Carbonmade

This Carbonmade review looks at the tool from the point of view of a working creative. It covers what the portfolio builder is used for, its key features, Carbonmade pricing and the free trial, how its design blocks work, where it shines and falls short, and how it compares with other website builders. Carbonmade is a tool built for one job: an online portfolio. You create projects, fill them with images, video and text, arrange them with drag-and-drop blocks and publish the site on a carbonmade.com address or your own custom domain. Hosting is included, so there is nothing to install or maintain. Carbonmade was founded in Chicago in the mid-2000s and says more than 2,000,000 creatives have used it.

What is Carbonmade used for?

Carbonmade is used to build a personal portfolio website that shows creative work to clients and employers. Graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, 3D artists, fashion designers and animators use it to present projects as galleries, with a short text about each piece and links to contact them. The vendor lists more than 20 portfolio categories and calls itself "the home for graphic designers".

It suits people who want a clean site that looks good without learning a general website builder. Students use it for applications, freelancers use it to win clients, and in-house designers keep it as an up-to-date record of their work. It is not meant for blogs, online stores or business websites with many pages; for that kind of content, other website builders fit better. The features are deliberately limited to what a portfolio needs.

Key features

• Projects and galleries: every piece of work is a project with unlimited galleries, unlimited sliders and grids. The vendor says it does not limit uploads the way other website builders do.
• Blocks instead of fixed templates: pages are built from layout blocks that you drag, drop and customize. There are no rigid themes to fight with, but also fewer ready-made templates to start from.
• Video and animation portfolio support: 4K video on the higher plans, motion previews and looping clips, which makes it a solid choice for an animation portfolio or a motion designer.
• Unlimited uploads: an unlimited number of images and videos on every plan, with no file size limit mentioned by the vendor; the project count is what differs.
• Custom domain: every plan includes a free carbonmade.com address and the option to connect your own domain.
• Mobile-ready: galleries are optimized for phones and tablets without extra work.
• Typefaces and branding: a set of fonts, colors and page elements to match your personal brand, plus your own logo and custom links.
• Help and video tutorials: a help center with guides and tutorials; support works by ticket, not live chat.

Carbonmade pricing

Carbonmade has three paid plans and an open-ended free trial. The prices below come from the Carbonmade pricing page as of September 2026, billed monthly:

• Beginner: $9.99 a month. 8 projects, unlimited images and videos, basic blocks, SD video.
• Professional: $14.99 a month. 50 projects, unlimited images and videos, premium blocks, 4K video.
• Unlimited: $24.99 a month. Unlimited projects and unlimited pages, all features.

Paying yearly in advance saves about 20%. The usage metric is the number of projects, not storage or visitors; uploads stay unlimited on every plan. There is no free plan, but the free trial has no time limit and needs no credit card, so you can build the whole portfolio before you pay.

The cost surprise to check is the project limit. The Beginner plan allows 8 projects, which a working designer fills quickly, and 4K video needs Professional. Some third-party reviews still quote older prices of $9, $12 and $22 a month; the vendor's current pricing page lists $9.99, $14.99 and $24.99. Reviewers also note that payments are non-refundable, so use the free trial fully before you upgrade (MyBestWebsiteBuilder).

How to create a portfolio with Carbonmade

Sign up with an email address; no credit card is required for the free trial, so you can create and set up the whole site before you choose a plan. Each piece of work becomes a project: give it a title and a short description, upload images, video or audio, and choose how the content should display, for example as a grid, a slider or full-width media. Add an about page with your bio, links to social profiles and a contact button so clients can reach you. When the portfolio looks right, connect a custom domain or keep the free carbonmade.com address, pick a plan and publish. A first version of a small portfolio can be ready in an afternoon, and the tool needs no code at any step, so there is no web design or HTML to worry about.

Good portfolio examples on Carbonmade share the same habits: a short intro, a limited number of strong projects rather than everything you have made, and project pages that explain the brief and your role. The project limit on the Beginner plan pushes you in that direction anyway.

Carbonmade support, hosting and SEO

Hosting, security and updates are part of every plan, so you never have to worry about servers or plugins. Support works by ticket with a help center and video tutorials; there is no live chat or phone line (MyBestWebsiteBuilder). Basic SEO settings and site analytics are included, but advanced SEO features that general website builders offer, such as detailed meta control or a blog for content marketing, are not. For most creatives this is enough, because clients usually reach a portfolio through direct links, social profiles and job applications rather than search.

Carbonmade templates, themes and design blocks

Carbonmade does not really do templates. Instead of choosing a theme and swapping content, you build each page from blocks: image grids, full-width media, text, video and slideshows. This keeps portfolios from looking the same and makes it easy to give each project its own layout. The trade-off is that there are fewer starting points than on Squarespace or Wix, so beginners who want a finished design in minutes may need a little longer. Existing work is easy to move in: upload images and video in bulk, then arrange them. The editor is drag-and-drop and needs no code, and changes appear on the live site when you publish. On the Unlimited plan you can also add unlimited pages beyond your projects, such as a services or press page.

Carbonmade as a portfolio builder for designers, photographers and animators

For designers and illustrators, Carbonmade is one of the simplest ways to create a professional online portfolio and present their brand to clients. Photographers get unlimited galleries; those who need client proofing or print sales should compare photo-first tools such as Pixpa. Animators and video artists benefit most from the video support: 4K playback, motion previews and looping clips show motion work better than most general website builders. Writers and journalists are a weaker fit, because the tool is built around visual content rather than articles and writing samples (Authory, written by a competitor).

Where Carbonmade shines — and where it falls short

Strengths:

• Built only for portfolios, so every feature serves showing creative work.
• Unlimited images and videos on every plan, with 4K video from Professional.
• A free trial with no time limit and no credit card required, with all features available.
• Simple enough to set up without design or code skills.

Trade-offs:

• The Beginner plan is limited to 8 projects.
• No online store and no blog.
• Fewer ready-made templates, fewer widgets and limited SEO functionality compared with the best website builder options for general sites.
• Support is by ticket only, and payments are non-refundable.

How Carbonmade compares

• Cargo: a design-led portfolio builder with more layout freedom and a strong following among artists.
• Squarespace: polished templates plus blog and store, at a higher price.
• Wix: a general website builder with many templates and apps.
• Pixpa: portfolio sites with client galleries and a store for photographers.
• Readymag: editorial, magazine-style layouts for designers.
• Framer and Webflow: full design control for designers who want to build every detail.
• Carrd: a one-page site for a quick, cheap online presence and a list of links.
• WordPress: the most flexible option, with more setup and maintenance.

Is Carbonmade worth it?

The conclusion of this Carbonmade review: Carbonmade is worth it for designers, illustrators and animators who want an affordable, good-looking portfolio without learning a general website builder. The user experience is simple, the features cover what a portfolio needs, and the price is fair for the Professional plan. The open-ended free trial makes the decision low-risk: build the site first, then choose a plan based on how many projects you need. It is less of a fit if you need an online store, a blog, many templates or advanced SEO, or if 8 projects on the Beginner plan are not enough and the higher plans cost more than a general builder. If you want a custom portfolio or a site that goes beyond what Carbonmade offers, the agencies and developers on LowCodeDevs can build it.

Sources

• Carbonmade pricing: plans, prices, project limits and the free trial.
• Carbonmade: features, video support, portfolio categories and user count.
• Carbonmade review, MyBestWebsiteBuilder: features, support and refund policy (its prices are older than the vendor's current page).
• Carbonmade vs Squarespace vs Authory, Authory: blocks instead of templates and the fit for writers (written by a competitor; 2023 prices).