Did you know that having a portfolio website is crucial to get new clients and increase your online presence?
As an architect, having a portfolio website will help you to find new jobs in a company or if you work as a freelancer, you can show your portfolio directly to your potential clients so that they can learn about your previous work.
Since having a portfolio is so important to getting a job, you need to make sure your portfolio makes an impact, leaves an unforgettable impression, and conveys who you are as an architect.
If you wonder where to start, here you will find the best 9 online and professional portfolio websites for architects.
1. Wix
Wix is good for those architects who are starting their careers and who at the moment do not have a lot of budget to create their portfolio website.
It is one of the best options on the market because you can get a professional look without spending a lot of money. It is an easy-to-use and very practical platform for those who do not know how to edit a website.
When creating your website with this platform, they will give you a free domain so you can start. However, it is best that you acquire your own domain immediately since this will give you much more professionalism.
Creating a website using Wix has nothing complicated, and being so popular you will surely find many useful tutorials, like this guide about how to build a portfolio with WIX.
When creating your website, Wix will also give you the option to choose from many free templates.
The best thing is that you choose one that allows you to show many images since it is the most important for an architect’s portfolio.
If you cannot find one that you like enough, on the web you will find many other paid and free options.
Pros
- The platform has integrated payment methods that you can use in case you want to sell a service or product through your website.
- It guarantees your SEO positioning in Google, which facilitates the traffic of people to your website.
- You do not need to know about web design to create a web page in Wix.
- There are many free resources that you can implement on your website, such as many visually attractive templates.
- Wix templates are versatile and you can modify them until you find the idea that you like the most.
Cons
- Your website may not load quickly if it has complex templates or a lot of plugins.
- You can purchase the first Premium Plan and you will still have ads on your page.
Price
- Connect Domain: $ 5 per month but still has ads.
- Combo Plan: $ 14 per month and does not have ads.
- Wix Unlimited: $ 18 per month. Specially designed for websites with more than 3,000 visits per month.
- Wix VIP: $ 39 per month. Apart from including all of the above, it guarantees priority support.
Source: WebsitePlanet
2. WordPress.org
WordPress.org is ideal for architects who in the future plan to give different functions to their portfolio website, such as adding a blogging section to it.
WordPress is one of the few platforms that allows you to create a professional website on the front end and the back end (in appearance and operation) from scratch without major programming knowledge.
With WordPress, you can build a professional website, just by following a guide on how to build a portfolio with WordPress.
For the design of your website, you can use Elementor which is a plugin with a free and paid version, which is still an economical option.
This is a visual WordPress builder and allows you to build your website in real-time, by dragging and dropping blocks or widgets along a blank line.
These types of plugins are excellent for inexperienced users, so they can create any type of page quickly.
Apart from being a professional platform, safe, easy to use, with good SEO optimization (which will help make your website easier to find on the web) and that also allows you to do everything. It is also responsive, this means that it will look good not only from a computer but from practically any mobile and tablet device.
Pros
- Since it is open-source, many designers and collaborators are creating free plugins and elements that you can use on your website.
- It is user friendly, intuitive, and simple.
- Practically all hosting providers support it on their servers and many of them allow you to install it in a few clicks.
- WordPress allows you to modify it as much as you want. This will give you a lot of freedom to create a site that represents your style as an architect.
- If you are going to perform a statistical analysis of your website, Google Analytics is compatible with WordPress.
Cons
- The fact that everyone can collaborate to create a theme or plugin leaves open the possibility that some of them contain code that can damage your site.
- If you use themes that cannot be updated automatically, you will need to be vigilant and perform the updates manually.
Price
For using WordPress you do not have to pay anything. It has zero cost because WordPress.org is open-source software.
Now, to use it you need your own domain and a hosting or host and you will have to pay for them. For this you can use Bluehost, which offers monthly plans that start at $2.99
Source: aThemes
3. Squarespace
Squarespace can be a great ally of creative entrepreneurs and freelancers, including architects since it is an excellent platform to show projects focusing on the visual aspect.
On the other hand, Squarespace is also a very good option if you honestly do not have a lot of time to manage your website, and that is key for any architect who is working on a project.
The interface and templates that Squarespace offers have the purpose of highlighting your work, here the images are what is most important.
However, do not think that to create something visually attractive you must have a cluttered portfolio. If your style is more minimalist, you will also find your place here.
Squarespace will also save you a lot of time since unlike other content management systems, this one includes everything in one place: domain and unlimited hosting.
You will not have to purchase another service or go to another place to put your website to work.
Within the platform, you will also find many template options to give your portfolio the style you want, and not only that but also plugins.
This is an extra point for the platform, since this way you find everything in one place and you will not waste time trying elements developed by external people that you do not know how well they will work.
Pros
- Everything that your website needs you will find it within the same platform.
- It allows you to share your content on important social networks, thus increasing the chances of making your work known.
- Squarespace offers templates that will help you highlight the images you want to show, such as plans, models, or photographs.
- It is a platform created especially for entrepreneurs who want a complete and professional website even if they do not have great (or no) technical knowledge.
- It has tons of things that you can customize without touching a line of code.
Cons
- Plans are more pricey than other platforms.
- There is no support for third-party applications, plugins, or extensions.
Price
- Personal Plan: $16 monthly. Includes unlimited storage and SEO functions.
- Company Plan: $26 monthly. They give you a professional Google email and tools to sell online.
- Basic Commerce Plan: $30 per month. Focused on people who want to make sales through their website. This could be useful if you want to sell your services from your portfolio website, such as consultancies, eBooks, or other things.
- Advanced Commerce Plan: $46 monthly. Apart from including the advantages of the basic commerce plan, it allows you to sell subscriptions
If you buy any of these plans annually, you could save up to 30%.
Source: Fix8Media
4. Pixpa
Pixpa is a platform specially made for artists, including architects and it has templates specifically made to show architectural works.
It is a very safe option to achieve the portfolio website you want, you just have to take care of giving it the appearance you want and Pixpa takes care of the rest.
Creating your website portfolio on Pixpa and personalizing it is a creative experience, so it is perfect for those architects who want something more free and artistic.
The good thing about this platform is that it is designed to meet the needs of every artist.
They know how important it is to give a good image and offer a platform where you can display your works.
Apart from being very easy to use, they have an excellent support service to assist you in case you have any problems or questions.
With Pixpa it is not necessary that you resort to other platforms to make your portfolio website work, but within the platform is everything you need, such as the domain and templates.
It is also a modern and up-to-date platform and guarantees that your website can be seen just as well on a computer as on other mobile devices.
Pros
- It allows you to sell from your portfolio website.
- All its templates are responsive
- It does not ask you commissions for making sales.
- You can create your portfolio website without having any coding knowledge.
- It allows you not only to create a portfolio website but also a client gallery, online store, and blog.
Cons
- It does not have a free modality.
- The free trial only lasts 15 days.
Price
- The personal plan costs $7 a month, it only allows you to upload 200 images to your gallery but includes many of the benefits of more advanced plans.
- The expert plan costs $10 a month and is the most used by the clients on the platform.
- The business plan costs $16 a month and allows unlimited content and images, plus many other benefits.
These are the prices if you make the annual payment. If you decide to pay independently each month, prices can increase by 30%
Source: Pixpa
5. Duda
This is a platform that is convenient for architects who think about building a portfolio website with more possibilities than simply showing their work
Duda is a web page developer with very similar capabilities to WordPress, but in this case, Duda includes everything within its platform.
That is, you will not have to look for your hosting elsewhere because it is already included in Duda and also works great for people who do not want to get too complicated with the construction of their website.
It offers several website templates that you can customize, but it also allows you to create your own sections from scratch, making it a great solution for both those with no website experience as well as those who consider themselves a bit more advanced.
Another positive point for Duda is that it gives you a free trial for 30 days, for which it does not even ask you to give your credit card information. They are not thinking of charging you next month but for you to really see if the platform suits you.
Pros
- Duda does not restrict your access to any of the features they offer when you use the free trial option.
- This platform guarantees one of the best security, storage, and speed services in the world for its users. The same system that websites like Amazon and Airbnb use.
- The page you create with Duda will have e-commerce functionality, which will help you if you want to sell services or products through your portfolio website.
- The Duda platform offers free courses that will also help you get the most out of your portfolio website.
- They have excellent technical support to answer all your questions.
Cons
- Although it has a 30-day free trial, it does not have a free plan.
Price
- Basic: $14 per month. Includes website and Amazon Web Service hosting.
- Team: $22 per month. Apart from the basics, it also includes your brand and logo in all sections of your page.
- Agency: $44 per month. Includes up to 4 websites and a plugin developer.
Source: Duda
6. Tilda
Tilda is another solution for architects who want to have a website developed by themselves.
The interesting thing is that they do not need to know about design or programming.
Creating all kinds of web pages with this platform is really simple, for this it has a wide variety of templates that you can customize to your liking in a visual work environment.
The platform has several modes of use, one of them totally free that allows you to create a website made up of up to 50 pages. A more than enough solution for your portfolio or projects.
Of course, it also offers other more complete payment methods that have more possibilities.
You can start from the free option and upgrade to a payment method, if you think it is convenient, at any time.
Pros
- A large collection of templates to create your page, fully customizable.
- More than 350 different elements to incorporate into your page easily.
- A simple system for creating pages from modules or blocks.
- It allows you to create websites with responsive design, they are perfectly visualized from all types of mobile devices.
- It is not necessary to know programming or web design.
- Tilda is very complete and inexpensive compared to other platforms.
Cons
- Some special and widely used functions are not available by default in some templates, such as the timeline for events and comments.
Price
- Free: includes a website with a maximum of 50 pages.
- Personal: $10 monthly. Apart from a website with a maximum of 500 pages, it also includes 1Gb of storage.
- Commercial: $20 per month. It allows you to create up to 5 websites with a maximum of 500 pages and 1GB of storage each.
Source: Tilda
7. Jimdo
If you consider that you live your day to day very busy in your career, Jimdo may be the perfect option for you.
It is a fairly simple website that will not take a lot of time. What characterizes this platform is that it tries to simplify all the processes that you must carry out to create your portfolio.
This web editor has become more popular in recent years and it is all due to how comprehensive it is and the benefits it offers, like the Jimdo online store.
Besides, to edit your website it offers you the drag and drop mode, which makes the creation of your portfolio much faster.
Another thing that stands out about Jimdo is that it allows you to edit your website from an iPhone or iPad, something that you will hardly find on other platforms.
Pros
- Jimdo allows you to build your website for free and for an unlimited time using its editor.
- It allows you to insert images or videos from other pages such as YouTube or Flickr, so if you have published any of your work in those places, it will be very easy to repost it.
- With whatever plan you choose, the platform gives you the use of the web domain for one year.
- The paid versions allow you to track your analytics.
- The editor is very easy to use, its drag-and-drop interface allows you to place the elements of your website.
Cons
- Jimdo’s free version of customer service is for business purposes only, not technical questions.
- It does not allow you to move your website. Your website only works within the Jimdo platform, which is a risk if the company goes bankrupt.
Price
- Free plan: it will help you a lot to start, especially if you are still not sure which platform to choose and just want to try.
- Pro plan: $10 per month. You will have your website free of ads and your own domain.
- Business plan: $20 per month. If you want to add something extra to your portfolio website such as a sale of services or products, this is the option for you.
Source: Jimdo
8. Portfoliobox
This is a good option if you are an architect who wants to give a much more artistic rather than corporate touch to their portfolio website.
Portfoliobox offers you to create your page without having great technical knowledge.
This platform offers everything you need to show your architecture works such as galleries, videos and you can even create an online store which will help if you want to monetize your portfolio by selling your services or products to your clients.
The goal of Portfoliobox is for you to create a creative portfolio that stands out from the crowd and is hard to forget.
Here you can give a minimalist look to your website or make it more ornate or colorful, everything you want is possible. Besides, its themes are designed to give prominence to your works.
Pros
- It is a versatile platform that allows you to expose a large amount of content in your portfolio.
- Everything you need to edit your website is inside the Portfoliobox. You do not need to resort to external platforms.
- All themes are responsive, that is, they adapt to practically any mobile device.
- You can use it without knowing programming or web design.
- Includes hosting to host your portfolio.
Cons
- It does not have a free plan, although the most basic one costs $0.9.
Price
- Light: It costs $0.9 per month and allows you to have up to 10 pages.
- Pro: $7.9 per month. It allows up to 50 pages and gives you a free domain.
- Pro Plus: $14.9 per month. It allows you to have up to 1000 pages, 1000 images and includes a free domain.
Source: Ranung
9. Format
Format is a website builder specially made for photographers but of course, you can also use it to show the photos of the projects in which you have participated.
All its themes are optimized to be seen from phones or other mobile devices, so you should not worry about whether your website looks good from any device.
You just have to create your portfolio and make sure it conveys the style you want.
This platform is so easy to use that you can create your portfolio website in just a few minutes.
The Format editor is intuitive so it will greatly facilitate the process of creating your website, especially if you have never done something like this before.
Apart from allowing you to create your website portfolio, Format also allows you to create an online sales section, having a personalized domain that looks more professional, and an email.
Pros
- If you become part of this platform, you can use resources such as a course where they will teach you to get more clients.
- Their customer service can also help you build your website.
- All Format themes are very flexible and fully editable.
- You do not need to know how to code to create your portfolio.
- All Format plans include hosting.
Cons
- Format does not have free plans.
Price
- Pro: $12 per month. It allows you to upload up to 1500 images and gives you access to all the themes.
- Pro Plus: $18 per month. You have no photo limit and it gives you access to the Photography Masterclass, among other benefits.
- Unlimited: $25 per month. With this plan you have priority support, 1000 products that you can sell without paying a commission and they give you a professional email from Google completely free, among others.
Source: Format
How to Choose the Right Platform
Have Your Goal in Mind
As an architect, you surely have a style that characterizes you and influences that can be noticed in your work.
That is something that you can transmit with your portfolio website and with which you will be able to differentiate yourself from other architects.
Giving your stamp to your portfolio website can be something that your potential clients remember you for, so before deciding which platform to use take a moment to define what you want to transmit and what you want to achieve,
for example, whether you only want to show your works or if you also want to sell services or products.
Match Your Skills to the Platform
Even though a certain platform to build your portfolio catches your attention, you must be honest and check if you have the necessary skills to use that website.
The good thing is that in case you do not have them, in this list there are a lot of platforms that you could use or learn how to use, since most of them are not complicated at all.
It is not just about having the skill but also the time. If you think you do not have enough time to constantly update your website or to fix things that are not working, you should choose an option that is much easier to maintain.
Evaluate Your Budget
Maybe you found the website builder that you think is the best for you, you love everything it offers and you already saw a theme that caught your eye.
But can you really afford it?
Among all the options on this list you will find some more economical than others and equally useful, but avoid letting yourself go and buy the one that you will not be able to sustain over time.
It will be unpleasant if your website is no longer available in a few months. Your portfolio is necessary to find clients and must always be up and running.
Creating Your Portfolio Website is Investing in Your Work
All these tips will surely help you to create your personal portfolio.
Remember that you must strive to see good results and one step to take your career to the next level is to create a professional portfolio website.
The development of the portfolio is one of the things that some professionals use to postpone, but it is crucial to growing as an architect, so do not leave it for later and start building your portfolio today.
- WordPress and Wix are the best platforms to get professional results without spending too much money. You can use them without having any knowledge of web design or you can create more complex things by watching simple tutorials.
- Squarespace and Pixpa are the best options for you if what you think is most important is to visually impact your potential customers.
- Duda, and Jimdo are best for you if you have plans to expand your website portfolio in the future. That is if you want to do something beyond just showing your work, such as selling products.
- Tilda, Portfoliobox, and Format are special for those who are creating a website for the first time, who want to follow a simple process, and who do not have much knowledge about web design.