Most “Pixieset alternatives” lists are written by a competitor, rank themselves first, and never show a price. This one shows its work: every number below was checked against the platform's own public pricing pages on 10 June 2026, and we flag what each tool genuinely does better, including where it beats us.
Quick context on why people leave Pixieset: the free plan caps at 3 GB and takes a 15% commission on store sales, storage tiers climb to $40/month, and (the gap this list cares most about) there's no face recognition and no automatic per-guest delivery. You upload, you send one link, and guests dig for themselves.
All eight at a glance
| Platform | Free plan | Paid from | Store commission | Face recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SnapStream | 20 GB, unlimited galleries | $0–$299 per event (no subscription) | No store | Yes: auto-delivery to every guest via WhatsApp |
| Pic-Time | 10 GB (drops to 3 GB after 6 months) | $7/mo (annual) | 0–15% by plan & payment method | Yes: guest selfie search on Advanced ($42/mo) |
| ShootProof | 100 photos | $8.33/mo (annual) | 0% on all plans | No |
| CloudSpot | 5 GB, 3 galleries | $7/mo | 15% until Lite ($17/mo) | No |
| SmugMug | None (14-day trial) | $20/mo (annual) | 15% of markup | No |
| Zenfolio | None | $7/mo (annual promo) | 7% commerce fee | Photographer-side AI culling only |
| Pixpa | None (15-day trial) | $5/mo (galleries, annual) | 0% | No |
| SpotMyPhotos | None | $195/mo | No store | Yes: real-time, SMS/email/WhatsApp |
1. SnapStream: free galleries plus AI delivery to every guest
Best for: event photographers and organizers, weddings, festivals, corporate, sports, and anyone whose real problem is getting photos to people, not just online.
SnapStream splits the job in two. Client galleries, the thing you currently pay Pixieset for, are free, unlimited, with 20 GB of storage: branded, shareable, no commission, no subscription. Then, per event, you can activate the part nothing else on this list automates end-to-end: guests scan a QR code, send one selfie on WhatsApp, and AI face recognition delivers each person the photos they appear in, typically the same day, in a chat they already use. No app, no account, no digging through a 2,000-photo gallery.
- Pricing: galleries free forever, with extra storage at cost ($7 per 100 GB/month). Face-matched delivery per event, every gallery live for 30 days: free Taster (10 guests, 100 photos each), $49 Essential (80 guests), $149 Luxe (200 guests, branded gallery), $299 Classic (600 guests). Larger events are custom-quoted (Enterprise). No monthly fee, ever.
- Standout: delivery is automatic and per-guest, and because pricing is per event, photographers typically pass the cost through or sell delivery as a premium add-on.
- Limitations: no print store, no CRM, no website builder, photo-only. If prints and studio admin are your business, pair it with one of the tools below.
2. Pic-Time: the closest like-for-like Pixieset swap
Pic-Time is the most direct substitute: beautiful galleries, a strong store with marketing automations, and an AI album designer. It's also the only traditional gallery platform here with real guest-facing face search: on its top plan, gallery visitors can find themselves with a selfie.
- Pricing: free 10 GB (quietly drops to 3 GB after six months); Beginner $7/mo, Professional $21/mo, Advanced $42/mo (annual billing).
- Watch the commission: 15% on free and Beginner, 8% on Professional, 6% on Advanced when Pic-Time processes payment, 0% only if you self-collect via your own Stripe/PayPal (not available on Beginner).
- Face search caveat: selfie search is gallery-side and tied to the $42/mo Advanced plan. Guests still have to visit and search. There's no automatic push delivery to each guest.
3. ShootProof: commission-free selling on every plan
ShootProof prices by photo count instead of gigabytes and takes 0% commission even on its free tier, rare in this market. Contracts and invoicing are built in.
- Pricing: free up to 100 photos; 1,500 photos at $8.33/mo; 5,000 at $16.67/mo; 25,000 at $26.67/mo; unlimited at $50/mo (annual rates).
- Standout: keep every cent of print revenue from day one.
- Limitations: no face recognition; the 100-photo free tier is for trying it, not working on it.
4. CloudSpot: galleries with a studio manager bundled in
CloudSpot pairs clean galleries with CRM features (contracts, invoices, payments) from its mid tier up, making it a cheaper Suite-style alternative.
- Pricing: free 5 GB / 3 galleries; Entry $7/mo (15 GB); Lite $17/mo (100 GB, commission-free); Pro $34/mo (500 GB); Unlimited $50/mo.
- Watch: the 15% store commission persists through the Entry tier, commission-free starts at Lite.
- Limitations: no face recognition or guest delivery.
5. SmugMug: truly unlimited storage
SmugMug's pitch is simple: unlimited full-resolution photo and video storage on every plan. For archive-heavy shooters that's compelling.
- Pricing: Direct $20/mo, Portfolio $23.50/mo, Pro $37/mo (annual billing); no free plan. RAW storage is a $10/mo add-on.
- Watch: SmugMug keeps 15% of your print markup on sales, on every plan.
- Limitations: no face recognition; client-gallery workflow is less polished than Pixieset/Pic-Time; no free tier at all.
6. Zenfolio: AI culling and built-in SMS
Zenfolio's differentiator is photographer-side AI: PhotoRefine rates sharpness, blinks, and expressions, and can group photos by person to speed culling. It also sends client SMS from the platform.
- Pricing: Basic $7/mo, Professional $11.50/mo, Advanced $20/mo on a promotional annual deal observed June 2026 (standard monthly: $9/$23/$40). No free plan.
- Watch: a 7% commerce fee on order subtotals plus payment processing.
- Limitations: the AI is for your workflow, guests get no selfie search or delivery.
7. Pixpa: the budget all-in-one
Pixpa bundles website, galleries, and store at the lowest prices on this list, with 0% commission throughout.
- Pricing: standalone client galleries from $5/mo (annual); all-in-one plans $6–$24/mo. No free plan (15-day trial).
- Limitations: smaller storage allowances per dollar at the low end, no face recognition, and a less refined gallery experience than the premium players.
8. SpotMyPhotos: real-time face delivery for corporate budgets
SpotMyPhotos is the established name in live face-matched delivery for corporate events and brand activations: photos reach attendees seconds after the shutter via SMS, email, or WhatsApp.
- Pricing: subscription only: Pro $195/mo (8,000 photos/mo), Pro Plus $295/mo, enterprise custom. No per-event option.
- Standout: raw speed and an agency-grade feature set.
- Limitations: at $1,699+/year minimum it prices out occasional shooters and most weddings, the audience SnapStream's per-event tiers (free to $299) are built for.
Also in the face-recognition delivery niche
If automatic guest delivery is specifically what you're after, a wave of smaller platforms competes there too, most are regional or vertical-specific. Worth knowing:
- Waldo Photos: US camps, schools, and youth sports; pro tier takes 10% of order value plus 5% for premium AI matching.
- PhotoDay: US volume photography (school/sports picture day); free to use, 10% transaction fee plus card processing on sales.
- Premagic: corporate conferences; quote-based pricing (reported from ~$99/mo), oriented to event-marketing teams.
- Kamero, Memzo, KwikPic: India-first wedding and event platforms; Memzo charges ~$0.03 per uploaded photo, the others sell event packs or subscriptions.
Common threads: most charge commissions on sales, monthly subscriptions, or per-photo fees, most deliver via a web gallery or proprietary app rather than chat, and none bundle a free unlimited client-gallery library alongside the face-matching.
How to choose
- You sell prints as a core revenue line: ShootProof (0% commission) or Pic-Time (best store tooling, mind the commission tiers).
- You need a website + CRM + galleries in one bill: Pixpa on a budget, CloudSpot or the Pixieset Suite if you want polish.
- You archive everything in full resolution: SmugMug.
- You cull thousands of frames per shoot: Zenfolio's PhotoRefine.
- Your clients are events and your deliverable is “everyone got their photos”: SnapStream: free galleries, and face-matched WhatsApp delivery priced per event, with SpotMyPhotos as the subscription-grade corporate alternative.