Every photographer should have a portfolio, but where can you make one without spending money? You’ve probably seen a few well-known paid portfolio websites, but the thought of having to pay money each year doesn’t appeal to you. Fortunately, there are a ton of excellent portfolio websites for professional photographers that are completely free to use.
The Top 10 Free Online Photographer Portfolio Sites Include the following:
- Behance
- Flickr
- Adobe Portfolio
- YouPic
- Crevado
- Photo.net
- Portfoliobox
- 500px
- WordPress
- Tumblr
In the digital age, online portfolio websites are the simplest method to showcase your images. Now that you are aware of the websites we will discuss in this article, let’s explore the particular benefits all of these portfolio websites has to offer.
1. 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 interest you if you often use other Adobe products, like Lightroom & Photoshop, since you can log in with your existing account. Indeed, Adobe has incorporated some features so that you may upload to Behance straight from their products.
2. Flickr
One of the first names in the online picture industry is Flickr. 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 daily as of 2015.
It’s also among the finest portfolio websites since it’s simple to use, allows for rapid picture sharing, and is easy to navigate. By default, your images will appear in your photostream, but if you want a more focused collection, you must create an album, upload your photos to it, and then share the album’s URL with the recipient.
Once you subscribe to a premium membership, you won’t have to bother with building a website, and you can still display hundreds of your images without worrying about storage space.
3. Adobe Portfolio
There is already a website from Adobe on this list. But Adobe Portfolio differs somewhat from that one. Behance focuses more on users that don’t wish to create their websites, while Adobe Portfolio does the opposite. The procedure is far easier on this website than if you attempted to create your photographic portfolio on your own, which Adobe hosts.
The Portfolio page features several examples created by the site’s professional photographers. If you enjoy this style, it would be worthwhile for you to check out these designs as they all have a clean and smooth appearance and often use white as their major color. They all seem quite excellent and professional.
It’s particularly helpful if you know that you need a website but don’t want to create one yourself or deal with a website builder more geared toward bloggers than photographers.
4. 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 just 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 those other users are among the first things you’ll encounter when looking at the service site. Additionally, this website allows you to purchase and sell photographs, so if you’re looking for a photographic website to sell images, YouPic could be a good option.
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 actually sending them to various locations is obvious. YouPic says that you may be hired directly from the site for new jobs. There are several solid reasons for a novice photographer to check out this location, including the interactive training it has to offer.
5. Crevado
Compared to 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 with a free and easy-to-use website where the essential features are available without charge.
If you don’t want to spend additional money on a portfolio since there are already enough costs associated with photography, then this can be one of your better alternatives. Although there is a subscription plan, it doesn’t seem necessary to utilize it to access the site’s primary features.
6. Photo.net
I highlighted Flickr, 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 roughly ten years. You may host up to 100 photographs 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.
7. Portfoliobox
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 focused on showing portfolios.
On this website, you may also sell your images without having to pay commissions or other costs out of your earnings. Additionally, if you want to give your website a little more depth, you may add a blog. Surprisingly, there is a free option on a site with so many capabilities, and you may upload up to 50 photographs with it.
In addition, this website offers a free domain name, which is a benefit that most comparable sites lack. The benefit is that you’ll stand out more and may invite more people to visit your portfolio website.
8. 500px
Although 500px is not the oldest website on our 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 described itself as a worldwide picture-sharing community.
It’s renowned for assisting professionals, whether new or experienced, to establish their careers and showcase their skills to customers, in addition to just enabling you to create a portfolio. They also claim that its Pulse algorithm promotes fresh photographs rather than those taken by well-known photographers, which may be helpful if you don’t already have a large 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 picture uploads, depending on the kind of photography you do, which could be plenty. Additionally, you may create & share galleries and freely license your works. You don’t need to pay to start developing your portfolio here since those elements are accessible without a membership.
9. WordPress
WordPress was not specifically created for photographers or even with photography in mind. Even so, if you have enough technical know-how to make it work, it will provide you with more customizing choices than a website designed exclusively for photographers.
This is so because blogs are made using WordPress. One sort of website you can create with it is a photoblog. Still, the platform is so adaptable that you may create whatever style you choose and incorporate various cutting-edge features into your portfolio website. Of course, the drawback is that getting these components to function requires some technical know-how.
10. Tumblr
Tumblr is a different blogging platform that enables customization and is free to use at first. Although the website has seen better days, it still has enough visitors to warrant consideration. You might be interested in the customization Tumblr provides if you prefer your portfolio site to one created using a drag-and-drop website builder.
For others, however, Tumblr will be a more appealing alternative since designing a Tumblr blog is simpler and less complex than doing the same with a WordPress site. The community is another benefit. Suppose you like a particular style or specialty of photography. In that case, 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 portfolio, but it does offer the benefit of being cost-free and having a lot of design flexibility.
The top 10 free photography portfolio alternatives for photographers are listed as follows. There’s a little bit of anything on this list, whether you want a straightforward drag-and-drop portfolio or one with more flexibility.
Now, if you want to develop a photographic portfolio, you’re undoubtedly curious about how to make it as strong as possible. After all, it’s your portfolio that will assist you in attracting prospective customers.