01What moves the price of a portfolio
A portfolio looks simple, and the price follows the structure, not the polish. Four things move it. The first is page count: a home page, a work page, an about page and a contact page is one job, and a page for every project is another. The second is content. A portfolio with finished photos and written captions is cheaper to build than one waiting on a photo shoot, and anything waiting on photography that does not exist yet gets its own timeline. The third is integrations, such as a contact form, a booking link or a map. The fourth is languages: two is normal, more than two gets its own timeline. PROOF48 confirms the number before building.
- Pages: up to about five pages fits the 48-hour offer, a page per project may be more
- Content: finished photos and texts are cheaper than a shoot still to come
- Integrations: contact form, booking link, map
- Languages: two is normal, more than two gets its own timeline
- PROOF48 range: 500 to 2,500 EUR for a website, confirmed before we build
02What you pay after the build
The build price is one number, confirmed before we start. Our pricing page lists domain, hosting and SSL as handled in the build ("Launch-ready. Domain, hosting, SSL, handled"), and we publish no separate domain or hosting price, so ask what renews each year before you start. You own the code, the domain, the hosting account and the content. PROOF48's pay-after-delivery page says there is no mandatory monthly fee. If you want upkeep, there are optional maintenance plans: Lite is 27 EUR a month, Plus is 57 and VIP is 97, each with a different level of backup and support. Do the arithmetic over three years before you compare with any monthly alternative. An example, not a quote: a 1,000 EUR build plus Lite at its annual price of 270 EUR a year is 1,810 EUR over three years.
- Build: 500 to 2,500 EUR once for a website, confirmed before we start
- Domain and hosting: handled in the build per our pricing page, no separate price published, ask what renews yearly
- Maintenance is optional: Lite 27 EUR a month, Plus 57, VIP 97
- Example, not a quote: a 1,000 EUR build plus Lite at 270 EUR a year is 1,810 EUR over three years
- Any monthly alternative: multiply its price by 36 and add the fees
03Three ways to get a portfolio online
A free profile on a creative platform costs nothing and takes an hour. You work inside someone else's layout and rules, and the audience is theirs. A website builder gives you your own domain and lets you edit everything yourself, for a fee that repeats for as long as you keep the site. A custom build from PROOF48 is a one-off price for real code you own. We list no self-serve editing tool on this site, so weekly edits go through a developer or through a maintenance plan: Plus includes 1 content update a month, VIP includes 2. If you swap images every week, a builder is probably the better fit. If your portfolio changes twice a year, a one-off build matches that rhythm better.
- Free profile: no cost, someone else's layout and rules
- Builder: your own domain, edit it yourself, a fee that repeats while you keep it
- Custom build: one-off price, you own the code, edits go through a developer or a maintenance plan
- Weekly image swaps: lean towards a builder
- A few updates a year: lean towards a one-off build
04How to judge a portfolio quote
Ask five things before you accept any number, from us or from anyone else. How many pages does the price count, and does a page per project come with it? Who resizes and prepares the photos, given that a portfolio is mostly images and heavy images slow a page down? Who writes the captions and the about text? What do you own at the end, and can you take the domain with you? And can you see a working version before you pay? That last question separates a quote from a promise. At PROOF48 the answer is a live preview at hour 48, and you pay only if you want to keep it.
- How many pages does the price count?
- Who prepares the photos so the page stays fast?
- Who writes the captions and the about text?
- What do you own at the end, and can you move the domain?
- Can you see a working version before you pay?
05Where PROOF48 is the wrong choice
PROOF48 is the wrong choice in a few cases. If you want to rearrange your work yourself every week, a builder fits better, because our site lists no self-serve editor. If your photos or texts do not exist yet, the build waits for them and gets its own timeline. If your portfolio needs more than two languages, same. If one free profile is all you need to send a link to a client, you do not need to pay anyone. And none of our eight written-up builds is a freelancer's portfolio, so we have no case study of one to show you. Standard 48-hour builds take no deposit. Larger or custom projects may need one, as our terms say.
- Rearranging your work yourself every week: a builder fits better
- Photos or texts that do not exist yet: own timeline
- More than two languages: own timeline
- One free profile is enough: do not pay anyone
- No freelancer-portfolio case study among our eight builds
A salon site built as one page per service
None of our eight written-up builds is a freelancer's portfolio, so we have nothing to quote on that. The nearest in shape is SCP Shine & Style, a salon in Sector 3, Bucharest. The case study lists an editorial homepage, a page for each service with its own copy and media, 21 video clips and a booking flow that points to the salon's own booking platform. A portfolio is built the same way: one page per kind of work, each with its own text and media. The case study does not record how long that build took or what it cost, and we publish no booking or revenue figure for the salon.
See the build: SCP Shine & StyleQuestions, answered
Can a portfolio be ready in 48 hours?
Yes, if it fits a business website of up to about five pages or a landing page, and your photos and texts exist. Anything waiting on photography that does not exist yet, or needing more than two languages, gets its own timeline.
Do I pay a deposit?
Not on a standard 48-hour build. Payment comes after you approve the preview. Our terms say larger or custom projects may require a deposit as agreed.
Who owns the portfolio after I pay?
You do: the code, the domain, the hosting account and the content. Our terms say you receive full ownership upon full payment.
Can I edit it myself?
We list no self-serve editor on this site. Our terms include one round of minor adjustments after the preview, and the Plus and VIP maintenance plans include 1 and 2 content updates a month. If you edit every week, ask us before you buy or choose a builder.
Is a portfolio cheaper on a website builder?
It depends on how long you keep it. A monthly fee repeats, a one-off build does not. Multiply the builder's monthly price by 36, add any fees, and compare it with a quote written in the same units. We quote no builder prices because they change.
Where PROOF48 fits
A freelancer's portfolio at PROOF48 costs 500 to 2,500 EUR once, confirmed before we build, with a live preview at hour 48 and payment only if you keep it. Page count, existing photos and texts, integrations and languages move the price. Maintenance is optional, at 27, 57 or 97 EUR a month. It is the wrong choice if you rearrange your work yourself every week or if one free profile is enough.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.