Behance vs Dribbble
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Behance is free, Dribbble is free tier available.
- How to start: Behance is free, Dribbble is free tier available.
- Where they differ: on what we checked they match — both offer public api and mobile app.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. How we score tools.
What Behance is
What Behance isBehance is Adobe's portfolio network where creatives publish projects and clients browse for talent. Being part of Adobe means it is where a lot of client discovery starts, and project pages allow full case studies rather than single images. Its feed favours polished visuals, so process-heavy work gets less traction than it deserves.
What Dribbble is
What Dribbble isDribbble is a portfolio community where designers post work and clients browse for talent. It works as a shop window rather than a full portfolio: work is shown as small, polished shots, which favours visual craft over case studies and process. Hiring through it skews toward visual design roles for that reason.
Side by side
| Behance | Dribbble | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design | Design |
| How to start | Freeverified | Free tiernot a monthly price |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | No |
| SSO (SAML) | No | No |
| Visit | Behance ↗ | Dribbble ↗ |
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What Behance is built to do
- Project case studies
- Publishes multi-image projects with descriptions and credits.
- Adobe integration
- Publishes directly from Adobe applications.
- Hiring and job board
- Connects creatives with client and employer listings.
What Dribbble is built to do
- Shot-based portfolios
- Presents work as small image posts rather than long case studies.
- Designer search
- Lets clients filter designers by skill, location and availability.
- Job board
- Posts design roles to the community audience.
Choose Behance if
- Designers who want a free portfolio with an audience and recruiters already on the platform
- Freelancers who want to signal availability and get job recommendations with Behance Pro
- Creators selling assets: Pro drops the platform fee to 0% versus 15–30% on the free tier
Skip Behance if
- You want a fully custom portfolio site on your own domain without paying — that is a Pro feature (Adobe Portfolio, up to 5 sites)
- You need detailed analytics on Free: traffic sources and search terms are Pro-only
- You expect a published global price: Behance shows local-currency pricing after a 7-day trial
Choose Dribbble if
- Designers who want a free portfolio with up to 10 shot uploads a day
- Freelancers who want a search boost and 0% designer fees on payouts: Standard at $8/month yearly
- Agencies needing 10 team seats and VIP support on Plus ($99/month yearly)
Skip Dribbble if
- You only need a place to host work — the free tier already allows uploads and 1 service
- You want a monthly price quote before committing; the page shows yearly-billed rates
- You need a full portfolio website with custom domain; Dribbble is a community profile
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
Behance: pros & cons
- Large audience and Adobe integration
- Full project case studies, not single images
- Free to publish
- Discovery favours established accounts
- Hiring signal is weak
- Little control over presentation
Dribbble: pros & cons
- Large audience of designers and hirers
- Good for discovering visual direction
- Job board attached
- Rewards polished visuals over solved problems
- Hiring signal is weak
- Paid tiers needed for real exposure
Our verdict on Behance
Fine as a free portfolio. A personal site still converts better for client work.
Our verdict on Dribbble
Useful for inspiration and hiring leads. A shot is not evidence that someone can ship product.
Behance vs Dribbble: common questions
- Does Behance or Dribbble have a free plan?
- Both do: Behance is free, and Dribbble has a free tier with limits.
- What is the difference between Behance and Dribbble?
- On the criteria we check, on what we checked they match — both offer public api and mobile app. The table above lists every criterion side by side.