To enhance your online presence, you might want to use a portfolio website builder. You can create a site where you'll be able to showcase your work, tell the world about yourself, find new clients and sell your products. From this article, you'll find out how to select a top-notch online portfolio builder. These recommendations should come in handy for people of many industries: writing, music, photography and so on.
Essential Features of a Portfolio Website Builder
When choosing a portfolio website builder, you should ask yourself the following questions:
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What's its price? You'll hardly be able to find a solution that is available 100% for free. But many builders have free plans or free trials that enable you to assess their functionality.
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Who is its target audience? Some builders allow you to create portfolios for various spheres of activity. Others are focused on specific industries.
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Do you need to have any skills to use the builder? Top solutions are highly intuitive. You don't need to know HTML or have any design skills to use them. They feature user-friendly drag-and-drop editors and you can learn how to make the most of them in just a few minutes.
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How large is the collection of templates? The builder should offer a collection of templates that you can customize. Ideally, the collection should be large and include templates that are relevant to your industry.
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How easy is it to add features to your site? You might want to sell items from your portfolio, accept online payments, calculate your taxes and collect your clients' contact details.
Below, we'll list the most popular portfolio site builders for various spheres of activity. Most of them have either free trials or free plans.
Bitrix24
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Target audience
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Anyone
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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You might find some functions excessive.
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With Bitrix24, you can build nearly any type of site. You'll get free hosting and a free domain name. You'll be able to add an unlimited number of pages to your site and enjoy unlimited bandwidth. Your site will be mobile-responsive and you'll appreciate its API and integrations. The choice of templates is extensive.
Unlike an average portfolio website builder, Bitrix24 features a powerful CRM. That's an indispensable tool for those who would like to sell their work from their site. The CRM can store an unlimited number of records and you can customize it easily. You can accept online payments and your product catalog will be very well-structured.
Bitrix24 enables you to get valuable insights from Google Analytics. You'll get to know how many people visited your portfolio, which pages they checked and how much time they spent on each page. These statistics should help you to understand which works of yours your potential clients seem to be most interested in. Also, you'll get access to advertising networks. You'll be able to promote your products and attract more visitors to your website. Besides, you can use built-in SEO tools to make the most of the links that can bring people to your website.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Number of users
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Price per month, if you pay annually*
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Free
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Unlimited
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$0
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Basic
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5
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$39
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Standard
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50
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$79
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Professional
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Unlimited
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$149
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* Please note that the information may have changed since the publication. For current prices and features please visit Bitrix24 pricing page.
The main disadvantage of the Free plan consists in the fact that you'll get only 5 GB of storage.
Wix
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Target audience
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Those who appreciate flexibility
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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Wix is an extremely popular and versatile solution. It's much more than an online portfolio builder because it enables you to create various types of sites (blogs, online stores, landing pages and so on). At a very affordable price, you get access to a very convenient drag-and-drop interface and a lot of editing tools. The large template library features numerous themes designed specifically for portfolio sites.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month
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Combo
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$14
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Unlimited
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$18
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Pro
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$23
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VIP
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$39
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All plans offer 24/7 customer care. With the Combo plan, you get only 3 GB of storage space. With the Unlimited plan, you get 10 Gb of storage space, $300-worth ad vouchers, the Site Booster app (free for one year) and the Visitor Analytics app (free for one year). Wix recommends the Unlimited plan for entrepreneurs and freelancers.
Weebly
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Target audience
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Ecommerce
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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This online portfolio builder is famous for its ecommerce tools and visually appealing templates. You can conveniently sell items through your website, list an unlimited number of goods for sale and use the inventory management portal. The system even features an automatic tax calculator! The only limitation is related to the Free plan: it doesn't allow you to sell digital goods.
All plans offer unlimited storage. The maximum size of the file that you can upload varies from 100 to 250 MB according to your plan. The maximum size limit for a video that you can upload is 1 GB.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month, if you pay annually
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Free
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$0
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Personal
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$6
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Professional
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$12
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Performance
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$26
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With the Free plan, you'll get access to chat and email support. You won't get a free domain and you won't be able to connect a custom one. The Free plan doesn't feature password protection, advanced site stats or an opportunity to remove square ads.
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Format
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Target audience
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Photographers
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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This online portfolio builder is tailor-made for photographers — but not videographers. The first couple of hours might be a bit challenging because the interface is not too user-friendly. But as you get accustomed, you should appreciate this software. One of its most useful features is the opportunity to set up an online store to sell your work.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month, if you pay annually
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Basic
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$7
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Pro
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$8
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Pro Plus
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$13
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With the Basic plan, you get access to a limited selection of themes, a maximum of 15 website pages and 1000 high-resolution images. To get a free custom domain and be able to use the code editor, you should upgrade to a more expensive plan.
Site123
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Target audience
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Those who want to save time and effort
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Primary competitive edges
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Very beginner-friendly
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Plenty of storage space
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Comprehensive app market
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Main shortcomings
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Once the template goes live, you can't switch it
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Lack of advanced features
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Limited design opportunities
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This might be not the most powerful online portfolio builder — but it can considerably save you time and effort. Even though the templates might seem a bit too basic, this is exactly what makes them so beginner-friendly.
At the initial stage, the software will ask you a few questions to find out which kind of site you're planning to build. Depending on your answers, the system will recommend an optimal template to you. The customization opportunities of Site123 might be less extensive than those of some of its competitiors — but even without advanced functionality, you should be able to create a stunning portfolio.
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The name of the plan
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Price per month
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Free
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$0
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Premium
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$7.80
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With the Free plan, you get a subdomain, 250 MB of storage and 250 MB of bandwidth. With the Premium plan, you get a free domain for 1 year, 10 GB of storage, 5 GB of bandwidth and ecommerce opportunities. You'll be able to connect your domain and remove the SITE123 floating tag.
IM Creator
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Target audience
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Students and artists
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Primary competitive edges
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Extensive selection of templates
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Free forever for artists, students and nonprofits
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Unlimited storage across the board
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Main shortcomings
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The quality of support might be substandard sometimes
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Not the most intuitive builder
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Limited drag-and-drop functionality
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This online portfolio builder was custom-made for artists and other creatives. It features a huge templates library and allows you to flexibly customize each template. You'll love the inventory management console and in-depth analytics of this solution.
The best thing is that qualifying students, artists and nonprofits have a right to apply for a free license. They will get access to the full functionality of this software for unlimited time.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price
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Free
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$0
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Premium
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$7.95 per month
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Pro & Whitelable
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$350 per year
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You'll hardly need the Pro & Whitelable plan for your portfolio because it's for resellers. With the Free plan, you'll get access to the entire templates collection, basic support and hosting of up to 50 MB. With the Premium plan, you'll get unlimited hosting and bandwidth and you'll be able to connect your site to any domain. You can use up to 10 customized email addresses and enjoy premium 24/7 support.
Krop
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Target audience
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Those who appreciate visually appealing templates
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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This online portfolio builder stands out from the rest thanks to its in-built online job board. From there, you can apply for jobs. Plus, you can use the board to showcase your work.
The pricing of this solution is extremely simple: you start with a free trial and then pay $8.25 per month. You'll get access to a brilliant collection of templates, powerful customizations, unlimited storage space, Instagram integrations and a free domain name. The templates that this software offers were tailor-made for portfolios and you can easily customize them.
You'll be able to protect selected albums with passwords so that only users with proper access rights can see them. Thanks to Instagram Integration, Krop can automatically display your latest Instagram posts right on your portfolio. Video content adds dynamics to the site, so you can either upload your own video or choose one from the ready-to-use collection.
On the flip side, this solution lacks online selling tools, so your fans won't be able to buy your works right from your portfolio site.
Bandzoogle
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Target audience
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Musicians
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Primary competitive edges
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Streamlined music showcase tools
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No commissions for music and ticket sales
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Integrations with third-party platforms
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Free lifetime domain name
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Main shortcomings
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You might want to consider this online portfolio builder if you're a musician. It features a built-in music player and commission-free sales. It has an analytics platform that tracks various metrics, including song plays, and SEO tools to help you promote your tunes. The editor is highly intuitive: select a template, fine-tune its design and add your content. Compared to other builders, Bandzoogle might offer not the most sophisticated templates — but your portfolio should look impressive anyway.
All plans come with unlimited support, free domain name, premium hosting, unlimited bandwidth, hundreds of mobile-optimized themes, blog and music player. No matter which plan you choose, you'll be able to sell music and subscriptions as well as run crowdfunding campaigns with 0% commission. Plus, you can use electronic press kits, SEO tools and the tour calendar.
Here are the available plans of this portfolio website builder:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month, if you pay annually
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Lite
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$8.29
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Standard
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$12.46
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Pro
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$16.63
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With the Lite plan, you won't be able to sell merch and your mailing list will be limited to 100 subscribers. Your website will consist of no more than 10 pages and you'll be able to upload no more than 10 tracks and 100 photos there.
Journo Portfolio
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Target audience
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Writers
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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Limited editing functionality
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Article backups only available with Pro plan
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Custom domain only with Pro plan
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This online portfolio builder was created for writers. You can import content directly from a URL to your site or upload it as PDF documents and images. Moreover, you can write and publish articles within the Journo Portfolio platform. There, you'll discover a selection of themes, an analytics portal and other useful tools.
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The name of the plan
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Price per month
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Free
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$0
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Plus
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$5
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Pro
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$10
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Students can request 50% off their first year of any paid plan. With the Free plan, you can create only a home page and upload a maximum of 10 articles to it. With the Plus plan, you can create an unlimited number of pages and upload as many articles to them as you wish. The Pro plan enables you to get a custom domain, article backups, automatic article import and advanced integrations as well as protect your portfolio with a password.
Strikingly
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Target audience
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Artist
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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This online portfolio builder is great for single-page websites. When people visit your site, they will quickly find what they need because the navigation will be very easy. Thanks to the Simple Store integration, Strikingly supports e-commerce. Even though its selling tools are not too advanced, you should be able to make money on your site.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month, if you pay annually
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Limited
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$8
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Pro
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$16
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VIP
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$49
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All plans come with a 14-day free trial. If you opt for the Limited plan, you start with a custom domain, get 2 sites with limited features and an unlimited number of sites with free features. You'll get 1 GB storage per site, 50 GB of bandwidth and will be able to sell up to 5 products. The support crew will be ready to attend to you 24/7. You'll need to pay a 5% transaction fee. Your domain will remain free for a year.
GoDaddy
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Target audience
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Those who want their online portfolio to go live as soon as possible
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Primary competitive edges
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Main shortcomings
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This solution is ideal for creating simple portfolios. Without any previous experience, you can create yours and make it go live in just a few hours. This online portfolio builder is one of the most basic that you might come across and its selection of templates is limited. Yet it enables to build a top-notch portfolio for nearly any sphere of activity.
Here are the available plans:
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The name of the plan
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Price per month
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Basic
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£5.59
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Standard
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£7.99
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Premium
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£11.99
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Ecommerce
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£15.99
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If you pay annually, you should be able to save up to 20%. No credit card is required for the free trial.
The Basic plan lacks SEO and enables you to connect to just one social media platform. You can make and reply to only 5 social media posts per month through the GoDaddy dashboard. But you'll be able to benefit from guidance, analytics and 24/7 support.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you found this article informative and now you better understand how to select an online portfolio builder. It shouldn't require any coding or design skills. It should be easy for you to use this software even if you have never created websites before. The builder should offer you an extensive selection of templates that are relevant to your sphere of activity. You should be able to customize these templates and add all the required functions to your site. These functions might include an opportunity to sell your products, collect your client's data, embed videos and so on. The price of the builder should be affordable — but you shouldn't expect to find a powerful solution that's available 100% for free. Among all the popular options, you might want to choose Bitrix24. It's a powerful and versatile solution that enables you to create various websites quickly and easily. You'll get a free domain name and free hosting.
