Portfolio site, client galleries, zero-commission store. One platform, one bill.
No commission on what you sell. No second login for client sign-off.
15 days · No card required
The basics
Most website builders are made for a business that sells a product. A design practice sells judgment, and the site has to carry the work, the client approvals and the money that follows. Four things separate a builder that fits from one you fight.
Control that goes past the theme editor. You want the type scale, the grid and the color values under your hand, and custom CSS when the editor runs out.
Client delivery included, not sold separately. Logo rounds, packaging comps and layout revisions need somewhere to live that is not a shared Drive folder.
What the platform takes when you sell. Some builders charge a percentage on their lower tiers. Check that before you commit a domain.
A person on chat. The morning your site is down is not the morning for a ticket queue.
Why Pixpa
Design control down to the CSS
200+ designer-made templates as starting points, with grid, type and color editable, plus custom CSS and HTML when you want to go further.
Client galleries on the same site
Send comps and revision rounds as one branded link, with comments on individual items and an expiry date you set.
Zero commission on every sale
Prints, digital files and fixed-scope services. Pixpa takes nothing on top, on every plan.
Support answered by a person
Live chat staffed by people who know the editor, not a bot sorting your message into a queue.
"Price, ease of use, customization features, no paying for bells-and-whistles I didn't need.
Inspiration
Live sites from working designers, not mockups. Open any of them and see how the same platform handles a type-led poster portfolio and a brand identity case study running twelve scroll sections deep.
Design control
Templates are filtered by discipline rather than by color swatch, because a photography template and a case-study template solve different problems. Every one is responsive, and desktop and mobile can be styled separately rather than one inheriting the other's compromises.
Then take it apart. Move any block, change the type scale, set your own color values, write custom CSS or edit the HTML directly. Your site is a portfolio piece in its own right, and a builder that caps you at swapping a hero image is a builder you will outgrow in a season.
I appreciate how website customisation can differ for desktop and mobile views and the price for it all is pretty affordable.
Client delivery
Upload the round, set a password or an expiry date, send one branded link on your own domain. The client comments on individual items rather than replying to your email with "the third one, but bluer", and marks favorites when you need a shortlist rather than a yes or no.
More than one person on the client side can favorite in the same gallery, which is the difference between one sign-off call and three. Gallery Links do the same job when you want to send a set without adding it to the site.
Selling
The store runs on the same domain as the portfolio. Sell a poster series, digital downloads such as fonts, presets or templates, physical products, or a fixed-scope service with a set price. Set your own shipping rates and taxes, run discount codes, take payment through Stripe or PayPal directly into your account.
Pixpa's commission on all of it is zero, on every plan. Platforms that take a percentage on their lower tiers cost you more the better a year you have.
Pixpa does not do contracts, invoicing or booking. If you need those, keep the tool you use for them.
Step by step
Six steps, roughly two hours if your case studies are already written.
Pick the projects that sell the next job
Six to ten a paying client would recognize as the work you want more of. A portfolio is an argument, not an archive.
Start from a template and take it apart
Filter by discipline, then change the type scale, the grid and the color values. Custom CSS and HTML are there when the editor runs out.
Build each project as a case study, not a thumbnail
Give every project its own page with the brief, the process and the outcome. Full-bleed images and text sections sit on the same page.
Add the pages that turn a visit into an enquiry
Work, About, Contact, and one services page that says what you do and how to start. Ambiguity reads as unavailability.
Turn on client galleries and the store
A gallery for comps and revision rounds, store products if you sell prints, digital files or fixed-scope services.
Connect a domain, then set up SEO before you share the link
Bring a domain you own, or take the free custom domain included for the first year on annual billing. Write your page titles and descriptions in the SEO Manager first, not after.
15 days, no card required
Students
A student portfolio is judged on range and reasoning, so the case-study page matters more than the gallery grid. Show the brief you were set, the routes you rejected, and why the final one won. Two thoroughly documented projects beat eight thumbnails.
Put self-initiated work in. Nobody reviewing a junior portfolio expects every project to have had a client, and a self-set brief you pushed further than the course required is often the strongest thing on the site. Students and educators get a discount on Pixpa plans.
Answers
There is no single answer, but there are four tests. Does it give you control past the theme editor, including custom CSS? Does it include client delivery rather than selling it separately? What percentage does it take when you sell something? And can you reach a person when the site breaks? Pixpa is rated 4.7 out of 5 across 600+ Capterra reviews and answers all four. Squarespace, Wix and WordPress are the platforms Pixpa customers most often switch from.
No. You start from one of 200+ designer-made templates and change what you want to change with a drag-and-drop editor. Custom CSS and HTML are there if you want them, and nothing on the site requires them.
Yes. The store runs on the same domain as the portfolio and sells prints, digital downloads such as fonts, presets and templates, physical products, and fixed-scope services. Payment goes through Stripe or PayPal directly into your account, and Pixpa takes zero commission on every plan.
Yes. Client galleries are part of the platform, not a separate subscription. Send logo rounds or packaging comps as one branded link, set a password and an expiry date, and let the client comment on individual items and mark favorites. More than one person on the client side can favorite in the same gallery.
Six to ten, presented as case studies rather than thumbnails. A large body of work signals volume; a tight one signals judgment, and judgment is what the client is buying. If a project is there because it was hard to make rather than because it wins you the next brief, cut it.
Yes, if you want the work taken seriously and the search equity to accrue to you rather than to a platform. A domain you own is also what lets you change platforms later without losing your links. Pixpa includes a free custom domain for the first year on annual billing, and you can connect one you already own instead.
Pixpa has a 15-day free trial with no credit card required and a 30-day money-back guarantee after that. There is no permanent free plan. Free portfolio hosts exist, but they place ads on your work, cap your image resolution, or keep the domain. Students and educators get a discount on paid plans.