ShootProof vs Zenfolio: Which Wins in 2026?

These two are compared because they look similar: galleries, print fulfilment, a website, and a subscription. The similarity ends at the fee line, and the fee line is not a small difference.

ShootProof charges no commission on any plan, ever. Zenfolio charges a commerce fee on every order on every plan, with no upgrade that removes it.

On a photographer selling $6,000 of prints a year, that is $420 a year to one platform and nothing to the other, for the same photographs and the same clients.

A client gallery platform is software that delivers finished photos to paying clients and, in both of these cases, sells prints and digital files through pro labs with a website attached.

Framekit is an AI website builder with client galleries included, and appears at the end for photographers whose real problem is paying for a gallery platform and a website separately.

ShootProof vs Zenfolio at a Glance

Here is how the two line up on the things that decide a subscription, read from the vendors' published pricing and support documentation in August 2026. Zenfolio quotes euros in European regions, so your local currency will vary.

ShootProof prices shown are annual-billing equivalents. The row that decides it sits two thirds of the way down.

The Fee, Priced Across a Year

In one linea 7% commerce fee charged on every order on every plan is a tax on your growth rather than a subscription, which means Zenfolio costs more the better your year goes while ShootProof's cost stays flat no matter how much you sell.

Zenfolio's own support documentation describes a 7% commerce fee calculated on the order sub-total, excluding tax and shipping, with payment processing charged separately on the order total.

ShootProof's published pricing states that it never takes a commission on sales of any kind.

Card processing of roughly 2.9% plus $0.30 applies on top of both columns, and each platform's subscription sits on top of that: roughly $132 to $600 a year for ShootProof depending on photo count, and roughly €96 to €432 for Zenfolio depending on tier.

Run it on your own books: take last year's gallery sales and multiply by 0.07. If that number is larger than the difference between the two subscriptions, and above about $2,000 of sales it always is, the comparison is settled.

Where ShootProof Wins

The commission, on every plan. Session fees, printed products, and digital files all come back whole, including on the free tier. This is the platform's central promise and it is unusual enough in this category to be the reason most of its users are there.

Photo-count pricing suits accumulating libraries. 250GB on the $19.99 tier and 1,250GB on the $26.67 tier is generous, and paying by cumulative photo count works well for photographers with modest per-job volume across many jobs.

Contracts and invoicing included. Useful for a studio billing session fees and chasing payment, and something Zenfolio covers less completely.

A genuinely usable free tier. 100 photos and 5GB with the 0% commission intact, which is a real starting point rather than a demo.

The gotchathe photo count is cumulative across the account rather than per gallery, so photographers who never archive hit the ceiling mid-season and upgrade under pressure.

Skip it ifyou want a website that is more than a light portfolio, or you deliver video, neither of which ShootProof does.

Where Zenfolio Wins

A real bundled website. Zenfolio's template site is more of a website than ShootProof's portfolio, with a custom domain and enough control for photographers who want one subscription covering the public site and the delivery.

Unlimited JPEG storage at the top. The Advanced tier includes unlimited JPEG storage plus 150GB of video, which no ShootProof tier below unlimited matches on storage terms.

Video on higher tiers. ShootProof does not deliver video at all, so hybrid shooters have a reason to look at Zenfolio.

Long-standing print infrastructure. Zenfolio has sold prints for photographers for a long time and the fulfilment side is mature.

The gotchanone of it removes the 7%. Every advantage above is purchased alongside a permanent share of your sales, and the fee grows with your success while the benefits do not.

Skip it ifprint or digital sales are a meaningful part of your income and you expect them to grow.

The Third Option

Both of these leave the same question open: neither is a design-led website builder, so photographers who care about their public site often pay for a third subscription.

Framekit delivers unlimited client galleries on every plan with no commission on delivery, published as pages of a website you own: $9 a month on Starter for a custom domain and 10GB of gallery storage, $19 on Pro for 100GB plus 100GB of video review, and $39 on Business for 1,000GB with unlimited team seats.

Where it loses to bothno print lab and no physical fulfilment, so it cannot sell a framed print at any price. If print revenue is what you are optimising, this comparison should stay between the two platforms above.

Where it winsthe website is the product rather than an attachment, gallery links survive cancelling a plan because the pages are yours, and video review is included rather than being a higher tier.

Which Should You Choose?

Two questions settle this, and the first one resolves nearly every case because the fee difference dominates everything else in the comparison.

Do you sell prints, albums, or digital files through the gallery?

• Yes, more than about $2,000 a year. Choose ShootProof. The 7% Zenfolio charges on the same sales is money you keep by choosing correctly, and no Zenfolio feature is worth $420 a year at that volume.
• No, or barely. Continue.

What are you actually buying?

• A bundled website with a very large archive: Zenfolio Advanced, and the fee stays theoretical if you never sell.
• Cheapest delivery with contracts and invoicing: ShootProof's lowest tier that fits your photo count.
• A real website with galleries included: neither, since both are delivery platforms with a site attached rather than the reverse.

Frequently Asked Questions

ShootProof vs Zenfolio: which is cheaper?

ShootProof is cheaper for anyone who sells, because it charges 0% commission on every plan while Zenfolio charges a 7% commerce fee on every order on every plan with no way to remove it.

On $6,000 of annual sales that is $420 a year to Zenfolio and nothing to ShootProof, before subscriptions. Zenfolio's entry plan is cheaper on subscription alone, which only matters if you never sell through the gallery.

Does Zenfolio really charge 7% on every plan?

Yes. Zenfolio's own support documentation describes a 7% commerce fee calculated on the order sub-total, excluding tax and shipping, with payment processing charged separately on the order total, and no plan removes it.

That makes it structurally different from Pixieset, CloudSpot, and Pic-Time, where the commission disappears on paid tiers, and from ShootProof, which charges nothing on any tier.

Does ShootProof have a website builder?

It includes a light portfolio rather than a website builder, which is why photographers using it commonly pay separately for a real site.

Zenfolio's bundled template website is more capable, though still template-based rather than a design-led builder.

If the public site matters to how you win work, neither platform fully answers it and a builder with galleries included is the cheaper shape.

Which has more storage?

Zenfolio at the top of its ladder, where the Advanced tier includes unlimited JPEG storage plus 150GB of video.

ShootProof prices by cumulative photo count rather than gigabytes, with 250GB on the $19.99 tier and 1,250GB on the $26.67 tier, and an unlimited plan at $50.

For most working photographers both are ample, and the fee difference matters far more than the storage difference.

Which is better for selling prints?

ShootProof, decisively, because you keep the full markup on every sale and it fulfils through pro labs worldwide with markups you set. Zenfolio also fulfils prints and takes 7% of the order sub-total for doing so, permanently.

Over three years at $6,000 of annual sales that difference is $1,260, which is more than most photographers spend on their entire software stack.

Does either platform handle video?

Zenfolio does on its higher tiers, including 150GB of video storage on Advanced, and ShootProof does not deliver video at all.

For a hybrid shooter delivering stills and a film from the same job, that makes Zenfolio the only one of the two worth considering, or a platform that carries galleries and video review together, which our guide to delivering photos and video together covers.

Can I use my own domain with ShootProof?

ShootProof documents a CNAME subdomain setup such as proofs.yourstudio.com, where the address is yours and the pages remain ShootProof's, so a lapsed subscription stops every link you have ever sent from resolving.

Zenfolio supports custom domains for its bundled site and galleries on a similar hosted basis.

Only a gallery published as part of a website you own keeps working when you stop paying, as our custom domain comparison explains.

Which is better for a wedding photographer?

ShootProof for almost any wedding photographer who sells albums or prints, because keeping 100% of the markup outweighs Zenfolio's bundled website at any realistic sales volume.

Zenfolio suits a wedding photographer who sells nothing through the gallery, wants one subscription covering a template site, and values the unlimited JPEG storage on its top tier.

Should I switch from Zenfolio to ShootProof?

Switch if you sell more than about $2,000 a year through your gallery, because the 7% will exceed the cost of moving within the first year and keep exceeding it.

Do it between seasons: deliver new jobs on ShootProof and let existing Zenfolio galleries run to their expiry, then export originals before cancelling.

Remember that ShootProof does not replace Zenfolio's website, so plan for that separately.

What is the best alternative to both?

Pixieset on its $10 Basic plan for the most familiar client experience with 0% commission, CloudSpot Lite at $17 if you also want invoicing and scheduling, or Framekit if your real problem is paying for a gallery platform and a portfolio site separately, since galleries come inside a full website builder from $9 a month with no commission on delivery.

Our client gallery platform comparison ranks the field.

The Verdict

ShootProof wins this comparison for anyone who sells anything. A 0% commission on every plan against 7% on every order is not a feature difference, it is a difference in what the platform costs you as you succeed.

Zenfolio earns its place for photographers who want a bundled website and a very large archive and who genuinely do not sell through the gallery, where the fee stays hypothetical and the storage is generous.

Where both lose: neither is a design-led website builder, and both host your galleries so that cancelling takes every link you have sent.

If those two gaps describe your actual problem better than the fee does, look at a platform where the website is the product and the galleries come with it.

Related reading: our full client gallery platform comparison, best ShootProof alternatives, best Zenfolio alternatives, and commission-free client galleries.

For the money picture across the category see cheapest client gallery software and how to sell prints from a client gallery.