – Starts $14/month
Zyro – Starts at $8.90 per month

There's a lot to choose from, but most of these platforms offer free plans (and all of them offer free trials), so you won't have to pay for a platform you're not happy with. And you're already a few steps closer to sharing your art with the world – on the perfect site for you.

Next Up…

Once you've found the perfect website builder for showcasing and even selling your art, check out our 9-step guide on How to Make an Online Portfolio for some expert tips on creating a professional portfolio website.

FAQs

Both website builders offer two different types of paid plans: regular and ecommerce plans. The difference is that you can sell products on an ecommerce plan. In this article, we've treated regular plans and ecommerce plans as two separate platforms, since their features and prices are so different. So for example, "Squarespace" and "Squarespace Ecommerce" are technically the same builder, just with a different set of features.

First things first: a photo gallery with pictures of your work! Aside from that, you may also want to include some videos of your work, depending on the medium. Meanwhile, content wise, an "About Me" section and a "Contact" section are important ways to connect with your viewers.

All of the website builders in this ranking will optimize your website template for mobile viewing. This means that when someone is visiting your website from their smartphone, page elements and images will adjust to the screen.