5 Best Photography Website Builders: Gain Exposure in 2024

Wix

Best all-in-one photography builder

Outstanding

4.7

out of 5

• Photo Studio for editing
• Photography templates
• Best website features

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $16 - $159 / month

Pros

• Suitable for majority of photographers
• Large element library
• Connect with social media channels

Cons

• Interface can be overwhelming
• Limited free plan with ads
• Not the most affordable

Wix Review

Try Wix

• Wix Pricing: Wix’s four paid plans range from $16 to $159 per month (billed annually), and there’s also a free plan you can use as a testing ground before upgrading. You’ll need to select the $27/mo Core plan to start selling photos online. Get 10% off Wix with our exclusive code “GET10!”.

Wix takes the top position in our list of the best photography website builders. It’s a comprehensive solution for photographers of all skill levels and types, whether you’re just starting out or you’re already established in the industry.

Wix Photography Templates

When testing Wix ourselves, we could choose between 40 photography-specific templates, broken into sub-categories: “Events & Portraits”, “Commercial & Editorial”, and “Travel & Documentary”.

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to use, letting you design your photography website the way you want – you could add gallery elements to show off select images or introduce a store to start selling photos (if you’ve subscribed to Wix’s Core plan or above). That being said, the complete freedom granted by Wix’s limitless customization can result in a messy-looking site. If you want creative assistance, we recommend Squarespace because its editor offers structure through grid lines.

Wix Photography Features

Wix has the best website features out of all the website builders we tested. Photographers will have access to tools such as the Wix Photo Albums app (to share and sell photos to clients), password-protected galleries, and the option to safeguard your images from right-click downloads.

We particularly liked Wix’s Photo Studio since this let us make additional edits to photos from within the website editor, such as resizing or adding text. This is handy for novice photographers who might not want to shell out for photography-related software or editing tools just yet

To help photographers showcase their work online, Wix also provides marketing support. You can connect your Google Business Profile in the backend dashboard, design posts for your social media accounts, and even create branded email marketing campaigns. This means you can oversee your photography profile from a single base instead of having to jump between platforms.

Who Do We Recommend Wix For?

Wix is our top photography website builder because it accommodates all needs and users with its well-rounded product.

Read our Wix Review for more information.

Squarespace

For photography services

Excellent

4.6

out of 5

• Acuity Scheduling tool
• Great for creatives
• Easiest builder to use

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month

Pros

• Grid-style drag-and-drop editor
• Stylish photography templates
• Optimizes your images for devices

Cons

• No autosave when editing
• Not as flexible as Wix
• Pay for additional features, like Acuity

Squarespace Review

Use code WBE10 for 10% off

Try Squarespace

• Squarespace Pricing: Plans range between $16 and $49 per month (billed annually). You’ll need the $23/mo Business plan or above if you want to sell your photos through your website. Use code “WBE10” for 10% off your Squarespace plan!

Want to manage appointments and bookings through your photography website? Hoping to get more eyes on your images? We recommend using Squarespace for its high-end booking system, Acuity, and its stylish design-oriented templates.

Squarespace Design Options

Like Wix, Squarespace performs well in most areas and is the easiest website builder to use, but we were particularly impressed with its design options and intuitive editor. Squarespace is even trusted by professional photographers:

I built my photography website with Squarespace...

Bob Mackowski

Commercial Photographer

Bob Mackowski is a commercial photographer and marketing educator based in North Carolina. He creates visuals through his company, Open Aperture Photography, and educates small business owners on how to create and utilize their own photos and videos.

Q&A

What do you like most about Squarespace?

My favorite feature of Squarespace is its overall ease of use. It’s easy and intuitive with a high-quality final product.

What would you change about Squarespace?

Anything that I’d suggest changing would be nitpicking. For example, I wish their events calendar was easier to use and more customizable. It still gets the job done though.

Were you satisfied with the website you made, and would you recommend Squarespace to others?

I’m very satisfied with my website (Open Aperture Photography) and I recommend Squarespace to everybody. This is something that gets mentioned in a lot of the digital marketing classes that I teach to small business owners. I’ve used a few other platforms and they just don’t measure up to Squarespace.

When testing Squarespace, we could filter its template library to only show photography templates. With over 20 to choose from – all professionally designed – this can be a tough decision! We loved the Gilden template for its modern appeal and the McCurry template since it has a services page already prepared.

Once in the editor, we could play around with the theme easily by dragging elements, such as slideshows and digital products, around the page. While it’s not as flexible as Wix’s drag-and-drop editor, Squarespace’s grid-style layout helped us keep things organized and aligned.

And, the great news is that Squarespace automatically optimizes your images and design for different devices, so you can relax knowing that every website visitor sees the high-quality work displayed as intended.

Squarespace Photography Features

To help attract clients and build a fanbase, Squarespace also lets you connect your website with social media platforms, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Flickr.

If you’re interested in selling online, Squarespace gives you ecommerce tools with three of its plans, starting from $23 per month. But, one of our favorite features of Squarespace is its scheduling tool which is ideal for photographers looking to take bookings via their website. Acuity Scheduling streamlines the booking process, allowing clients to connect with you at the click of a button. The tool offers personalized communications, payment options, and more – you can add the feature to your existing website builder plan for an extra fee (starting from $16/mo).

Who Do We Recommend Squarespace For?

Squarespace boasts a lot of great features, such as scheduling tools and photography-oriented design options.

Read our Squarespace Review for more information.

Shopify

For selling photography online

Excellent

4.5

out of 5

• Best sales features
• Huge app store
• Good marketing features

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

• Impressive product backend
• Sell on socials, like TikTok
• Ideal for selling and showcasing work

Cons

• Relies on third-party apps
• Limited free templates
• Expensive plans

Shopify Review

Try Shopify

• Shopify Pricing: Shopify has a 3-day free trial, followed by a $1 per month deal for your first three months. After that, pricing ranges between $29 and $299 per month (billed annually). Ecommerce is supported on all of Shopify’s plans.

If you’re looking to sell your photos online, Shopify has the best ecommerce features to support photographers. It has an incredible product backend and multichannel integration, meaning you can promote and sell your photos across a range of platforms, such as TikTok.

Building an Online Store

When using Shopify, it directed us to add products first before designing the frontend look. This is easy to complete within the dashboard – simply click “Products” in the sidebar to fill out product details. To sell photos digitally for customers to download, you’ll need to install a third-party app, like the Shopify Digital Downloads app. Wix, on the other hand, handles this in-house, allowing users to sell digital photos with its Wix Art Store feature.

Unfortunately, Shopify does rely on its app market to complement its in-house features so it’s not as comprehensive as Wix when it comes to photography tools.

Finally, it’s time to start designing your homepage and store. Shopify has a limited number of free themes, with the majority of themes costing between $140 and $400 (for a one-time payment). While you can filter the themes by industry type, there are no templates designed with photography in mind – so you’ll need to browse the library to find a good fit. We recommend the free templates “Publisher” or “Studio” since they focus on showcasing visual work.

Shopify Marketing Features

It’s also worth mentioning that Shopify excels when it comes to marketing, particularly advertorial. This is great for photographers since it makes promoting your work online really simple and you can set up a lot of automations so you don’t have to manage it day-to-day.

The recent Shopify Editions: Winter ‘24 revealed a handy marketing tool, Shop Campaign, which can support photographers to engage with their audience more effectively through its buyer rewards program. To put it simply, customers earn Shop Cash through purchases that can be redeemed on the Shop app – businesses can then target these customers with Shop Campaign and offer exclusive deals.

Who Do We Recommend Shopify For?

Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce website builder so the price point reflects the additional sales features it offers.

Read our Shopify Review for more information.

GoDaddy

For side hustle photographers

Very Good

4.2

out of 5

• Build a website quickly
• Very affordable plans
• Built-in scheduling tool

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $6.99 - $469.99 / month

Pros

• Ideal for beginners
• 24/7 website support
• Easy-to-navigate dashboard

Cons

• Limited photography templates
• Simple design elements
• Restrictive editor

GoDaddy Review

Try GoDaddy

• GoDaddy Pricing: Like Wix, GoDaddy also offers a free plan to users but we recommend upgrading to one of its premium options for an ad-free site. Its plans range from $9.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually). You’ll need the $20.99/mo Commerce plan to sell online.

For casual or side hustle photographers, GoDaddy is a great choice of website builder. It has a simple section-based editor which makes building very beginner-friendly. We also think GoDaddy’s set-up speed makes it ideal for individuals looking to get online quickly.

During our tests, we found the signup process only took 30 seconds or so to dive into GoDaddy’s editor.

GoDaddy Photography Templates

Unlike Wix and Squarespace which dedicate a lot of energy toward crafting beautiful templates to use, GoDaddy likes to keep things simple. There are eight photography templates to choose from, built with useful tools in mind like appointments or image carousels. In comparison, Squarespace offers 20+ photography templates, so GoDaddy’s choices are more limited.

Of course, you can edit any template to suit your needs, but there are only a handful of style options available for elements like photo galleries and an Instagram feed. Still, the editor’s minimalist approach makes it easy to wrap your head around the website builder. Other options, like Wix, can be quite overwhelming for complete novices because of more detailed and complex interfaces, but Wix will grant you more creative freedom than GoDaddy.

GoDaddy Photography Features

For photographers, GoDaddy offers tools for scheduling appointments if you’re looking to offer services online, as well as social marketing features to help you connect and engage with clients. This can all be managed from GoDaddy’s dashboard.

Who Do We Recommend GoDaddy For?

GoDaddy’s more straightforward approach means we wouldn’t recommend it for every photographer, especially if you’re looking to sell online.

Read our GoDaddy Review for more information.

Hostinger

For beginner photographers

Good

4

out of 5

• Very affordable builder
• Suite of AI tools
• 20+ photography templates

Paid Plans: $2.99 - $109.99 / month

Pros

• Simple to use
• Good for novice photographers
• Includes ecommerce features

Cons

• No free plan or free trial
• Not for advanced users
• No photography tools

Hostinger Review

Try Hostinger

• Hostinger Pricing: You need to sign up for one of Hostinger’s three hosting plans to unlock its website builder service. These range from $2.99 to $9.99 per month (billed annually), with varying storage and security.

Hostinger is ideal for beginner photographers because of its user-friendly and all-in-one approach to website building. Its website builder package remains the same no matter which plan you choose – and while this might be restrictive for individuals looking to expand in the future, it means Hostinger is a good option for novice photographers or for anyone less confident about stepping into the online world of websites.

Hostinger Photography Templates

Hostinger gives you the option to use a pre-designed template or let AI set your website up for you. While there are 22 photography-related templates, we recommend using Hostinger’s AI website builder to speed things along, especially if you’re a beginner. That said, you’ll struggle to create anything truly unique-looking when using AI.

Hostinger uses a drag-and-drop editor, so you can swap and change elements around with ease, such as galleries, slideshows, or videos. While the design approach will feel similar to leading website builders like Wix, Hostinger’s features and designs work universally no matter the industry or business. Wix, on the other hand, offers tailored tools for photographers, such as the Photo Studio which is built into the editor.

Hostinger AI Features

When testing, we were impressed by Hostinger’s suite of AI tools, including a Blog Generator, an AI Heatmap tool to see where visitors are engaging with your pages, and an AI Page Generator. While none of these target photographers specifically, they can be adapted for photography needs. For example, you could use the AI Page Generator to set up a services page or ask Hostinger’s AI Blog Generator to write a post on the best photo editing software.

These AI tools, along with Hostinger’s SEO features, can help you simplify the building process and boost your website’s visibility overall.

Who Do We Recommend Hostinger For?

Hostinger is a well-rounded website builder, like Wix, but with fewer features and limited scalability.

Read our Hostinger Website Builder Review for more information.

There are a few essential features every photography website should have. Looks and visuals matter – after all, you want to show off your photos.

Consider factors like website templates. Are there photography-specific templates to choose from? Does the website builder offer design elements such as galleries and contact forms? These are important things to recognize when browsing since they’ll make building a photography website much easier – you won’t have to create every page from scratch.

Another thing to think about is how you want to use your photography website. Are you building a portfolio? Do you want to share your expertise with a blog? Do you want to offer bookable services or sell photos to customers? For this, you’ll want to look out for features like scheduling tools or ecommerce capabilities. Some builders, like Wix, also provide handy tools for watermarking images.

You don’t need to become a coding expert on top of being a photographer to set up a website. We’ve pulled together our recommendations to help narrow down your decision:

• Need a comprehensive platform that does it all? Wix is our top website builder for photographers, offering powerful features for marketing and sales, as well as impressive designs to help showcase your work
• Looking to create a stylish portfolio? Try Squarespace’s stunning template options which you can easily tweak to your liking with its user-friendly editor
• Hoping to sell your images online? Shopify is the best for selling, offering unparalleled sales features, such as multichannel integration, to help you engage clients and customers
• Want to get online quickly and easily? GoDaddy and Hostinger have the speediest set-up times and are affordable choices for beginners or photographers who don’t need all of the bells and whistles of higher-end website builders

Or, get a personalized website builder recommendation from our short quiz:

At Website Builder Expert, we put every builder, platform, and product through our thorough research process so we can bring you data-led and accurate recommendations. We want to help you make an informed decision when it comes to choosing the right photography website builder.

Our rankings and insights focus on seven core categories, with greater weight placed on those more important for photographers:

• Design Functionality – 32%

To help you present your photography well, we analyze each website builder’s aesthetic qualities, including template choice, UX, CRO, and design options.

• Website Features – 22.5%

Our research looks at the quality and quantity of features on offer, including SEO and advertorial marketing to help you expand your client base.

• User Experience – 13.5%

We make sure to use and navigate each website builder ourselves so we understand what they’re like to build with.

• Help & Support – 12%

We look at a website builder’s support channels, from help centers to contact options like live chat and email.

• Sales Features – 10%

We examine the available ecommerce features, with extra focus being placed on multichannel integration since we know this is important to photographers.

• Customer Score – 5%

These tests look at how a website builder performs within the market.

• Value for Money – 5%

Our research focuses on a website builder’s pricing, whether there’s a free plan or free trial, and what individuals can expect to get for their money.

Carving out an online presence as a photographer is critical in this modern day and age, so we recommend getting set up with a website builder as soon as possible, especially if you’re a full-time professional.

Wix is our top-rated photography website builder because of its template options, built-in features for marketing, and impressive suite of photography tools, such as the Wix Photo Studio.

If you use any of these website builders or recommend another photography website builder, let us know what you think in the comments! And, you can check out our expert guide if you need more tips on creating a photography website.