The best client gallery for most wedding and portrait photographers is one of three: Pic-Time if you sell prints, Pixieset if you want the polished default, ShootProof if your year is easier to count in photos than in gigabytes. If you also want bookings and contracts on the same bill, ShootProof, CloudSpot and Xposure come into it. Two questions eliminate most of the list before features do: do you sell through the gallery, and what is the unit you are billed in?
This post compares the platforms. If you are still deciding whether to use a gallery at all rather than a transfer link or a shared folder, how photographers deliver photos to clients covers that first. We make Xposure, one of the seven below, so weigh that entry with that in mind; its weaknesses are listed the same way as everyone else's.
The seven, side by side
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Storage at entry | Fee on gallery sales | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pixieset | $8/mo yearly, $10 monthly | 10 GB | 0% on paid plans | 3 GB, 15% of sales |
| Pic-Time | $7/mo yearly, $8 monthly | 20 GB | 6% to 15% of your markup | 10 GB, cut to 3 GB after 3 months |
| ShootProof | $8.33/mo yearly, $9.99 monthly | 1,500 photos | 0% on every plan | 100 photos |
| CloudSpot | $7/mo | 15 GB, JPEG only | 15% until Lite at $17/mo | 5 GB, 3 galleries |
| SmugMug | $20/mo, yearly only | Unlimited | Sales from the Portfolio plan | None listed |
| Zenfolio | €6/mo yearly, €9 monthly (EU) | 15 GB | Sales on paid plans | None listed |
| Xposure | €8 ($9)/mo, or €80 a year | 20 GB | 10% on Starter, 0% on Pro and Studio | Portfolio only, no client galleries |
Rival figures come from the data behind our comparison pages, read off each platform's own pricing page on 17 September 2026 (Pic-Time on 28 September). Prices change, so the per-platform pricing pages linked below carry the date and the source. Standard card processing fees apply on top of every fee in the table.
Which client gallery should you pick?
- You sell prints and albums after delivery: Pic-Time.
- You deliver digitals and want the safe, polished choice: Pixieset.
- You deliver a modest number of large files: ShootProof.
- You want contracts and scheduling on the gallery bill: ShootProof, CloudSpot from Lite, or Xposure.
- Your real problem is storing twenty years of work: SmugMug.
- You shoot sports, schools or events in volume: Zenfolio.
If your client is an art director approving frames rather than a couple choosing favourites, none of these is the right shape. That is a review tool, which is a different comparison: the best photo proofing sites.
Pixieset: the safe default
Pixieset is the gallery most photographers have already seen, and the client experience is the reason. Storage climbs 10 GB, 100 GB, 1 TB, unlimited, at $8 to $40 a month billed yearly, with 0% commission on every paid plan.
The catch is structure. Client Gallery, Website and Studio Manager are separate subscriptions, and the Suite that bundles them runs $28 to $55 a month billed yearly. The other catch is the jump from 10 GB to 100 GB with nothing between, which a working photographer outgrows fast. Xposure vs Pixieset has the full breakdown.
Pic-Time: built to sell prints
Pic-Time is a sales engine with a gallery attached: automated campaigns against delivered galleries, an album designer and a print store. Beginner, at $7 a month yearly, ties CloudSpot Entry as the cheapest paid tier here.
It takes 6% to 15% of your markup, or nothing on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourself. It has no booking tool at all. If you deliver digitals only, you are paying for a storefront you will not switch on. See Xposure vs Pic-Time.
ShootProof: metered by the photo
ShootProof bills by photo count, with tiers at 1,500, 5,000 and 25,000 photos, and charges 0% commission on every plan including the free one. It also carries booking, contracts and retainers on the same subscription.
Photo counts are predictable if you deliver 40 headshot sessions of 20 images. They are the least forgiving model for a wedding photographer delivering 700 frames a weekend, where the unlimited tier at $50 a month yearly is where heavy shooters land. See Xposure vs ShootProof.
CloudSpot: galleries plus studio tools
CloudSpot bundles invoicing, contracts, scheduling and questionnaires with its galleries, which makes it good value if you would otherwise buy a CRM as well. Its free plan covers three galleries and 5 GB.
Read the commission row before the price row. Free and Entry take 15% of store sales and accept JPEG only. Lite at $17 a month is the first tier with 0% commission and all file types. Invoicing and online payments are US only. See Xposure vs CloudSpot.
SmugMug and Zenfolio: the veterans
SmugMug's argument is unlimited storage on every plan, from $20 a month billed yearly, with no monthly option. It is the best archive here and a heavy platform if all you need is to hand over Friday's wedding. It has no booking or contracts. See Xposure vs SmugMug.
Zenfolio is broader: video hosting, a culling tool and a mature print store, with tools aimed at sports, school and event photographers. It geo-prices, so the €6 to €18 a month yearly is the EU rate, and booking is a separate €10 a month add-on. See Xposure vs Zenfolio.
Xposure: galleries, site and bookings on one plan
We make this one. Starter is €8 ($9) a month with unlimited PIN-protected galleries, proofing, a custom domain and online booking with contracts and deposits. Galleries carry no Xposure branding on any plan. Clients download the file you exported, and you can set a closing date or switch downloads off per gallery. Pro at €18 ($21) takes 0% on sales and bookings.
Where it falls short: it is a young product, founded in 2026, with a smaller ecosystem and fewer integrations than anything above. There is no free plan for client galleries, only a 14-day Pro trial. Starter's 20 GB fills quickly and takes 10% of sales. There is no standalone invoicing, no marketing automation, video is embedded from YouTube or Vimeo rather than hosted, and prints go through one lab rather than a choice of labs.
What is the best free website to send photos to clients?
ShootProof's free plan is the only one in this list that takes no commission, but 100 photos is one small session. Pixieset's 3 GB and CloudSpot's three galleries go further and take 15% of anything you sell. Pic-Time's free 10 GB shrinks to 3 GB after three months.
Free works for a test gallery or a side business with no sales. Once you sell, work out the fee in money: at 15%, $640 a year of sales costs as much as Pixieset Basic billed yearly. The real cost of commission on client galleries runs the same sum at other volumes.
Decide with one real gallery
Price two platforms in the gallery platform cost calculator using your actual year: sessions, images per session, how long galleries stay online, and what you sell. Then upload one real shoot to the two that survive, open it on your phone as the client would, buy something and download the rest. The checks for whose name the client sees on the way are in how to pick a client gallery platform you can put your name on. Whichever one makes that walk feel like yours is the answer.
