Comparison

500px vs Behance

500px and Behance both land on Depends.

500px

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Fine as a free inspiration feed and hobbyist photo community, but licensing terms, paywalling, and weak support make it a poor buy for working pros.

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Use Behance free as your public design portfolio . it's polished, Adobe-backed, and huge.

500px versus Behance
Compare	500px	Behance
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Hobbyist photographers wanting curated feedback	Designers & illustrators building public portfolios
Who it's not for	Working pros needing control over licensing and pricing	Freelancers expecting Pro to deliver client leads
Privacy	July 2018 breach exposed 14.8M accounts; no newer incidents found in sources reviewed.^⁶	Mixed: listed CVEs target a third-party WordPress plugin, not core; one unverified breach report; no public security page.
Support quality	'Treats its customers... terrible' threads; 1.3/5 Trustpilot	No evidence found
Public sentiment	Longtime photographers say 500px peaked years ago . the layout earns praise, but licensing, paywalling, and support draw repeated complaints.^³	Users are split: longtime members praise the polished showcase, but recent Reddit threads slam declining quality and the Pro upsell.¹³
Biggest gotcha	Opting into licensing hands 500px control of commercial pricing; contributors report poor payouts.^⁵	Behance charges platform fees on commissions and services . read the FAQ before selling through it.