Behance Review: Is Behance Worth It?
Jason Quey
Updated:
April 21, 2021
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Behance.net is a platform that belongs to Adobe, the makers of several apps for creative people such as Photoshop. Adobe developed Behance so artistic people can share their projects and profiles in an online creative community. It also works a bit like a freelance platform or portfolio website. The unique community platform gives artists a place to be noticed.
Artists wonder, is Behance worth it? Our review will help you decide.
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Artists from all creative fields can create a Behance account using an email address, a social media login, or an Adobe ID. They add some demographic information, then start to build their online portfolio with their favorite pieces. Some compare Behance to Pinterest, as it gives creative professionals a place to showcase their talent and collect ideas.
Eventually, users start to group their work into Projects. Each Project has its own URL so artists and other users can share them around the web. Like other social media sites, Behance allows viewers to click to show their approval. As the Projects are viewed, artists receive notifications about Views and Appreciation clicks.
The Behance network is a community that allows users to follow each other and receive notifications about updated projects. Users can add other artist projects to their Moodboards. As graphic design artists grow their followers, more Project suggestions appear in their feeds. Some Projects have badges that denote whether Behance has featured them in Curated Galleries.
Along with showcasing work, Behance has a Jobs link that features opportunities for artists, especially graphic designers. The jobs are listed as full-time, freelance, and internships. It is free to apply to jobs, but employers pay a small fee to list them.
The goal for artists who use Behance is to get noticed. Since the site is free, artists only have to upload their work to the site. Hopefully, collectors, creative directors, and art buyers see your work and contact you to buy it.
Work that is featured on Behance gets the most attention. So, you must upload outstanding pieces and stay active to get Behance stakeholders to feature your Projects. As you add to your project, you can ask your fellow artists for feedback. Behance also allows users to connect their social media accounts to their profiles.
Behance began as a scrapbook-like site run by Adobe. As more people have noticed the site, Behance added more features, like job listings, live streams, and Moodboards. Now the platform gives artists the opportunity to share a URL with a potential client.
Jobseekers on Behance have several opportunities with notable companies like Google, YouTube, Apple, and Keurig Dr. Pepper. Users apply through Behance or another site but work with the company that offers the opportunity. Behance does not serve as a tool for freelancers to submit work or communicate with employers after users are hired. It is free to apply for jobs.
The ease of use is the pro and con to the site. It’s the simplicity of the design that creates an overly uniform look. While the uniformity serves a purpose, scrolling through the images gets tedious.
Users often complain about the process of compressing and saving images to load them. Rather than dragging and dropping images, users have several steps that can be time-consuming, especially if they have to change the files' sizes.
Another common complaint from users is the ability to view and click appreciate on projects. Artists worry about whether other users will like their projects. Getting no likes could be the equivalent of public rejection and be rather painful.
Behance’s site functionality and navigation could use improvement. The site seems simple at first, as there are only a few menu options at the top of the homepage. But, if you are looking for information about the site, you might end up sifting through Adobe pages and wondering how they are related to Behance.
Creating a username and password can be frustrating, as you have to use an email or social media profile, but then create an Adobe username and password. If you are looking for a job, you can browse them without logging in. However, you must log in to access any applications on Behance. Some job applications are on individual employer’s sites.
According to Behance, it is free to post jobs on the site. Jobseekers do not have to pay to apply for jobs, either.
The website wants to offer artists the opportunity to find jobs through Adobe Talent on Behance. To help people find creative work, Behance is removing their job-posting fees for a limited time. Employers who post jobs on Behance have access to several features, including:
Usually, Behance offers two tiers for employers that want to post jobs on the site. They can post one job per month for $399. Employers who want to post unlimited job opportunities can do so by joining Creative Cloud Teams for $79.99 per month or Creative Cloud Enterprise.
Creative Cloud Teams includes access to several useful Adobe products along with job posting privileges. Despite the free job-posting opportunity on Behance, the price of Creative Cloud Teams has not changed. Employers who want to join Creative Cloud Enterprise have to contact Adobe for the pricing structures.
On G2, Behance reviewers rave about the site. Thirty-five reviewers have left an average of 4.5 stars for the platform. They appreciate the ease of using the site. Many also like that they can showcase their work in an organized way for free.
One reviewer claimed that Behance helped their income. This reviewer sent their portfolio to potential clients who ended up hiring the artist. The only downside to the site is that users cannot customize their portfolios.
Another G2 reviewer liked looking at users' portfolios. The site serves as an inspiration board because of all of the talents on it.
Overall, G2 reviewers appreciate the free site and how they could share their work with clients and other artists. Having a free location to build a design portfolio helps artists build ideas, find jobs, and connect with other artists.
On TrustPilot, reviewers average 3.6 stars in their Behance ratings. Reviewers gave Behance either four or five stars for being so useful or one star for being difficult to use.
One reviewer, who gave the site one star, complained about the challenges of browsing. Another complained about the lack of options for creating a portfolio. The other users appreciated the opportunities to connect with other artists and find inspiration in their work.
Like G2, reviewers on SiteJabber awarded Behance an average of 4.5 stars. Most reviewers appreciated how Behance offers artists a free place to show off their work. Being able to see other artist’s work was another reason for the high ratings.
No one gave Behance anything lower than three stars. The three-star rating praised Behance for being a useful site and the first to go to when designing social media campaigns.
If you are an artist looking for a place to showcase your work, Behance is worth it. The site is also valuable for artists who are looking for job opportunities. Since the site is free for artists, there is no reason not to use it.
While Behance does not function in the same way as other freelance platforms, it is worth it for finding jobs, especially for artists. For jobseekers, Behance works much like classified ads once did in newspapers. Employers post jobs, and job hunters apply for them.
Employers who are looking for artistic employees can find them on Behance. Scrolling through the portfolios and featured artists is awe-inspiring, as there is so much talent in one place. Artists looking for work can use Behance as a resume, as they send potential clients to a simple URL to see their work.
Not using Behance seems like a mistake. Despite the process of downloading and saving pictures to your computer before adding them to the site, Behance is easy to use. Artists should remember that Behance is free. If there is a bit of an inconvenience to uploading images, too bad. It’s better than having to build a website, manage it, and pay someone to host it.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Behance is offering job listings for free. This is a great deal for employers who otherwise would have to pay $399 to post one job. Employers should take advantage of this deal before it is too late. Otherwise, $399 seems like a steep price to post a job. The site is better known as a site for artists to post their portfolios rather than a job site.
Overall, is Behance worth it? Since the site is free, the easy answer is yes. Once Behance begins charging employers to post jobs, then it most likely isn’t. Artists who aren’t using the site are wasting their time elsewhere.