Squarespace vs Wix vs Carrd: Portfolio Websites for Freelancers (2026)
You need a portfolio website. You don’t need to spend three weeks building one. And you definitely don’t need to learn to code to look professional online.
In 2026, three website builders dominate the freelancer space: Squarespace for beautiful design, Wix for maximum flexibility, and Carrd for dead-simple one-pagers. Each serves a different type of freelancer, and picking the wrong one either wastes your money or makes you look less professional than you are.
Let me save you the hours of trial accounts and comparison shopping. Here’s exactly which one you should pick: and why.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Squarespace | Wix | Carrd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $16-33/mo | $17-35/mo | $9-49/yr |
| Templates | 150+ (curated) | 800+ (varied quality) | 80+ (one-page) |
| Custom Domain | Included (annual plans) | Included ($17+/mo) | Yes ($9/yr plan) |
| E-commerce | Yes (higher tiers) | Yes (higher tiers) | No |
| Blog | Excellent | Good | No |
| SEO | Excellent | Excellent | Basic |
| Page Speed | Fast | Variable | Very fast |
| Mobile Editing | Limited | Yes (app) | Yes |
| Testimonials Page | Built-in blocks | Via apps/widgets | Manual |
Squarespace: Best Design for Creatives
$16-33/month
If you’re a designer, photographer, artist, or anyone whose work is visual, Squarespace is almost certainly the right choice. The templates are stunning out of the box, and more importantly, nearly impossible to make ugly. Squarespace constrains your choices just enough that even non-designers end up with something professionally crafted.
The template library has about 150 options, but every single one is portfolio-worthy. For photographers, the gallery layouts are best-in-class: full-bleed images, smooth transitions, lightbox displays. Designers appreciate the typography options and whitespace-first aesthetic. Writers benefit from clean blog layouts.
The editor uses a structured section-and-block approach. Less freedom than Wix’s drag-and-drop, but everything stays aligned, proportional, and responsive. E-commerce on higher plans handles prints, digital products, or courses. Built-in blogging is excellent for case studies.
SEO tools are solid: custom meta titles, automatic sitemaps, clean URLs, and fast page loads. Custom domain is included with annual plans.
Where Squarespace falls short is flexibility. You can’t move elements pixel-by-pixel or install custom plugins. If a template doesn’t naturally support something, you’ll hack together CSS or live without it. Mobile editing is limited to text changes and blog posts.
Best for: Photographers, graphic designers, illustrators, architects, and any visual creative who wants their portfolio to look as polished as their work.
Wix: Most Flexible + Drag-and-Drop Freedom
$17-35/month
Wix gives you a blank canvas and lets you put anything anywhere. Every element can be dragged to any position, resized freely, and customized extensively. If you have a specific vision that doesn’t fit a template’s structure, Wix won’t stop you.
The template library is massive: 800+ options. Quality varies more than Squarespace, but the best ones are excellent and customizable far beyond their starting point. The AI website builder generates a starting point based on your description.
For business-focused freelancers: consultants, coaches, copywriters: Wix often makes more sense. You can build complex pages with pricing tables, booking widgets, lead magnets, and client portals. The Wix App Market adds live chat, CRM integrations, scheduling, and more.
Blogging is capable. SEO tools are comprehensive: arguably the best of the three for technical control. E-commerce on premium plans handles digital products, services, and physical goods.
The downside of freedom is responsibility. Without design sensibility, unlimited flexibility can result in amateur-looking sites. Page speed suffers with too many elements or heavy apps. Mobile editing is available but limited for complex work.
Pricing starts at $17/month. Most freelancers want the Business plan at $32-35/month for full features and no Wix branding.
Best for: Business consultants, marketing freelancers, coaches, copywriters: anyone needing more than a portfolio, like booking pages, lead generation, and client resources.
Carrd: Best for Simple One-Page Portfolios
$9-49/year (yes, per year)
Carrd is the minimalist’s dream. One page. Clean design. Lightning fast. And it costs less per year than Squarespace or Wix cost per month.
If your portfolio is straightforward: a brief intro, links to your work, a few testimonials, and a contact method: Carrd does it beautifully without bloat. Think professional landing page rather than traditional website.
The templates are one-page designs with scrollable sections. They load instantly and look great on mobile. Building takes minutes: choose a template, swap text and images, connect your domain, publish. You can build your professional web presence during a lunch break.
The Pro plan at $19/year gives you custom domains, forms, analytics, and multiple sites. Pro Plus at $49/year adds more sites and embedded widgets.
For developers and writers specifically, Carrd makes sense because content lives elsewhere: GitHub, publication sites, PDFs. You just need a professional hub linking everything together.
The limitation is obvious: one page. No blog, no e-commerce, no separate gallery pages. Limited SEO control. You’re working within the single-page paradigm. Some freelancers outgrow Carrd within a year, others never need more.
Best for: Developers, writers, freelancers with work hosted elsewhere, anyone wanting a professional web presence without maintaining a full website.
Decision Guide: Which One Are You?
You’re a visual creative (photographer, designer, illustrator): Go with Squarespace. Your work is visual and deserves a platform that showcases it beautifully. The templates are built for portfolio display, and you won’t accidentally make it look bad.
You’re a business-focused freelancer (consultant, marketer, coach): Go with Wix. You need more than a portfolio: lead capture, booking, multiple service pages, maybe a blog for content marketing. Wix handles the complexity without requiring code.
You’re a developer, writer, or minimalist freelancer: Go with Carrd. Your work lives on other platforms. You need a professional hub, not a full website. Save your money and time for actual client work.
You’re unsure or just starting out: Start with Carrd ($9-49/year). It’s so cheap that there’s zero risk. If you outgrow it, migrate to Squarespace or Wix later with more clarity about what you actually need.
FAQ
Can I use a custom domain with all three? Yes. Squarespace includes a free domain for the first year on annual plans. Wix includes a custom domain on plans $17+/month. Carrd supports custom domains on all Pro plans ($9+/year). You can also bring your own domain purchased elsewhere.
Which one is best for SEO? Wix and Squarespace are comparable for SEO, both offering strong technical foundations and customization. Carrd is more limited: single-page sites naturally have less content for search engines to index. If organic search traffic is important to your freelance business, choose Wix or Squarespace.
Can I switch from one platform to another later? You can always rebuild, but content doesn’t transfer between platforms automatically. Your domain can move freely (just update DNS settings). Budget 2-4 hours to recreate your site on a new platform. Starting with Carrd and upgrading to Squarespace later is a common and painless path.
Do I need a portfolio website if I have a strong LinkedIn/Instagram presence? Yes. Social profiles are rented land: algorithms change, accounts get restricted, and you can’t control the experience. A portfolio website is your professional home base that you own and control. It also ranks in Google searches for your name, which matters when potential clients research you.
How long does it take to build a portfolio site on each? Carrd: 30 minutes to 2 hours. Squarespace: 3-6 hours for a polished result. Wix: 4-8 hours due to more customization decisions. These assume you have your content (images, copy, project descriptions) ready before starting.
Looking for more freelancer tools? Check out the best link-in-bio tools to complement your portfolio, our picks for CRM software for photographers, or the best invoicing software for freelancers to handle the money side.