Pixieset vs CloudSpot Showdown: The Best Client Photo Gallery for Photographers in 2023.
After 6 years I finally cut ties with Pixieset to move to CloudSpot to deliver my client photo galleries, and I couldn’t be happier. If you’re a photographer reading this blog it’s safe to assume you are thinking about doing the same thing. So here are 10 reasons I switched to CloudSpot from Pixieset.
What CloudSpot understands is that your photography is a service and not a product, and when it comes to providing a great service you have to deliver an experience the client will enjoy every step of the way. Even after the shoot. And I think we can all agree that delivering your photos via Google Drive or Dropbox is less than an exciting interface to receive photos.
So let me break down the 10 Reasons I Switched to CloudSpot from Pixieset.
1: Lower Price!
It is important to know that with an online gallery, you are charged by how much storage you use and CloudSpot offers more storage in their free plan than Pixieset.
If you shoot 5 weddings and 10 engagements in a year you’d need about total 5gb of storage.
It is written in my contract that I hold photos for one year. That means you would need 10gb of storage minimum. Last years photos (5GB) Plus this years photos (5 more GB)
With CloudSpot's plan, it would cost you NOTHING! With Pixieset that same amount of hosting storage would cost you $8 a month. Save money and book more shoots, that's the key to grow your business!
Whats amazing is that CloudSpot has partnered with JPGmini to significantly reduces the file size of your photographs without affecting their perceptual quality. That means you need less storage to shoot more!
Then when it's time to upgrade, CloudSpot has several hosting plans that vary in the amount of storage they offer, including an unlimited plan perfect for pros who have a lot of images they need hosting!
For those just getting started, CloudSpot’s Free Forever plan is the perfect plan for you!
Click Here To Sign Up For a Free CloudSpot Account
CloudSpot offers great storage options that grow with your new business
2: Deliver more than just Photos
I’m a Wedding Photographer, not a videographer but that doesn’t stop me from taking my photos and turning them into a custom slideshow with Animoto to really wow my clients! (remember, photography is a service and this is a great form of marketing too!) Creating these slideshows in Animotos platform takes just 10 minutes and have been my biggest source of referrals. Unlike other photo gallery systems, CloudSpot allows you to not only showcase the video when proofing your images but allow your clients to download it too and share to social! This is the type of premium feature that you typically wouldn't get unless using one of the paid plans but remarkably, delivering video is also available in the free plan as well!
CloudSpot allows you to upload 7 popular file types including Gifs so you can share what you what with your clients, how you want!
3: Create Free Vendor Photo Galleries
Florists, planners, bakers, venues all need photos too! When you share your photos with them they will be more likely to refer you to their clients in the future. With CloudSpot you can create a separate folder of images in your clients gallery that they will not see. That way you don’t have to use additional storage to upload the same photos to a separate gallery!
CloudSpot allows you to create unlimited galleries and from each collection. So upload your clients photos then create a private gallery just for the florist, one for the caterer, one for the venue, etc! Pixieset makes you create a separate gallery cutting into your available storage.
Florists, Planner, Venues, Bakery, DJ, all of these vendors love when you share photos with them showing off their talents. Cloudspot makes it easy!
5: Client Gallery Smart Phone App Downloads
Your clients want photos to enjoy. CloudSpot allows you to send your clients a link to their gallery that downloads an app right to their smartphone. That way they can access it anytime showing off your beautiful work to their friends and family.
Cloudspot lets you create an app from your client photo gallery in just one click!
CloudSpot makes the whole process a breeze! Upload your photos, send your client a link to their app! They are prompted with “grandma proof” instructions to install the app on their phone. On the backend, you can allow users to download their photos to their phones! And if that wasn’t cool enough you can enable watermarks on downloads! So your client can still have an incredible viewing experience but you can keep your photos protected!
6: Build and Sell Photo Albums
Your clients can enjoy your photos in 1 of 3 ways. Digitally, as a Print, or in an Album. With CloudSpot you can give them all 3! One of the huge perks of CloudSpots Album Builder is that unlike other client gallery providers, your client can build their own album if they wish. Creating the perfect album for them while you still set the price and earn revenue!
7: Embeddable Photo Galleries
I haven’t used this feature yet but I can see the potential and this. CloudSpot creates beautiful photo galleries, right? Well, they allow you to embed a gallery onto your own wordpress or squarespace website. Why do double the work to upload more photos to your site if you pay for CloudSpot to host photo galleries already!? If you are new to photography and your website isn’t quite where you want it to be yet, this will be a godsend. You can create a portfolio of images within CloudSpot, now you can embed that online photo gallery on the homepage of your website AND you can create a mobile app out of it to use when networking and showcasing your portfolio wherever an opportunity arises! Making 1 gallery do triple duty!
The more places you can share your photos to be found the better!
8: Advanced Print Sales Tools
Just about every online photo gallery system has the ability to sell prints and set your own pricing. That’s basic stuff. Where CloudSpot shines is 3 fold.
#1 Embed your CloudSpot store on your website.
With the ability to embed your CloudSpot gallery on your site, that now means you can sell your photos directly from your site. No need to send them to a special link to a different domain and take additional steps. This is ideal for Landscape photographers, Fine Art photographers, and any other photographer who sells photos in small quantities and one-offs. Seriously integrating a sales system into your website is not intuitive or cheap! With CloudSpot it’s pretty and painless!
#2 Offer print sales within the gallery apps!
In my wedding photography business, the people who buy the most prints are parents who buy prints during the week between 9-5pm. My guess is because less and less do most people need a dedicated computer at home because their tablets do just fine. So they have to wait until they get to the computer at work to buy prints of their children’s wedding. I imagine that print sales within the mobile app will boost sales for not only parents but also grandparents who are even less likely to own a computer!
#3 Advanced industry first tools to help sell your photos.
From mockups to see what print sizes look like on different walls types to using your clients iPhone camera and Augmented Reality to show your client what different print sizes would look like in their own home so they can make the right choice for them! No one is doing that and when clients use it, they typically buy larger prints than they would have because they can see the impact they make!
9: Greater Control and Insight into your Galleries
It’s written in my contract that I will hold on to images for the couple for 1 year after the delivery date to keep my storage fees low. Having the ability for CloudSpot to automatically email those who have registered for a certain gallery to let them know it’s about to expire and include a coupon code to any last-minute prints and a reminder to download their photos before they are removed, simply means I no longer have to remember to do it and selling is done easy!
On top of that CloudSpot has advanced gallery analytics. This info lets you see at a glance how many times the gallery has been viewed, how many email address have been captured, how many images have been marked as favorites, who marked those photos as favorites and more! This insight can help you to create more profitable images and build a stronger business.
10: Offer Hybrid Sales Catalogs
I love CloudSpot's built-in and automated print integration. When someone purchases a print from me, CloudSpot takes care of all the heavy lifting and I don't have to do anything, just collect my money. But there are some products like canvases I like to use an outside company for. In the past, you either had to choose to have all of your products auto or self fulfilled. Now you can have a hybrid option where select products, desk prints, metal prints, ect are auto fulfilled and others like canvases can be self fulfilled.
11: Zapier Integration
This is huge for photography business owners and CloudSpot is the only gallery service that has this integration. Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your apps and services. You can connect two or more apps to automate repetitive tasks without coding or relying on developers to build the integration.
For wedding and event photographers you can connect CloudSpot with ConvertKit or Mailchimp and automatically add new gallery visitors to your monthly newsletter! With over more than 3000+ integrations you can connect to CloudSpot with Zapier the possibilities to automate your business are almost endless! Here is an explainer video on how Zapier works with CloudSpot.
Since signing up for CloudSpot, one thing has become abundantly clear, they stand for something....
YOU!
It is clear in everything CloudSpot does and implements that they are giving you, the photographer every advantage you can when it comes to really leaving a lasting impression on your clients. With the amount of features CloudSpot offers from Hosting, Selling, and Marketing CloudSpot understands to its core that you can turn the last impression into a LASTING impression.
And when you sign up for your free account you can get free gallery migration so you can cancel your Pixieset account as well as a free 1:1 demo with a CloudSpot team member who will show you around and help you set up your gallery and store just the way you like it!
TL;DR I believe that CloudSpot client photo gallery system is the best way to showcase, deliver, and sell your photos online. They have many features that the outdated Pixieset does not and they are always adding more features based on community input. If you want a Client Photo Gallery that makes your life easier, wows your clients, and can make you money, CloudSpot is the right choice for you. You can sign up for a free forever plan, no credit card required. Deliver a beautiful gallery to your client today!
