What Behance does

Behance is an online portfolio and creative-discovery platform founded in 2006 in New York by Matias Corea and Scott Valstart, and operated since 2012 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) following a reported $800M-$1B acquisition. The platform enables individual creative professionals — graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, 3D artists, UI/UX designers, motion artists, architects, product designers, fashion designers, and others — to upload and showcase projects, discover work via curated galleries (including Best of Behance) and search, follow other creators, broadcast live creative sessions via Behance Live, and monetize through Creator Subscriptions, asset sales, and freelance commissions. Employers and hiring managers are served through a dedicated Jobs and Recruiter Pro talent-sourcing product. Underlying technology runs on Adobe cloud infrastructure supporting portfolio hosting, advanced project and asset search, and a creative services marketplace, with native apps for iOS and Android and interface localization in 18+ languages.

Behance monetizes through a freemium plus multi-sided model. The core platform is free, monetized at the top of the funnel via a Behance Pro annual subscription (advanced analytics, custom portfolio domains, enhanced visibility), Recruiter Pro annual subscriptions for talent-sourcing employers, transaction-based revenue from job postings in the Creative Jobs section, and transaction fees on digital asset sales, freelance services, and Creator Subscriptions. Distribution is primarily product-led growth paired with community-led engagement: a global self-serve web platform, mobile app stores, and integration into the Adobe ecosystem (Adobe Portfolio and Creative Cloud workflows). Marketing channels rely on organic social (Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn), SEO, curated content discovery, and GTM partnerships with creative learning platforms such as SuperHi and Domestika. No standalone financials are reported; Behance operates within Adobe's Creative Cloud business.

Name

Behance

Legal name

Adobe, Inc.

Website

https://behance.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Behance is an Adobe-owned online portfolio and creative-discovery platform, founded in 2006, that enables millions of global creative professionals to showcase work, find inspiration, livestream, and monetize via subscriptions and freelance commissions, while serving employers with a dedicated jobs and recruiter marketplace.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Behance Pro Subscriptions: Premium subscription tier offering advanced analytics, custom portfolio website domains, enhanced visibility features, and additional tools for professional creatives to grow their careers
2. Recruiter Pro: Hiring subscription service for employers seeking to recruit creative talent with advanced candidate search and posting capabilities
3. Creative Assets & Services: Commission from selling digital creative assets and freelance creative services through the platform, including one-time payments for assets and recurring subscriber payments for exclusive content
4. Job Postings: Revenue from employers posting job opportunities in the Creative Jobs section for full-time roles, freelance gigs, and internships

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Behance is an online platform that enables creative professionals to showcase and discover creative work via online portfolios. It offers portfolio hosting with customizable templates, advanced search and discovery across creative disciplines (graphic design, photography, illustration, 3D art, UI/UX, motion, architecture), curated galleries, a creative jobs and hiring section, livestreaming, and a marketplace for selling digital creative assets and freelance services.

Product overview

Behance is a unified platform for creative professionals comprising a core portfolio and discovery network with integrated hiring features. The platform offers the main Behance website for showcasing and discovering creative work, paired with premium tiers including Behance Pro for individual creators seeking advanced analytics and custom portfolios, and Behance Recruiter Pro for employers hiring creative talent. Additional features include Behance Jobs (creative job board), Behance Live (livestreaming for creatives), and Behance Creator Subscriptions (enabling creators to monetize exclusive content and freelance services). Mobile applications for iOS and Android extend the platform's accessibility. The platform is organized around creative disciplines including Graphic Design, Photography, Illustration, 3D Art, UI/UX, Motion, Architecture, Product Design, Fashion, Advertising, Fine Arts, Crafts, Game Design, and Sound.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Behance Platform Comprehensive online platform for creative professionals to showcase creative work, discover inspiration, and connect with other creatives through Search (Discover), Live, and Jobs features. Organized around creative disciplines including Graphic Design, Photography, Illustration, 3D Art, UI/UX, Motion, Architecture, Product Design, Fashion, Advertising, Fine Arts, Crafts, Game Design, and Sound.
• Behance Pro Premium subscription tier offering advanced analytics, custom portfolio website capabilities, enhanced visibility features, and additional tools for professional creatives to grow their careers. Available with a 7-day free trial on an annual billing cadence.
• Behance Recruiter Pro Talent discovery and hiring tool for employers to find and recruit creative professionals, with features for posting jobs and searching for designers, photographers, and other creatives. Annual subscription tier for recruiters.
• Behance Mobile App (iOS/Android) Native mobile applications available on the App Store and Google Play for portfolio management, project discovery, and creative content browsing on iOS and Android devices.

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AdobecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Adobe acquired Behance in 2012 and has integrated it as a core component of its creative ecosystem. Behance portfolios connect with Adobe Creative Cloud tools and Adobe Portfolio. This partnership enables seamless workflow for creative professionals using Adobe products.
• Adobe PortfoliocoreTechnology or IntegrationBehance integrates directly with Adobe Portfolio, Adobe's website building tool, allowing users to sync their Behance projects to custom portfolio websites
• Adobe Creative CloudcoreTechnology or IntegrationBehance is optimized for users of Adobe creative tools including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and other Creative Cloud applications
• Creative Learning PlatformsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBehance is featured on creative learning platforms like SuperHi and Domestika as a platform for showcasing creative work and building professional portfolios

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pinterest: Pinterest is a major visual discovery platform used by creatives for inspiration, mood boards, and showcasing work. While broader in audience, it overlaps with Behance's discovery and inspiration use cases across photography, design, and fashion.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the dominant professional networking and recruiting platform and increasingly hosts creative portfolios. It competes with Behance's Recruiter Pro and Jobs offerings on the hiring side, especially for enterprise creative hiring.
• Instagram: Instagram is the largest free visual discovery and creative showcase platform globally. It competes with Behance for creator attention and brand-deal opportunities, and increasingly functions as a portfolio surface for designers and photographers.
• Adobe Portfolio: Adobe Portfolio is Adobe's own website-building tool tightly integrated with Behance. While not a direct competitor, it overlaps with Behance Pro's portfolio-hosting features and represents Adobe's broader portfolio strategy around Creative Cloud subscribers.

Emerging players

• Patreon: Patreon is the leading creator monetization platform, enabling paid subscriptions and exclusive content. It directly competes with Behance's Creator Subscriptions offering for the same creator base seeking paid relationships with their audiences.

Direct peers

• ArtStation: ArtStation is a portfolio and jobs platform focused on concept art, illustration, 3D, and game design. It directly overlaps with Behance's illustration, 3D art, and game design communities and competes for both creator mindshare and employer hiring budgets.
• Dribbble: Dribbble is a leading online community for designers to showcase portfolios, share work, and find jobs. It competes head-to-head with Behance for the same creative-professional user base and is the most directly comparable peer in the portfolio/discovery category.
• DeviantArt: DeviantArt is one of the largest online communities for artists, illustrators, and designers to showcase and discuss creative work. It overlaps significantly with Behance's illustration and fine arts communities and competes for both creators and audiences.
• Coroflot: Coroflot is an online portfolio platform and creative job board for designers, with a similar portfolio + jobs model to Behance. It is a smaller, more niche peer serving a similar community of creative professionals and hiring managers.
• Dribbble Hiring (now part of Dribbble): Dribbble's hiring product is a direct competitor to Behance's Recruiter Pro and Jobs features. Both serve the same enterprise and agency use case of sourcing creative talent, making them the closest functional comparison on the employer side.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Behance
• Facebookfacebook.com/Behance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/behance-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/behance
• Pinterestpinterest.com/behance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Behance