Compared side by side
Pic-Time vs Pixieset vs ShootProof vs CloudSpot
Add CloudSpot to the usual three-way shortlist and the comparison changes shape, because CloudSpot takes 15% commission on its Free and Entry plans, a cost the sticker price does not show. That single fact reorders the price ranking depending on whether you sell through your galleries.
The numbers
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Metered by | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pic-Time | $7/mo | storage | 6% to 15% of your markup; 0% on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourself |
| Pixieset | $8/mo | storage | 0% on paid plans; 15% on the free plan |
| ShootProof | $8.33/mo | photo count | 0% on every plan, including the free plan |
| CloudSpot | $7/mo | storage | 15% on Free and Entry; 0% from Lite upward |
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: print sales are a real part of your income. Pic-Time is built around an automated print store, takes 6% to 15% of your markup, or nothing on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourself, and starts at $7/mo billed annually.
Rule it out if: you deliver digitals only, in which case you are paying for a storefront you will not use. The free plan also shrinks from 10 GB to 3 GB after three months.
Pixieset
Choose it if: you want the most polished client experience and a storage ladder that is easy to reason about: 10 GB, 100 GB, 1 TB, unlimited across €10 to €50/mo.
Rule it out if: you are price-sensitive at volume. Pixieset sells a Suite of separate products, and the total tends to drift past the gallery line item you originally budgeted.
ShootProof
Choose it if: you can predict your year in photos delivered rather than gigabytes stored. Tiers at 1,500, 5,000 and 25,000 photos make the bill knowable in advance.
Rule it out if: you shoot high volume. Photo-count metering is the least forgiving model here for anyone delivering a lot of frames per job.
CloudSpot
Choose it if: you want the Full Suite feature set at a mid price. Lite at $17/mo drops commission to 0%, lifts the gallery cap and accepts all file types.
Rule it out if: you were planning to start on Free or Entry. Both take 15% of your sales and are JPEG only, so the cheap tiers are not cheap the moment you sell anything or shoot raw.
The verdict
Ranked purely on sticker price the order is Pic-Time, CloudSpot, Pixieset, ShootProof. Ranked on what you actually pay if you sell prints, CloudSpot drops sharply until you reach Lite at $17/mo, because Free and Entry take 15%. Pic-Time wins for sellers, Pixieset for polish, ShootProof for predictable volume, and CloudSpot for feature breadth once you are past its commission tiers. Work out whether you sell through the gallery before comparing any of the prices, because that answer changes the ranking more than any feature does.
All four are gallery-first tools. Booking, contracts and a portfolio site are spread across suites, add-ons and higher tiers, and Pic-Time has no booking tool at all. Having all three on the entry plan is the gap Xposure exists to close. You can see what Xposure costs or read the full set of comparisons.
Common questions
Which of these four is cheapest?
On entry paid plan, Pic-Time at $7/mo billed annually. But CloudSpot Free and Entry take 15% commission on sales, so if you sell prints the effective cheapest changes. Pixieset and ShootProof charge 0% commission on paid plans; Pic-Time takes 6% to 15% of your markup, or nothing on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourself.
Does CloudSpot really take a commission?
Yes, on Free and Entry only. Commission drops to 0% from Lite ($17/mo) upward. This is the detail most comparisons miss, and it is the reason CloudSpot can look cheaper than it is.
Which one should a wedding photographer pick?
Pic-Time if you sell prints after delivery, Pixieset if the gallery experience matters most. Weddings produce high frame counts, which makes ShootProof photo-count metering the least comfortable fit, and CloudSpot only makes sense from Lite upward because raw files are not supported below it.
Do any of them include booking or contracts?
Three of them do, in different ways. ShootProof includes client booking, contracts and retainers on its subscription. CloudSpot includes scheduling on its suite tiers. Pixieset sells Studio Manager as a separate subscription or inside its Suite. Pic-Time has no booking tool.
Moving galleries from another platform? Read how to switch to Xposure, one gallery at a time, and what comes across.