Pixieset Alternatives for UK Photographers: An Honest Look
I build one of the options on this list. So I have tried very hard to be fair to the others, including the one you are thinking of leaving.
So… you're thinking of leaving Pixieset…
It's 11:47pm, a gallery has just gone out, and you're googling Pixieset alternatives like someone quietly leaving a group chat. Short answer: the right swap depends on what is actually annoying you, and for some of you the right swap is no swap at all.
If galleries and print sales are the heart of your business, look at Pic-Time or ShootProof. If you want a stronger CRM and don't mind plugging in a separate gallery, try Studio Ninja, Light Blue or HoneyBook. If you want galleries, enquiries, booking, invoices and a portfolio website on one client record, priced in pounds, that's what I'm building with Veyra.
And if you only wanted a CRM? Pixieset already sells one.
Close this tab. Go and edit something.
Still here? Okay. A confession first, because you deserve it.
I run The First Studios in Birmingham, and I build Veyra. So yes, I have a horse in this race. I'll also tell you exactly where the horse limps.
Every price below was checked on the provider's own website on 31 October 2026, and the sources are at the bottom. Prices change faster than a wedding timeline, so check again before you move a single gallery.
First, in fairness to the ex…
Here's the thing about most “Pixieset alternative” articles. They quietly pretend Pixieset is only a gallery.
That's like describing jollof as “rice”. Technically true. Deeply disrespectful.
Its pricing page lists separate products for Client Gallery, Website and Studio Manager. Then there's a Pixieset Suite that bundles them with its Store and Mobile Gallery App.
The free Client Gallery plan gives you 3 GB and unlimited galleries, with a 15% commission on store sales. Paid gallery plans run from $8 a month billed annually ($10 monthly) for 10 GB, up to $40 a month annually for unlimited storage. The paid plans take no commission at all.
Studio Manager is the CRM side. It has a free plan with unlimited invoices and three contracts, then Plus at $12 a month annually and Pro at $18. The Suite starts at $28 a month billed annually, or $35 monthly, with 100 GB.
That's a serious product.
Slagging it off would make this an easier article. It would also make it a worse one. The real question isn't “does Pixieset do enough?” It's “does the way it's put together suit how my studio actually works?”
Only you know that. I'm just the man with too many tabs open.
Then you remember you live in Britain…
Most comparison lists are written from America. Which is lovely. For America.
Over here, five boring things decide whether the switch feels like a fresh start or a fresh headache.
Currency and VAT. On the day I checked, Pixieset, ShootProof and Pic-Time listed prices in US dollars. Studio Ninja, Light Blue and Veyra showed pounds, and HoneyBook says UK subscriptions are priced in GBP. A dollar price means your monthly bill moves with the exchange rate. Congratulations: your gallery software is now a currency hobby you never applied for.
Then VAT. Light Blue's listed prices include UK VAT. Veyra's exclude it. Compare like with like, or you'll be doing sums in the shower.
Where your money actually goes. Who takes the card payment? Does the platform take a cut on top of the processing fees? Read the commission line, not the big friendly number at the top. The big friendly number is smiling for a reason.
Print sales. If prints and albums pay your bills, the gallery's lab network matters more than any CRM. No contract template has ever framed itself and gone up on somebody's living room wall.
Storage, honestly sized. A wedding photographer and a headshot photographer do not need the same plan. Add up the galleries you delivered over the past twelve months before you pick a tier.
Not after the storage warning email. That email has no manners.
How you'd leave. Ask how your contacts, invoices and galleries come back out. Leaving your own business should not feel like a hostage negotiation.
Write down the last three things a client asked you for: a file, a payment link, a date. If every answer lived in a different app, your problem is not the gallery. It is the gaps between your tools, and you are the one running between them.
Here they all are, lined up like a family photo…
The plain version. “Starting paid price” means the cheapest paid plan on each provider's pricing page on 31 October 2026, in the currency shown. Nobody blink.
| Platform | What it is at heart | Starting paid price | Free option | Client galleries | CRM, invoices, contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pixieset | Galleries first, with a separate CRM | $8/month billed annually (galleries); Suite from $28/month annually | Yes: 3 GB, unlimited galleries, 15% store commission | Built in | Studio Manager (separate product, or in the Suite) |
| ShootProof | Galleries and sales | $8.33/month billed annually, or $9.99 monthly | Yes: 100 photos | Built in | Contracts and invoices on every paid plan |
| Pic-Time | Galleries and print sales | US$7/month billed annually, or $8 monthly | Yes: 10 GB, dropping to 3 GB after three months | Built in, 30+ global labs | Through integrations (HoneyBook, Studio Ninja, Light Blue and others) |
| Studio Ninja | Photography CRM | £13/month (£130/year) | 7-day trial | Through integrations (Pic-Time, ShootProof) | Built in |
| Light Blue | Studio management | £30/month including UK VAT, up to 5 devices | 30-day trial | Through integrations (ShootProof, Pic-Time) | Built in |
| HoneyBook | Client management for creative businesses | US page: $29/month billed yearly (UK priced in GBP) | Free trial | Through a Pic-Time integration | Built in |
| Veyra | Galleries and CRM on one record | £6/month excluding VAT (£60/year) | Yes: 3 GB, unlimited galleries, CRM and invoices | Built in, photo and film | Built in |
Two things jump out. The gallery first platforms charge in dollars. The UK friendly CRMs mostly hand your galleries to somebody else.
That gap is where most of the moaning I hear lives.
It's like keeping the kettle in one house and the mugs in another. You can still make tea. You just need a coat.
If prints pay your rent, meet these two…
Pic-Time is built around selling from the gallery. Its pricing page lists 30+ global labs with automatic fulfilment, sales automations and an album builder. The free plan starts at 10 GB and drops to 3 GB after three months. The Professional and Advanced plans also include a free year of Studio Ninja for new users.
If your clients buy prints and albums by the armful, put it near the top of your list.
ShootProof is the closest like for like swap for a lot of Pixieset users. It says it will never take a commission on your sales, and contracts and invoices come with every paid plan.
The catch is the free plan.
100 photos.
That's a test drive, not a home for a wedding. Most of us have fired off 100 frames before anybody has found the rings.
Both are strong, grown up gallery products. Neither is trying to run your whole studio, and that's a perfectly respectable life choice.
If you want a proper CRM and don't mind a gallery flatmate…
Studio Ninja shows prices in pounds: £13 a month for Starter (capped at five active jobs), £20 for Pro and £29 for Master, with a 7 day trial. It covers quotes, invoices, contracts, questionnaires, booking, payment schedules and a client portal, and lists integrations with Pic-Time, ShootProof, Xero and QuickBooks.
Light Blue is priced by device: £30 a month including UK VAT for up to five devices, with a 30 day trial and no card required. It lists ShootProof and Pic-Time integrations for galleries.
Five devices. Count the iPad that only ever plays Netflix and that's most of us sorted.
HoneyBook is the new arrival over here. It announced its UK and Australia launch in 2026 and says UK subscriptions are priced in pounds. Its US pricing page starts at $29 a month billed yearly, and it lists a Pic-Time integration for photo galleries.
Now, pairing a CRM with a gallery works. Loads of excellent photographers run exactly that setup and sleep fine mostly fine.
Just count the cost. Two subscriptions, two logins, and then the Sunday night message:
“Have you sent the link yet?”
You have. Somewhere. In one of the two places.
Both in one place: Veyra, and the bit where I'm biased…
So here's why I started building Veyra. At The First Studios, the gallery was never the hard part. Everything around it was. The enquiry sat in one inbox, the deposit in another app, and the date in a calendar that had no idea what the job was worth.
Calendars are brilliant at knowing it's Saturday. Hopeless at knowing why it matters.
In Veyra, the enquiry, the project, the booking, the documents a client signs, the invoice and the gallery all live on one client record. Galleries handle photographs and films, with proofing, favourites, comments and downloads. Clients don't need an account to open them, so nobody's uncle is resetting a password at the reception.
There's a portfolio website, a booking site, card payments through Stripe and, on Pro, marketing tools.
Pricing is in pounds and excludes VAT. Free is £0 with 3 GB and unlimited galleries. Grow is £6 a month with 50 GB. Pro is £12 with 200 GB, and Studio is £29 with 1 TB. Yearly billing is twelve months for the price of ten. It's all on the pricing page.
Now. Where the horse limps.
Veyra doesn't run a print store with lab fulfilment. If prints pay your mortgage, Pic-Time or ShootProof will serve you better today.
Also, Veyra is young. It launched in October 2026, which in software years makes it a toddler.
A very organised toddler. But a toddler.
What I can promise is this. You can bring your existing contacts and records in, with a preview before anything changes. And your payment records export as a plain CSV that opens without us. Nobody gets held hostage.
Questions photographers ask me.
Is there a free alternative to Pixieset?
Several. ShootProof, Pic-Time and Veyra all have free plans, and so does Pixieset. What free means varies: ShootProof's holds 100 photos, Pic-Time's starts at 10 GB and drops to 3 GB after three months, and Veyra's gives 3 GB with unlimited galleries plus the CRM and invoices. For free galleries alone, Pixieset's own free plan is genuinely hard to beat.
Which Pixieset alternatives charge in pounds?
On 31 October 2026, Veyra, Studio Ninja and Light Blue showed prices in pounds. HoneyBook says UK subscriptions are priced in GBP. Pixieset, ShootProof and Pic-Time listed prices in US dollars.
Does Pixieset have a CRM?
Yes. Pixieset Studio Manager covers invoices, contracts with electronic signatures, questionnaires, quotes and a booking site. If you were leaving only because you thought it had no CRM, check Studio Manager first. It is the cheapest migration you will ever do.
What is the best Pixieset alternative for selling prints?
Pic-Time, which lists 30+ global labs with automatic fulfilment, or ShootProof, which says it never takes a commission on sales. Veyra is not the right pick for a print led studio, and I would rather say so now than have you find out in month two.
Can I keep galleries in one tool and my CRM in another?
Yes. Studio Ninja and Light Blue both list Pic-Time and ShootProof integrations, and HoneyBook lists Pic-Time. The trade off is two subscriptions and two places to look.
Do Veyra prices include VAT?
No. Grow is £6 a month, Pro £12 and Studio £29, all excluding VAT. Light Blue's listed prices include VAT, so compare like with like.
So… which one? Think about your worst Tuesday…
Here's my only test. Think of the most annoying hour of your past working week.
Was it chasing a deposit? Or was it hunting for a gallery link while the client typed “…” for four straight minutes?
Choose the tool that kills that hour. Not the one with the longest feature list. Nobody has ever booked a photographer because of their software's feature count.
If that hour lives in the gaps between your gallery and your business, start Veyra free with one real client and see if it earns its place. No card. No trial countdown.
And if it doesn't suit you, abeg, pick one of the others above. I mean it.
Stuck is the only option on this page I wouldn't recommend.
Sources (checked 31 October 2026)
Discussion
Thoughts, questions or something you would add?