Online Galleries for Photographers Compared (2026)

Five providers, one goal: delivering your images to your clients professionally. But they work very differently when it comes to pricing, data protection, personalisation and how galleries get shared.

Here's a transparent overview. We're one of the providers ourselves (PictoMento), and we'll still tell you where the others are stronger and where our own strengths lie. That's the only way a comparison is actually useful.

The 5 providers at a glance

All figures as of 07/2026, net
¹ Picdrop has no unlimited storage plan; its largest single plan is Advanced with 1 TB (€479/year).
² Pic-Time: $1/gallery on the yearly plan, $2/gallery on the monthly plan, minimum 20 galleries.

A short profile of each provider

PictoMento

• Facial recognition with "For you" access
• Individual guest access, advanced privacy per client
• Trilingual (DE/NL/EN)
• EU hosting
• No subscription (€10/gallery) plus an affordable unlimited plan (€199/year)
• Free migration
• Gallery handover to the client (coming soon)
• Integrated print shop still being connected
• A relatively new platform, though developing fast.

Best for: wedding and people photographers who want to give their guests a personal experience.

scrappbook

• Established German provider based in Düsseldorf
• Online shop with several print partners
• German-language support
• EU hosting with a DPA
• Extensive design templates
• German only
• No individual guest access
• Subscription only (you can't buy single galleries)
• At €348/year, its unlimited plan costs more than PictoMento's.

Best for: German photographers focused on print sales.

Pixieset

• Extensive ecosystem (gallery, website, store, studio manager)
• Plenty of beautiful designs
• Commission-free store (from Plus)
• Multilingual (incl. DE/NL)
• Lightroom integration.
• Billed in USD
• Servers in Canada (no EU hosting)
• No facial recognition
• No individual guest access
• Print labs mostly in North America (shipping and customs for EU clients).
  

Best for: photographers who want an all-in-one package and can live with USD billing and overseas fulfilment.

Pic-Time

• Premium gallery design
• Extensive sales automation
• Over 30 print labs worldwide
• Multilingual
• Billed in USD
• Servers outside the EU (Israel)
• Facial recognition only on the most expensive Advanced plan ($42/month ≈ $504/year)
• Pricey overall
• Paid migration ($1–2 per gallery)
• You can't buy single galleries.

Best for: international photographers focused on print sales and automation.

Picdrop

• EU/Germany hosting
• Strong proofing and feedback tools
• Supports every file format, deliberately "no AI"
• Geared more towards commercial photographers, business teams and agencies than towards personal shoots
• No print shop, no facial recognition, no "For you" chapters, no individual guest access
• Plainer presentation
• No unlimited storage plan.

Best for: commercial photographers and teams who need fast proofing and delivery.

What matters when choosing an online gallery

Target audience. Not every tool is built for the same kind of photography. PictoMento and scrappbook are strongly geared towards emotional people and wedding delivery; Picdrop leans towards commercial photographers, business teams and agencies. Pic-Time targets international photographers, Pixieset is broadly positioned.

Pricing model. If you shoot evenly all year round, a subscription can work. If you have a peak season and quiet winter months, a per-gallery model saves you money. Xou only pay when you actually deliver. In this line-up, only PictoMento offers that.

Personalisation. If you want your guests to find their own photos automatically, you need facial recognition. In this line-up, only PictoMento and Scrappbook offer it as standard. Pic-Time includes it in its most expensive plan; the others don't have it.

Migration. Switching doesn't have to be a hurdle. PictoMento migrates your existing galleries free of charge. Pic-Time migrates too, but charges $1–2 per gallery (minimum 20). scrappbook, Pixieset and Picdrop don't advertise a migration service.

Language. For purely German clients, any provider will do. If you also photograph Dutch or international couples, look for multilingual galleries, scrappbook is limited to German here.

Data protection and server location. If it matters to you that your clients' images stay in the EU and that you get a German DPA, you're left with PictoMento, scrappbook and Picdrop. Pixieset (Canada) and Pic-Time (Israel) host outside the EU.

Print sales. If you want to actively sell prints and albums, scrappbook, Pixieset and Pic-Time are further ahead with their shops. If you only care about clean digital delivery, a leaner tool like Picdrop is enough. PictoMento is connecting print shops shortly.

Frequently asked questions

Which online gallery has EU servers and German data processing?
PictoMento, scrappbook and Picdrop host in the EU (Germany) and provide a DPA. Pixieset and Pic-Time are based outside the EU.

Which gallery offers facial recognition?
PictoMento offers facial recognition with personalised "For you" access as standard. Pic-Time only has it on its most expensive Advanced plan. Pixieset and Picdrop don't offer it.

Which gallery works without a subscription?
PictoMento charges per gallery (€10 each) or optionally as an annual package (€199/year, unlimited). The other four run on monthly subscriptions.

What's the best European alternative to Pixieset or Pic-Time?
For the European market, PictoMento, scrappbook and Picdrop are the obvious alternatives — billing in euros with EU hosting, instead of USD and servers outside Europe.

Try it yourself — 3 galleries free

No credit card, no subscription. Create your first PictoMento gallery in minutes and see how your images look with facial recognition and "For you" access.

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Coming from another provider? We'll migrate your existing galleries to PictoMento free of charge.