Compared side by side
Pic-Time vs Pixieset vs ShootProof
These three come up together constantly, because they are the three most-recommended client gallery platforms for wedding and portrait photographers. They are genuinely different underneath: one is a print-sales engine, one is a polished delivery product, and one meters your work by the photo rather than the gigabyte.
The numbers
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Metered by | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pic-Time | $7/mo | storage | 0% on paid plans |
| Pixieset | $8/mo | storage | 0% on paid plans; 15% on the free plan |
| ShootProof | $10.99/mo | photo count | 0% on every plan, including the free plan |
Entry paid plan is the cheapest tier that costs money, at the best available billing period. Each platform's full plan ladder is on its own pricing breakdown, linked above.
Where each one wins, and where it does not
Pic-Time
Choose it if: you sell prints and want the platform to do the selling for you. Pic-Time is built around automated sales campaigns and a print store, charges 0% commission on paid plans, and starts at $7/mo billed annually. If print revenue is a real line in your business, this is the one designed for it.
Rule it out if: you deliver digitals only. You would be paying for a storefront and campaign automation you will never switch on, and the free plan drops from 10 GB to 3 GB after three months, so it will not carry a trial gallery for long.
Pixieset
Choose it if: you want the most polished client-facing experience and a plan ladder with no surprises. Basic through Ultimate runs €10 to €50/mo with storage climbing 10 GB, 100 GB, 1 TB, unlimited. It is the default shortlist entry for a reason.
Rule it out if: you need a lot of storage cheaply. The tier that most working photographers end up on is not the cheapest one, and Pixieset sells a Suite of separate products, so the total can drift well past the client-gallery line item you first budgeted for.
ShootProof
Choose it if: your volume is spiky and predictable in photo count rather than gigabytes. ShootProof meters by photo count, not storage, with tiers at 1,500, 5,000 and 25,000 photos. If you know roughly how many images you deliver a year, you can price it exactly.
Rule it out if: you shoot high volume at high resolution. Photo-count metering punishes anyone delivering a lot of frames, and the unlimited tier at $50/mo billed annually is where heavy shooters land, which is the top of this comparison, not the bottom.
The verdict
There is no overall winner, and anyone telling you there is has not used all three. If you sell prints, Pic-Time. If you want the best client-facing polish and predictable tiers, Pixieset. If your business is easier to predict in photos delivered than in storage consumed, ShootProof. The single most useful thing you can do before choosing is work out whether your constraint is storage or volume, because that one answer eliminates one of these three immediately.
All three are gallery-first products, so if you also need booking, contracts and a portfolio site, you will end up paying for those separately somewhere else. That is the gap Xposure was built for rather than a knock on any platform here. You can see what Xposure costs or read the full set of comparisons.
Common questions
Which is cheapest: Pic-Time, Pixieset or ShootProof?
Pic-Time has the lowest entry paid plan at $7/mo billed annually, against Pixieset at €8/mo and ShootProof at $10.99/mo billed annually. But the cheapest entry tier is rarely the tier you end up on, so compare the plan that matches your actual storage or photo volume rather than the first paid row.
Do any of them take a commission on sales?
No. Pic-Time, Pixieset and ShootProof all charge 0% commission on their paid plans. Standard payment processing fees still apply on all three.
What is the real difference between them?
How they meter you and what they optimise for. Pic-Time meters storage and optimises for print sales. Pixieset meters storage and optimises for client-facing polish. ShootProof meters photo count, which makes it predictable if you know your annual delivery volume.
Which is best for wedding photographers?
Pic-Time if you sell prints after the wedding, Pixieset if you deliver digitals and care most about how the gallery looks to the couple. ShootProof works if your volume is consistent, but weddings produce a lot of frames and photo-count metering is least forgiving there.