What Carbonmade does

Carbonmade, legally operated as Element6, LLC, is a US-based private SaaS company that operates an online portfolio-building platform purpose-built for creative professionals. Founded in 2005 and headquartered across New York and Chicago, the company serves individual designers, illustrators, photographers, animators, 3D artists, UX/UI designers, and other visual creatives who need a fast, code-free way to publish and host portfolio websites. The platform has accumulated over 2 million users since inception, making it one of the longest-running category-specific portfolio tools in the market.

The core product is a block-based, drag-and-drop visual editor that enables users to compose portfolio pages by mixing modular layout blocks without writing code. Carbonmade differentiates on three technical axes: unlimited media uploads (including full-resolution images, GIFs, and 4K video with no file size caps), unlimited galleries/sliders/grids, and rapid build times reported at 10-20 minutes versus 1-8 hours for competitors such as Framer, Wix, Webflow, and Squarespace. The platform has gone through two major iterations: Carbonmade³ launched in 2015 and Carbonmade⁴ (C4) launched in 2025, representing a complete platform redesign with new premium blocks, custom portfolio grids, global styles, navigation presets, and a dedicated migration tool preserving legacy portfolios.

The business model is product-led, self-serve SaaS distribution with no sales team or channel partners. Revenue comes from tiered subscriptions—Basic, Pro, Unlimited, and a low-cost SLEEP retention tier at $1/mo—alongside a freemium unlimited trial requiring no credit card. Pricing begins at $8/month (Basic) on the new C4 platform, undercutting major competitors by 30-60%. A secondary Talent Pool directory functions as a two-sided discovery layer where employers (reportedly including Ogilvy, Target, Cartoon Network, Nordstrom, Microsoft, and Google) browse portfolios by specialty. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, operates with 11-50 employees, and is led by co-founder/CEO Jason Nelson.

Name

Carbonmade

Legal name

Element6, LLC

Website

https://carbonmade.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Carbonmade is a bootstrapped SaaS portfolio platform founded in 2005 that enables creative professionals to build code-free portfolio websites in 10-20 minutes using a block-based editor with unlimited media uploads, serving over 2 million users globally through self-serve subscription plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: SaaS subscription revenue with tiered plans (Basic, Pro, Unlimited) billed monthly or annually. Basic plan at $8/month for C4 platform, with $1/month SLEEP plan for data preservation. Core revenue stream from monthly/annual subscriptions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Carbonmade is a SaaS portfolio website builder for creative professionals, offering a drag-and-drop, block-based visual editor that lets users publish a portfolio site in 10–20 minutes without coding. The platform supports unlimited full-resolution image, GIF, and 4K video uploads, customizable grids, galleries, sliders, custom domains, and mobile optimization, sold via tiered monthly subscriptions (Basic, Pro, Unlimited) plus a low-cost SLEEP plan.

Product overview

Carbonmade is a single unified portfolio platform offering web-based portfolio creation for creatives. The core product is the Carbonmade Portfolio Platform, currently available in its C4 version (with the older C3 version still accessible). Users can choose from tiered pricing plans: Basic (entry-level), PRO (with premium blocks and password protection), and Unlimited (full access). The platform includes a Talent Pool directory for creatives to be discovered by potential clients. The C4 platform features a redesigned visual editor, new gallery sliders, global styles, navigation presets, and custom portfolio grids. Migration tools exist to transition from C3 to C4.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Carbonmade Portfolio Platform (C4) Online drag-and-drop portfolio website builder for creative professionals that lets users publish a portfolio site in 10–20 minutes without coding. Supports unlimited full-resolution images, GIFs, and 4K video uploads, customizable grids, galleries, sliders, custom domains, mobile optimization, and embedded interactive prototypes for UX/UI designers. Sold as a self-serve SaaS via tiered monthly subscriptions.
• Carbonmade Talent Pool Searchable directory of creative professionals who have built portfolios on Carbonmade, enabling potential clients and employers to browse and discover creatives by specialty. Used by employers including Ogilvy, Target, Cartoon Network, Nordstrom, Microsoft, and Google to find creative talent.

Quantifiable outcome

• Build portfolio in 10-20 minutes vs 4-6 hours on Framer
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature9 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Squarespace: Directly compared on Carbonmade's own comparison page; offers portfolio-capable website building for creatives and small businesses with broader features (e-commerce, blogging). Squarespace is the most analogous general-purpose competitor and the highest-priced benchmark ($25/mo).
• Wix: Directly benchmarked on Carbonmade's comparison page. Wix targets the same SMB/individual creator segment with a drag-and-drop builder, free tier, and extensive app marketplace; pricing starts at $17/mo.
• Webflow: Listed explicitly as a direct competitor. Webflow serves designers and creative professionals with a more powerful (and code-leaning) CMS-grade builder, priced from $18/mo with longer typical build times.
• Framer: Directly cited as a benchmark. Framer targets designers and creative professionals building modern portfolio and marketing sites, priced from $15/mo with 4–6 hour typical build times.
• Adobe Portfolio: Free portfolio builder bundled with Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Directly competitive for design professionals already paying for Adobe tools, and the most disruptive 'free' alternative for Carbonmade's core persona.
• Cargo: Portfolio and website builder purpose-built for designers, artists, and creative studios. Closest direct niche competitor to Carbonmade in terms of target persona and feature philosophy (design-first, no-code).
• Format: Portfolio website platform for photographers, artists, designers, and models. Directly comparable offering with template-driven portfolios and e-commerce add-ons for creatives.
• Readymag: Design-focused no-code website builder popular with designers, agencies, and creative professionals for portfolios, lookbooks, and editorial-style sites — a close peer on creative persona and design-quality positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Behance: Adobe-owned portfolio and creative discovery platform. Overlaps Carbonmade's Talent Pool functionality and creative-persona audience, but offers free hosted portfolios rather than paid website building.

Emerging players

• Dribbble: Designer community and portfolio network with growing jobs/hiring features. Overlaps Carbonmade's Talent Pool discovery mechanic and persona, but does not provide hosted portfolio websites.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/carbonmade
• Facebookfacebook.com/carbonmade
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freelance-graphic-artist

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Carbonmade