Best Web Design Software For Photographers

When you’re a photographer, you’re only as good as your tools. And in today’s world, those tools aren’t just cameras and lenses—they’re also the software you use to design and build the best possible website for your photography. After all, that’s how people are going to find you, and it’s how you’re going to share your work with the world.

But what is the best web design software for photographers? Well, it depends on what you need it to do. There are quite a few options out there, so we’ve done some research and come up with a few different options tailored specifically to photographers.

Best Web Design Software For Photographers

1. Elementor

Elementor is a web builder designed with creatives in mind. It has templates for media, eCommerce, and resumes. And it has specific portfolio templates for photographers.

If you’re worried about your computer skills, there’s no need to worry with Elementor. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Many of the features work with an easy drag-and-drop system. It’s perfect for your first website builder.

The program is beginner-friendly, but the final results are suitable for any professional photographer. The page designs are classy with a contemporary aesthetic. The final pages are slick, smart, and stylish. And your photos will look great in their photographer templates.

Usability

Elementor is a WordPress plugin, so you need an account before downloading Elementor. But if you’re familiar with WordPress already, there aren’t many surprises with usability.

The menus are clear, so you can always find what you need. And it’s easy to apply the features you want to your photography website. There’s a drag-and-drop interface that gives you incredible freedom to structure your page. There are very few limitations.

Elementor allows you to display your portfolio however you wish. You can use the templates they provide. But you can also make adjustments to make a unique visual experience. With Elementor, you can create a memorable photography site.

Pricing Options

Photographers with a tight budget will be pleased to know Elementor has a free option. It’s not just a trial period. You can download this option for free of charge, without secret payments later on. Elementor is the best website builder for photographers on a budget.

The free option is the most basic version of the program. Free users still get a fantastic user interface and 30+ basic widgets and templates. That’s more than enough to get you started.

If you do find that restrictive, you have the option to upgrade to one of their paid plans. If you only need a single website, the Elementor Essential package should suit you well.

It’s a reasonable annual payment of 49 USD. And the jump in features is impressive, giving you more than 90 widgets and 300 templates. They also have options for companies and agencies.

2. Squarespace

Squarespace is one of the most popular website builders with everyone across the creative industries. You can’t watch a YouTube video these days without seeing an advert for Squarespace. But their popularity isn’t only due to their advertising campaign. It’s an excellent website builder too.

Their product is aimed at artists of all kinds. And photographers fit perfectly into that demographic. The Squarespace portfolio templates are excellent. But you’ll be able to build a full website, not just a fancy photo gallery.

Squarespace is a website builder with an excellent array of designs. They all give you a professional result, with elegant minimalism. The templates enhance rather than overshadow your photos.

Usability

The best website builders are easy for anyone to use. And Squarespace fits into that category. It’s not the easiest, but nothing is hidden within a maze of menus. And the drag-and-drop interface makes web design as simple as moving your mouse.

With Squarespace, you can jump right in. You don’t need to watch any tutorials before you get started. And if you do get stuck, some pop-ups guide you along. Just hover over an area with your mouse, and you’ll see an infobox. You can take it as fast or as slow as you want.

Squarespace provides customer support if you do get stuck. There’s 24-hour email support and a live chat line. The chat is open Monday to Friday from 4 am to 8 pm EDT.

Pricing Options

Squarespace offers a free trial period for all new subscribers. It gives you full access for 14 days. But after that, you have to select one of the paid plans.

With a monthly subscription cost, Squarespace does work out to be more expensive than some of its rivals. But judging by how popular this web builder is, many think it’s worth the price for a fabulous photography website. It’s the best website builder for photographers if you have the money.

There are different packages for Personal, Business, and Commerce. The personal package gives you everything for a smashing photo website for an individual photographer. But you can upgrade if you’re running a company or agency.

3. Pixpa

Pixpa is an all-in-one website builder for photographers and creative professionals. They have a no-code philosophy, resulting in a platform that’s accessible for users of all abilities.

Pixpa is a dedicated photography website builder. And their template gallery pages are some of the best you’ll find for posting your images online. Pixpa gives you a professional photography portfolio without the stress of other website builders.

Usability

There’s a range of photography site templates. They’re all professional, with a sleek and modern look. And you’re free to customize everything within the template. You can build a website that’s memorable and personal to you.

It’s easy to make changes to the templates with the visual editor tools. And the drag-and-drop functions couldn’t be easier to use.

Pixpa gives you eCommerce galleries for selling prints and other photo products. But their standout feature is their client proofing platform. It consists of online galleries and gallery apps, which simplify the client proofing workflow for photographers.

Pricing Options

You can try before you buy with Pixpa, as they give you a 15-day free trial. If you like the results, you can continue with a paid plan. And if you change your mind, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.

There’s no free option. But the basic version is very reasonably priced. If you need more, you can upgrade to one of the higher plans. And with each upgrade, more templates and features become available.

Pixpa is one of the best website builders for photographers available today. You do need a bit of a budget. But you can have a fantastic photography website without breaking the bank.

Use the discount coupon code EP10 to save 10% on any plans.

4. Wix

Wix isn’t designed for photographers specifically. But thanks to the reasonable price and excellent results, it still scores high on our list of the best website builders for photographers.

With Wix, you can build a fantastic-looking website with very little trouble. Despite not being a builder for photography websites, there are excellent templates for portfolios. Their sites can be used as online galleries or as a hub for your photography business.

Usability

Wix is beginner-friendly, with a straightforward workflow. Even if you’ve never designed a website before, you’ll get the hang of Wix in no time. There are a ton of tools and features that allow you to customize any of the templates. And the drag-and-drop system makes it easy.

The number of templates is impressive, almost verging on overwhelming. While having a good selection of templates is a good thing, Wix may have gone overboard. It means you can choose a unique design. But choosing one could become tiresome.

If you want to opt out of the design process, you can leave it to the Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence). This uses your social media information to construct a website for you. It’s a nifty feature. But if you want a smart photography website, it’s best to put in the extra effort.

Pricing Options

The prices make Wix one of the top competitors for website builders. They have a free version if your budget is extra tight. But honestly, we wouldn’t recommend it. It’ll have very little storage and will be covered with ads.

If you stretch your budget a bit more, you’ll get a lot more in return. Their cheapest plan gives you a single domain. And if you’re an individual photographer, that’s all you need. You’ll get more than enough templates, that’s for sure.

5. Format

Format has to make the list of the best website builders for photographers. And that’s for the simple fact format is made for photographers. It isn’t the easiest to use, and there’s no free option. But serious photographers should consider Format as their website builder.

Usability

The interface isn’t as easy to follow as other photography website builders. But the professional results and photographer-friendly features make Format worth the trouble.

Format allows you to upload your photos directly from Adobe Lightroom or Capture One. And you don’t need to worry about online image theft as you can disable right clicks on your site. No one will be able to download your images without permission.

The client-proofing system is another bonus with Format. You can create client-specific galleries that are password protected. Not only is it a safe way to share your work, but it’s also much quicker than using email. The eCommerce features are also great for generating some extra income.

Pricing options

There’s no free version, but the prices aren’t outrageous. You can start with a 14-day free trial. Then you can choose one of the paid plans—Portfolio Basic or Workflow.

Portfolio Basic is self-explanatory, giving you photography templates for a fab portfolio website. Workflow gives you far more in terms of tools and options. It gives you more storage and support options for not much more.

Either option is reasonably priced. And you’ll end up with an impressive and professional website for your photography.

6. Zenfolio

Professional photographers all over the world are raving about Zenfolio. If you’re an established professional, it could be the best website builder for photographers.

The website designs are classy and smart. The platform has excellent photography templates and web design tools. And there are many photographer-specific features to help your online business thrive.

Usability

The web templates are excellent. And you can upload the photos to your portfolio with very little trouble, even for non-techie photographers. You get unlimited storage on the higher plans.

You can create password-protected galleries for clients. And Zenfolio gives you a guarantee of total image security so that no one can download your images from your website.

Zenfolio is aimed at professionals, so their eCommerce features are a strong point for this web builder. A built-in payment system makes it easy to sell prints and other products.

Pricing Options

The only free option is the trial period, lasting only 15 days. But when you start paying, there’s no big shock. The prices are very reasonable for a photography website builder of this quality.

You can start with the Portfolio plan, which gives you 15GB of storage and the client-proofing features. The PortfolioPlus plan gives you more storage and multi-page options. And the ProSuite gives you unlimited storage and all the features you could need.

7. PhotoShelter

When it comes to the best photography website builder, PhotoShelter has to be on the list. It’s a great website builder, and it’s made especially for professional photographers. You don’t have to take our word for it. Over 80,000 photographers are already using PhotoShelter for their sites.

Usability

PhotoShelter offers different plans with a variety of features. You can create a website as an online portfolio. Or you can use their eCommerce functionality to start an online store.

The PhotoShelter templates are perfect for displaying photography work. They’re sleek and elegant. And they enhance your work rather than distract or overshadow it.

The problem with PhotoShelter is the limited selection of templates, as there are only nine. I know we said Wix had too many, so at least you won’t waste much time selecting one.

The issue is that the options to customize the templates are limited. You can make a smashing photography website, but your website will be similar to other PhotoShelter users. It isn’t easy to create a truly unique visual experience.

Pricing Options

PhotoShelter offers a 14-day free trial to get started. But when that’s up, you have to sign up for one of the paid plans. And PhotoShleter isn’t the cheapest website builder on the list.

Whether you go Basic, Standard, or Pro, you get a custom domain with nine templates. The real difference comes from the amount of cloud storage you receive. Basic only has 4GB. Standard gives you 100GB. And the Pro option gives you unlimited storage space.

Another reason Photoshelter is worth the money is their support for photographers. If it’s your first photography website, their advice and guidance can be valuable.

best free website builder for photographers

1. Wix – The Best Selection of Photography Website Templates

Wix is my favorite photography website builder for many reasons, but mainly because it really lets you create exactly the site you have in mind. The free plan gives you everything you need to create a fully functional, high-quality website, including almost 50 professionally designed photography website templates to choose from.

The template designs are clean and minimalistic, with lots of white space so that your images can do the talking. Any template can be customized, and it’s easy to use the drag-and-drop editor to change colors and fonts, adjust the layout, add animation effects, and much more. You can create a website that really reflects your style, and no one will believe you built it for free!

Just keep in mind that once you choose a template and start editing, you won’t be able to switch to a different template without rebuilding your site from scratch.

Another great thing about Wix is the App Market. It’s a magical place where you can choose from hundreds of apps to add to your website, and many of them are free. You’ll find customizable photo galleries, online photo editing tools, integrations with Instagram, and tons of other cool features.

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Top Features

• Beautiful, full-screen gallery pages. The most effective way to showcase your best work, grab visitors’ attention, and keep them scrolling. You have full design control over your gallery layout and effects.
• Excellent image quality. Wix doesn’t wash out colors like some other platforms do, and will automatically optimize your images for quality and load time. It also offers no-frills image editing tools to sharpen and enhance your photos for the web.
• Eye-catching visual effects. Add advanced design features to your website like scroll effects, animations, and video backgrounds to give it a premium look and feel.
• Built-in contact and booking pages. Complete with online forms to make it easy for clients to reach you. Most of the photography templates come with at least one of these pages already built and ready to be customized with your own text and branding.

2. Squarespace – The Premium Website Choice

For a high-end look and feel, Squarespace is the best website builder choice, especially for creatives. The designs are visually stunning and make your images the focal point.

Squarespace is not free forever, but you get a 14-day free trial where you can explore, build, and edit your website as much as you want. The personal plan is incredibly affordable, at just $14.00 per month. And you get advanced SEO features along with a custom domain to really get your portfolio off the ground.

Similar to WordPress, Squarespace is a slightly more sophisticated website builder with a steeper learning curve. Beginners will need some time to get familiar with the platform (some features take a bit of digging to find), but it’s actually very easy to use once you know where everything is.

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Top Features

• Designer photography templates. Stunning, image-centered designs to put your best work on display. For some added flexibility, you can also switch templates at any time.
• Pre-designed starter layouts. Make your job quicker and easier by choosing one of the beautiful starter layout options. These have About, Portfolio, Contact, and other important pages already built-in and ready for your content.
• Eye-catching image presentation. With multiple gallery effects and even more image editing tools than Weebly, your photography portfolio will always look picture perfect.
• Unlimited bandwidth and storage. Squarespace doesn’t put a cap on your bandwidth or storage, so you can upload and display as many images as you want without slowing down your site.

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3. SmugMug – The Best Builder for Selling Your Photos 

SmugMug is a website builder designed specifically for photographers. What does that mean? Well, besides offering over 25 stylish templates, and unlimited storage space on every plan, SmugMug also comes with outstanding tools for organizing and selling your photos, and even a special plan for handling storage of your RAW files.

SmugMug is optimized for full-quality images, so sites made with SmugMug load quickly without compressing your photos. The “organize” tab lets you arrange your photos in different folders, galleries, and pages. You can bulk edit gallery characteristics like meta descriptions, security, and shopping.

If you’re a travel photographer, for example, you can create a gallery based on every place you’ve been. Inside that gallery, you can add the location in the meta keywords, right-click protect your photos, and add a custom “thank you” message when someone buys from that specific gallery.

Whether you want to sell prints or offer digital downloads of various qualities, SmugMug is the best choice for monetizing your portfolio. The shop functionality is easy to set up, and it offers advanced features like different prices for image downloads depending on the quality, discount codes, and options for selling in bundles.

The one thing I don’t love is that although the website builder within SmugMug is simple, it can still get confusing at times. The user interface can be counterintuitive and finding specific features can be a bit of a headache. Still, for a stylish portfolio where you can sell high-quality prints, I’d say it’s worth it. 

Top Features

• Photo lab partnerships. SmugMug has partnerships with some of the top photo labs in the world to allow you to sell high-quality prints in a variety of materials and ship them all over the world.
• Advanced features for selling prints. If you’re planning on selling prints, you can customize them even further by adding things like messages on the back of prints, custom “thank you” cards, watermarks, and more.
• In-app editing. SmugMug offers native image editing for your site. It’s not the most advanced editor in the world, but it can get you out of a pinch.
• Smart galleries. SmugMug can automatically add photos you upload to “smart galleries” based on the criteria of your choosing. This makes the process of updating your site even easier.

4. Zenfolio – The Simplest Website Builder for Photography

If you’re looking for a simpler photography-focused solution for your portfolio, Zenfolio is the way to go. Zenfolio is a ridiculously easy-to-use builder designed to help you create stylish, attractive portfolio pages.

The Zenfolio editor is designed to be as simple as possible. You start out by selecting one of 11 available templates and uploading a gallery of photos. After that, you can easily edit your website colors, fonts, and button styles from the “Design” menu.

You add content using “blocks.” Every time you add a block, you can edit specific settings (like an image’s size, focal point, alignment, and scroll effects) and reorder the block’s position on the page. The block system doesn’t offer as much customization freedom as Wix’s drag-and-drop editor, but it helps you make a well-structured site.Be advised: You can switch templates in Zenfolio if you want, but you’ll lose all your text and SEO settings. Basically, you’ll be starting your site from scratch, so make sure to back up any important content before switching.

Overall, Zenfolio is a great choice if you’re looking for a simple builder that you can use to create stunning portfolio sites. It’s not the most advanced option out there, but that doesn’t make it a bad choice, far from it. 

Top Features

• Simple, intuitive galleries. The gallery options are rather simple, but they’re useful. You add your photos to galleries, and you can sort your galleries with folders. Inside a gallery, you can edit settings like expiration dates, download permissions, watermarking, and more.
• BookMe feature. BookMe is an available add-on for Zenfolio that helps you streamline the booking process by giving you a centralized dashboard where you can handle things like shooting locations, calendar availability, and payment methods.
• Find photos by model. Zenfolio uses face recognition technology to let you sort your pictures by the people that appear in them.
• Lightroom plugin. If you’re an Adobe Lightroom user, you can install the Zenfolio plugin that lets you upload your finished products directly to your site, no middleman involved.

Conclusion

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