That’s why I’ve sifted through the internet to find the best photography portfolio templates available today.

The first 10 of these templates are completely free. The last 10 are paid.

If you want to skip ahead and see my top 5 picks of the best photography templates you can skip to the last section of this article by clicking here.

The way I chose these templates came down to the following qualities:

• How easy it is to customize
• Responsiveness and accessibility
• Features that let you present photos in more than one way
• Multiple pages included (some even have a blog!)
• Uniqueness and style

I paid close attention to customizability. Each of these templates can be used as is, or easily adjusted to fit your style and brand.

This is key, because you don’t want to use some cookie-cutter template that thousands of other photographers are already using.

Instead, the goal should be to create a completely custom photography portfolio website that gives people a good first impression — one that builds trust and makes others want to work with you (if you’re looking for clients).

Keeping customizability in mind, you need to make sure that you choose the right website builder. Let’s go over what that means.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Pablo Picasso

What website builder do photographers use?

Most photographers use some sort of website builder to build their photography portfolio website. The most common ones include Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and WordPress. Each of these platforms has its pros and cons for different use cases.

Squarespace and Wix are great if you just want to get a website up and running quickly. However, customizability is limited on these platforms.

WordPress is great for blogging, but can be hard to customize and may cause slow website speeds due to plugins.

I’ve seen a trend in professional photographers using Webflow — a website builder that lets you build fully custom websites without having to learn how to code.

The great thing about Webflow is that all of their templates can be fully customized to create something totally new.

They also have a “Made in Webflow” community marketplace that has a bunch of free templates and “cloneables” you can use to build out your photography website.

All of the templates mentioned, especially the paid ones, are built using HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript best practices.

The first 10 templates in this article are free cloneable templates. You can either use them as a standalone template, or mix and match them together. The last 10 are paid templates that offer more customization and features.

How do I create a free photography website?

The first step to creating your photography portfolio is to have photos and your work ready to be shown.

I’d recommend that you first start off by creating a free photography website before you dive in and start paying a website builder for hosting.

In this article, we are going to talk about using Webflow. Mainly because it’s the best platform for serious creatives and because it’s totally free to use for websites that don’t need a custom domain yet.

So the first step is to browse through and find a template you want to use, free or paid. Then you want to create a free Webflow account to edit and customize your template to your liking. Then, you simply publish and it’s live on the web!

Okay, let’s get into some of the best photography website templates available right now.

20 best photography website templates that stand out

Here are my top picks for the best photography website templates:

1. Photography portfolio template (free)

The first photography website template on this list is a free template for a concept portfolio website. I like this template a lot because it includes multiple pages and is completely free to use.

This is a great template for photographers that want to attract client work. It gives you a page to showcase your work, an about page to express who you are and what you do, and a contact page.

There’s also a style guide that shows you how to customize the template to fit your exact branding. Whether you want to change the typography or brand colors, it’s all possible.

The template also includes a Figma file if you want to explore the designs of the template within Figma (a popular designing tool).

What I like:

• Beautiful design
• Includes multiple pages
• Comes with a Figma design file

2. Photography template (free)

This free photography template is great for those who want to showcase their work directly on their homepage.

There are tons of great interactions and animations that are triggered while you scroll through the website — making for a clean and impressive experience.

This is also another template that has multiple pages. There’s a photo gallery page, an about page, and a contact page that is equipped with a form.

If you’re looking for a unique photography website, with tons of animations, this is one you should definitely check out.

What I like:

• Includes interactions and animations
• Comes with multiple pages
• Contact page includes a form

3. ALEXSTEYP (free)

This next template is a simple and minimal one. The website is just a landing page with a gallery view of images. There’s also a section at the bottom where you can include links to your social media accounts.

While it is just a simple gallery template, there is also an about page where you can include more details about who you are and what you do.

Many of the templates on this list can be used as a multipurpose template for more than just photos. But, this one is ideally used by those that just want to highlight some image or maybe prints of past projects.

What I like:

• Simple grid layout
• Minimal design with ample whitepsace
• One-page style website

4. Portfolio Site (free)

If you’re a photographer that also provides services, this is a template you should definitely check out.

It’s completely free and offers both a functional and sophisticated design.

The great thing about this template is how detailed the navigation menu is. There’s an entire contact form in the menu bar, along with links to find photography work, design work, and a complete blog.

If you need a complete website, equipped with a fully functional blog, this is it.

There are beautiful image galleries and page layouts that are easy to navigate through. This website template can really make potential clients see you as a professional in the photography space.

What I like:

• Full website template with a blog and multiple page layouts
• Beautiful image galleries
• Subtle animations with a custom cursor

5. Paphotography (free)

If you’re looking for a free, clean photographer portfolio you should seriously consider checking this one out.

It’s a one-page style website that includes an about section, a gallery, and a contact form. There are subtle interactive elements on the page that make it feel professional.

What I like:

• Includes an interactive gallery with different sections
• Contact form interaction
• Landing page style website

6. Arete (free)

Arete is a photography website template that is another one-page style website. What makes this different from the previous template mentioned is that it scrolls horizontally, instead of vertically.

Each heading in the menu bar that you click on creates a transition that gives you an overlay of the page. For example, when you click on “portraits,” a gallery pops up on the screen (but it doesn't send you to a new web page).

The gallery view is also nice because you can click on any image and it shows it in a slideshow-style format

This is a really nice and clean photography website and the fact that it's a free template makes it even better.

What I like:

• Horizontal navigation
• Different options to view images in the gallery
• A beautiful contact form

7. Portfolio Rebuild (free)

This is probably my favorite photography website template (that’s free) on this list. It’s a rebuild of Lisa Ribeiro’s photography portfolio.

When you open this template, you are greeted with a wide range of interactions and animations that make the design “pop.”

The template is colorful, playful, and minimal — all at the same time.

There’s also a cool interaction when you click on the menu button. The menu includes links to pages on the site that are non-existent, but you can easily create these pages in Webflow.

For example, there are options to create an online store, and other pages like wedding portraits, to make it a cohesive website.

What I like:

• Beautiful design
• Lots of great interactions and animations
• Minimalistic gallery that fills the entire homepage

8. Photographer’s Portfolio (free)

This photography website template is great for anyone that loves a boxy and minimal design. 

Unlike the previous web template, this one does not include a lot of colors and animations. This can be a good thing if you’re focused on web accessibility and want to make your website easily navigable.

It’s a one-page photography website template that includes a navbar. Each time you click on an item in the navbar, the page smoothly scrolls down to the appropriate section.

What I like:

• Simple and clean design
• One-page style website template
• Includes social media icons to link your profiles

9. Photography Portfolio (free)

This is probably my second favorite free photography website template on this list.

The homepage is a full-screen video that autoplays and includes just two links — a project page and a contact page.

This is a multi-page website template that leverages the Webflow CMS. When you click into the projects gallery, each image that you click on has its own dedicated landing page. This is great if you want to write about what each of your images means to you.

This template has both an amazing design for featuring images and a CMS for creating content for a blog.

What I like:

• Multi-page template
• Includes beautiful fonts
• Subtle parallax scrolling effects

10. Zoom Template (free)

Zoom is the last free website template on this list. It’s a photography portfolio with a clean and simple web design.

As you scroll through the homepage, elements come into view and create a nice user experience. 
This template is very barebones and simple, and it’s best for those that just want to quickly get a landing page up and running.

What I like:

• One-page design
• Includes a contact form
• Subtle use of interactions

11. Photographer X (paid)

If you’re looking for a robust photography portfolio website that also includes a UI kit, this is it.

Photographer X offers so much more than just a website template. The UI kit allows you to mix and match different elements to create a totally unique website — giving you tons of functionality.

The template includes over 25 pages, 20 components, 40 sections, and a Figma design file. There’s also a blog and ecommerce feature that lets you promote and sell your products.

The whole template has a dark and minimalistic feel, but you can easily change up the colors and typography in Webflow.

What I like:

• Includes a full UI kit with tons of components
• Ecommerce functionality
• Includes multiple blog pages

12. Photographa (paid)

Photographa is a clean and affordable photography website template. It has a unique website layout unlike most website templates out there.

It includes a navbar, similar to that on mobile apps, and includes beautiful icons for each navigation item.

It also has a beautiful grid style layout that gives a nice touch when showcasing your photos. When you click on each photo (or video), it shows each item in a slider-like view.

The template features interactions and is fully responsive — making it look great on any screen size or device.

What I like:

• Gives an illusion of a single-page website
• Unique design
• Fully responsive

13. Aperture (paid)

Aperture is a complete website template designed for the modern photographer or freelancer.

It has a clean aesthetic and includes subtle interactions and animations that show off your photos in a “crisp” way.

There are multiple categories for different portfolio pages and the template is nicely equipped with a contact page, featured images page, and a gear page to showcase what you use to take photos.

Similar to the Photographer X template, Aperture also has a dark and minimalistic feel. The footer on this template is also nice — including a newsletter email subscribe form.

What I like:

• Multi-paged template
• Options to subscribe to a newsletter
• Uses the CMS to showcase different photo types

14. Toronto (paid)

Toronto is a premium photography website template that is full of surprises. The homepage has bold typography and instantly shows off images through a parallax scroll effect. It’s a bit jarring at first, but gives the template a unique and bold feel.

The subtle colors and beautiful navbar are what set it apart from the previous paid templates we’ve gone over (so far).

I can’t get over how mesmerizing this template is. If you take high quality photos, and want to showcase them on a high quality website, you should seriously consider this website template for your site.

What I like:

• Mesmerizing web design
• Bold and large typography
• Scroll interactions that make images stand out

15. Henry Talbot (paid)

Clean, minimal, and made for photographers or videographers — that’s what this template is. 

From a design perspective, Henry Talbot is one of my favorite paid templates on this list. It has cool mouse interactions, bold typography, horizontal scrolling, and ample white-space.

This template is very breathable, even with all the fancy design elements. It has a full style guide, options to feature your social media profiles, and a beautiful menu that opens up different pages on the site.

If you’re looking for a multi-page template that's modern and sophisticated, this is one you need to check out.

What I like:

• Clean, sophisticated website design
• Great for SEO (search engine optimization)
• Includes over 10 responsive web pages

16. Photolens (paid)

Photolens is a website template that’s sort of like a combination of Photographer X and the previous template we went over.

It has great typography, a clean design, and ecommerce functionality. If you’re a photographer that wants to sell digital or print copies of your work, you should consider using this photography theme for your website.

This portfolio website is more than just a series of images. It’s fully responsive, includes ecommerce and CMS functionality, and is highly customizable to fit your style.

What I like:

• Fast loading speeds
• Highly customizable
• CMS and ecommerce feature

17. Stills (paid)

This template is definitely up there in my top 3 favorite templates on this list. It has a beautiful and clean design with mutual tone colors (although you can easily change all the colors if you’d like).

It’s equipped with a clean-looking image gallery and a section to add featured images. It also leverages the Webflow CMS so you can create a blog or go more in-depth and explain the meaning behind your images.

The template also includes global swatches so you can easily customize any aspect of it quickly. There’s a style guide, contact form, multiple utility pages, and support for retina displays.

What I like:

• A focus on easy customization
• Uses the Webflow CMS
• Fully responsive

18. Depth (paid)

Similar to the template previously mentioned, Depth is a clean and simple website template that uses bold typography and mutual colors.

This is such an elegant template for photo studios or freelance photographers. It’s a multi-page template that includes a homepage, about page, contact page, and a work page.

If you’re a storyteller, and have an aptitude for showcasing your images in a sophisticated way, you should check out this template.

What I like:

• Calm colors that are easy on the eyes
• Great for storytelling
• Includes multiple pages via the CMS

19. Shots (paid)

Shots is one of the most popular photography website templates out there — with good reason. This template includes a wide variety of different page layouts that you can mix and match to create something totally unique.

You can choose from different homepage layouts, project page layouts, and blog layouts. The template also includes an about page and a contact page (equipped with a form).

The entire template is 100% responsive and great for any type of photographer. Whether you’re a wedding photographer, travel photographer, a creative agency, or just a hobbyist, this template can fit almost any photographer's needs.

What I like:

• Stunning intro pages
• Engaging interactions and animations
• Multiple portfolio and blog layouts

20. Drew (paid)

Drew is the last paid photography online portfolio on this list. If you’re a photographer or creative that wants to showcase their work, this is a great template to do so.

It includes an easy to update blog, multiple product pages, and a beautiful gallery to showcase your images.

This is a multi-page template that’s a full website. The design is also elegant and clean — making it a pleasant experience to browse through.

What I like:

• Uses the Webflow CMS (for projects and blogs)
• Includes a style guide
• Multi-page layout that’s responsive

How to make a photography portfolio website

Creating a photography portfolio is not as hard as it used to be. With different page builders and templates, you can easily get a website up and running in under an hour.

The best website builder for photographers, in my humble opinion, is Webflow. I wrote an entire Webflow review if you want to see why I think it’s the best website builder out there right now. 

It’s the best alternative to WordPress and its customization makes it far greater than other tools like Wix or Squarespace.

It’s free to sign up for Webflow. You only pay when you want to use the CMS or use a custom domain. But you can get a 100% free photography website up and running with Webflow. And if you decide to use one of the free templates in this article, there’s really no reason not to try it.

My top five picks

As promised in the beginning of this article, here are my top five picks for the best photography website templates:

1. Depth (paid)
2. Stills (paid)
3. Photographer X (paid)
4. Portfolio Rebuild (free)
5. Photography Portfolio Template (free)

Okay, that’s it. I hope you were able to find a template that works for you, or just got some inspiration to use for your existing photography portfolio.

Happy creating. Artists unite!