Pixieset Alternatives in 2026: 10 Client Gallery Tools Compared (Including Google Drive-Based Options)
Ten Pixieset alternatives compared on free plans, real yearly cost, how storage is charged and what each is best at, from upload platforms like Pic-Time and ShootProof to Google Drive-based galleries. Prices checked on each company's pricing page in October 2026.
Short answer
The best Pixieset alternative depends on where your photos live and whether you sell prints. For print and album sales, Pic-Time or ShootProof. For contracts and invoices too, ShootProof or CloudSpot. For a website as well, Zenfolio or SmugMug. If your edited photos are already in Google Drive and you mainly need a beautiful delivery, a Drive-based gallery like GalleryLink ($50 a year) or Galleroo (€89 a year) avoids a second upload and storage tiers. 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 reasons: it's polished, clients find it easy, and the print store works. The reasons people start looking elsewhere are usually the same few. The bill climbs with your storage. Every shoot has to be uploaded a second time after it's already sitting in your cloud. The free plan's 3 GB fills after a wedding or two. And for a growing number of photographers, a full gallery platform is simply more than they need to hand a client their photos.
This guide compares ten alternatives on the things that actually decide which one suits you: the free plan, the real yearly cost, how storage is charged, whether clients can choose favourites and download full resolution, and what each tool is genuinely best at. It includes the newer Google Drive-based tools, which work differently from everything else on the list, and the free options photographers already have.
Prices were checked on each company's own pricing page in October 2026, in US dollars unless stated. Disclosure: we make GalleryLink, one of the options below. We've kept its weaknesses in, and said plainly where another tool is the better choice.
- The short answer
- Why photographers leave Pixieset
- What Pixieset costs in 2026
- All ten at a glance
- What a year actually costs
- Two ways a gallery can work: upload or connect
- 1. GalleryLink
- 2. Galleroo
- 3. ShootProof
- 4. Pic-Time
- 5. CloudSpot
- 6. Zenfolio
- 7. SmugMug
- 8. Google Drive on its own
- 9. Google Photos
- 10. Dropbox
- Which one for your kind of work
- How to switch without losing old galleries
- How to test any of them in ten minutes
The short answer
The right Pixieset alternative depends mostly on two questions: where your edited photos already live, and whether your galleries make you money beyond the session fee.
- You sell prints, albums or digital downloads through your galleries: Pic-Time or ShootProof. Both are built around a store, and both cost about what Pixieset does.
- You want contracts and invoicing in the same subscription: ShootProof, or CloudSpot's Full Suite plans.
- You need your website as well: Zenfolio, or SmugMug if a permanent archive matters most.
- Your edited photos already go to Google Drive and you mainly need a beautiful, simple delivery: a Drive-based gallery such as GalleryLink ($50 a year) or Galleroo (€89 a year), with no second upload and no storage tiers.
- A quick, informal handover is enough: a plain Google Drive or Dropbox link costs nothing extra.
Why photographers leave Pixieset
Nobody leaves Pixieset because it's bad. They leave because the way it charges stops fitting the way they work. The reasons we hear most often:
- Paying for storage twice. Most photographers already pay for cloud storage, usually Google Drive, Dropbox or iCloud, where every finished shoot lives anyway. A gallery platform priced by storage means paying again to keep a second copy of the same photos.
- The storage ladder. Pixieset's plans step up with gigabytes. A wedding of finished JPEGs is often 5 to 20 GB, so a working wedding photographer moves past the 10 GB Basic plan within a season and onto Plus or Pro.
- The second upload. Exporting from Lightroom, waiting for the cloud sync, then uploading the same files to a gallery is a step that adds an hour or more to every big delivery.
- More than they need. For portrait, event, sports, real estate and product photographers who don't sell prints, a store, a mobile app builder and an email marketing tool are features they pay for and never open.
- The free plan's ceiling. 3 GB is enough to try Pixieset, not enough to run a business on.
If none of these apply to you, and especially if your print store earns real money, Pixieset may still be the right choice. The alternatives below are worth a look when one or more of them does.
What Pixieset costs in 2026
For reference, here's 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 |
Paid plans are commission-free and include full-resolution downloads; video starts on Basic (30 minutes of HD). A busy wedding photographer typically lands on Plus or Pro: about $192 to $288 a year billed yearly. That's the number the alternatives have to beat.
All ten at a glance
| Tool | Free option | Paid from | How storage works | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GalleryLink | 1 gallery, shared free for 24 hours | $5/mo or $50/yr | Reads your Google Drive; no tiers | Photos already in Google Drive |
| Galleroo | None listed | €89/yr, one payment | Reads your Google Drive | A single yearly payment, Drive-based |
| ShootProof | 3 GB, photos only | $9.99/mo (20 GB) | Storage tiers | Galleries plus contracts and invoices |
| Pic-Time | 10 GB, then 3 GB after 6 months | $8/mo (20 GB) | Storage tiers | Print sales and automated selling |
| CloudSpot | 3 galleries, 5 GB | $7/mo | Storage and gallery-count tiers | A store on a small budget |
| Zenfolio | Free trial | $7/mo billed yearly | Plan tiers | Website and galleries together |
| SmugMug | 14-day trial | $20/mo billed yearly | Unlimited photos | A permanent archive |
| Google Drive | 15 GB | Google One from $1.99/mo | Your Google storage | Quick, informal sharing |
| Google Photos | 15 GB (shared with Drive) | Google One from $1.99/mo | Your Google storage | Family and personal albums |
| Dropbox | 2 GB | Plus, $9.99/mo for 2 TB | Your Dropbox storage | Large file handovers |
What a year actually costs
Starting prices are misleading, because most photographers outgrow the cheapest plan quickly. Here's a more useful comparison: roughly what each option costs for a year for a photographer delivering around 100 GB of finished galleries, using each company's listed prices.
| Tool | Plan that fits ~100 GB | About a year |
|---|---|---|
| Pixieset | Plus, billed yearly | $192 |
| ShootProof | Standard (100 GB), at the monthly price | $240 (less billed yearly) |
| Pic-Time | Professional (100 GB), at the monthly price | $300 (about 15% less billed yearly) |
| CloudSpot | Lite | $204 |
| SmugMug | Entry plan, billed yearly | $240 |
| GalleryLink | Pro yearly, plus Google One 2 TB if you need more Drive space | $50, or about $170 with 2 TB of Drive |
| Galleroo | Yearly, plus Google One 2 TB if needed | €89, plus Drive storage |
The Drive-based rows include extra Google storage because that's the honest comparison: the photos have to live somewhere. But most photographers who deliver from Drive are already paying for that storage for their own backups, in which case the gallery is the only new cost.
Two ways a gallery can work: upload or connect
The biggest difference between these tools isn't the price. It's where your photos live.
Upload platforms (Pixieset, ShootProof, Pic-Time, CloudSpot, Zenfolio, SmugMug) keep their own copy of your photos. You export, then upload to them, and they host and serve the gallery. That's what makes their print stores, watermarks and sales automation possible, and it's also why they charge by storage: they're paying to keep your files.
Connected galleries (GalleryLink, Galleroo) don't keep a copy. You point them at a Google Drive folder you've already shared, and they show that folder as a client gallery: a cover, sections from subfolders, a proper viewer and downloads of the original files. Add a photo to the folder and it appears in the gallery. Because they aren't storing your photos, there's no storage ladder.
Neither model is better in general. Upload platforms win when the gallery is a shop. Connected galleries win when the gallery is a delivery, and when you'd rather not maintain the same photos in two places. It's worth deciding which you need before comparing features, because it removes half the list straight away.
1. GalleryLink: your Google Drive folder as the gallery
GalleryLink turns a shared Google Drive folder into a client gallery. You paste the folder link, choose a look, and send your client one link. Subfolders become sections such as Getting Ready, Ceremony and Reception, the gallery updates when you add or remove photos in Drive, and downloads are the original files you exported.
- Free: build one gallery and share it with your client free for 24 hours. Keep that gallery online for good for $10 once, or go Pro.
- Pro, $50 a year or $5 a month: unlimited galleries that stay online, passwords and closing dates, client favourites and album selection, every theme plus custom styles, your brand colours and fonts, a studio website with an inquiry form, download-all as a ZIP for Drive galleries (beta), Drive shortcuts, and 10 GB of direct uploads for jobs that aren't in Drive.
- Studio, $15 a month: 250 GB of hosted uploads, hosted video with instant streaming, and watermarks.
Where it falls short: there's no print store, no client mobile app, and no contracts or invoicing. If selling prints through your galleries is a real income stream, Pic-Time, ShootProof or Pixieset itself will serve you better. Video from Drive streams the file you exported, with no re-encoding, so you'll want to export viewing copies in a format that plays everywhere (we explain how in our wedding video delivery guide).
Choose it if your edited photos already go to Google Drive and you want a gallery that looks professional without paying for storage twice. See the full GalleryLink vs Pixieset comparison.
2. Galleroo: Drive-based, one yearly payment
Galleroo works on the same idea as GalleryLink: it turns a Google Drive folder into a photo and video gallery, so nothing is uploaded again and your photos stay in your Drive. Its pricing is unusual and simple: €89 for a year, paid once, with no automatic renewal, covering unlimited galleries and unlimited photos and videos. We didn't find a free plan or trial listed.
Choose it if you like the Drive-based approach and prefer a single payment you don't have to remember to cancel. Compare it with a free start and the extras in GalleryLink Pro in our GalleryLink vs Galleroo comparison.
3. ShootProof: galleries plus the business paperwork
ShootProof is the closest like-for-like swap for Pixieset: 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 (around 1,000 images), with no video.
- Starter $9.99/mo (20 GB) · Standard $19.99 (100 GB) · Professional $31.99 (1 TB of photos, 50 GB of video) · Premium $60 (unlimited photos). Billing yearly is cheaper.
Where it falls short: you're still on a storage ladder and still uploading every shoot twice.
Choose it if you'd otherwise pay for a separate contracts and invoicing tool, since bundling them can make ShootProof cheaper overall. GalleryLink vs ShootProof.
4. Pic-Time: built to sell
Pic-Time is the most sales-focused option on the list: a print and album store, automated sales campaigns that email clients at the right moments, and, on the top plan, face and keyword search so guests can find themselves in a big event gallery. The free plan starts at 10 GB but drops 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.
Where it falls short: if you don't sell, you're paying for a lot of machinery you won't use.
Choose it if print and album sales are a meaningful part of every job. GalleryLink vs Pic-Time.
5. CloudSpot: cheap entry, read the limits
CloudSpot's free-forever plan looks generous: three galleries and 5 GB. Two details matter for delivery. On the Free and Entry plans, client downloads are capped at 2048 pixels on the long edge, and store sales carry a 15% commission. Full-resolution downloads and unlimited galleries start on Lite at $17 a month.
- $7 · $17 · $34 · $50 a month, with contracts, invoicing and scheduling on the Full Suite plans from $34.
Choose it if you want a store and studio tools at a lower entry price, and you're happy to start on Lite for full-resolution delivery. GalleryLink vs CloudSpot.
6. Zenfolio: your website and galleries in one
Zenfolio bundles a full portfolio website builder with client galleries and print and download sales. Plans run from $7 to $20 a month billed yearly ($9 to $40 billed monthly), and sales carry a 7% commerce fee plus payment processing. There's a free trial rather than a free plan.
Where it falls short: you're tied to Zenfolio's website builder; if you already love your Squarespace or WordPress site, you're paying for a second one.
Choose it if you want one subscription to cover your public website and your client galleries. GalleryLink vs Zenfolio.
7. SmugMug: the archive option
SmugMug's big draw is unlimited photo storage on every plan, which makes it a home for a whole career's work, 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.
Where it falls short: it's the most expensive entry point here, and it's built around a website-style archive rather than quick client delivery.
Choose it if you want one permanent place for hundreds of thousands of photos, and you'll actually use the website. GalleryLink vs SmugMug.
8. Google Drive on its own
Plenty of photographers already deliver with a plain Drive link, and it costs nothing beyond the storage you probably have. It works: full-resolution files, no expiry, no extra account for you to manage.
Where it falls short: your client sees a file browser, not a gallery. File names like DSC_4417.jpg, no cover, no sections, no favourites, sometimes a request to sign in or install the app, and big folders that hit Google's download limits. We go through the most common problems in why clients can't open your Google Drive link.
Choose it if the handover is informal, such as raw files for another photographer or a quick share with a friend. For clients who are paying you, a connected gallery on top of the same folder costs little and changes the first impression completely. Our Google Drive for photographers guide covers how to set Drive up well either way.
9. Google Photos
Google Photos albums are lovely for family and personal sharing: fast, familiar and on everyone's phone. Storage is shared with Google Drive in your Google account, starting at 15 GB free and from $1.99 a month for 100 GB through Google One.
Where it falls short: it isn't built for client work. Photos backed up with Storage saver are resized, albums have no branding or password, and there's no proper way to keep each client's delivery separate and professional. Our Drive vs Google Photos guide explains why Drive is the better base for client work.
Choose it if you're sharing personal or family photos rather than paid work. GalleryLink vs Google Photos.
10. Dropbox
Dropbox is excellent general file storage and sync, with a free 2 GB plan and Plus at $9.99 a month for 2 TB. It's a solid choice for handing over very large files, such as raw files or long video masters.
Where it falls short: like Drive, clients get a file list rather than a gallery, and Dropbox Transfer links on personal plans are size-limited and expire. It's a delivery pipe, not a presentation.
Choose it if your files already live in Dropbox and the recipient is a professional, such as an editor or an agency. GalleryLink vs Dropbox.
Which one for your kind of work
| You are… | Look first at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A wedding photographer who sells albums and prints | Pic-Time, ShootProof, or stay on Pixieset | The store pays for itself |
| A wedding photographer who delivers digital only | GalleryLink or Galleroo | No storage tiers for big galleries; favourites and album selection on GalleryLink Pro |
| A portrait or family photographer | GalleryLink, CloudSpot | Many small galleries; low yearly cost matters |
| A sports, school or event photographer | GalleryLink; Pic-Time if you sell to parents | Same-day delivery from a folder; face search on Pic-Time's top plan |
| A real estate photographer | GalleryLink | Agents need fast, simple downloads, not a store |
| Someone who needs contracts and invoices too | ShootProof, CloudSpot Full Suite | One subscription for the business side |
| Someone who wants their whole website here | Zenfolio, SmugMug | Website builder included |
| A product or catalogue seller | GalleryLink | A catalogue from a Drive folder, with names and prices from filenames |
How to switch without losing old galleries
Switching gallery platforms makes photographers nervous because of the galleries already out there with clients. You don't need to move them all at once.
- Start new clients on the new tool. From your next shoot, deliver with the new platform. Keep your Pixieset plan running at the lowest tier that holds your existing galleries.
- Check which old galleries still get visits. Most get almost all their views in the first few weeks. A handful, usually weddings, keep being opened for months.
- Move the ones that matter. For a connected gallery, that just means the photos need to be in a Drive folder, which they often already are. For upload platforms, re-upload from your local archive.
- Tell those clients the new link with a short, friendly email, and say how long the old one stays up.
- Downgrade or close the old account once the important galleries have moved and their clients have the new links. Download anything you'd regret losing first.
If your old galleries had client favourites or selections, export or note them before closing the old account; they rarely transfer between platforms.
How to test any of them in ten minutes
Feature lists only get you so far. The gallery your clients see is the product, so test each shortlisted tool the way a client will:
- Use a real shoot, not the demo gallery. Pick one with a mix of portrait and landscape photos and at least 200 images.
- Open the link on your phone, on mobile data, in a private window, as if you were the client opening it from a text message. How long until you see photos?
- Try to find one specific photo, heart a few favourites, and download one at full size.
- Send it to a friend or family member without explanation and ask what they thought.
- Add the year's cost at the plan you'd actually need, not the starting price.
The tool that feels best in that test is the right one, whatever this or any other comparison says. If your photos are already in Google Drive, you can run the test with GalleryLink in about a minute: paste a folder link, and share the gallery with a client free for 24 hours.