How much does a portfolio website cost in India?
Builder, freelancer or agency — the price of the same portfolio website ranges from ₹0 to over ₹50,000 depending on the route. Here is the honest, number-by-number breakdown for 2026, including the costs nobody mentions upfront.
By Manan Agrawal, Founder · Updated June 10, 2026
A portfolio website costs ₹0–₹199 per month in India if you use a builder — students publish free on SitesPlaced, everyone else pays ₹199/month all-inclusive. A freelancer-built site is commonly quoted at ₹8,000–₹40,000, agencies typically start around ₹50,000, and a custom domain adds roughly ₹800–₹1,200 a year on any route.
Portfolio website price in India: every route compared
“How much does a portfolio website cost?” has four honest answers, because there are four ways to get one. The table below is the 2026 picture for India. Freelancer and agency figures are ranges commonly quoted in the Indian market — actual quotes vary with scope, city and who you ask, so treat them as framing rather than fixed prices.
| Route | Typical cost (India, 2026) | What's included | Time to live | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SitesPlaced (builder) | Free for students · ₹199/mo others | Premium templates, AI content, hosting, SSL, subdomain | ₹0 — domain optional | Minutes |
| DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace) | Monthly fee — see official pricing | Templates, hosting, SSL; features vary by tier | Domain often extra after year 1 | Hours to days |
| Freelancer-built | ₹8,000–₹40,000 commonly quoted | Custom design and build, scope-dependent | Hosting, domain & changes billed separately | 2–6 weeks |
| Agency-built | ₹50,000+ typical starting range | Custom design, CMS, project management | Maintenance contracts extra | 4–12 weeks |
| Custom domain (any route) | ~₹800–₹1,200/year for a .com | Your own address, e.g. yourname.com | Renews yearly; prices vary by registrar | Same day |
International builders price in dollars and revise plans often — check Wix’s pricing and Squarespace’s pricing directly. Freelancer and agency ranges are indicative of common Indian quotes, not guarantees.
The pattern worth noticing: the expensive routes are buying custom design and someone else’s time, not a better-performing portfolio. For an individual — student, freelancer, designer, developer — the content and the structure decide whether the portfolio works, and a builder delivers both at a fraction of the price.
The hidden costs nobody quotes upfront
The sticker price is rarely the whole portfolio website price. Depending on the route, these are the line items that appear later:
- ✓Hosting: a few thousand rupees a year on the freelancer/agency route — included free with builders
- ✓SSL certificate: free with every builder; occasionally billed separately on custom builds
- ✓Domain renewal: the ~₹999 first-year .com quietly renews every year, sometimes at a higher rate
- ✓Changes and updates: the real cost of a freelancer-built site — every edit needs the freelancer again
- ✓Email and forms: contact forms and notifications are built into builders; custom sites wire them up separately
- ✓Maintenance: plugin updates, security patches and backups on self-hosted sites are your problem or a paid contract
This is why the monthly-builder model usually wins on total cost of ownership for individuals: ₹199/month on SitesPlaced already includes hosting, SSL, forms, image optimisation and unlimited self-serve edits. The ₹15,000 freelancer site that needs ₹2,000 of changes every few months quietly becomes the expensive option by year two.
The cheapest legit portfolio website options
“Cheap portfolio website” searches usually end in one of three legitimate places — and a few traps. The legitimate ones:
- ✓Free, if you are a student: SitesPlaced's student plan publishes a full portfolio with premium templates at ₹0 — no card, no trial clock
- ✓₹199/month all-inclusive: SitesPlaced's individual plan — the cheapest complete route in India, AI content and hosting included
- ✓Free with effort: GitHub Pages, if you can code — genuinely free, but you build and maintain everything yourself
The traps: “free” builder tiers that put ads on your portfolio and lock your domain, one-time ₹3,000 quotes that exclude hosting and every future edit, and free trials that expire the week of your interview. If a price looks impossible, the missing money is usually hiding in renewals or ransom-priced changes. We compared the genuinely free routes in detail in best free portfolio builders.
Students: your portfolio website price is ₹0
If you are a student in India, stop comparing prices — yours is zero. SitesPlaced lets students build and publish a portfolio free, premium templates included, with AI writing the first draft from your résumé. The paid plans exist for working professionals and businesses; the student plan is the same builder at ₹0. Start at the free student portfolio builder page.
What you get for ₹199/month (or free)
For context on what the cheapest full-featured route includes — these are the templates and features bundled into every SitesPlaced plan, student or paid:
PopularFlagship — Student Portfolio
Recruiter-friendly, projects-first layout. The safe, strong default for placements and internships.
View live demo
VisualPhotographer — Visual Portfolio
Full-bleed gallery layout with lightbox and category filters. For photographers, visual artists and stylists.
View live demo
ServicesConsultant — Freelancer
Service-led freelancer site with packages, testimonials and a lead form. For consultants, coaches and strategists.
View live demo- ✓Premium templates across professions — photography, design, engineering, business
- ✓AI-written first draft from your résumé or LinkedIn
- ✓Hosting, SSL, image optimisation and a yourname.sitesplaced.com address
- ✓Custom domain support when you are ready (~₹800–₹1,200/year at any registrar)
- ✓Unlimited edits yourself — no developer invoice for changing a comma
How to get a portfolio website on a budget
Decide if you need custom at all
For 9 of 10 individuals, a template-based builder portfolio does everything a ₹40,000 custom build does — for ₹199/month or free.
Start free
Build the whole portfolio on SitesPlaced without paying — AI drafts the content, you arrange the projects. Pay only when you publish.
Publish on the included subdomain
yourname.sitesplaced.com costs nothing extra and is fine for résumés and applications. Skip the domain until you want it.
Add a custom domain when it earns its keep
₹800–₹1,200/year at any registrar, connected in minutes. Worth it once clients are googling your name.
Revisit the expensive routes only with a reason
If you later need custom features a builder can't do, you'll know exactly what to brief a freelancer on — and what it should cost.
Builder vs freelancer: which should you pay for?
Use a builder (₹0–₹199/mo) if you…
- • Are a student, freelancer or professional who needs a portfolio, not a product
- • Want the site live this week and editable by you forever
- • Prefer one flat price with hosting, SSL and updates included
- • Don't want to manage a developer relationship for every edit
Pay a freelancer/agency (₹8k–₹50k+) if you…
- • Need genuinely custom functionality no builder offers
- • Are a business where the website itself is the product
- • Have ongoing budget for maintenance and changes
- • Have a designer's brief ready and someone to manage the build
Get the ₹199 answer to a ₹40,000 question
Build your portfolio free, let AI write the first draft from your résumé, and publish at yourname.sitesplaced.com in minutes — ₹199/month, or ₹0 if you're a student. No hosting bills, no developer invoices, no surprises.
Start building free →Students: pick a student template and publishing is free, premium included.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a portfolio website cost?
With a website builder, ₹0–₹199 per month all-inclusive — on SitesPlaced students publish free and everyone else pays ₹199/month with templates, hosting and SSL included. A freelancer-built portfolio in India is commonly quoted in the ₹8,000–₹40,000 range depending on scope, and agencies typically start around ₹50,000. A custom domain adds roughly ₹800–₹1,200 per year.
What is the portfolio website price in India?
In India, the realistic price bands are: builder route at ₹0–₹199/month (SitesPlaced; students free), international builders like Wix or Squarespace at higher dollar-priced monthly fees (see their pricing pages), freelancers commonly quoting ₹8,000–₹40,000 one-time, and agencies from about ₹50,000 upward. Most individuals are best served by the builder route.
Is there a cheap portfolio website that still looks professional?
Yes. Cheap and professional are no longer opposites — premium templates on SitesPlaced are included even on the free student plan, and the ₹199/month plan covers hosting, SSL and AI-written content. What makes a portfolio look cheap is clutter and broken links, not a low price.
How much do freelancers charge for a portfolio website in India?
Quotes vary widely with scope and city, but a simple personal portfolio from a freelance developer in India is commonly quoted between ₹8,000 and ₹40,000, with hosting, domain and later changes usually billed on top. Always ask what happens when you need an update six months later — that recurring cost is where the real difference lies.
What is the cheapest way to get a portfolio website?
If you are a student, the cheapest legitimate route is genuinely free: SitesPlaced lets students publish a full portfolio with premium templates at ₹0. Otherwise, ₹199/month on SitesPlaced is the cheapest all-inclusive route in India — no hosting bill, no SSL fee, no developer needed for updates.
Do I need to pay separately for hosting and SSL?
Not with a builder — hosting, SSL, security updates and backups are included in the subscription on platforms like SitesPlaced, Wix and Squarespace. You only pay those separately on the freelancer or agency route, where hosting commonly runs a few thousand rupees a year plus someone's time to maintain it.
Is a budget portfolio website worth it, or should I wait and pay more?
Ship the budget version now. A live ₹199/month portfolio that recruiters and clients can open today is worth more than a ₹50,000 site arriving in three months. Portfolios compound — the sooner the link is on your résumé and LinkedIn, the sooner it starts working — and you can always upgrade the design later without changing the address.