The short version
Students have less time and more pressure than they admit. Building a portfolio site competes with class work, the part-time job, the internship hunt, and the side project that's supposed to make the resume stand out. Most students start a portfolio in their sophomore year and never finish it — and the senior-year job search suffers for it.
Website Killer collapses the portfolio build to 30 minutes. Generate the site Sunday night with your projects, your skills, your education, your contact info. Iterate as you ship new projects. Free forever for the first version; $14/mo when you want a real custom domain (yourname.com beats yourname.github.io for recruiter perception).
What this enables for students: a portfolio site senior year that looks like a working professional's, ranked for your name on Google (which recruiters always check), with a CTA to your contact email or Calendly. The portfolio that took your peers a semester to build, you ship in an afternoon.
The job to be done
I'm a student / new grad. I need a portfolio that doesn't look templated for recruiters and internship applications — without spending a week I don't have.
Why other AI builders fall short for this job
- GitHub Pages is fine but takes a weekend to design
- Squarespace student plans still look templated
- Custom HTML/CSS / Bootstrap templates look 2017
- Notion-as-portfolio doesn't rank and doesn't have a real domain
- Wix templates compete with 100K other student portfolios
What Website Killer ships for students
- 30-minute portfolio from a prompt
- Free forever plan supports the *.killerwebsite.ai subdomain version
- $14/mo Pro plan for custom domain (yourname.com)
- Person schema for ranking on your name in Google
- Source-code export to GitHub (build your portfolio + show it on GitHub)
- Project case-study layouts with role + outcome + visuals
- Resume PDF link + Calendly + email integration
Where this fits
Real-world scenarios
Senior-year job search portfolio
You're applying to 50 internships / entry-level roles in 8 weeks. Recruiters check your portfolio after your resume. The portfolio has to look professional and load fast. Generate the site senior fall, iterate twice during the hunt, land the offer.
Bootcamp final-project showcase
You finished a bootcamp and need to show 3–5 projects to potential employers. Each project gets its own case-study page with the problem, your role, the tech, the outcome. Bonus: the site ranks for your name on Google by graduation.
Graduate student academic + side-project hybrid
You're a PhD / Master's student. The site needs to balance academic credibility (papers, conferences, advisor) with side-project work (GitHub, blog, open source). Editorial-magazine design system handles both — restrained, type-driven, signals both academia and industry.
Side hustle / freelance portfolio for paying clients
You're freelancing during school (design, dev, tutoring, content). The portfolio needs to look professional enough that paying clients trust you. Generate the site once, iterate as you take on clients, charge senior rates because the site signals seniority.
Worked examples
Prompts that work
Three prompts you can adapt for your work. The more concrete the prompt, the less editing afterward.
CS student portfolio
Portfolio for [name], a senior CS student at [university]. Hero: '[Name] — software engineer in [city], graduating May 2026.' Featured projects: 4 (one full-stack web app, one open-source contribution, one ML project, one CS course project). Each with stack, GitHub link, brief outcome. About: education, GPA (if competitive), graduation date. Resume PDF link. Contact: email + LinkedIn. Style: brutalist-dev, monospace, dark mode default.
Why this works · CS student prompts should name graduation date + featured projects. The AI features them above 'about' because recruiters scan projects first.
Design student portfolio
Portfolio for [name], a graduating product-design student at [school]. Hero: 'Product designer based in [city].' Featured projects: 5 design case studies (user research → wireframes → final product), each with role + outcome + screens. Personal projects: 2 side projects with GitHub or live links. Style: editorial magazine, restrained, type-driven.
Why this works · Design student prompts should bias toward editorial-magazine. The AI features case studies with role-process-outcome structure.
PhD student academic portfolio
Portfolio for [name], a PhD candidate in [field] at [university]. Hero: '[Name] — [research area] at [university].' Sections: research (with publications and conference talks), teaching (TA history, RA roles), code (GitHub, open-source contributions), CV PDF. Style: editorial, restrained, type-led.
Why this works · PhD portfolio prompts should balance academic + technical signals. The AI features publications and GitHub side by side.
Use cases
Recommended starting points
Portfolio site
A polished portfolio site for designers, photographers, developers, and creatives — generated on-brand, fully responsive, with project showcases and a contact form.
Personal brand site
Founders, creators, consultants, executives — generate a personal site that ranks for your name and converts visitors to inbound.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free plan students can stay on?
Yes — Free forever plan supports unlimited AI generation, *.killerwebsite.ai subdomain hosting, and full chat-edit. The only feature gated to Pro ($14/mo) is custom domains. Most students start on Free and upgrade when they're applying to roles (the custom domain matters for recruiters).
Is there a student discount on Pro?
Email students@killerwebsite.ai with your .edu email and we'll apply a 50% student discount to Pro for as long as you're enrolled.
Will the site rank for my name on Google?
Yes — Person schema is wired automatically, and a custom domain matching your name (yourname.com) ranks #1 for uncommon names inside 4–6 weeks, 8–12 weeks for common names. Recruiters Google candidate names; ranking #1 for yours is a measurable advantage.
Can I integrate my GitHub / LinkedIn / Behance / Dribbble?
Yes — paste the URLs in your prompt and the AI surfaces them as cards or in the nav. GitHub project cards can pull star counts manually (live API integration is roadmap). LinkedIn / Behance / Dribbble integrate as outbound links.
Can I export the code to host on GitHub Pages?
Yes — export ships as a clean Next.js project. For GitHub Pages, the export needs a static-export config (`output: 'export'` in next.config.js); the export builds to /out which you push to a gh-pages branch. Alternatively, deploy to Vercel free tier (recommended — server-side features keep working).
How long does the portfolio stay relevant — do I have to rebuild after graduation?
Most portfolios stay live for 2–5 years post-graduation. Chat-edit handles incremental updates (new projects, new role). The site evolves with your career; you don't rebuild it. Most students keep their student-era portfolio as the v1 and iterate from there into senior-engineer territory.
Ship a site this afternoon — students edition.
Free forever plan. Custom domains, hosting, and AI generation included.