Last week we saw a few news worthy announcements from a couple of the larger photography portals. Livebooks went dark from their clients until the announcement was made that they are now under Wedding Wire and PhotoShelter released their new Beam portfolio service. It seemed fitting that a post be put together to compare and contrast a handful of the larger services and find out which are best suited for photographers needs.
This post is designed to give a fair look at all of the services and compare head to head some of the features of the accounts. Each portal is going to have unique tools and upgrades that others do not, so I am trying to stick to the meat and potatoes of the accounts. I also hope to hear from account holders in the comment section below about any experiences as well as any cheers and jeers.
The 5 companies looked at are in alphabetical order and if account levels are factors, they start from the basic to the premier, left to right. Keep in mind, there is no magic account that will be fitting for each and every photographer, wading through this list might help direct specific answers to specific needs of each photographer.
Web design & templates:
- APhotoFolio - Custom designs
- Livebooks - Custom designs and 30 prebuilt templates
- PhotoShelter - 10 customizable templates
- PhotoShelter Beam - 4 customizable templates
- SmugMug - 70 Templates
- Squarespace - 21 prebuilt templates
- Zenfolio - Customizable
Hosting space & Storage: (plans are listed from lowest to premier)
- APhotoFolio - 17GB
- Livebooks - 3GB
- PhotoShelter - Basic 10GB - Standard 60GB - Pro 1000GB
- Squarespace - Standard 2GB - Unlimited & Business unlimited space
- SmugMug - Unlimited
- Zenfolio - Basic 36MB - unlimited space for all other plans
Bandwidth restrictions:
- APhotoFolio - "Virtually unlimited bandwidth" ???
- Livebooks - ???
- PhotoShelter - No
- SmugMug - No
- Squarespace - Standard 500GB, Unimited & Business No
- Zenfolio - ???
E-commerce - Print Sales/Downloads:
- APhotoFolio - None
- Livebooks - Additional charge per month plus 10%-12% fee
- PhotoShelter - Basic 10% Standard 9% Pro 8%
- SmugMug - Basic, Power, Portfolio & Business all provide various commerce option
- Squarespace - Standard & Limited No, Business charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
- Zenfolio - Basic & Unlimited No, Premium 4%-12% depending on self fulfillment or vendor fulfilled
Online proofing and/or delivery:
- APhotoFolio - No
- Livebooks - Enthusiast No, Emerging 10 areas, Professional unlimited
- PhotoShelter - Yes
- SmugMug - Yes
- Squarespace - Yes
- Zenfolio - Yes
Secured client areas:
- APhotoFolio - No
- Livebooks - Enthusiast No, Emerging 10 areas, Professional unlimited
- PhotoShelter - Yes
- SmugMug - Yes
- Squarespace - Yes
- Zenfolio - Yes
iPad/Tablet/Mobile built in:
- APhotoFolio - Yes
- Livebooks - Yes
- PhotoShelter - Yes
- SmugMug - No
- Squarespace - Yes
- Zenfolio - Yes
Social Media Integration:
- APhotoFolio - Yes
- Livebooks - Yes
- PhotoShelter - Yes
- SmugMug - Yes
- Squarespace - Yes
- Zenfolio - Yes
Pricing:
- APhotoFolio - 4 payments of $250 plus $17 a month for hosting
- Livebooks - Enthusiast $9 a month/$99 a year, Emerging $19 a month/$199 a year, Professional $39 a month/$399 a year
- PhotoShelter - Basic $9.99 a month, Standard $29.99 a month, Pro $49.99 a month
- SmugMug - Basic $5 a month/$40 a year, Power $8 a month/ $60 a year, Portfolio $20 a month/$150 a year, Business $35 a month/$300 a year
- Squarespace - Standard $8 a month, Unlimited $16 a month, Business $24 a month
- Zenfolio - Basic $30 a year, Unlimited $60 a year, Premium $120 a year, Premium Business $250 a year
Who is the winner?
Depends on your needs as a photographer. If you need a simple website and will only update a few times a year, there seem to be a few good leads here. If you are a photographer who uploads a ton of work each week and needs to share proofs with clients or deliver files via download, there is something here that should fit. Maybe you have a large amount of photographs that you want to present and market yourself, than there might be something here for you.
Hope this sheds some light on a few of the features of each company.
aphotofolio.com / livebooks.com / photoshelter.com / smugmug.com / squarespace.com / zenfolio.com
I have Smugmug and I wish I would've looked more closely at all the other options. They've been a pain lately.
Any way you guys can "plug" ExposureManager into this comparison? I had narrowed my choices down to ZenFolio, Photo Shelter, Exposure Manager and SmugMug. 3 of the 4 are there...
If not, I understand. Thanks for this, regardless! I had just asked my friends at BorrowLenses if they knew of any such comparison.
I'm a current LiveBooks user who's thinking of going to Squarespace. I've been unhappy with LiveBooks for a little while now. Flash-only, won't let you add more than 32 pictures to a client gallery, 300mb FTP upload limit, etc. I have a Zenfolio account for proofing because LB's Client Login section just isn't feasible for a wedding photographer. Maybe that will change with WeddingWire taking them over, who knows.
I have a Squarespace site almost ready at the moment, my one big hangup up is all my e-mails and e-mail address that I created in the LiveBooks system. Not sure how I'll get my e-mail after I unsubscribe. Also, don't want to spend tons of time backing them all up. That's basically my final hurdle to leaving. We'll see.
I was with Livebooks for about 6 months a couple years back. Liked the simple templates but the backend seemed messy and it just never clicked with me. Felt like I was fighting the software at the time.
I'm right behind you. I'm giving Livebooks 2 months to sort it.
I use Zenfolio, and while I'm generally happy with it, I find it irritating not being able to fully customize it, for example, the nav button graphics can't be changed if you like a template, the photos don't go full screen dynamic, and a few other things, but the back end is easy to manage and they have a nice client section.
what about 4ormat?
4ormat.com !? for example my site: ofirabe.com
Been using Zenfolio for quite some time now and love it. Tried all the other options and I found Zenfolio to be the best bet. The unlimited storage means that I can use it as a backup service for my high res images. The built-in ecommerce platform helps sell images easily. Very SEO friendly (I believe this is a point you should highlight in the article).They don't screw around with color profiles of the uploaded images like many other services do.
As to why not Smugmug? Well, Smugmug templates look like they were designed in the 90s. Zenfolio looks way cleaner. Also, Smugmug has proven in the past to be not a very customer friendly company.
www.sandeepmurali.com
Has anyone used behance? I haven't looked into it at all but apparently I get a free account through them with my Adobe CC subscription. You really can't beat free.
This was not a critical comparison, just a list of data. Blah.
This could have all been conveyed with a simple table.
Squarespace is customizable. You can even add your own code if you want, easily.
Well not Livebooks... So we can go ahead and scratch that one off the list!
Just wanted to add a couple things regarding APhotoFolio (my website) which appear to be incorrect in the list. For one, it's not a custom designed website, but a template that can be changed to suit ones taste and quite easily so. They do offer online proofing and delivery, but as a add-on. And they definitely have secured client areas via password protected galleries. Just wanted to point this out as I use all of the above... And couldn't be happier with them...:)
BIG Folio is a great solution as well. http://bigfolio.com
DPreview now has a gear shop.. and guess what.... they are deleting messages like mad if you dare to say something about INDEPENDEND REVIEWS.
i was even banned for voicing my concernes.
they do the silencing in a very nasty way it seems.
logged in i see my own postings but when i log out.. i noticed that other people can not see my postings. and i shall trust such a website?
With A Photo Folio you can use Editdrop and their aphotofolio plan for free for client login, proofing, delivery and so.
One reason I went with Photoshelter was because it incorporates rights-managed stock photography choices and pricing into the website. It's been a few years, but at the time I signed up it was the only site I found that offered that feature.
Hi,
Thanks for the article comparing the online services.
If you're looking at updating the article I would consider including which of these sites offer some sort of a blogging platform.
Squarespace ALL THE WAY! I have 2 websites( mikevictorick.com // annabethandmike.com ) with them and haven't looked back since. Virb is another great service.
No mention of SEO and how completely each tool allows for and handles this. Was this researched or will it be covered in an update?
I do not get it ... Why APhotoFolio is sooooo expensive is a million doll., question to me ... Other services are identical is presentation outcome ( which is what this whole buss is all about anyway ) so where is a beef with APhotoFolio.
I'm looking into this right now, and as far as I'm concerned Zenfolio is a non-starter. There sites are very hard to customize, and they've been bought out by Art.com a real warehouser of an attitude. Plus they seem to have hidden expenses, though they are tied into some pretty good and VERY extensive fulfillers. Still, their sales force doesnt seem to emphasize the best of what they have, and that makes me worry about not being attentive. Smugmug's site is easy to set up comparatively, with some annoying hidden features. Photoshelter seems to be great, but it more expensive, although not much past Smugmug.
Any blog options ?
You should also evaluate photodeck, I recentlz moved from photoshelter to photodeck, an example : www.matthiaskoch.fr
I have become increasingly critical with Zenfolio lately and had to vent. I might be alone in my thoughts, but I had to put them
out there.
I know this article is a bit outdated, but in my opinion, www.format.com has passed these sites as the go-to platform for online photography portfolios.
Using https://www.phowd.com/ for retouching and photo edit services. It's faster than to make post by myself. And cheaper as well. :)