Cargo is a website-building platform mainly for creative professionals like artists, designers, and photographers who want to create visually appealing, portfolio-style websites. Known for its flexibility, Cargo offers design tools that let you fully customize their site's appearance.
You can build a site from scratch or use templates that can be extensively modified. Cargo emphasizes creative control with advanced typography options, customizable layouts, and unique features like dynamic backgrounds and image galleries.
Cargo not only caters to portfolio creators but also offers e-commerce integration for those wanting to sell products online. While it's known for its design-focused features.
Features of Cargo
Drag-and-Drop Editor: Cargo’s easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface lets you place and adjust elements on their pages without needing to code.
Customizable Templates: With Cargo, you can start with a template and completely modify it to fit your needs, or you can create your design from scratch.
Image Galleries and Typography: Cargo provides features for visually focused websites, including advanced typography options, image galleries, and interactive thumbnails.
Page Stacking: Unique to Cargo, page stacking allows you to create visually layered websites, ideal for showcasing work interactively.
E-commerce Integration: Although Cargo is design-focused, it includes e-commerce options, allowing you to set up stores and handle online transactions.
Free and Paid Plans: Cargo offers a free plan with limited features and a paid plan for those who need more storage, bandwidth, and e-commerce capabilities.
Pros of Cargo
Highly Customizable: Cargo lets you adjust nearly every part of a website, giving you great creative freedom.
User-Friendly: Its drag-and-drop editor and customizable templates make Cargo easy to use, even for those without technical skills.
Great for Visual Artists: With a focus on typography and image galleries, Cargo is perfect for visual professionals who need a platform to display their work.
E-commerce Capabilities: While Cargo isn't mainly known for e-commerce, its integration options provide enough features for small online stores.
Free Plan Available: Cargo offers a free plan, allowing you to try out its features without any financial commitment.
Cons of Cargo
Learning Curve: While the platform is powerful, the many customization options can be overwhelming, especially for new users.
Limited to Creative Use Cases: Cargo is great for portfolio and visually-driven websites, but it might not be the best choice for large-scale e-commerce or blog-heavy websites.
Limited Customer Support on Free Plans: Users on the free plan may not have access to extensive customer support, making troubleshooting more challenging.
Storage Limits: The free plan has limited storage and bandwidth, which might not be enough for larger projects.
Alternatives to Cargo
Webflow: A more advanced platform for designers and developers, Webflow offers deep customization and control over both front-end and back-end elements, but it has a steeper learning curve. Read our detailed review of webflow.
Squarespace: Like Cargo, Squarespace offers beautiful, design-focused templates. However, it is more beginner-friendly and includes stronger built-in e-commerce and blogging features.
Wix: Wix is a flexible, drag-and-drop website builder that caters to all kinds of users, from bloggers to e-commerce entrepreneurs. However, it doesn't offer the same level of design-centric features that Cargo does.
WordPress: A more traditional CMS, WordPress allows extensive customization and is ideal for large-scale blogs and content-heavy websites, though it lacks Cargo's creative focus.
Cargo is for you if:
You are an artist, designer, or photographer who wants complete control over your portfolio's design.
You prefer a platform that offers creative customization options without needing coding skills.
You are looking for a platform that supports both artistic projects and small e-commerce needs.
You want a flexible tool to display visual content like galleries and projects interactively.
Cargo is not for you if:
You need a large-scale e-commerce platform or a comprehensive blogging platform.
You want a more structured, all-in-one solution for websites with a lot of content, like news or corporate sites.
You prefer a website builder with extensive built-in customer support, especially if you're using a free or basic plan.
Cargo FAQs
Is Cargo free to use?
Cargo offers a free plan that includes up to 3 pages and 100 MB of storage. However, your site will remain private until you upgrade to a paid plan.
Can I sell products on a Cargo site?
Yes, Cargo supports e-commerce features, allowing users to integrate stores and sell products directly from their website.
How customizable are Cargo templates?
Cargo templates are highly customizable, letting you change nearly every aspect of the layout, design, and typography.
Does Cargo require coding knowledge?
No, Cargo is designed to be a no-code platform. However, users with coding skills can further enhance their site through custom CSS editing.
Pratik is a technical writer passionate about AI, no-code tools, and the SaaS ecosystem. He enjoys building creative side projects and sharing his insights to help others explore the limitless possibilities of no-code and AI.
Grid studio is a no-code, grid-based website builder that enables users to create responsive websites with flexible layouts and fine-grained control over design elements