Free Artist Website Alternative: Why Artists Use Artsume

A domain, hosting, a template, and a weekend of setup, all before a single image goes up. That's the standard entry price for an artist website, and for a lot of artists it buys something that then sits untouched for three years because updating it is its own small project.

There's a second path, which is to use a profile platform as your public presence instead. You give up custom design and gain a CV that stays current, a portfolio you can update from a phone, and applications that pull from both. This guide covers when that trade is worth making, when it isn't, and how Artsume fits either way.

The Problem with Traditional Artist Websites

Cost Adds Up

A typical artist website costs $150-500+ per year:

Over a 10-year career, that's $1,250-5,300 just to maintain a basic online presence.

For emerging artists especially, this cost is significant. That money could fund materials, documentation, or application fees for the opportunities that advance your career.

Technical Hassle

Even the "easy" builders ask for more than they advertise. You choose and configure a template, optimize every image for web, keep up with updates and security patches, troubleshoot when something breaks, redesign every few years so the site doesn't look dated, chase mobile layout bugs, and learn enough SEO to be found at all.

None of that is why you became an artist. It's also a comparison worth making honestly rather than in the abstract, and the guide to artist portfolio websites walks through what each platform actually costs in money and hours.

The Learning Curve

Every platform has its quirks:

• Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Cargo - all different interfaces
• Hours learning where settings are
• Tutorials to understand basic functions
• Updates that change how things work

Time spent learning website management is time not spent in the studio.

The CV Problem

Traditional websites don't generate CVs. You maintain your website AND separately maintain a CV document, often with the same information in two places.

The typical workflow:

1. Add exhibition to website
2. Remember to update Word document
3. Reformat when adding new entries
4. Export to PDF
5. Hope the versions match

When you need to send a CV, you hope the Word doc version matches your website. It often doesn't.

Limited Functionality

Most portfolio sites just display work. They don't help you apply to opportunities, track what you've submitted, generate formatted documents, or connect with organizations looking for artists.

So you end up with a website, plus a CV document, plus a spreadsheet of applications, plus accounts on two or three submission platforms. Information scattered across systems, none of which know about each other.

What Artsume Offers Instead

Professional Artist Profile

Your Artsume profile serves as a portfolio website:

Portfolio display: Upload images and video with titles, dates, dimensions, and descriptions. Work is presented in a clean, gallery-style format designed for artwork, not a generic file grid.

Artist statement: Add your statement and it appears professionally formatted on your profile. Write once, available everywhere you need it.

Biography: Multiple bio lengths for different contexts, all in one place. Short bio for quick introductions, long bio for detailed contexts.

Contact information: Galleries and curators can reach you easily. You control what's visible.

Public URL: Share your profile with anyone using a simple link. No complicated URLs or requiring people to navigate your site.

What you can and can't control in that presentation is covered in the portfolio product page, and the practical setup steps are in the docs on building your portfolio.

Automatic CV Generation

This is where Artsume differs fundamentally from portfolio websites.

As you add information to your profile, Artsume formats it into a CV following CAA (College Art Association) standards. Add an entry, download a fresh PDF, and the document is current. There's no second file to remember and no reformatting pass.

The mechanics of that, plus what belongs in each section, are in the guide to the free artist CV maker and on the CV builder page.

Apply to Opportunities

Unlike static websites, Artsume connects you to opportunities:

Browse listings: Find grants, residencies, exhibitions, and more on the opportunities page.

Apply with your profile: Instead of filling out forms from scratch, apply using your saved CV and portfolio. Organizations see your professional presentation.

Track applications: See what you've applied to and application statuses, including the ones you submitted elsewhere, in the application tracker.

No platform fees: Applying is free for artists - always. Organizations may set their own application fees, but Artsume doesn't charge you to apply.

If you're currently submitting through SlideRoom or Submittable, the platform comparison guide covers how those differ from applying with a saved profile.

Everything Stays in Sync

The real power is integration. Your portfolio, CV, artist statement, and application materials all come from the same source. Update once, everything updates.

What this means practically:

• Add a new exhibition → CV updates, portfolio stays current, applications have latest info
• Update your statement → Profile reflects it, application materials include it
• Upload new work → Available for your public portfolio and applications

No more managing information across multiple systems.

Artsume vs. Traditional Website Builders

When to Use Artsume Alone

Artsume is sufficient as your primary online presence if:

• You want a professional portfolio without costs or technical hassle
• You primarily need to share work with galleries, grants, and opportunities
• You value CV generation and application features
• You don't need extensive blogging or custom design
• You want your materials in one integrated system
• You're an emerging artist managing costs carefully

Many artists use only Artsume and find it meets all their needs. The combination of portfolio, CV generator, and application platform covers most professional requirements.

When to Use Both

Some artists run a traditional website alongside their profile. The website carries extensive project documentation, writing, commercial sales, and whatever custom branding matters to them; the profile carries the CV, the applications, and the link they hand out.

If that's your setup, link the two so neither goes stale. Point your website at your profile for the current CV, apply through the profile even though the website exists, and keep the portfolio selection roughly aligned in both places.

How Artists Use Artsume

Most people fall into one of a few patterns.

Some make the profile their whole public presence: fill in the CV entries, portfolio works, statement, and bio, then hand out the profile URL to galleries, curators, and anyone who asks, apply to grants and residencies with it, and add new work and shows as they happen. That's the full-replacement case, and it's what the intro is describing.

Others keep their own website and use the profile as an application engine. Entries go in as they happen, so there's never a scramble before a deadline; the PDF is current whenever someone asks for a CV; and applications go out with a saved profile rather than a re-uploaded folder. That's the pattern for anyone running a serious residency application season, where the same materials go out ten or twenty times with different framing. A few use it almost entirely as a CV tool, generating the formatted PDF to fill in forms on other platforms.

And there's the simplest use of all, which is having one link to send. "Here's my portfolio: artsume.com/a/yourname" answers a gallery inquiry, a grant reviewer's follow-up, a curator's research request, and a studio visit prep email, with no login required on the other end. The docs on sharing your profile cover what that link shows and what stays private.

Michelle Beattie describes picking that route in her interview, on the grounds that she would rather make work than keep a website current.

Setting Up Your Artsume Profile

Getting started takes about 30-60 minutes:

1. Create Your Account

Sign up for free. No credit card required, no trial period.

2. Add Your Basic Information

• Display name (as you want it shown professionally)
• Location (city, state/country)
• Profile photo (professional headshot recommended)
• Contact information (email, website if you have one)

3. Write Your Artist Statement

Add your statement and it's ready for both display and applications. Not sure how to write one? See our artist statement guide.

4. Build Your CV

Add entries for:

• Education (degrees, significant training)
• Solo exhibitions
• Group exhibitions
• Awards and grants
• Residencies
• Publications
• Collections
• Teaching
• Related experience

Each entry is saved and formatted automatically. See our CV guide for what to include.

5. Upload Portfolio Works

Add images with title, year, medium, dimensions, and an optional description, then group them into collections or series if that helps the work read. Which pieces you include, and in what order, matters more than how many you upload: start with how to build an artist portfolio and the portfolio best practices guide.

6. Download Your CV

Generate a PDF version anytime. It's always current with your latest entries, formatted to professional standards.

7. Share Your Profile

Use your profile URL to share with anyone who wants to see your work. No login required for viewers.

What About Custom Domains?

Artsume profiles use URLs like artsume.com/a/yourname. If having a custom domain (yourname.com) is important to you, consider:

Option 1: Use Artsume as-is

Most professionals understand shared platform URLs (like LinkedIn profiles). The benefits, free hosting and an integrated CV and applications, often outweigh custom domain branding. Curators and galleries won't judge you for using a professional platform.

Option 2: Redirect from custom domain

Purchase a domain and set it to redirect to your Artsume profile. You own the domain for branding (business cards, email) but it forwards to Artsume. Cost: just the domain ($15-30/year).

Option 3: Maintain both

Simple website at your custom domain for branding and extensive content; Artsume for CV, applications, and professional tools.

For most artists, especially emerging and mid-career artists, the free complete features outweigh custom domain concerns.

Privacy and Control

You control what appears: Hide any individual work from your public profile.

You own your work: Artsume doesn't claim rights to your images or content. Your intellectual property remains yours.

Export anytime: Download your CV as PDF. Your data isn't locked in.

No ads: Your profile displays your work, not advertisements.

Secure platform: Standard security practices protect your account and data.

Who Benefits Most from Artsume

Early in a career, the case is mostly financial: you save hundreds of dollars a year, build the CV as the career develops, and get access to opportunities without paying for a website first. The guide to finding art opportunities pairs well with that stage, since the constraint then is usually knowing where to look rather than what to submit.

Mid-career, the case is administrative. When you're running ten or twenty applications a year, a CV that's always current and a record of what went out where saves more time than any design decision.

And for anyone who has spent a weekend fighting a plugin update instead of working, the argument is simply that the hosting, patching, and redesign cycle stops being your problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Get Started

Setting up a profile takes about half an hour and gives you a portfolio display, a downloadable CV, a formatted artist statement, access to open opportunities, application tracking, and one link to send anyone who asks. No domain fees, no hosting bill, no template to configure.

If you already have a website you like, keep it. Add the profile for the parts a website was never going to do, which are the CV and the applications, and let the two point at each other.