Format
Portfolio sites, client galleries, workflow tools, and online store
The visible portfolio website builder loop is buildable, but a credible replacement needs more than the first screen. Format earns its keep through editor, CMS, hosting, polish, so expect a weekend or multi-day build and a narrower personal scope.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- large template and component libraries
- CMS collaboration and client handoff
- managed hosting, forms, and analytics
- general-purpose visual editing
Why people still pay
Format: A single site is easy to code. People pay for safe ongoing edits, templates, publishing, domains, collaboration, and no-maintenance hosting.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- Runtime and tools: TypeScript, React, a Node build process and versioned JSON content with static HTML/CSS output.
- Before starting: Licensed assets, a user-owned static hosting target and sample desktop/mobile content; forms need a separately authenticated server endpoint.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule — domain: Store Collection, Photograph, Derivative, Page and ProofSelection; public derivatives are separate from originals and proofing selections refer to stable asset IDs.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Start with public portfolio and explicit private-gallery authentication. Watermarks and disabled right-click are not access control; print commerce and color-managed fulfillment are deferred.
Project rule — acceptance: Replace a portfolio image while a client has selected it for proofing; keep the selected revision and avoid exposing the private original in public HTML.
Project rule — delivery: document real setup commands and permissions; do not claim a build, accuracy level, performance result or security certification that has not been demonstrated.
Recommended skill: frontend-design — compose the proposed responsive site sections with deliberate typography, spacing and honest content. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Recommended skill: seo-audit — review crawlability, metadata and evidence-based on-page findings without promising search rankings. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Pin the working slice and create its example input: Publish a photographer's portfolio from selected collections with responsive images, captions and a contact page, plus an optional private proofing gallery. Confirm setup: Licensed assets, a user-owned static hosting target and sample desktop/mobile content; forms need a separately authenticated server endpoint.
Phase 2
Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Collection, Photograph, Derivative, Page and ProofSelection; public derivatives are separate from originals and proofing selections refer to stable asset IDs.
Phase 3
Connect the working view to real saved state. Keep drafts separate from the published manifest. Escape content, allowlist components and URLs, and publish a complete revision atomically with rollback to the preceding revision.
Phase 4
Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Start with public portfolio and explicit private-gallery authentication. Watermarks and disabled right-click are not access control; print commerce and color-managed fulfillment are deferred.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Replace a portfolio image while a client has selected it for proofing; keep the selected revision and avoid exposing the private original in public HTML. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to Format. This is a deliberately limited personal or small-team substitute, not parity with the paid service. WORKING SLICE Publish a photographer's portfolio from selected collections with responsive images, captions and a contact page, plus an optional private proofing gallery. SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE Use TypeScript, React, a Node build process and versioned JSON content with static HTML/CSS output. Prerequisites: Licensed assets, a user-owned static hosting target and sample desktop/mobile content; forms need a separately authenticated server endpoint. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success. DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS Store Collection, Photograph, Derivative, Page and ProofSelection; public derivatives are separate from originals and proofing selections refer to stable asset IDs. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT Keep drafts separate from the published manifest. Escape content, allowlist components and URLs, and publish a complete revision atomically with rollback to the preceding revision. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content. APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY Start with public portfolio and explicit private-gallery authentication. Watermarks and disabled right-click are not access control; print commerce and color-managed fulfillment are deferred. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Replace a portfolio image while a client has selected it for proofing; keep the selected revision and avoid exposing the private original in public HTML. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested. DELIVERY Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product. PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
prompt copied. want to know what dies next week?
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Format pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| basic | $14 | $10 | 10 website pages; 70 high-resolution images; 10 client galleries; 2 GB file transfersAnnual billing shown at $10/month equivalent. |
| pro | $24 | $12 | Unlimited pages; 1,500 high-resolution images; 100 GB image storage; 15 hosted-video minutes; 15 store products; 50 client galleries; 5 GB transfersLive page shows a first-year annual promotion at $12/month through August 31, 2026; a struck-through $17/month annualized reference price also appears. |
| pro plus | $36 | $15 | Unlimited pages/images; 1 TB image storage; 120 hosted-video minutes; 1,000 store products; 250 client galleries; 10 GB transfersLive page shows a first-year annual promotion at $15/month through August 31, 2026; a struck-through $26/month annualized reference price also appears. |
free tierno free tier; 14-day trial with no credit card
billingmonthly + annual; annual plans are paid upfront and promotional first-year prices renew at the then-current full-year price
hidden costsA professional branded email inbox costs $100/year on every plan; the free custom domain is only for the first year, and discounted annual pricing may be first-year-only.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Format
Can you build your own Format with AI?
Partly. The visible portfolio website builder loop is buildable, but a credible replacement needs more than the first screen. Format earns its keep through editor, CMS, hosting, polish, so expect a weekend or multi-day build and a narrower personal scope.
What does the Format build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Publish a photographer's portfolio from selected collections with responsive images, captions and a contact page, plus an optional private proofing gallery. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: large template and component libraries; CMS collaboration and client handoff; managed hosting, forms, and analytics. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Format prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Format project take?
The catalogue estimate is weekend to multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Format?
large template and component libraries; CMS collaboration and client handoff; managed hosting, forms, and analytics; general-purpose visual editing. Format: A single site is easy to code. People pay for safe ongoing edits, templates, publishing, domains, collaboration, and no-maintenance hosting.
What can I use instead of building Format?
The prior-art section lists Webstudio, GrapesJS as starting points. Review their current scope, license and maintenance before adopting one.