The best website builder for artists can help if you’ve ever wanted to show off your artistic skills or you’ve thought about selling your artwork online. Website builders come equipped with professionally designed templates that are easy to customize and make your own, and importantly, you don’t need to learn a single line of code.
But with so many options, how are you supposed to know which is the right choice for you? That’s why we’ve created this article on the 10 best website builders for artists. Read on to learn which website creator for artists is really the best.
The 10 Website Creators for Artists Ranked
Here’s a list of the 10 best artist website builders available on the market today.
- Wix — Overall, the best website builder for artists, with over 900 fully customizable templates.
- GoDaddy — Popular website builder with an integrated app for on-the-go editing – and the best platform for domain registration.
- Webador — An excellent choice for small online stores and artists who want a website created quickly.
- Squarespace — Best-in-class solution for creatives and the best portfolio website builder.
- Shopify — A comprehensive website builder and a great choice for those interested in building larger online stores.
- Square — Great for web design for artists and a very popular pick for small-to-medium-sized stores. It’s also got the best free website builder around.
- Ucraft — An easy-to-use builder with loads of stock images at your disposal makes this one of the best choices for an art portfolio.
- Ionos — The largest hosting company in Europe, with 99.99% uptime, makes this the best for site speed and reliability.
- Weebly — A great choice for usability and easy setup and capable of delivering some of the best free websites for artists.
- Systeme.io — Excellent choice for marketing, which comes with a comprehensive free-forever plan.
Can You Make Art Websites Yourself?
You can certainly make an art website yourself – and in fact, if you’re an artist trying to sell your work or if you want to create an online portfolio, it’s actively recommended. An art website is the perfect place to showcase your talent, attract buyers, and get some attention in a crowded market.
Website builders like the ones we discuss in this article have been designed so individuals without any coding knowledge can create attractive and engaging websites.
If you’re trying to sell your artwork, then a website is arguably the single most important tool an artist could have.
The Best Website Design Tools For Artists Reviewed
Want to learn more? Below, you’ll find detailed reviews of the best website builders, including pros and cons as well as prices. After this article, you should have enough knowledge to make an informed decision so you can show the world your work.
1. Wix — Overall, the Best Website Builder for Artists
Wix is well known as one of the most intuitive website builders, especially for beginners, thanks to its simple-to-use drag-and-drop WixEditor tool. With over 900 templates on offer – many of which are art-focused – it’s easy to see why this website builder is the best for artists.
We found Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) very intuitive. The system will ask a handful of questions and create a website based on those answers. All you have to do is make a few adjustments here and there, and you’re good to go. This makes creating a website easier than ever before.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Best overall | $16/month | Yes (first year) | 14 free trial | No | – Custom domain – 2GB storage |
By just using your mouse, you can make pixel-perfect adjustments to just about any element on your website. That goes for the hundreds of customizable templates on offer as well.
Just be careful, though – once you choose a template, it can’t be changed after your site is live. With so much creative freedom at your fingertips, it’s no wonder why many professional art portfolios are created using Wix.
Wix is great for displaying and selling art, which is a win for artists trying to make a living. Wix ecommerce has partnered with more than 700,000 stores, many of which are art stores, making it easier than ever before to sell your artwork anywhere in the world, whether digital or physical art.
There’s also a built-in analytics tool that can help improve your online presence, and it offers information on things like the number of daily visitors, your total sales, and your visitors’ behavior. All of this can help you improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which ensures a greater chance of being noticed online.
Pricing
Wix has some of the most affordable plans around, and it has a free plan, which we thought was pretty comprehensive and a great option for those who want to learn the ropes.
The Enterprise plan requires a custom quote. However, there’s a 14-day free trial, so there’s literally nothing to lose. Try it out today and see what you can create.
Pros
- More than 900 customizable templates
- Powerful AI-driven design tools
- Super easy to use drag-and-drop feature
- More than 700,000 stores
Cons
- Free plan has no ecommerce features
- Can’t change templates after your site goes live
2. GoDaddy — Edit Your Website on the Go with an Intuitive App
Here, we have another easy-to-use website builder. GoDaddy is almost as easy to use as Wix, but it only offers around 200 templates to choose from. That being said, the templates are of world-class quality, with excellent customization options.
GoDaddy is also the world’s largest domain registrar. This makes sense as GoDaddy is foremost a hosting solution – but that doesn’t mean it can’t keep up when it comes to website building.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Domain registration | $9.99/month | Yes | – 30-day free trial – Free plan (limited) |
Yes | – GoDaddy Studio – Video creation |
Even though there are a limited number of templates, it’s good to know that they’re optimized for mobile delivery. And with the GoDaddy mobile app, you can make changes to your website on the go directly from your phone.
If you’re showing off your art, odds are you might want to sell it. That’s where GoDaddy’s ecommerce comes in. It’s designed to accommodate smaller businesses, which is great for artists.
From managing product inventory, accepting payments, and handling shipping, all of this can be done from one dashboard – and even better, no experience is required.
Where GoDaddy really shines is with customer support. There are tons of resources available to help you create the best art website, and if you’re still stuck, they offer 24/7 phone and chat support. All of this makes GoDaddy a top choice for those after a top artist website builder.
Pricing
All plans from GoDaddy offer a free business email for a full year, plus a free SSL certificate.
There’s also a 30-day free trial, so what do you have to lose? Try it today and start selling.
Pros
- World-class customer support
- All templates are mobile-optimized
- Mobile app available to edit your website
Cons
- Limited number of templates
3. Webador — Great for Getting a Website Up and Running Quickly
Webador is an all-in-one platform designed from the ground up with ease of use in mind. It’s best suited for small businesses and artists who want to get a website up and running in a short amount of time.
The editor is available in Dutch, German, Polish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and, of course, English. This makes it one of the most inclusive website builders around, though there’s a charge for each language you want to add.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Small online stores | $5/month | Yes | Free plan | No | – Blog function – Unlimited storage |
As an all-in-one platform, it has everything you need to successfully manage a website. Besides the website builder, it comes with a CMS (Content Management System). You can also register your own domain with Webador and have your website hosted there, too.
Setting up an online store is also pretty easy with Webador. You’ll get access to just about anything on Webador’s free account, but it must be said that if you want to start selling your artwork, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Webador’s primary focus is its ease of use. So, if you have no coding experience or simply have no idea how to make an artistic website, you can still use all the features on offer with relative ease.
Pricing
If you decide to try Webador out today, you’ll pay nothing for the first three months, which is a great offer.
Apart from having to purchase additional languages, there’s really nothing we didn’t like about Webador. Try it today and see for yourself.
Pros
- Simple to use
- Extremely affordable plans
- One of the best for small businesses
Cons
- Pay $5 per additional language
4. Squarespace — Best Website Builder for Art Portfolios
Squarespace has been designed to help creatives build a website that shows off their work. It’s a simple drag-and-drop editor that’s become renowned for being one of the best-looking editors around, and it’s also seen some recent quality-of-life improvements like guided store building and guided onboarding.
With around 100 beautifully designed templates, it’s one of the best website builders for artists Reddit users recommend. That’s not all – more than 3.5 million people opted to pay for the service after their 14-day free trial ran out, which is a testament to how good Squarespace really is.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Professional creative websites | $16/month – annual plan | Yes | 14-day free trial | No | – Squarespace AI – SEO features for site visibility |
Squarespace is not only great for building websites, but it also has fantastic marketing features that make your site stick out from the crowd.
You can integrate with over 20 social media platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and YouTube. What’s more, you can add the feeds of those social media platforms to your website so your guests can easily see what artwork you’ve been up to.
Having a website is one thing, but getting it to rank on a search engine is a challenge all on its own, but with Squarespace, it’s super simple. There are a host of excellent, beginner-friendly SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features that help you rank on search engines and ensure your site is seen.
You can also claim a free domain or web address for an entire year if you sign up to Squarespace. Just beware, though, the domain will cost you a standard rate of $16 after the first year is up. And if you already have a domain, you can simply add it for Squarespace at no extra charge.
Pricing
All plans give you access to Squarespaces’s mobile-optimized, fully customizable templates.
If you want to start selling your art, you’ll need to opt for the business plan, which starts at a reasonable $23 a month.
Pros
- Designed for creatives
- Many third-party integrations
- Lots of SEO features
Cons
- No ecommerce options on starting plan
5. Shopify — Best Choice for Those Wanting to Sell a Large Volume of Products
If you’re an artist who’s been itching to sell your artwork online, look no further than Shopify. It’s got an excellent community of Shopify store owners and experts who are always willing to help you out, which is why we think it’s the best ecommerce website builder for artists.
Having access to assistance is great because the templates are customizable using code. This means you can hire a Shopify expert if you want to make changes, or you can work on the code. We found it to be similar to how WordPress works, except Shopify has a much simpler layout.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Building an online store | $19/month | No | 3-day free trial | Yes | – Add unlimited products – Import unlimited marketplace orders |
Shopify has an app store that can enhance your art sales while also ensuring quick response times to any clients. For example, you can install Printify, which is a print-on-demand application for those selling reproductions of their artwork. There are also gallery apps as well as social marketing apps on offer.
That’s not all – there are over 100 different payment methods, so you can find the one best suited for your art store. Not sure what to go for? How about Shopify’s very own pay gate? Customers can pay directly on the Shopify platform, and the money gets sent straight to you.
Even though we think Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder for artists, it’s also great for selling digital products like music.
We think this makes it the best website builder for music artists as well. That being said, there are some downsides. For example, it’s not specifically designed for artists but rather for selling, and the SEO features could be improved.
Pricing
We recommend you keep an eye on the bill, as Shopify can get expensive relatively quickly.
That being said, it does offer a three-day trial, and you can add an unlimited number of art pieces, so in theory, it could end up paying for itself.
Pros
- Best for online art stores
- Lots of payment options
- Access to ecommerce features on the cheapest plan
Cons
- Can be expensive
- Short trial period
6. Square — Regarded as The Best Free Website Builder for Artists
We’ve determined Square as the best free website builder for artists thanks to an extensive free plan that allows for selling an unlimited number of products across multiple channels and an easy-to-use website builder that lets you rapidly design and build a website.
The site editor is really straightforward, in fact, it’s not too dissimilar from Weebly, another easy-to-use website builder. With Square, you can add as many pages to your site as you want, and while the customization options are limited, adding things like a logo and playing around with colors is as easy as ever.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Retailers and service vendors | $29/month | Yes | Free plan | Yes | – Lots of marketing tools – Manage multiple sites and locations |
Square charges a 2.9% commission for every transaction made, which makes sense since you get access to a variety of features like SEO and marketing tools to get your site noticed and the ability to sell amazing artwork on Facebook and Instagram.
It also integrates seamlessly with the Square POS system, which makes taking orders and receiving payments hassle-free.
What we liked was the unique product photo editor, which allows you to take photos of your art straight from your phone. Interestingly, you can also change things like the background colors, the level of light and shadows, as well as gradients and tonal backgrounds, which could enhance the overall look of your art piece.
Pricing
Square has a total of three plans, the free one being one of the best free plans around.
Even though the marketing toolbox is pretty big, if you want more than just a website builder with some basic controls, it’s best to go for a paid plan.
Pros
- Best free plan around
- Great photo editor
- Supports Square POS
Cons
- Limited customization
- More expensive than competitors
7. Ucraft — Easy to Use, with Access to Lots of Stock Images
Ucraft is a web hosting company with an excellent website builder for artists, thanks to the fact that it’s been built with design projects in mind. It’s also got an easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature. And with it, you can customize the already great-looking templates or just select a blank canvas to get started.
There are 63 professionally created templates, and although that’s not as many as Wix, for example, they’re all mobile responsive, plus you get access to Ucraft’s library of stock images for inspiration.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Personal websites and landing pages | $10/month – annual plan | Yes | – Free plan – 14-day free trial |
No | – 20+ integrations – Designer tools |
Ucraft has done things slightly differently, though. For example, there’s a limited number of places where you can place new elements on a page. This ensures everything fits comfortably, but it does take away some of the creative freedom.
Ucraft places a lot of emphasis on images. Templates are set up to let pictures do the talking. We think this makes it an excellent option for building an art portfolio. There’s also a host of image editing tools, video backgrounds, and social media integrations.
Other features you can expect include a free SSL certificate, which tells visitors your site is secure, and the option to integrate with Google Analytics, which is helpful if you want to keep an eye on the traffic your website receives.
When it comes to team management, Ucraft is slightly ahead of the curve. It allows you to add staff like editors and administrators or even allow other works of art on your page.
Pricing
Ucraft has a free plan and a 14-day free trial. It’s also really competitively priced.
In other words, it doesn’t really matter what plan you choose – they’re all pretty affordable when compared to the competition.
Pros
- Great image-enhancing capabilities
- Very affordable price
- Collaborative work is easy
- Supports multiple languages
Cons
- Limited customization
8. Ionos — The Best Choice for Website Uptime
Here, we have the largest hosting company in Europe. A new addition is the website builder. It’s powered by AI, which means you could get a fully-fledged, SEO-optimized art website for artists who have very little tech experience.
You can also leave it up to the experts, who are more than willing to have a few website designs for artists ready to go while you focus on your art. In other words, customer support is second to none with Ionos.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Site speed and uptime | $1/ first six months | Yes | 30-day free trial | Yes | – AI website builder – SEO text generator |
The website builder is pretty easy to use, though, with no code required. However, the reason it’s so easy to use is because it has very few frills.
So, when it comes to learning the platform, it can be done in a short amount of time but at the cost of creative freedom. That being said, Ionos is a great option for those who want to create a website for artists on a budget.
There are also ecommerce options available, though it must be said that these are pretty limited. For example, while many of its competitors offer things like abandoned cart recovery and a shipping and tax calculator, Ionos does not. If you are looking to sell your artwork online, something like Shopify might suit you better.
Pricing
This is where Ionos shines. It is a fair bit more affordable than its competitors, with pricing starting at $1 for the first six months on the Plus plan.
All plans include a domain for one year and a professional email address with varying inbox storage capacity, ranging from 2GB up to 50GB
Pros
- Affordable
- Great for beginners
- Powered by AI
Cons
- Limited customization options
- No free plan
9. Weebly — Top Contender with a Free Plan That’s Perfect for Beginners
Weebly is definitely one of the easiest website builders to use, and thanks to its free plan, it’s capable of delivering some of the best free websites for artists. That’s not to mention that, when compared to competitors, it’s more affordable than most.
Weebly gives you excellent step-by-step guidance when building a website, especially when it comes to SEO. We thought this was great, and it’s nice to receive assistance with some of the more important aspects of website building.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Ease of use | $10/month – annual plan | Yes (professional and performance plans) | Free plan | Yes | – Free SSL security – Integrated social media marketing |
Other than that, you’ll find everything you need to get a website up and running, like 100+ themes and the ability to integrate with other apps like Google Maps. It’s also really easy to add images and videos to your website, which is perfect for artists wanting to show off their work.
Weebly also has an excellent app store that has seen improvements. It’s been equipped with more advanced tools like the ability to add a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section and a “Back to top” button, among others. Overall, if you want a no-fuss website builder for artists that’s affordable, look no further than Weebly.
Pricing
Pros
- A free-forever plan
- Premium plans are very affordable
- No coding skills required
Cons
- Free plan includes ads
- Limited customization options
10. Systeme.io — The Best Option for Selling Artwork
If you’re looking to take your marketing to the next level, you have to try Systeme.io. It’s an all-in-one platform that can manage everything from building a website to setting up an online store.
And if you’ve never built a website before, it’s as easy as any of the top competitors with Systeme.io, thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop feature.
Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Marketing | $19/month – annual plan | Yes | Free plan | Yes | – Affiliate programs – Many email marketing integrations |
With one of the most comprehensive free plans available, you can do more than build a website. You can create custom sales funnels, build amazing landing pages and online shops, and set up your own affiliate program. So, if you’re an artist looking to boost your sales or are interested in a free artist website, Systeme.io is ideal.
The free plan is one of the best around, but we suggest going for a paid plan if you want to grow your customer base or set up more than three sales funnels Systeme.io has to offer. That being said, the free plan is perfect for startups and beginners.
With Systeme.io, you can build a blog with an unlimited number of posts, regardless of the plan, and you can do A/B testing, comparing your landing page results, which we found to be an unusual feature among the website builders we’ve seen.
Pricing
The free plan is great, but you get more of everything on offer with a paid plan.
If you’d like to learn more about System.io, have a look at our full in-depth review.
Pros
- All-in-one marketing solution
- Excellent free plan
- Best website builder for affiliate programs
Cons
- Not a standalone website builder
The Best Artist Website Builders Compared
So there we have it, the best web designer platforms for artists. Below, we’ve created a comparison table so you can easily compare products and choose the best platform for you.
Website Builder | Best For | Starting Price | Free Custom Domain | Free Version | Ecommerce on Starting Paid Plan | Standout Features on Cheapest Paid Plan |
Wix | Best overall | $16/month | Yes (first year) | 14 free trial | No | – Custom domain – 2GB storage |
GoDaddy | Domain registration | $9.99/month | Yes | – 7-day free trial – Free plan (limited) |
Yes | – GoDaddy Studio – Video creation |
Webador | Small online stores | $5/month | Yes | Free plan | No | – Blog function – Unlimited storage |
Squarespace | Professional creative websites | $16/month – Annual plan | Yes | 14-day free trial | No | – Squarespace AI – SEO features for site visibility |
Shopify | Building an online store | $19/month | No | 3-day free trial | Yes | – Add unlimited products – Import unlimited marketplace orders |
Square | Retailers and service vendors | $29/month | Yes | Free plan | Yes | – Lots of marketing tools – Manage multiple sites and locations |
Ucraft | Personal websites and landing pages | $10/month – annual plan | Yes | – Free plan – 14-day free trial |
No | – 20+ integrations – Designer tools |
Ionos | Site speed and uptime | $1/ first six months | Yes | 30-day free trial | Yes | – AI website builder – SEO text generator |
Weebly | Ease of use | $10/month – annual plan | Yes (professional and performance plans) | Free plan | Yes | – Free SSL security – Integrated social media marketing |
Systeme.io | Marketing | $19/month – annual plan | Yes | Free plan | Yes | – Affiliate programs – Many email marketing integrations |
Key Features to Consider When Creating an Artist’s Website
Building a website from scratch can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never done it before – so here is a list of key features you should keep in mind when building a website, whether you want the best website for an artist’s portfolio or the best website for an illustrator:
Custom Domain
One of the main reasons to own a website is to control your own marketing strategy. An important aspect of that is to have your own domain. Something like “username.com” looks more professional than “username.servicename.com” does.
Design for Mobile
Internet traffic on mobile accounts for over 50% of the total internet traffic around the world. In other words, more people around the world use their mobile devices to access the internet when compared to computers and tablets.
Designing for mobile has become the standard in web development. Moreover, Google gives preference to websites that have been designed for mobile devices, so doing this will ensure your website gets a higher ranking in the search engine.
Use High-Quality Images
It should go without saying that image quality on an artist’s website is vital. The images on your website should be the best you can get, with accurate colors and no glare.
Try to aim for the highest resolution you can get while also keeping them cropped so they can fit comfortably on the page.
User-friendliness
A website that’s difficult to navigate won’t keep visitors for long, and more importantly, those users are unlikely to come back. Having a website that’s easy to navigate makes all the difference and can lead to more sales.
An artwork website for artists is intended to show off their pieces, so try and make it simple enough for first-time visitors to navigate and view.
Include Contact Information
Sooner or later, your customers and fans will want to contact you, which is important to build customer relationships. Having your contact details displayed on your website is important, and it’s relatively simple to set up.
You should place your contact information in the footer of every page or have a general “About Me” page set up.
Security
Many hosting companies can do this on your behalf, and it’s recommended that if your hosting provider can’t do this for you, you go and find one that can. A website served over an HTTP protocol will flag your website as less secure and a potential security risk.
Make Purchasing Easy
Having a site that is fully ecommerce enabled will ensure a visitor can easily make a purchase. If making a purchase proves to be a difficult task, potential clients will just go somewhere else.
More Website Builder Guides and Resources
If you want to learn more about website builders or would like some recommendations for website building beyond the world of art, take a look at these other guides.
- Best Website Builders Compared
- Best Ecommerce Website Builder
- The Most Affordable Website Builders
- The Best Personal Website Builders Ranked
- The Best Small Business Website Builders
- An In-Depth Systeme.io Review
How to Create Websites for Artists
Now that you know what key factors to include in your website, let’s take a look at the actual steps to take to get full-fledged art websites for artists. To keep things simple, we will be going over how to make an artist’s website using Wix, a prominent, no-code website builder.
Step 1 — Sign Up
Wix offers a free plan, so maybe give this a try. Go to the Wix website and create an account.
Step 2 — Choose a Template
Wix offers over 800 professionally designed templates for you to choose from. Browse through all the options and pick one that speaks to you and your style.
Step 3 — Make Changes
With the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, make the required edits to your template. This can be anything from the font style, images, videos, and button styles. Keep in mind that there are some people with visual impairments. Using the right colors is as important as anything else on your page.
Step 4 — Create Additional Pages and Content
This is where you create pages like “About me” or “Winter Sale.” Ensure you populate these pages with the relevant information, like your contact details, where you come from, or when the winter sale starts and ends.
Step 5 — Add Elements and Make Changes
This could be anything that reflects your brand. Don’t forget to add your artwork to your site. Think of a way to make your site more user-friendly. Optimize as much as you can.
Step 6 — Test and Publish
Preview your website on both mobile and computer. Make sure everything works by testing buttons, forms, and links. Maybe get an outsider to navigate your website to find any faults. Once you’re happy, click the publish button to make your website accessible to everyone.
Conclusion – Which Website Builder is Best for Artists in 2023?
If you’re asking yourself, “What is the best website builder for artists?” the answer, based on our research, is Wix. With it, you can create some of the best websites for artists and creatives thanks to a plethora of tools and a really easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature.
It’s also got a huge number of customizable templates, so it’s truly capable of generating some of the best art sites for artists.