How much does an online gallery for photographers cost in 2026?
Online client galleries cost anywhere from free to about 50 dollars or euros a month. For a photographer shooting 20–40 weddings a year a realistic budget is 10–25 a month, but the real difference between platforms is what that money buys: storage, video and whether they take a commission.
6 minUpdated
Most photographers compare gallery platforms by the monthly price alone. That is misleading: two plans at the same price can differ tenfold in storage, and one may take a cut of every sale or charge separately for video. This guide shows what the best-known platforms cost and how to work out what you actually need.
How much storage you really need
A full-resolution JPEG from a 24–45 MP camera is usually 10–25 MB. A wedding with 800–1,500 delivered images therefore takes roughly 10–35 GB, while a 50-image portrait session fits in 1–2 GB.
| Job | Delivered images | Approx. size |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait or family session | 40–80 | 0.5–2 GB |
| Christening or birthday | 200–400 | 3–8 GB |
| Wedding | 800–1,500 | 10–35 GB |
| A year of 30 weddings | about 35,000 | 300 GB – 1 TB |
If galleries stay online for a year or two, usage adds up. Thirty weddings a year can mean 600 GB to 2 TB in active galleries after two years, so 10–20 GB plans are not realistic for serious work.
Platform prices compared
| Platform and plan | Monthly | Photos / storage | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixieset Free | $0 | 3 GB | none; 15% store commission |
| Pixieset Basic | $10 | 10 GB | 30 min |
| Pixieset Plus | $20 | 100 GB | extra $5/mo per hour |
| Pixieset Pro | $30 | 1 TB | extra $5/mo per hour |
| Pixieset Ultimate | $50 | unlimited storage | extra $5/mo per hour |
| Pic-Time Free | $0 | 10 GB, 3 GB after 6 months | 1 GB |
| Pic-Time Beginner | $8 | 20 GB | 5 GB |
| Pic-Time Professional | $25 | 100 GB | 30 GB |
| Pic-Time Advanced | $50 | unlimited photos (terms apply) | 60 GB |
| Captures Free | €0 | unlimited photos, 3 active galleries | 30 min |
| Captures Starter | €9 | unlimited photos | 3 h |
| Captures Pro | €19 | unlimited photos | 15 h |
| Captures Studio | €39 | unlimited photos | 60 h |
What to check beyond price
- Storage limits and downgrades: does the platform lock or delete galleries when you move to a smaller plan, and does free storage shrink over time?
- Video in gigabytes or hours: a 4K wedding film can be tens of gigabytes. Check whether clients stream or must download, and whether they get the original.
- Commission: Pixieset, per its pricing, takes 15% on store sales on the free plan.
- Language and fonts: if your clients prefer their own language or another script, make sure the gallery fonts support it.
- Invoices, contracts and inquiries: separate tools add cost and time. Captures, for example, keeps invoices and contracts in the same account as galleries.
- Data location: knowing your files sit in the EU with a backup copy makes GDPR compliance easier.
A worked example
- 1
Estimate yearly usage
25 weddings at 20 GB plus 30 small sessions at 2 GB — about 560 GB a year.
- 2
Add retention
Keeping galleries live for two years means about 1.1 TB.
- 3
Add video
Ten wedding films a year at 10–20 minutes each is 2–3 hours of video.
- 4
Compare plans that cover it
Find the cheapest plan on each platform covering both storage and video, including any add-ons.
Here 10–20 GB plans drop out immediately, and the gap between platforms only shows once video is included. On Captures this scenario fits the €19 Pro plan, and lighter workloads fit Starter at €9.
Start at zero cost
A free plan with no expiry: unlimited photos, 3 active galleries and 30 minutes of video.
FAQ
How much does an online gallery for photographers cost?
From free to about 50 a month. Per their public pricing in October 2026, Pixieset is $0–50, Pic-Time $0–50 and Captures €0–39 a month. Prices may change.
How much storage does a wedding take?
Typically 10–35 GB for 800–1,500 full-resolution images, depending on camera and compression.
Is there a free online gallery for photographers?
Yes. Pixieset, Pic-Time and Captures all have free plans, with different storage, video and gallery limits.
What does fair-use storage mean?
Photos are not counted, but there is a reasonable overall storage ceiling that covers normal professional use.
Is video charged separately?
It depends: some platforms have a separate video allowance in gigabytes, some sell extra hours, and some include video in the plan measured in hours.
Read next
Pixieset alternative
Captures is a Pixieset alternative with unlimited photos on every plan including the free one, video measured in hours rather than gigabytes, and the whole business side — inquiries, contracts, invoices — in the same place, with originals stored in the EU.
Pic-Time alternative
Captures is a Pic-Time alternative with unlimited photos on every plan, video from 30 minutes free up to 60 hours, and built-in inquiries, contracts and invoices — so storage stops being the thing you budget around.
Client galleries
Captures is an online gallery where photographers deliver photos to clients through a single link: clients view, pick favourites for the album, comment and download, and photos are unlimited on every plan, including free.
Delivering wedding photos
A good wedding delivery has five steps: cull, edit within the agreed timeline, send a sneak peek within days, deliver an online gallery with web-size and full-resolution files, and run a structured album selection. Behind it all: at least two backup copies of the originals and a clear retention period.