# Pixieset review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Client galleries, booking and studio CRM for photographers Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Pixieset is a suite for photographers that includes Client Gallery, a portfolio Website, a Store, a Mobile Gallery App, a Photo Editor, and Studio Manager. Studio Manager is the CRM and booking part: contacts, contracts, invoices, questionnaires and a booking site. Each product has its own free plan and paid tiers. - **Category:** CRM Software - **Made by:** Pixieset (since 2013) - **Website:** https://pixieset.com - **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Tight if you stay free: 3 contracts and 1 session type. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Pixieset has a free plan, and paid plans start at $12 per month for Studio Manager Plus, billed annually ($15 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Studio Manager Free: unlimited invoices, 3 contracts, 3 quotes or questionnaires, 1 session type, a booking site and online payments. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Studio Manager Free | $0 | Unlimited invoices, 3 contracts, 3 quotes or questionnaires, 1 active session type and basic booking. | | Studio Manager Plus | $12 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) | Unlimited contracts and quotes, 3 session types, custom branding, booking intake forms and reminders. | | Studio Manager Pro | $18 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly) | Unlimited session types, booking reminders, retainers and tips at booking, manual booking approval. | | Pixieset Suite | $28 per month and up | Client Gallery, Studio Manager, Website, Store and Mobile Gallery App in one package, up to 37% off. | Read from https://pixieset.com/pricing-studio-manager/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Pixieset before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Discount for yearly billing** (Annual discount): Annual billing lowers Studio Manager Plus to $12 and Pro to $18 a month, against $15 and $24 billed monthly. Source: https://pixieset.com/pricing-studio-manager/ - **Suite bundle saves up to 37%** (Other savings): The Pixieset Suite bundles the essential apps from $28 a month with up to 37% off buying them separately. Source: https://pixieset.com/pricing-studio-manager/ ## Key features - **Contacts and project board:** Tracks clients, leads and other connections, with a visual project board organized by stage and a built-in calendar. - **Contracts, quotes and questionnaires:** Branded documents with e-signatures, with templates for documents and emails and reminders for unsigned items. - **Booking site:** A booking page where clients see availability, book sessions and pay a full amount or retainer; includes a mini-sessions creator. - **Invoices and payments:** Online payments by card and digital wallet, payment schedules and reminders, tips, and Tap to Pay in the mobile app. - **Client Gallery and Store:** Separate Client Gallery plans for delivering photos, with a gallery storefront; free accounts pay 15% commission on store sales. - **Mobile app:** A Studio Manager app for iPhone and Android for tracking bookings and payments. ## Good for - Photographers who want galleries, booking and client paperwork in one account - Solo studios starting on free plans and upgrading product by product - Photographers who take bookings and retainers online ## Worth knowing - Each product is priced separately; Client Gallery starts at $8 a month billed annually and runs to $40 for unlimited storage. - The free Studio Manager plan caps contracts and quotes at 3 and session types at 1. - Free accounts pay a 15% commission on store sales; upgraded plans pay none. - Add-ons cost extra, such as Photo Editor at $12 a month and extra email campaigns at $10 a month per 5,000. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Pixieset's Studio Manager handles contacts, contracts, quotes, bookings and invoices for photographers. It is free with caps of 3 contracts and 1 session type, and Plus is $12 a month. Client Gallery, the website and the store are priced as separate products. - **Value for money: B.** Studio Manager Plus is $12 a month billed annually, inside the category's cheaper quarter that starts at $15. Pro is $18, and gallery storage and other products are priced separately. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A free plan with unlimited invoices, 3 contracts, 3 quotes or questionnaires and 1 session type. A working studio will hit those caps. - **Features: B.** Contacts, a project board, contracts, quotes, questionnaires, a booking site, invoices and a mobile app. Nothing in the listing is missing from a photographer's studio work. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. A web app where you build session types, contracts and booking forms. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android. No integrations are listed. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Pixieset's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among CRM tools - Pixieset's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 99 of the 116 other CRM tools we grade, and level with 6. - It stands best on value for money (B, above 101 of 116) and worst on ease of use (C, above 5). - Its paid plans start at $12 a month, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 13 of the 93 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 3 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/crm ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Pixieset you would be making checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 99 of the 116 other CRM tools we grade. It costs $144 a year. - You could make: Invoicing, appointment booking, forms, quotes and estimates and calendar: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: Checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## What people say - **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.9 out of 5 from 2,460 ratings in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6469647424 **Tags:** Invoicing, Appointment booking, Forms, Quotes and estimates, Online store, Calendar ## Alternatives - [HoneyBook](https://toolgpa.com/tools/honeybook): Client management, contracts and payments for independents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/honeybook-vs-pixieset) - [17hats](https://toolgpa.com/tools/17hats): CRM and small business manager with invoicing, booking and texting. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/17hats-vs-pixieset) - [Studio Ninja](https://toolgpa.com/tools/studio-ninja): Studio management and CRM for photographers and videographers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pixieset-vs-studio-ninja) - [Dubsado](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dubsado): Client management, contracts and invoicing for service businesses. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dubsado-vs-pixieset) - [ShootProof](https://toolgpa.com/tools/shootproof): Client galleries, print sales and studio tools for photographers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pixieset-vs-shootproof) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://pixieset.com/pricing-studio-manager/ - https://pixieset.com/pricing/ - https://pixieset.com/studio-manager/ - https://pixieset.com/about/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/pixieset Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).