SubHub vs Portfoliobox: guide for 2024

Final verdict

SubHub and Portfoliobox both offer specialized platforms, but they cater to different user needs.

SubHub (Overall Grade: 5.6/10)

is tailored for creating and managing membership sites. It provides a range of tools for content creators and entrepreneurs to build a community and monetize their content. With features like customizable membership templates, PayPal and Stripe integration, and member-specific discounts, SubHub is ideal for those looking to start or grow a membership-based business. However, it has a steeper learning curve and fewer design options compared to Portfoliobox.
Portfoliobox (Overall Grade: 6.1/10)

excels in providing a user-friendly platform for creative professionals. It offers over 30 customizable templates, drag-and-drop functionality, and advanced features like Adobe Lightroom integration and SEO tools. Portfoliobox is perfect for artists, photographers, and other creatives looking to showcase their work online. It also provides robust ecommerce features for selling artwork and services directly from portfolio websites. While it may lack some of the specialized membership tools of SubHub, its design flexibility and ease of use make it a strong choice for creative professionals.

	Overall grade: 5.6	Overall grade: 6.1
Design functionalities & templates	6.8	7.5
Ease of use	7.7	8.1
Ecommerce	5.9	5.8
Website Editors	6.9	7.5
Product testing options	7.0	9.1
Price	6.8	7.9
Hosting quality	5.5	6.5
Website speed optimization	5.6	6.4
Plugins and integrations	5.7	7.2
Marketing features	5.7	7.0
Customer support	6.3	7.0
Security	4.0	8.1
User Management	5.2	2.8

Best for ecommerce

5.9

5.8

Verdict

: SubHub and Portfoliobox both offer essential ecommerce functionalities, but they cater to different niches. SubHub is tailored for membership-based businesses and content creators, while Portfoliobox is ideal for creative professionals looking to sell their work online.

SubHub

: SubHub is designed for membership sites and content creators, providing tools for selling physical goods, digital products, and pay-per-view content. It integrates with PayPal and Stripe for secure payment processing and does not charge commissions on transactions. However, it lacks ecommerce-specific templates, requiring users to customize existing ones. SubHub’s ecommerce score is 5.9.
Portfoliobox

: Portfoliobox is tailored for creative professionals, offering features to sell artwork and services directly from their portfolio websites. It supports various payment gateways and provides essential ecommerce functionalities like shipping rates and tax calculations. While it also lacks ecommerce-specific templates, it excels in social media integration and user-friendly SEO features. Portfoliobox’s ecommerce score is 5.8.

Best for informational & business websites

7.2

7.5

Verdict

: When it comes to creating informational and business websites, Portfoliobox slightly outperforms SubHub, thanks to its user-friendly interface and extensive design functionalities.

SubHub

: SubHub is tailored for membership sites, offering tools for content creators and entrepreneurs to build and monetize their communities. While it provides customizable templates and a user-friendly editor, its specialized features may present a steeper learning curve for those solely focused on informational websites. SubHub scores 7.2 in this category.
Portfoliobox

: Portfoliobox is designed for creative professionals, making it an excellent choice for informational and business websites. It offers over 30 customizable templates and an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for users to create stunning websites without technical skills. Portfoliobox scores 7.5, making it the preferred option for those looking to showcase their work or business online.

Detailed comparison

6.8

7.5

🏆

Winner: Portfoliobox.

If you’re a creative professional looking for a platform with more design flexibility and a broader range of templates, Portfoliobox is the better choice.

SubHub offers a variety of customizable membership website templates designed to cater to different needs and themes, including fitness, yoga, and business. There are 14 specifically themed templates available, each designed to help users jump-start the design of their membership website homepages. These templates are fully customizable, allowing users to modify layouts, add or remove sections, and tailor content to fit their brand, ensuring flexibility in the design process.

Portfoliobox, on the other hand, is a user-friendly platform that allows for the creation of professional portfolio websites, accessible to individuals at any skill level. It offers over 30 customizable templates tailored to a variety of professional needs and preferences, including galleries, blogs, and online stores. The platform also provides features for enhanced functionality such as Adobe Lightroom integration, SSL security, marketing tools, and SEO-friendly options. With its intuitive design and comprehensive toolset, Portfoliobox serves as a versatile solution for creatives looking to establish or expand their online presence.

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7.7

8.1

🏆 Winner: Portfoliobox

. With a score of 8.1, Portfoliobox edges out SubHub, which scores 7.7. Portfoliobox is designed specifically for creative professionals, offering an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a variety of customizable templates. This makes it exceptionally easy for users to create and manage their portfolios without any technical skills. SubHub, while user-friendly and tailored for membership sites, has a slightly steeper learning curve due to its specialized features.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Portfoliobox

. Both platforms provide comprehensive learning resources, but Portfoliobox’s blend of detailed articles and visual video guides caters to various learning preferences, making it easier for users to get the most out of the platform.

Learn more about SubHub

Learn more about Portfoliobox

5.9

5.8

SubHub and Portfoliobox both offer ecommerce functionalities, but they cater to different niches. SubHub is designed for membership sites and content creators, providing tools for selling physical goods, digital products, and pay-per-view content. Portfoliobox, on the other hand, is tailored for creative professionals, offering features to sell artwork and services directly from their portfolio websites.


Ecommerce themes and templates	3.0	3.0
Product page customization	6.5	6.0
Payment processing and commissions	7.0	7.0
POS capabilities	0.0	2.0
Payment gateways	6.0	5.0
Product numbers	5.0	5.5
Additional ecommerce features	4.5	4.5

SubHub ecommerce features:

Paypal and Stripe integration
Physical and Digital product listings
Pay-per-view products

Subhub add a product

Portfoliobox ecommerce features:

Product listings
Payment Gateways integrations
Shipping rates and tax calculations
Order management

Portfoliobox add a product

Ecommerce themes & templates

Both SubHub and Portfoliobox do not offer ecommerce-specific templates. This means users will need to customize their existing templates to fit their ecommerce needs.

Product page customization

SubHub offers a range of product page customization options, including the ability to manage product variants, upload images, and set visibility preferences. Users can also implement SEO strategies through meta tags and manage tax settings. Additional functionalities include member-specific discounts, image carousels, and individualized shipping costs.

Portfoliobox provides a streamlined process for customizing product pages. Users can add details like title, description, and media, set a release date, and manage inventory and tax options. They can also edit product settings, such as the URL and shipping options, and apply discounts.

Payment processing

SubHub supports two main payment gateways: Stripe and PayPal, allowing for secure payment processing for subscriptions and store items using debit or credit cards. The platform does not charge commissions on transactions.

Portfoliobox supports selling prints, art, craft, or services online and does not charge any commission for transactions. While specific payment gateways are not detailed, Portfoliobox mentions accepting credit card payments (Visa, Master, & Maestro) for its subscriptions, implying these may also be supported for transactions within its ecommerce functionality.

In summary, SubHub is more suited for membership-based businesses and content creators, while Portfoliobox is ideal for creative professionals looking to sell their work online. Both platforms offer essential ecommerce features, but their specific strengths cater to different user needs.

6.9

7.5

🏆

Winner: Portfoliobox

. Portfoliobox, with a score of 7.5, offers a user-friendly website builder tailored for creative professionals. It provides an array of tools for building and customizing portfolio websites, including customizable templates, responsive design, and a variety of page types like galleries and blogs. Despite its user-friendly interface and extensive customization options, some users may find the platform’s design customization tools limited without access to advanced features available only in Pro accounts.

Portfoliobox editor

SubHub’s editor, scoring 6.9, is designed specifically for creating and managing membership sites. It offers a range of tools tailored for content creators and entrepreneurs who aim to build a community and monetize their content. The editor is user-friendly, with drag-and-drop functionality and customizable templates, but it may face limitations in customization options and the range of third-party integrations.

Subhub website editor

Mobile editor/app

4.0

🏆

Winner: SubHub

. When it comes to mobile editing capabilities, both SubHub and Portfoliobox fall short of providing a dedicated mobile editor app. However, SubHub allows users to manage some content on their website using the mobile browser version, although it does not support changing the layout and design of the website on mobile.

Portfoliobox, on the other hand, does not offer any mobile editor app or mobile browser editing capabilities, making it less versatile for users who need to make on-the-go adjustments.

In summary, while both platforms have significant limitations in mobile editing, SubHub edges out Portfoliobox by offering some level of mobile content management.

7.0

9.1

Overall Result

:

Portfoliobox wins

. Portfoliobox scores 9.1, significantly higher than SubHub’s 7.0, offering a more extensive trial period and a longer money-back guarantee. Portfoliobox provides a 30-day free trial with access to all features, allowing for a thorough evaluation. SubHub, while also offering a free trial, limits it to 14 days and has a shorter money-back guarantee period.


Free Plan	No	No
Trial Duration	14 days	30 days
Testing Premium Features	During the free trial	All the features within the trial period
Money-back Guarantee	7-day money-back guarantee	14-day money-back guarantee

6.8

7.9

Portfoliobox offers more budget-friendly options compared to SubHub, with significant discounts on annual subscriptions.

	Offerings	Offerings
$0-$10	No offering at this amount.	Light ($5.50/month): 50 Images, 10 Pages, 5 Products, 1 Password Protected Page, 1 Booking Service, 1 Scheduling Service, 1 Invoice, 1 QR Code, 25 mb File Sharing. Value for Price: 6.0
$10-$15	No offering at this amount.	Pro ($14.50/month): 500 Images, 50 Pages, 10 Products, 2 Password Protected Pages, 2 Booking Services, 2 Scheduling Services, 2 Invoices, 2 QR Codes, 50 mb File Sharing, Customizable Templates, Free Custom Domain (yourname.com), 24/7 Support. Value for Price: 7.5
$15-$20	No offering at this amount.	Pro Plus ($18.50/month): 1,000 Images, 1,000 Pages, 1,000 Products, 1,000 Password Protected Pages, 1,000 Booking Services, 1,000 Scheduling Services, 1,000 Invoices, 1,000 QR Codes, 5,000 mb File Sharing, Customizable Templates, Free Custom Domain (yourname.com), 24/7 Support, No “Powered by Portfoliobox” Link, Adobe Lightroom Integration. Value for Price: 9.0
$40-$50	Starter ($47/month): Up to 500 members, 5 GB storage, secure payment processing, course builder, 5 landing pages, e-commerce. Value for Price: 6.5	No offering at this amount.
$90-$100	Pro ($97/month): Up to 2000 members, 50 GB storage, removes SubHub branding, 15 landing pages, along with Starter features. Value for Price: 7.5	No offering at this amount.
$100+	Premium ($147/month): Unlimited members, 200 GB storage, email white labelling, 30 landing pages, plus all Pro features. Value for Price: 8.5	No offering at this amount.

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a
location. As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their
websites.

5.5

6.5

🏆

Winner: Portfoliobox

Portfoliobox outperforms SubHub in hosting quality with its unlimited bandwidth and secure communications through HTTPS on CDN servers. While both platforms offer managed cloud hosting, Portfoliobox’s advanced features and e-commerce functionality make it a better choice for creative professionals. SubHub, on the other hand, provides daily backups but lacks transparency in uptime statistics and data center locations.


Do they offer hosting?	Yes, from 5GB to 200GB storage limitation depending on the plan and daily backups.	Yes, with unlimited bandwidth and secure communications through HTTPS on CDN servers
Data Centers:	Subhub does not disclose the locations of its data centers	Portfoliobox does not disclose the locations of its data centers
Type of hosting:	Managed Cloud Hosting	Managed Cloud Hosting
Uptime:	Subhub does not provide uptime statistics or guarantees	Portfoliobox does not disclose uptime statistics, neither the platform has uptime guarantee

5.6

6.4

🏆 Winner: Portfoliobox

Both SubHub and Portfoliobox employ various strategies to enhance website speed, but Portfoliobox has a slight edge in overall performance.


Focus	Membership sites	Creative portfolios
Performance Tools	Image Optimization, Caching	CDN, Caching, Responsive Design
Key Strategies	Image Optimization, Caching, Mobile Optimized design	CDN, Caching, Responsive Design
Load Times	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Not provided	Not provided

SubHub is designed to help content creators and entrepreneurs build and manage membership sites. It focuses on image optimization, caching, and mobile-optimized design to enhance website speed. However, the load times and PageSpeed scores can vary significantly depending on the level of optimization and the complexity of the website.

Portfoliobox, on the other hand, is tailored for creative professionals looking to showcase their work online. It employs strategies like CDN, caching, and responsive design to ensure faster load times and better performance. Similar to SubHub, the load times and PageSpeed scores for Portfoliobox can vary based on optimization efforts.

While both platforms offer essential tools for speed optimization, Portfoliobox’s use of CDN and responsive design gives it a slight advantage in delivering faster and more consistent performance.

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5.7

7.2

🏆 Winner: Portfoliobox.

Portfoliobox scores 7.2, offering a versatile range of plugins through Common Ninja and Elfsight platforms, which significantly enhance its functionality for creative professionals. SubHub, with a score of 5.7, provides essential integrations for membership sites but lacks the extensive plugin variety found in Portfoliobox.

It is however worth mentioning that SubHub’s integrations are highly specialized for membership management, which might be more beneficial for specific use cases.

Portfoliobox Applications

Portfoliobox Common Ninja plugins

5.7

7.0

🏆

Overall Winner: Portfoliobox

. Portfoliobox excels with its comprehensive social media integration and user-friendly SEO features, making it ideal for creative professionals. SubHub, while strong in email marketing and ads/promotions, lacks social media integration, which is crucial for many businesses.


SEO Tools	✓	✓
Email Marketing	✓	✓
Blogging	✓	✓
Social Media Integration	No	Yes
Analytics and Reporting	Yes	Yes
Ads and Promotions	Yes	No

6.3

7.0

🏆 Winner: Portfoliobox

. Comparing SubHub vs Portfoliobox, Portfoliobox takes the lead in this category with a higher customer support score of 7.0 compared to SubHub’s 6.3. Portfoliobox offers 24/7 customer support, ensuring that users can get assistance at any time, which is a significant advantage for creative professionals who may need help outside of regular business hours.

SubHub, on the other hand, provides customer support via email and a support portal, along with an FAQ section for immediate answers to common questions. While SubHub’s support is accessible and responsive, it does not match the round-the-clock availability offered by Portfoliobox, making Portfoliobox the better option for users who prioritize continuous support.

4.0

8.1

🏆

Winner: Portfoliobox

. Portfoliobox excels in security with a comprehensive approach that includes SSL certificates for all domains, two-factor authentication, and secure data handling practices. These measures ensure that users’ websites and data are well-protected, making it a reliable choice for creative professionals who prioritize security.

SubHub, while offering a privacy policy that complies with GDPR and CCPA regulations, lacks detailed information about specific website security measures. This lower transparency and the absence of advanced security features contribute to its lower security score, making it less favorable for users who require robust security for their membership sites.


AI Builder	Not available	Not available
AI Ecommerce Features	Not available	Not available
AI Content Generation	Not available	Not available
Additional AI Features	Not available	Not available

🏆 Winner: None

. Both SubHub and Portfoliobox do not offer any AI capabilities. They focus on providing user-friendly tools for their respective target audiences—membership sites for SubHub and creative portfolios for Portfoliobox—without incorporating AI features.

5.2

2.8

🏆 Winner: SubHub

. When it comes to managing users, SubHub provides more flexibility and detailed role specifications compared to Portfoliobox.

SubHub allows multiple user accounts, although the exact number is not specified. It offers various roles with specific access levels, making it suitable for teams.
Portfoliobox, on the other hand, allows only one user to manage and edit a website, which can be limiting for collaborative projects.

SubHub User Roles and Access Levels:

Role	Description	Access Highlights
Administrator	Full access to the platform except for Homepage and Course Editor.	Can manage all aspects of the platform, including content, store, and member management.
Content Management	Focuses on managing and organizing content within the platform.	Can access and manage content-related features but does not have access to Homepage or Course Editor.
Store (access only)	Specializes in handling the platform’s store features.	Limited to store management functions; no access to Homepage, Course Editor, or member management.
Member Manager (access only)	Oversees member accounts, roles, and subscriptions.	Can manage members and their subscriptions but cannot access Homepage, Course Editor, or store management.
Origin Admin Email	The initial administrator with the highest level of access, including Homepage and Course Editor.	Exclusive access to Homepage and Course Editor, on top of what the Administrator role provides.

Additional Features


SSL Certificate	✓	✓
Custom Domain	✓	✓
Free Custom Domain Included	X	✓
International Domains	✓	✓
Mobile Responsive	✓	✓
Page Speed	X	✓
Website Builder Mobile App	X	X
Convert a Website To An App	X	X
Website Analytics	✓	✓
Multilingual Sites	✓	✓
Multiple Users	✓	X

User Feedback

SubHub

11 reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

Portfoliobox

31 reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

User feedback on SubHub presents a mix of positive and negative experiences, emphasizing the platform’s feature-rich environment and customizable templates. Users appreciate the flexibility and the quality of customer service, highlighting the platform’s continual updates and support as key benefits. However, some users express dissatisfaction with aspects such as the platform’s interface, lack of community features, and service fees for ticket resale. Concerns were also raised about the custom design service and mobile-friendly solutions taking longer than expected.

Users overwhelmingly appreciate Portfoliobox for its user-friendly interface, making it straightforward for both beginners and professionals to create and manage online portfolios. The platform’s customizable design options, responsive layouts, and diverse template selection stand out as significant advantages, allowing users to express their personal style and showcase their work effectively across devices. However, some critiques include limited template options compared to competitors, a learning curve for less tech-savvy users, and minor glitches with features like autosave on different devices. Despite these challenges, the positive impact of Portfoliobox on users’ ability to present their work to potential clients and employers, along with its value in making portfolio creation accessible without coding knowledge, is consistently highlighted.

The making of this blog

We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.

Our Ranking Criteria

FAQ

Which platform is better for creative professionals, SubHub or Portfoliobox?

Portfoliobox is specifically designed for creative professionals like artists and photographers, offering extensive customization options and a user-friendly interface for portfolio management. SubHub, while robust, focuses more on membership and subscription-based models, which may not be as suitable for typical portfolio needs.

Can I sell products on both SubHub and Portfoliobox?

Yes, both platforms offer ecommerce functionalities. SubHub is ideal for selling memberships, subscriptions, and gated content, whereas Portfoliobox provides tailored features for artists and creatives to sell artworks and services directly from their portfolios.

What are the main differences in pricing between SubHub and Portfoliobox?

Portfoliobox offers more budget-friendly options and significant discounts on annual subscriptions, making it accessible for individual creatives. SubHub, on the other hand, tends to be more expensive, reflecting its specialized tools for managing large membership sites.

How do SubHub and Portfoliobox handle user management?

SubHub provides more comprehensive user management tools, suitable for businesses that need to manage multiple member types and roles. Portfoliobox is more limited, generally allowing only one user to manage the site, which might be a constraint for collaborative projects.

Which platform offers better customer support?

Portfoliobox offers 24/7 customer support, which is a significant advantage for users who need assistance outside of regular business hours. SubHub also provides reliable support but does not have round-the-clock service, which might affect resolution times for urgent issues.