# Personal Website vs Link in Bio: Which Do You Need? > Personal website or link in bio? What each is good at, what they cost, when a link in bio is enough, and how makers get both from one page on their own domain. By Dane Dolph. Published 2026-10-19 on the makerhandle blog. Tags: Link in bio, Personal website, Guides. A link in bio and a personal website started as different things. A link in bio was a list of buttons for an Instagram profile; a personal website was a site you designed and hosted yourself. For makers, founders and developers the line has blurred, and the real question is simpler: what do people need to find when they click your name, and how much time do you want to spend keeping it current? ## What a link in bio is good at A [link in bio](https://makerhandle.com/glossary/link-in-bio) is one short page that lists where to go next. It is: - **Fast to set up**: minutes, not a weekend. - **Made for phones**, where most profile clicks happen. - **Easy to keep current**: add a link, done. - **Usually free or cheap**, with analytics built in. The weakness of a classic link in bio is depth. A list of identical buttons says nothing about what each thing is, whether it is live, or what you did on it. It is a signpost, not a portfolio. ## What a personal website is good at A personal website can hold anything: long writing, case studies, a custom design, a blog. It lives on your own domain, which nobody can take away when a tool shuts down. And it signals some care, especially for designers and front-end developers, for whom the site is itself a work sample. The weaknesses are time and upkeep. Designing, building, hosting and updating a site is a project. Many personal sites are a year out of date, which is worse than a simple page that is current. Hosting with a builder and a domain costs more than people expect; we compared [prices for hosting a personal site](https://makerhandle.com/blog/host-personal-website-for-20-a-year). ## Which one you need **A link in bio is enough** if people mostly need to find your things: your products, your newsletter, your socials. Founders, indie hackers and creators with a few projects are often here. **A personal website is worth it** if you write long-form regularly, if the site itself is your portfolio (design, front-end, creative work), or if you need things a simple page cannot do, such as a store or a docs site. **Most makers want something in between**: one page with each project explained, a way to contact them, and their own domain, without building a site. ## The in-between: a maker page on your domain That middle is what makerhandle is built for. A single page lists every project with a screenshot, a [status](https://makerhandle.com/features/project-status) and verified revenue if it earns, and each project opens its own [project page](https://makerhandle.com/features/project-pages) with a write-up, screenshots and links, so the depth is there for the people who want it. On Pro the whole thing lives on [your own domain](https://makerhandle.com/features/custom-domain) with SSL handled for you, for $20 a year. It is not general web hosting: there is no HTML upload and no blog engine. If you need those, a site builder or a static site is the right tool, and you can still link your maker page from it. If you want a personal homepage that stays current with almost no upkeep, see [a personal website for $20 a year](https://makerhandle.com/for/personal-website). ## A quick checklist Whichever you choose, the page behind your name should: 1. Say who you are and what you make in one line. 2. Show your best work first, with a status so nobody hits a dead link. 3. Give one clear way to contact you. 4. Load fast on a phone. 5. Live on a domain you control, or at least let you export your content. 6. Tell you whether anyone visits, without a cookie banner. See [link in bio and GDPR](https://makerhandle.com/blog/link-in-bio-cookie-banner-gdpr). --- Source: https://makerhandle.com/blog/personal-website-vs-link-in-bio makerhandle: makerhandle is a link in bio for makers and founders: every project with its status and revenue verified from Stripe, Paddle and more.