Pixieset vs Pic-Time vs ShootProof: which gallery fits your business in 2026?
The big three client gallery platforms are all good. That's what makes choosing annoying. The real differences aren't in the gallery pages (your clients will love all three); they're in the pricing structure, the commission fine print, and how much of your business each one is willing to run. Here's the honest breakdown.
Pricing and features referenced in this post were checked in September 2026 against each vendor's public pricing page. Pixieset, Pic-Time, and ShootProof are trademarks of their owners; Kepla is not affiliated with any of them.
The 2026 comparison table
| Pixieset | Pic-Time | ShootProof | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (annual billing) | Free to $40/mo | Free to $42/mo | Free to $50/mo |
| Free tier | 3 GB, 15% store commission | ~3 GB (reduced after 3 months) | 100 photos |
| Priced by | Storage | Storage | Photo count |
| Commission on paid plans | 0% | 15% Beginner, 8% Professional, 6% Advanced; 0% on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourself | 0% (all tiers) |
| Print store | ✓ Mature, polished | ✓ Best-in-class automation | ✓ Solid, zero commission |
| Automated sales campaigns | ✗ Basic | ✓ Anniversary, abandoned-cart, early-bird | ✗ Basic |
| Contracts & invoicing | Separate product (Studio Manager / Suite) | ✗ None, bring a CRM | ✓ Included on paid plans |
| AI features | Alt-text for SEO | ✓ Face + object recognition, semantic search | Watermark protection |
| Booking pipeline / CRM | ✗ | ✗ | Partial (billing, not pipeline) |
Who each one is actually for
Pixieset, the polished default
The gallery presentation and mobile apps are the most refined of the three, and the print store is battle-tested. Two things to know before choosing it: the free tier's 15% commission makes it a trial, not a plan, and the business features you'll eventually want (contracts, invoicing, CRM) are a separate subscription, Studio Manager or the Suite bundle, so budget for the real total, not the gallery sticker. Full breakdown: Kepla vs Pixieset.
Pic-Time, the print-sales machine
If print and product revenue is core to your business, Pic-Time is the strongest pick: its automated marketing campaigns (anniversary promos, abandoned-cart nudges, early-bird discounts) genuinely generate passive sales, and its AI search, clients typing "the first kiss" and finding the photo, is ahead of the other two. The trade-off is total absence of business tools: no contracts, no invoicing, so a CRM subscription is mandatory alongside it. Full breakdown: Kepla vs Pic-Time.
ShootProof, the business-minded one
ShootProof is the only one of the three that treats the business side as its job: paid plans include invoicing and e-sign contracts, and every tier, including free, takes zero commission on sales. Pricing by photo count rather than storage suits high-volume shooters (school, sports, events). The gallery aesthetic is a step behind Pixieset's, and the "CRM" is billing-deep, not pipeline-deep. Full breakdown: Kepla vs ShootProof.
The decision in one paragraph
Prettiest delivery: Pixieset. Most print revenue on autopilot: Pic-Time. Contracts and invoices included, zero commission: ShootProof. High photo volume: ShootProof's count-based pricing. Tightest budget with real features: Pic-Time's $7 Beginner tier. Whichever you pick, run the totals, with the CRM you'll pair it with, in the stack cost calculator.
All three leave you running two systems
Here's what the head-to-heads miss: a gallery is the last step of a job that started with an inquiry, a contract, a deposit, and six emails. Pick any of the big three and the front half of that job still lives somewhere else, HoneyBook, Dubsado, a spreadsheet, with no shared memory between the two. The gallery doesn't know the balance is unpaid; the CRM doesn't know the client downloaded everything a year ago and is due for a rebooking email. That disconnect is the stack tax, and it costs more in leaked follow-up revenue than any subscription.
That's the gap Kepla is built to close: Pixieset-quality galleries (favorites, download paywalls, guest face-match, semantic search) living in the same system as your contracts, Stripe invoicing, and deposits, so the AI can act on what both sides know: nudge the unsigned contract, chase the balance, draft the anniversary rebook with the client's own photos attached. Founding pricing is $19 to $39/mo, locked, about what you'd pay for a gallery tool alone. Migration imports your existing galleries server-side, so switching doesn't mean re-uploading years of work.
FAQ
Which is best: Pixieset, Pic-Time, or ShootProof?
Pixieset for presentation, Pic-Time for automated print sales and AI search, ShootProof for included business tools and zero commission everywhere. There's no universal winner, match the tool to your revenue model.
What do they cost in 2026?
Pixieset: free to $40/mo (15% commission on the free tier). Pic-Time: free, $7, $21, or $42/mo billed annually. ShootProof: free (100 photos) to $50/mo unlimited, by photo count, 0% commission on all tiers.
Do I still need a CRM with these?
With Pixieset and Pic-Time, yes, contracts and invoicing live elsewhere (Pixieset sells its own separately). ShootProof covers invoicing and contracts but not a full booking pipeline. Kepla is the option where galleries and the CRM are one system.
Can I switch gallery tools without re-uploading everything?
Moving between the big three is largely manual. Kepla's migration hub imports galleries from Pixieset and Google Drive server-side. Images are copied for you, so years of client work move without re-uploading.
Which is better: Pixieset, Pic-Time, or ShootProof?
It depends on your revenue model. Pixieset has the most polished presentation and a strong print store; Pic-Time leads on automated print-sale marketing campaigns and AI search; ShootProof is the only one whose paid plans include contracts and invoicing, with zero commission on all tiers. None of the three runs your booking pipeline end-to-end.
How much do Pixieset, Pic-Time, and ShootProof cost in 2026?
As of July 2026: Pixieset Client Gallery runs free to $40/mo (free tier takes 15% store commission). Pic-Time runs free to $42/mo ($7 Beginner, $21 Professional, $42 Advanced, billed annually). ShootProof runs free (100 photos) to $50/mo, priced by photo count, with 0% commission on every tier.
Do any of these gallery tools include contracts and invoicing?
ShootProof includes invoicing and e-sign contracts on paid plans. Pixieset sells them separately via Studio Manager or its Suite bundle. Pic-Time doesn't offer them. It assumes you pair it with a CRM. That's why most photographers end up paying for a gallery tool and a CRM.
Is there a tool that combines galleries with a photography CRM?
Kepla is built exactly for this: client galleries (favorites, downloads, paywall, AI search) plus contracts, Stripe invoicing, deposits, and AI follow-ups in one photographer-only system, with founding pricing from $19/month.
Get your evenings back. Keep every frame.
Kepla for Mac clears the obvious misses from a card, names the reason on every frame it sets aside, and leaves the choosing to you. Nothing is ever deleted, moved or renamed. Free through the private preview · the first hundred photographers keep it at $99 a year.
- Free to $40/mopixieset.com
- Free to $42/mopic-time.com
- Free to $50/moshootproof.com
- 15% Beginner, 8% Professional, 6% Advanced; 0% on Professional and Advanced if you collect payments yourselfhelp.pic-time.com
- Anniversary, abandoned-cart, early-birdpic-time.com
- Studio Manager / Suitepixieset.com
- Alt-text for SEOhelp.pixieset.com
- Face + object recognition, semantic searchpic-time.com