What Is the Best Website Builder for Artists, Photographers and Jewellery Makers?

The cheapest plan that lets an artist, photographer or jewellery maker sell from their own site costs £6.94 to £19 a month on annual billing in the UK, across Pixpa, Squarespace, Wix and Shopify, and the fee taken on each sale matters more than that monthly price. Etsy has no monthly plan at all but keeps 6.5% of every sale. There is no single best builder: photographers, painters and jewellers need different things, so we have matched each one to the builder whose fees and features suit how they actually sell.

Every price and fee below was taken from the builder’s own pricing page, checked October 2026. Prices change and promotions come and go, so check the linked page before you sign up. Where a page shows US dollars only, we say so rather than convert.

Which website builder is best for artists?

Squarespace Core at £17 a month, paid annually, is the best fit for most artists selling originals and prints, because it is the cheapest Squarespace plan with a 0% transaction fee, according to Squarespace’s pricing page (checked October 2026). Its Basic plan is £12 a month but adds a 2% fee on online store sales, so once you sell more than about £250 a month, the 2% costs more than the £5 you saved. Paying month to month, Basic is £16 and Core is £24.

Squarespace’s appeal for artists is the templates: big images, generous white space and layouts that let the work lead. Card payments through Squarespace Payments start at 2.0% + £0.25 on Basic and Core, falling to 1.7% + £0.25 on Plus (£29 a month) and 1.5% + £0.25 on Advanced (£79 a month). Those lower card rates only pay off at serious volume.

If you mostly want a portfolio with a handful of prints for sale, Pixpa is the cheaper route, covered below. If you want a free start, Wix has a free plan, but Wix lists accepting payments only from its Core plan at £16 a month.

What is the best website builder for photographers?

Pixpa, from £6.94 a month on annual billing for its Creator plan, is the best value for photographers in the UK, with zero commission on sales and client galleries built in, according to Pixpa’s pricing page (checked October 2026). Pixpa shows pounds to UK visitors and states its prices exclude VAT. Monthly billing costs more: £11.56 for Creator.

• Basic, £4.16 a month annually: 10 pages and 200 gallery images, with 3 GB for original files.
• Creator, £6.94: pitched as portfolio and store in one, with unlimited images and 5 GB of storage.
• Professional, £9.25: 25 GB of storage.
• Advanced, £11.56: 100 GB of storage.

The storage figure is the one photographers misread. Pixpa counts only original files held in client galleries, store galleries and downloads; the web versions shown on your portfolio do not count. A wedding photographer delivering full-resolution galleries will fill 5 GB quickly, so budget for Professional or Advanced. Pixpa also lists selling prints and downloads straight from galleries, with auto-fulfilment through print labs, which suits anyone who does not want to post prints themselves.

Format is the other photographer-first builder, but its pricing page (checked October 2026) shows US dollars only: Pro is $12 a month billed annually, with unlimited pages, 1,500 images, 100 GB of storage and commission-free selling.

What is the best website builder for jewellery makers?

Shopify Basic at £19 a month, paid yearly, is the best fit once a jewellery business has more than a few dozen pieces, because jewellery means variants: sizes, metals, stones and chain lengths, which is what Shopify is built to manage, per Shopify’s UK pricing page (checked October 2026). Monthly billing is £25. Card rates on Basic are 2% + 25p through Shopify Payments; use a different payment provider and Shopify adds its own 2% transaction fee on top, so most small shops stay on Shopify Payments.

For a maker with a small catalogue and occasional drops, Big Cartel is lighter. Its pricing page (checked October 2026) shows US dollars only: Platinum is $15 a month after a 7-day free trial, Diamond is $30 a month and adds scheduled product drops and abandoned cart recovery, and there is a free, limited Gold plan.

Etsy is not a website builder, but most jewellers weigh it against one. Its fees policy (checked October 2026) sets a listing fee of 0.20 USD per item, with listings expiring after four months, plus a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price, delivery and gift wrapping. Payment processing is charged separately, a one-time shop set-up fee may apply, and sales that come from Etsy’s Offsite Ads carry a further 12% or 15% fee. Etsy brings buyers; your own site keeps the margin and the customer list. Plenty of makers run both.

Website builders for creatives compared

Wix’s plans page (checked October 2026) showed UK visitors pounds: Light is £9 a month with 2 GB and no payments listed, Core is £16 with payments and basic ecommerce, and Business is £25 with 100 GB. Prices are for yearly plans paid upfront, before tax.

What does a £40 print sale cost in fees?

Taking a £40 print with no delivery charge and the standard card rates above:

• Squarespace Basic: 80p platform fee plus £1.05 card fee, £1.85 in total.
• Squarespace Core or Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments: £1.05 card fee only.
• Etsy: £2.60 transaction fee plus the 0.20 USD listing fee, before Etsy’s payment processing fee.

Sell twenty prints a month and the gap between Etsy and your own Core or Shopify site is over £30 a month, which more than covers the plan. Sell two, and Etsy’s audience is probably worth the fee.

Is there a free website builder for artists?

Yes, Wix has a free plan with no card required, but Wix lists accepting payments only from Core at £16 a month, so the free plan is a portfolio, not a shop. Big Cartel also lists a free, limited Gold plan for small shops. Squarespace offers 14 days free and Shopify 3 days, then £1 a month for the first three months, both per their pricing pages (checked October 2026). A free plan is fine for testing whether people respond to your work; a business needs its own domain and no builder branding.

When does hiring a web designer make more sense?

From £495, when your time is worth more than the build, or when the site has to bring in work rather than just display it. Our Starter package is £495 fixed for one to five pages, typically live in about a week, which suits a photographer or artist who needs a portfolio that ranks for their name and service. Business is £1,495 for up to 15 pages with a CMS and Stripe payments, enough for a print shop or commission enquiries. A full online store, which is what most jewellery brands with a real catalogue need, starts at £3,995.

A builder is cheaper in cash for the first few years, and we would rather say so. Our website builder costs guide adds up the three-year totals, and the ecommerce website cost guide breaks down what a proper store costs to build and run. If you are unsure, builder vs designer sets out the decision plainly.