7 Pixieset Alternatives (2026): Prices and Storage Compared
Seven Pixieset alternatives compared on free plans, starting prices and how storage is charged, from each company's own pricing page in October 2026.
Short answer
The main Pixieset alternatives are GalleryLink (galleries from your own Google Drive, $5 a month flat), ShootProof (galleries plus contracts, from $9.99), Pic-Time (print sales, from $8), CloudSpot (from $7), Zenfolio (website plus galleries), SmugMug (unlimited archive, from $20 billed yearly) and plain Google Drive. Pixieset itself runs from free (3 GB) to $50 a month.
Pixieset is the default client gallery for a lot of photographers, and for good reason: it's polished, clients like it, and the print store works. The reasons people go looking for something else are usually the same three. The price climbs with your storage, every shoot has to be uploaded again after it's already in your cloud, and the free plan's 3 GB fills up after a wedding or two.
This guide compares seven alternatives on the things that decide the monthly bill: the free plan, the starting price, how storage is charged, and what each one is actually best at. Every price below comes from the company's own pricing page in October 2026.
Disclosure: we make GalleryLink, which is one of the options. We've kept its downsides in, and said plainly when another tool is the better fit.
What Pixieset costs in 2026
For reference, here is the plan you're comparing against. Pixieset's client gallery plans are priced by storage, and every plan has unlimited galleries:
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 3 GB (15% commission on store sales) |
| Basic | $10 | $8/mo | 10 GB |
| Plus | $20 | $16/mo | 100 GB |
| Pro | $30 | $24/mo | 1 TB |
| Ultimate | $50 | $40/mo | Unlimited |
A single wedding is often 5 to 20 GB of finished JPEGs, so a working wedding photographer usually lands on Plus or Pro, about $200 to $300 a year. That is the number the alternatives below have to beat.
The alternatives at a glance
| Platform | Free plan | Paid from | How storage is charged | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GalleryLink | 1 gallery, shared free for 24 hours | $5/mo | Flat: galleries read from your Google Drive | Photos already in Google Drive |
| ShootProof | 3 GB, photos only | $9.99/mo (20 GB) | Storage tiers | Galleries plus contracts and invoices |
| Pic-Time | 10 GB, drops to 3 GB after 6 months | $8/mo (20 GB) | Storage tiers | Print sales and automations |
| CloudSpot | 3 galleries, 5 GB | $7/mo | Storage and gallery-count tiers | A print store on a small budget |
| Zenfolio | Free trial | $9/mo ($7 billed yearly) | Plan tiers | Website and galleries in one place |
| SmugMug | 14-day trial | $20/mo billed yearly | Unlimited photo storage | A huge permanent archive |
| Google Drive (as is) | 15 GB | Google One plans | Your Google storage | Quick, informal sharing |
1. GalleryLink: no second upload, flat price
GalleryLink turns a Google Drive folder into a client gallery. You paste the folder link, pick a theme, and send your client one link; subfolders become sections such as Ceremony and Reception, and the gallery stays in sync when you add or remove photos in Drive. Because the photos stay in your Drive, there is no storage tier: the price is the same for one wedding or a hundred.
- Free: build one gallery and share it with your client free for 24 hours. Keep it online for good for $10 once, or go Pro.
- Pro, $5 a month or $50 a year: unlimited galleries, passwords, every theme and layout, client favourites, a studio page, and 10 GB of direct uploads for jobs that aren't in Drive.
- Studio, $15 a month: 250 GB of hosted uploads, whole-gallery ZIP downloads and watermarks.
Where it falls short: there is no built-in print store and no client mobile app, so if selling prints through your galleries is a real income stream, Pixieset, Pic-Time or ShootProof will serve you better. See the full GalleryLink vs Pixieset comparison.
2. ShootProof: galleries plus the business paperwork
ShootProof is the closest like-for-like swap: storage-tiered galleries, commission-free print sales on every plan, and contracts and invoices from the Starter plan up. The free plan holds 3 GB of photos (about 1,000), with no video.
- Starter $9.99/mo (20 GB) · Standard $19.99 (100 GB) · Professional $31.99 (1 TB photos, 50 GB video) · Premium $60 (unlimited photos). Yearly billing is cheaper.
Choose it if you'd otherwise pay for a separate contracts and invoicing tool. GalleryLink vs ShootProof.
3. Pic-Time: built to sell prints
Pic-Time is the most sales-focused option: a print store, automated sales campaigns, and on the top plan, face and keyword search so guests can find their own photos. The free plan starts at 10 GB of photos but is reduced to 3 GB after six months.
- Beginner $8/mo (20 GB) · Professional $25 (100 GB) · Advanced $50 (unlimited photos, face search). About 15% less billed yearly.
Choose it if print and album sales make up a meaningful part of each job. GalleryLink vs Pic-Time.
4. CloudSpot: cheap entry, watch the limits
CloudSpot's free-forever plan is one of the more generous on paper: three galleries and 5 GB. Two catches matter for delivery: on the Free and Entry plans, client downloads are capped at 2048 pixels, and store sales carry a 15% commission. Full-resolution downloads and unlimited galleries start on Lite at $17 a month.
- $7 · $17 · $34 · $50 per month, with contracts, invoicing and scheduling on the Full Suite plans from $34.
5. Zenfolio: your website and galleries together
Zenfolio bundles a full website builder with client galleries and print and download sales. Plans run $7 to $20 a month billed yearly ($9 to $40 billed monthly), and selling carries a 7% commerce fee plus payment fees. There's a free trial rather than a free plan.
Choose it if you want one subscription to cover your portfolio site too. GalleryLink vs Zenfolio.
6. SmugMug: the archive option
SmugMug's draw is unlimited photo storage on every plan, which makes it a home for a whole career's archive, with a portfolio site and print sales on the higher plans. Plans are $20, $23.50 or $37 a month billed yearly, after a 14-day trial. Client favourites need the Pro plan.
Choose it if you want one permanent place for hundreds of thousands of photos. GalleryLink vs SmugMug.
7. Google Drive on its own
Plenty of photographers already deliver with a plain Drive link, and it costs nothing extra. It works, but clients see a list of file names, some are asked to sign in or install the app, and there's no cover, no sections and no favourites. It's the right choice for a quick, informal handover, and the wrong one when the delivery is part of what you're selling. We cover the trade-offs in Google Drive for Photographers.
How to choose
- You sell prints and albums through your galleries: stay on Pixieset, or look at Pic-Time or ShootProof.
- You want contracts and invoicing in the same tool: ShootProof, or CloudSpot's Full Suite.
- You need your website too: Zenfolio, or SmugMug if the archive matters most.
- Your edited photos already go to Google Drive and you mostly need a beautiful delivery: GalleryLink, at a flat $5 a month instead of a storage tier.
Whichever you pick, test it the way a client will: open a gallery on your phone, in a private window, on mobile data. The tool that looks best there is the one your clients will remember.
Try it with your own folder
If your photos are already in Drive, the quickest way to compare is to see one of your own shoots as a gallery. It takes about a minute: paste a folder link, and you can share it with a client free for 24 hours.