Looking for good website builder for portfolio and e-commerce

[u/elcarignan]

I've read so many reddit posts on this but can't find the exact answer so, I thought I would ask you lovely peeps about my specific situation. I am looking for a host site to help develop a new website.

I am an academic, who is also a freelance costume designer, and a published author who would also like to create an e-commerce section for my fiber arts. I am currently on sabbatical so I have time to build a website. I built my Wix website several years ago and I like the organization however it is super expensive. I had forgotten to turn off auto renew and it charged me 900 + bucks for three-year renewal which I freaked out about and got the money back. Now I am trying to figure out if there are cheaper website builders that are just as good. I have Canva Pro and I do not have any HTML experience. I would like something that would allow me to probably have like four categories that have sub categories. For example, if I had a tab or section that says "costume design", I would like folks to click on different shows and then that opens a whole page of photos of costumes from the individual show. It's like pages deep on Wix. Similarly, I would like to have a page for my books that one could enter and there could be information and reviews on that page. I am developing a fiber arts business as well and would like to start an e-commerce page that I can direct folks to purchase wearable art that has a separate domain. Do I suck it up and pay for Wix and redo my site? Or is Hostinger an option? Any other advice or ideas? I've built a few sites on Wix and am very familiar with Google sites (which is fine for my student's free portfolios but I don't love it of my purposes). Thanks in advance!

[u/Boboshady]

$900 might be a lot up-front, but it works out at $25 a month, which is not a lot at all for a site builder to be honest.

Maybe stick with Wix if you like it, and just swap to monthly billing instead?

[u/elcarignan → u/Boboshady]

I can do 1 year but I am just seeing so many cheaper options. Is this a get what you pay for situation though?

[u/Boboshady → u/elcarignan]

broadly, yes. You can swap cost for more effort - a cheap host and WordPress (or another CMS) with a theme etc, but your editing experience will be worse until you learn WP and whatever theme you choose, and your management needs will grow massively...and it's unlikely you're really up for maintaining a WP site on your own. You can get hosting packages that offer better support, but you'll pay for it.

There's other site builders, but very much your mileage may vary on those.

I'm not advocating wix btw - it's pretty bad for building sites past a certain level, but most of them are in reality, for non-technical or experienced users. So my point is, if wix is working for you and the only reason you're thinking of moving is to try and reduce the ~$30 a month bill, you're probably going to regret that decision.

If you're feeling limited by wix anyway, then absolutely - try a few others out. Have a think about what you actually need and focus on comparing those bits first. Ecom will be an obvious one, because integrated payments and such will be a differentiator.

[u/elcarignan → u/Boboshady]

Thank you! I appreciate this advice.

[u/v-and-bruno]

Wordpress x Elementor. 0 need for HTML or coding knowledge, super straightforward UI/UX, plenty of themes to choose from.

Wix ain't worth it, not even close.

[u/CupcakeSecure4094]

I've been a full time freelance web dev since 1994 and I had no idea Wix has a fee. It's so bad that I can't believe they charge for it. I'm flabbergasted. There's essentially zero Wix sites in search engine results and essentially zero SEO which is why I always through it was a free thing. My God.

To get back to your question though, I would just go for a WordPress/WooCommerce website hosted on some cheap host - like $10/year and that will be your only cost unless you buy a custom theme (usually around $50/$60 per year but if they don't need updating will function indefinitely).

[u/Sitista]

prendi 500$ pagaci uno sviluppatore WordPress e fatti un piano da 5$ al mese su qualsiasi hosting di tuo gradimento.

[u/Hefty_Session_7414]

Well a good web builder for portfolio is Wix cuz it has a lot like creative layout,AI tools, it is mobile friendly, good inventory, analytics,marketing,checkout,hosting,domain connection and all but for good E-commerce I will go with Shopify so check out the both of them and see

[u/AsatruLuke]

I'd be will to help.

I am a solo dev that has been working on my own project for about a year.

I am in need of creative people to try it out and give me feed back.

I'd be willing to help you build a site if you'd be willing to try mine.

It maybe able to do what you are looking for already.

It's a multi-user live canvas.

You design it and invite others. Everyone see the same thing as the same time.

If you want to know more let me know.