Portfolio website builders, compared

The real cost is the next update

Most portfolios are not abandoned because they were hard to build. They are abandoned because adding a project means opening a code editor or a design canvas, so it never happens, and the site still shows your projects from two jobs ago.

So judge each option on three things: the yearly price on your own domain, how long it takes to add a project with screenshots and a write-up, and whether each project can have its own page you can link from a resume.

Code it yourself: GitHub Pages and friends

GitHub Pages is static hosting straight from a repository, on a github.io address or your own domain. Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare Pages are similar. With Astro, Hugo, Next.js or plain HTML, you control every pixel and pay only for the domain.

Best for: developers who enjoy building it and will keep it current, or front-end developers for whom the site itself is a portfolio piece. The catch: every project is a code change, and every framework upgrade is a chore.

Design it: Carrd and Framer

• Carrd builds one-page sites on a canvas. Per Carrd's pricing, Pro Standard, the tier with custom domains, is $19 a year for up to 10 sites. Very cheap. Each site is a single page, so a case study per project means another section or another site. See makerhandle vs Carrd.
• Framer builds custom, animated multi-page sites with a CMS. A free site lives on a Framer subdomain; Framer's pricing lists the Basic plan with a custom domain at $10 a month. See makerhandle vs Framer.

Best for: designers whose portfolio is part of the pitch. The catch: you make every layout decision, for every screen size, every time you add work.

Write it: Notion

A Notion page published with Notion Sites is quick to write and easy to edit. Your own domain is a paid add-on of $10 a month per domain, or $8 a month billed annually, on top of a paid Notion plan, per Notion's help center. See makerhandle vs Notion.

Best for: writing-heavy portfolios. The catch: it looks like Notion, and pages can feel slow on a phone.

Fill it in: makerhandle

makerhandle is a portfolio page you fill in rather than build. Add a project and it gets a card on your page plus its own case study page: Markdown write-up, captioned gallery, stack, role and timeline, highlights, and links to source code, a live demo or app stores. An Open to work toggle adds a badge and a contact button. Nine templates, none of which your content can break.

Free covers five projects, with project pages included. Pro is $20 a year for unlimited projects, every template and a custom domain with SSL. The catch: you choose a template, you do not design one, and it is one portfolio, not a general website with a blog. See makerhandle for job seekers.

Which should you pick?

• You love building sites and will maintain it: code it yourself.
• You are a designer and the site is part of the work: Framer, or Carrd for a single page.
• Your portfolio is mostly writing: Notion.
• You want a page per project with almost no upkeep, for the price of a domain: makerhandle.

You can also mix: a hand-built site for your blog, with makerhandle as the portfolio it links to. Prices were checked on each product's own pricing page in October 2026; check them again before you buy.