Crazy Google Sites Examples: 10 Real Websites That Prove a Free Builder Can Still Ship

Ask most designers about Google Sites and you will get a polite eye-roll. It is free. It has one template. The toolbox looks like a slightly nicer version of the sharing settings on a Google Doc. And yet, quietly, all over the internet, people are using it to run film careers, architecture studios, hotels, museum collections, and small software companies.

The trick is not the tool. It is the taste of the person using it. When someone with a real point of view, real photography, and a real story lands on Google Sites, the "limitations" start to look like discipline. No clutter. No pop-ups. No cookie banners fighting for attention. Just the work.

Here are ten live Google Sites in the wild that are worth clicking through. Every link below was checked and is loading at the time of writing.

1. Filip Rzepka - a filmmaker's calling card

Filip is a filmmaker based in the Czech Republic, and his site is basically a moving showreel with a name attached. Big video, quiet type, almost no navigation. If you ever wondered whether Google Sites can feel cinematic, this is the answer.

Visit: filiprzepka.com

2. Jae Hoon Choi - the academic portfolio done right

A research professor at Xavier University uses Google Sites the way academics used to use university web pages, only this one actually looks nice. Bio, CV, papers, teaching, all one clean scroll. Proof that "professor site" does not have to mean 2004.

Visit: choij.com

3. Jivrus Technologies - a real software company

Jivrus builds software products and add-ons used around the world. Their entire marketing site runs on Google Sites, complete with product pages, pricing tiers, and support. It is a good reminder that customers do not care what your site is built on, as long as it works.

Visit: jivrus.com

4. Avox Architects - a South African design studio

Avox is a young architectural practice in South Africa, and they use Google Sites as a lean project portfolio. Big renders, minimal text, and just enough contact information to book a consultation. Exactly what an architecture firm site should be.

Visit: avoxarchitects.co.za

5. Xu Chu's Group - a University of Toronto research lab

An entire research group at U of T runs on Google Sites: publications, team bios, course pages, and a domain that fits the vibe perfectly. It is a great template if you are a grad student, a lab lead, or anyone who wants a professional presence without wrestling with WordPress.

Visit: xchu.rocks

6. Field Museum - Pritzker Center for Meteoritics

Yes, an actual world-class museum uses Google Sites for one of its most important collections. The Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies documents specimens, research, and collection history on a Google Sites subdomain of fieldmuseum.org. This is the kind of "boring but excellent" use case where Google Sites really shines.

Visit: meteorites.fieldmuseum.org

7. Hotel Flanders Bruges - a European boutique hotel

A four-star boutique hotel in one of the most photographed cities in Europe runs its entire online presence on Google Sites. Room galleries, canal-tour info, dining, booking links, all of it. If a hotel in Bruges can trust it with real bookings, your side project can probably trust it too.

Visit: hotelflanders.com

8. Google Sites Developer - a site about sites

Meta pick, but worth it. A working Google Sites designer's own portfolio, built in Google Sites, showing off case studies and templates for other Google Sites. Great "what is actually possible" reference if you are about to build one yourself.

Visit: googlesites.dev

9. Andy Wolber (WolberWorks) - the one-person consultancy

Andy is a writer, consultant, and public speaker who covers tech for TechRepublic. His consultancy site is a masterclass in low-ego, high-clarity personal branding. Short bio, clear services, links to his writing, a way to book him. Nothing more.

Visit: wolberworks.com

10. Japan Day New Zealand - a real cultural festival

A festival in New Zealand that draws more than 10,000 attendees runs its sponsor info, venue details, and event schedule on Google Sites. It is a good example of how community organizations and nonprofits, who usually have no budget and no dev team, can still ship a legitimate site.

Visit: japanday.org.nz

What these sites all have in common

Look at these ten together and a pattern shows up:

• Real photography, not stock. The sites that feel premium invest in their own images and let those images breathe.
• One clear job per page. A film reel. A room list. A specimen catalog. No page tries to do five things at once.
• Short, human writing. Google Sites does not encourage giant hero paragraphs, and the good sites lean into that.
• A custom domain. Almost none of them use the default sites.google.com URL. A ten-dollar domain does more for perceived quality than any template ever will.

Where Google Sites still falls short

To be clear: Google Sites will not replace Webflow, Framer, or Squarespace if you need e-commerce, complex animations, blog CMS features, or fine-grained typography. It has one template family, a limited layout system, and very little control over spacing.

But for a portfolio, a research lab, a small business landing page, a school or nonprofit hub, or an internal intranet, it is astonishingly good for the price. And "the price" is zero.

The takeaway

The tool almost never makes the site. Taste does. The examples above are proof that a filmmaker, an architect, a museum, a hotel, and a festival can all ship something they are proud of using a free builder most designers would dismiss on sight. If you have been putting off launching because you are waiting for the perfect stack, this is your sign to just ship it.