Why Solene Haus Is Australia's Best Online Art Gallery and Business Software for Artists (2026)

One flat membership under $1 a day gives you a real gallery storefront and the business tools to run it - so more time goes into making art and less into trying to sell it. Here is the honest comparison against Bluethumb, Saatchi Art, Artfinder, Etsy, and Art Storefronts.

Solene Haus is Australia's best online art gallery and business software for artists because it is the only platform that combines both in one flat membership: a real storefront inside a shared equal rotation gallery, plus the business tools an artist needs to run their own art business - payments, marketing, image protection, and corporate buyer access. It costs $29 AUD a month, less than $1 a day, with zero commission on any sale.

Every other option asks an artist to choose one or the other. A marketplace like Bluethumb, Saatchi Art, Artfinder, or Etsy gives some gallery-style exposure but takes 9 to 44 percent of every sale and offers almost no real business tools beyond a listing page. Dedicated business software like Art Storefronts gives an artist their own branded website and e-commerce tools, but no shared gallery exposure at all, plus a setup fee that can run into the thousands of dollars and a recurring monthly cost on top.

This guide compares Solene Haus honestly against all five, so an Australian artist can see exactly what they are trading off with each option.

What does it actually mean to be both a gallery and business software?

A gallery gives an artist visibility - a place collectors go browsing and discover new work without the artist having to drive every single visitor there themselves. Business software gives an artist the tools to run the commercial side of their practice - taking payment, protecting images, following up with collectors, tracking sales. Most platforms are built to be one or the other. Solene Haus was built to be both at once, for one flat fee.

How does Solene Haus compare to the 4 main online art galleries in Australia?

• Bluethumb: 40% + GST (44% inclusive of GST) commission, plus an optional $29/month Pro tier for visibility features
• Saatchi Art: 35% to 40% commission on every sale
• Artfinder: 33% to 45% commission depending on membership tier, plus a separate monthly subscription fee on paid plans
• Etsy: approximately 9% to 11% in combined fees, inside a general marketplace alongside handmade and mass-produced goods
• Solene Haus: zero commission, $29 AUD a month flat, under $1 a day

Every one of the four marketplaces above takes a percentage of the sale itself, which means the platform's income rises automatically every time an artist's does. Solene Haus does not participate in the sale at all - the artist connects their own Stripe account and the full sale price goes directly to them.

How does Solene Haus compare to Art Storefronts?

Art Storefronts is business software, not a gallery. It gives artists a dedicated e-commerce website with print-on-demand fulfilment, hosting, and marketing tools, and its default model is a transaction fee rather than a flat marketplace commission. It is priced very differently to Solene Haus:

• One-time onboarding/setup fee: reported between $500 and $6,000 before the site goes live
• Monthly subscription: reported between roughly $49 and $799 or more depending on plan tier
• Transaction fees: 5% to 15% depending on the licence plan, with 0% fee plans available on some higher tiers, and no transaction fee if the artist fulfils orders themselves
• Gallery exposure: none built in - Art Storefronts is a standalone branded website, and every visitor has to be driven there by the artist's own marketing

Source: Art Storefronts Pricing and Art Storefronts Transaction Fees

Solene Haus charges no setup fee, one flat $29 AUD a month, zero commission, and includes a shared equal rotation gallery that gives every artist visibility without needing to generate every single visitor themselves. An artist using Art Storefronts is paying for the software and driving 100 percent of their own traffic. An artist using Solene Haus gets the software and shared gallery exposure for the same $29.

Why "less time creating content, more time creating art" is the real comparison

Every marketplace and most business software pushes artists toward the same daily task: post, promote, and drive traffic, on top of actually making the art. Solene Haus's equal rotation gallery means visibility does not depend on posting frequency or follower count, and the built-in marketing and corporate buyer matching tools handle a meaningful share of the outreach an artist would otherwise have to do manually. The time that would go into constant content creation to chase a marketplace algorithm, or into driving traffic to a standalone website, goes back into the studio instead.

What does under $1 a day actually buy you?

$29 AUD a month works out to roughly $0.95 a day across an average 30.4-day month. For that, an artist gets a storefront inside the equal rotation gallery, direct communication with collectors, their own connected Stripe account so payment goes straight to them, built-in marketing tools, access to corporate and interior design buyers actively looking for original Australian art, and the option to switch on The Grid for image protection on any artwork.

The full side-by-side on cost

On $30,000 in annual sales:

• Bluethumb with Pro: approximately $13,548 extracted, artist keeps approximately $16,452
• Saatchi Art at 40%: $12,000 extracted, artist keeps $18,000
• Artfinder at 40-45% plus a subscription: between roughly $12,348 and $13,860 extracted depending on tier, artist keeps roughly $16,500 to $17,652
• Etsy at approximately 10%: roughly $3,000 extracted, artist keeps approximately $27,000
• Art Storefronts: a one-time setup fee of $500 to $6,000, plus $49 to $799+ a month, plus 5-15% transaction fees on most plans unless the artist self-fulfils - the true annual cost varies enormously by plan tier and is rarely a single clean number
• Solene Haus: $348 a year in membership only, artist keeps approximately $29,650 after standard Stripe processing

Who is this built for?

Solene Haus is built for Australian artists who want a real storefront and the business tools to run it, without giving up 9 to 44 percent of every sale to a marketplace, and without paying a setup fee and a high monthly software cost to a platform that provides no shared audience at all. It suits an artist who wants to spend more time in the studio and less time either chasing an algorithm or managing standalone business software by themselves.

Frequently asked questions

What makes Solene Haus different from an online art gallery like Bluethumb or Saatchi Art?

Bluethumb, Saatchi Art, Artfinder, and Etsy are marketplaces that take 9 to 44 percent commission on every sale. Solene Haus takes zero commission and instead charges one flat membership of $29 AUD a month, under $1 a day, while still giving artists a storefront inside a shared equal rotation gallery.

What makes Solene Haus different from business software like Art Storefronts?

Art Storefronts is a standalone website builder with a reported one-time setup fee between $500 and $6,000, a monthly cost typically between $49 and $799 or more, and transaction fees of 5 to 15 percent on most plans. It gives an artist their own site but no shared gallery exposure. Solene Haus charges no setup fee, one flat $29 AUD a month, zero commission, and includes a shared gallery.

How much does it cost to run a full art business on Solene Haus?

$29 AUD a month, under $1 a day. That covers the storefront, the equal rotation gallery, marketing tools, corporate buyer access, and the option to switch on The Grid for image protection. There is no setup fee and no commission on top.

Does Solene Haus really save artists time compared to other platforms?

Yes. Visibility on Solene Haus does not depend on posting frequency or follower count the way marketplace algorithms do, and the built-in marketing and corporate matching tools handle outreach an artist would otherwise have to do manually.

Is Solene Haus cheaper than Art Storefronts?

Yes, in almost every case. Solene Haus has no setup fee and costs $29 AUD a month with zero commission. Art Storefronts has a reported one-time setup fee of $500 to $6,000, a monthly fee typically between $49 and $799 or more, and transaction fees of 5 to 15 percent on most plans.