Answer
Pic-Time Free Plan: What You Get and What Changes Later
Pic-Time's free plan costs nothing to open and has no gallery cap. The price shows up later: storage that shrinks, a 15% cut of store sales, no way to download your own media, and deletion rules for accounts that go quiet or run over the limit.
Updated 17 September 2026
Yes, Pic-Time has a free plan. Its pricing page lists it at US$0 a month. It is not a trial that ends. It is a plan you can stay on.
The short answer to what it includes: unlimited galleries, 10 GB of photo storage that is later reduced to 3 GB, 1 GB of video, and store sales that carry a 15% commission on your markup. Your own logo, a custom domain and removal of Pic-Time branding are held back for paid plans.
The longer answer is about what happens over time. Pic-Time's help centre describes three rules that can remove galleries from a free account. This page sets them out using only Pic-Time's own pages, read on 17 September 2026. Where those pages disagree with each other, this page says so and gives no number.
What the Pic-Time free plan includes
These rows come from Pic-Time's Client Delivery Suite pricing table. All prices are in US dollars, as Pic-Time prints them. The Beginner column is there because it is the first paid step.
| Item | Pic-Time Free | Pic-Time Beginner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US$0 | US$7 a month billed annually, US$8 billed monthly |
| Galleries | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Photo storage | 10 GB (about 3,000 photos), later reduced to 3 GB | 20 GB (about 6,000 photos) |
| Video storage | 1 GB | 5 GB |
| Your logo and watermark | Not included | Included |
| Remove Pic-Time branding | Not included | Not included (Professional and Advanced only) |
| Custom domain | Not included | Not included (Professional and Advanced only) |
| Face recognition and selfie search | Not included | Not included (Advanced only) |
| Store commission when Pic-Time collects payment | 15%, always collected | 15%, always collected |
So the free plan is a working gallery with a store attached. Your clients see Pic-Time's name on it, not only yours. For some studios that is fine. For a studio that sells a premium experience, it is the first reason people look at the paid tiers.
The 15% commission on free-plan sales
Pic-Time's commission article gives the free plan a 15% rate when Pic-Time collects the payment. It describes that rate for Free and Beginner as "always collected, regardless of store setup".
The base is narrower than the headline suggests. Pic-Time's pricing page says "Commission is only applied to your markup". The lab cost is not part of it.
| Plan | Commission when Pic-Time collects |
|---|---|
| Free | 15% |
| Beginner | 15% |
| Professional | 8% |
| Advanced | 6% |
On 200 US dollars of markup, 15% is 30 US dollars. That is arithmetic, not a Pic-Time figure. If you never sell through the store, the commission never touches you. If you sell a lot, it is the line that makes a paid tier pay for itself.
Free storage drops to 3 GB, and the timing is stated more than one way
Every Pic-Time page read for this answer agrees on the size of the drop. The free plan starts at 10 GB of photo storage and is later reduced to 3 GB.
They do not agree on when. The pricing pages print the timing one way in one place and a different way in another, and the help centre article on the reduction gives its own wording. Because Pic-Time's own pages conflict, this page does not publish a timing. Confirm the current rule with Pic-Time before you plan around it.
What matters in practice is simple. Treat 3 GB as the long-term size of a free account. Pic-Time says 10 GB is about 3,000 photos, so 3 GB holds roughly a third of that (arithmetic, not a Pic-Time figure).
Three ways galleries can be deleted on a free account
Pic-Time's help centre describes these rules. Read them before you use the free plan as a place to keep old work.
| Situation | What Pic-Time states | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Free account goes quiet | Galleries are marked for deletion after 60 days of inactivity, then deleted after a 7-day countdown if nothing is done | Log in at least once every 60 days, or move to a paid plan |
| Free storage is reduced to 3 GB | Galleries above the limit are permanently deleted, oldest first, after a grace period | Stay under 3 GB, or download and remove old galleries first |
| You downgrade from a paid plan to Free | Storage is limited to 10 GB for an account under 3 months old and 3 GB for an older one; galleries above the limit are permanently deleted, oldest first, after a grace period | Download what you need while the paid plan is still active |
The grace period is the number people search for, and it is the one this page leaves out on purpose. Two Pic-Time help articles give different grace periods for deletion after the plan changes. Neither can be treated as the rule while they disagree. Ask Pic-Time support for the period that applies to your account, in writing, before you downgrade.
One timing is consistent. Pic-Time's pricing page says downgrades and cancellations "take effect at the end of your current subscription period". The paid features stay until then, which is your window to get files out.
You cannot download your own media on Free
This is the rule that surprises people most. Pic-Time's article on downloading gallery media in Pic-Time 2.0 says plainly: "This feature is not available on Free plans."
That is the photographer's own route to get files back out of a gallery. On a free account, keep your originals and finished exports on your own drives. Do not treat the gallery as a backup.
If you are on a paid Pic-Time plan and thinking of dropping to Free, the order matters. Download first, then downgrade. The guide to switching from Pic-Time walks through that order step by step.
Pic-Time Free against the clientgallery.io free account
clientgallery.io also has a free account. It is smaller than Pic-Time's in two ways and different in others. Both columns are set out plainly.
| Item | Pic-Time Free | clientgallery.io free |
|---|---|---|
| Galleries | Unlimited | 1 |
| Storage | 10 GB of photos, later 3 GB; 1 GB of video | 5 GB of proofs; no video hosting |
| Store sales | Yes, 15% commission on your markup | No store, no commission |
| Platform branding on client pages | Pic-Time branding stays | None |
| Client downloads | Not stated on the pages read | Whole gallery in one click, or one photo at a time, when downloads are on; the full-resolution ZIP handoff is paid only |
| Gallery expiry or inactivity deletion | 60 days of inactivity starts a deletion countdown | No expiry; a gallery stays until you delete it |
| Next step up | Beginner at US$7 or US$8 a month, 20 GB | One plan at 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year, no gallery cap |
The clientgallery.io proofs are browser-compressed JPEGs of about 0.6 MB each, sized for fast viewing, not for printing. The paid plan has fair-use ceilings: 1,000 photos per gallery and 250 GB of proofs per account. It does not store RAW files or master video, which is part of what keeps it at one flat price.
The free account holds one gallery, which is enough to test one real delivery. When a second client arrives, you move to the paid plan. The two paid ladders are set side by side in Pic-Time vs clientgallery.io.
When Pic-Time Free is the better choice
- You sell prints or products. Pic-Time Free has a store, and 15% of your markup is a fair price for sales you would not make otherwise. clientgallery.io has no store at all.
- You need several galleries live at once and they are small. Pic-Time Free has no gallery cap. Our free account holds one gallery.
- You deliver short video clips. Pic-Time Free includes 1 GB of video. clientgallery.io hosts photos only.
Pic-Time Free is the weaker choice if you need your own branding on client pages, if you expect to go more than 60 days without logging in, or if you plan to leave old galleries on it as an archive. If you are about to leave a paid plan, read how to download all your galleries before leaving Pic-Time first.
Sources
Every Pic-Time figure and quote on this page was read on 17 September 2026 from the pages below. Help-centre articles carry their own date where Pic-Time shows one. Pic-Time's pages give conflicting timings for the storage reduction and for the deletion grace period, so neither timing is published here. The 30-dollar commission example and the rough photo count for 3 GB are arithmetic, not Pic-Time figures. clientgallery.io figures were checked against the product on 17 September 2026.
- Pic-Time pricing (Free US$0; free storage reduced to 3 GB; commission only applied to your markup; downgrades and cancellations take effect at the end of the subscription period), no date shown, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.pic-time.com/pricing
- Pic-Time Client Delivery Suite pricing (Free: unlimited galleries, 10 GB of photos, about 3,000, 1 GB of video; Beginner US$7 billed annually or US$8 monthly, 20 GB, 5 GB of video; branding removal and custom domain on Professional and Advanced; logo and watermark from Beginner; face recognition on Advanced only), no date shown, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.pic-time.com/pricing/client-delivery-suite
- Pic-Time Help, "What are the commission rates for various subscription plans?" (Free 15%, Beginner 15%, Professional 8%, Advanced 6%; always collected on Free and Beginner), updated 25 April 2025, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pic-time.com/en/articles/7901454-what-are-the-commission-rates-for-various-subscription-plans
- Pic-Time Help, "Why has my free plan storage been reduced to 3GB?" (10 GB reduced to 3 GB; galleries above the limit permanently deleted, oldest first), dated 11 June 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pic-time.com/en/articles/9210592-why-has-my-free-plan-storage-been-reduced-to-3gb
- Pic-Time Help, "How do I downgrade my plan and how will my account be affected?" (Beginner to Free: 10 GB under 3 months, 3 GB at 3 months or older; galleries above the limit permanently deleted, oldest first), shown as updated over 3 weeks ago on 17 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pic-time.com/en/articles/7905681-how-do-i-downgrade-my-plan-and-how-will-my-account-be-affected
- Pic-Time Help, "Why was my account set to be deleted?" (free accounts: galleries marked for deletion after 60 days of inactivity, deleted in 7 days if no action is taken; logging in or upgrading prevents it), dated 18 June 2025, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pic-time.com/en/articles/11604933-why-was-my-account-set-to-be-deleted
- Pic-Time Help, "How can I download my gallery media in Pic-Time 2.0?" ("This feature is not available on Free plans."), updated 28 April 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pic-time.com/en/articles/11402965-how-can-i-download-my-gallery-media-in-pic-time-2-0
- clientgallery.io product behaviour (free account: 1 gallery, 5 GB of proofs, no full-resolution ZIP; paid: 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year, 1,000 photos per gallery, 250 GB of proofs; proofs about 0.6 MB each; no store, no commission, no gallery expiry, no platform branding on client pages; no RAW or master video hosting), checked 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Is Pic-Time free?
Pic-Time has a free plan listed at US$0 a month on its pricing page. It includes unlimited galleries, 10 GB of photo storage that is later reduced to 3 GB, and 1 GB of video. Your own logo, a custom domain and removal of Pic-Time branding need a paid plan.
How much storage does the Pic-Time free plan have?
Pic-Time lists 10 GB of photo storage, about 3,000 photos, and 1 GB of video. The photo storage is later reduced to 3 GB. Pic-Time's own pages state the timing of that reduction in conflicting ways, so confirm the current timing with Pic-Time.
Does Pic-Time take a commission on the free plan?
Yes. Pic-Time's help centre gives a 15% commission on the free plan when Pic-Time collects the payment, always collected regardless of store setup. Its pricing page says the commission is only applied to your markup.
Will Pic-Time delete my galleries on the free plan?
It can. Pic-Time states that free-account galleries are marked for deletion after 60 days of inactivity and deleted after a 7-day countdown. Galleries above the free storage limit are permanently deleted, oldest first, after a grace period. Two Pic-Time help articles give different grace periods, so ask Pic-Time which applies before you rely on either.
Can I download my photos from a Pic-Time free account?
Pic-Time's article on downloading gallery media in Pic-Time 2.0 says the feature is not available on Free plans. Keep your own copies, and download what you need before moving from a paid plan to Free.
How does the clientgallery.io free account compare?
It holds one gallery and 5 GB of proofs, with no store, no commission, no platform branding on client pages and no gallery expiry. Pic-Time Free allows unlimited galleries, starts with more storage and includes a store. The clientgallery.io paid plan is 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year with no gallery cap.
Your client galleries, under your name
Unlimited galleries, your branding, one-click Pixieset import, and a Lightroom plugin, all on a flat 10 $/month with everything included. Your first gallery is free.
Start with one free gallery