Choose SmugMug if unlimited photo storage and built-in tools for selling prints and digital downloads are priorities.
Choose Pixieset if you want a lower starting price, stronger client proofing tools, or broader tools for managing your photography business.
Both handle the core job of delivering online galleries well, so the better choice depends on which other features are more important to you.
SmugMug vs Pixieset at a glance
| SmugMug | Pixieset | |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Large photo libraries, gallery delivery, websites and photo sales | Client galleries alongside broader photography business tools |
| Starting price | $25/month | Free; paid plans from $10/month |
| Photo storage | Unlimited on all standard plans | 3 GB free; paid plans range from 10 GB to unlimited |
| Client proofing | Client favorites on Pro | Favorite Lists with notes and selection limits |
| Photo sales | Print and digital sales from Portfolio; SmugMug keeps 15% of markup | Store included; 15% commission on Free, 0% platform commission on paid plans |
| Website | Website templates and custom domain from Portfolio | Separate Website product, or included with Suite |
| Business tools | Customer Leads for contacts and customer activity | Studio Manager for bookings, contracts, invoices, questionnaires and projects |
How do SmugMug and Pixieset compare for storage?
SmugMug has the simpler storage model. All three standard plans include unlimited photo storage.
Pixieset scales storage by plan, from 3 GB on the free plan to unlimited storage on Ultimate.
This makes SmugMug more attractive if you keep a large photo library online. With Pixieset, you may need to move to a higher plan as your storage needs grow.
Which one gives clients a better gallery experience?
For normal client delivery, the difference is small. Both platforms give photographers professional galleries where clients can view photos, download images, and buy products when selling is enabled.
That means the gallery alone won’t decide this comparison. The bigger differences are in client proofing, photo sales, and the tools each platform provides beyond delivery.
Which is better for client proofing?
Pixieset includes its proofing tools on all Client Gallery plans, including Free. Clients can create multiple Favorite Lists, add notes to individual images, work within selection limits you set, and send the finished list back to you. You can then download the selected files or export the filenames for editing.
SmugMug also lets clients mark photos as favorites. Registered guests can save their favorites into a personal gallery. Both features are only available on the Pro plan.
The main difference is that SmugMug focuses on collecting favorites, while Pixieset provides a more structured proofing workflow.
Which is better for selling prints and digital downloads?
Both platforms let photographers sell prints and digital downloads directly from their galleries, with tools for setting prices, creating packages and promotions, and handling order fulfillment.
SmugMug includes photo sales from its Portfolio plan, while Pixieset includes its Store with Client Gallery.
The main difference is the commission structure. Pixieset charges a 15% platform commission on its Free plan, but no platform commission on paid plans. SmugMug keeps 15% of the markup above its base product cost.
If you plan to sell photos regularly, Pixieset’s paid plans offer a more favorable commission structure.
How do their website builders compare?
Both platforms offer photography-focused templates and drag-and-drop website builders.
SmugMug uses a more structured content-block approach, where you build pages with elements such as photos, galleries, text, navigation, and video. It also supports custom HTML and CSS for more advanced customization.
Pixieset’s Flex Editor gives you more freedom to position, resize, and arrange individual elements on the page, with separate control for desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts. Pixieset also includes a native blogging system.
If you want a more flexible visual editor with built-in blogging, Pixieset has the edge. If you prefer a more structured builder with deeper HTML and CSS customization, SmugMug gives you more control.
Which has better business management tools?
Pixieset has the stronger set of tools for managing the business around each shoot.
SmugMug’s Customer Leads tool keeps track of people who buy photos, subscribe to galleries or folders, or contact you through your site. You can view and manage those customer records in one place.
Pixieset goes much further with Studio Manager, which includes bookings, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, payments, contacts, and project management.
If you want one platform to handle both photo delivery and more of your day-to-day business operations, Pixieset has the stronger offering.
How much do SmugMug and Pixieset cost?
Pixieset is cheaper to get started with. Client Gallery has a free plan, while paid plans start at $10 per month. SmugMug has no free plan and starts at $25 per month.
The difference is that SmugMug includes unlimited photo storage on every plan. Pixieset increases storage as you move up its Client Gallery plans, from 10 GB on Basic to unlimited storage on Ultimate at $50 per month.
Pixieset also lets you pay separately for Client Gallery, Website, and Studio Manager. If you want all of them together, Pixieset Suite starts at $35 per month.
Overall, Pixieset gives you more flexibility to start cheaply and pay only for the products you need. SmugMug costs more upfront, but unlimited storage is included from its lowest-priced plan.
When is Honcho the better third option?
Honcho is built for better photo discovery. It helps people find the photos they care about inside a large gallery.
Instead of asking visitors to browse the whole gallery, Honcho lets them find their photos with face recognition, browse people who appear in the gallery, or search with descriptive keywords. That is useful for conferences, sports, corporate events, and other shoots where a gallery contains hundreds of people.
With Honcho, you can also upload photos in real time, so guests get them while the event is still happening. Photography becomes part of the experience, rather than something people only see afterward.
Frequently asked questions about SmugMug vs Pixieset
Not directly. There is no first-party tool for transferring an entire account between SmugMug and Pixieset. You can download your photos and upload them again, but galleries and their settings will generally need to be recreated. Pixieset can import contacts into Studio Manager using a CSV file, but this does not transfer your galleries.
Yes, but RAW storage works differently. Pixieset supports RAW files on the Pro and Ultimate Client Gallery and Suite plans. SmugMug requires its separate Source add-on, which costs $10 per month for the first 1 TB and $6 per month for each additional TB.
Yes. SmugMug supports video uploads on all plans, with videos up to 20 minutes, 3 GB and 1080p. Pixieset supports video on paid Client Gallery and Suite plans, with up to 1080p on Basic and Plus and up to 4K on Pro and Ultimate.
Yes. Both have plugins for publishing photos directly from Lightroom Classic. SmugMug also has a connector for the cloud-based version of Lightroom. Pixieset’s Lightroom Classic plugin only uploads JPEGs, so RAW files need to be uploaded separately.
