One unified OS for your visual business.

ArtInStack is built for creators and studios who want to run a multi-part creative business without stitching together a dozen separate apps.

Upload an image once and it keeps its EXIF and rights data attached. The same master can anchor a public portfolio page, drop into a secure client room, or feed a print order through a connected fulfillment partner, without a second library. Courses and workshops run on the same account and domain.

It's still earning the track record the category leaders have. SmugMug has over a decade of direct print-lab relationships; ArtInStack's print path runs through partners like Prodigi and Gelato (real, but younger). And if you don't need client proofing, course hosting, or integrated commerce, this is more surface area than a visual resume requires. Score that honestly using the criteria on our platform guide.

SmugMug is the platform to beat if prints are core to your income. Every paid plan includes unlimited storage, and its print lab integrations (Bay Photo, WHCC, Loxley Colour) are the deepest and most reliable in the category. It's also been doing this longer than almost anyone, which shows up as stability.

The cost is currency. The interface is the second most-cited complaint in the category after pricing, and the portfolio/site builder feels more like gallery software than a brand site. If a modern, editorial-feeling public site matters to you, SmugMug will feel restrictive.

Pixieset is what most working wedding and portrait photographers reach for when client delivery is the whole job. The gallery experience is genuinely modern (favoriting, fast mobile loading, a CRM that doesn't feel bolted on), and the free tier (three galleries, 2GB) makes it easy to try.

It knows what it isn't. The site/portfolio side is thin on design range, so photographers who want their public site to do real marketing work usually run it alongside a separate builder: the exact two-subscription, two-upload pattern this page is arguing against.

Squarespace remains the fastest way to a beautiful, premium-feeling marketing site. Templates are strong, mobile handling is clean, and basic e-commerce works well out of the box.

But there's nothing native for client delivery. No galleries, no proofing, no print lab connections. Photographers who need any of that are adding Pixieset or a similar tool on top, plus a transaction fee on the entry tiers. Squarespace is a site tool, not a studio tool.

WordPress.org (self-hosted) still powers a huge share of the web, and nothing beats it for raw control: custom themes, scale, and ownership of every line of code.

Plugin fatigue is the real cost. Portfolios, secure proofing, and store integrations usually mean three or more third-party plugins stacked together, which means security updates, breakage after upgrades, and maintenance that eats time you didn't budget for. The media library itself was built for blog attachments, not a wedding shoot.

When you're ready to leave that stack, Migrate from WordPress and the WordPress migration docs cover Import Site.

Choose Squarespace if you just need a gorgeous, low-stress portfolio for clients and recruiters, with no delivery workflow attached.

Choose Pixieset if client delivery is the whole job and you're fine running your site somewhere else.

Choose SmugMug if print sales are a real revenue line and you want the deepest lab network in the category.

Choose ArtInStack if you're running a production business (selling digital or physical work, maybe teaching) and want your site, delivery, and commerce sharing one archive.

Choose WordPress if you're tech-savvy, want total control over your code, and have the time to maintain it yourself.