Comparison
Pixieset vs Pixpa: Commission, Storage and Expiry Compared
Two platforms that both sell galleries and websites, compared only on what each company states in writing, with the gaps marked plainly.
Updated 17 September 2026
Pixieset and Pixpa both sell client galleries to photographers. Both also sell a website product next to the galleries. The overlap is real, so the choice usually comes down to money and limits.
That is where this comparison gets unusual. Each company publishes some figures and withholds others. Pixieset's help centre states its commission rules and its entry price, but not a storage figure per plan. Pixpa states its storage per plan, but its pricing pages did not return a single dollar figure when we read them.
So this page states only what each company confirms on its own pages, fetched 17 September 2026. Where a figure is missing, the table says so instead of guessing. A short note on a third option, clientgallery.io, comes at the end, with what it does not do.
The short answer
Pick Pixpa if you want to see the storage meter before you sign up. It publishes storage for every plan and states that it takes no commission on store sales.
Pick Pixieset if you want a published entry price and a documented rule that galleries stay online. Its paid plans take 0% commission. Its free plan takes 15%.
Neither answer covers the full cost. Pixieset does not confirm storage per plan in its help centre. Pixpa did not show us a price. Check the missing number on each site in your own browser before you commit.
Side by side
| Question | Pixieset | Pixpa |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery plan names | Client Gallery Free, Basic, Plus, Pro, Ultimate | Client Galleries Only: Lite, Standard, Growth, Premium, Unlimited |
| Other plan families | Suite Starter, Pro, Ultimate (Client Gallery, Website and Studio Manager together); Studio 60, 80, 120 | All-in-One: Basic, Creator, Professional, Advanced |
| Entry price | As low as 8 $ a month billed annually, or 10 $ billed monthly | Not returned by either Pixpa pricing page when fetched |
| Per-plan prices | Not published in the sources used here | Not returned by either Pixpa pricing page when fetched |
| Annual billing | Up to 20% off the monthly rate | Monthly, yearly and 2-yearly billing offered; discount not stated here |
| Storage per plan | Not published in the sources used here | Galleries Only: 20 GB, 100 GB, 500 GB, 1,000 GB, unlimited. All-in-One: 3 GB, 5 GB, 25 GB, 100 GB |
| Commission on sales | 15% on Free; 0% on every paid Client Gallery, Suite and Studio plan | None; no setup, listing or transaction fees |
| What commission is charged on | The order subtotal before discounts, coupon codes, taxes or shipping | Not applicable |
| Payment processing fees | Not covered on this page | The payment provider's fees still apply; Pixpa states no rate |
| Do galleries expire? | No, while subscribed, unless you use Auto-Expiry | Optional expiry date and time per album |
| Number of galleries | Not published in the sources used here | Unlimited private client albums on every plan; storage is the meter |
| Client download sizes | Not published in the sources used here | Original, Large (2048 px), Medium (1200 px), Small (400 px) |
| Free trial | Not published in the sources used here | 15 days, no credit card |
| Money-back guarantee | Not published in the sources used here | 30 days |
Prices are in dollars as Pixieset publishes them. Pixpa's help centre states that it bills in US dollars.
Commission: the clearest difference
This is the one row both companies document well.
Pixieset charges commission only on orders placed while you are on Client Gallery Free. The rate there is 15%. Every paid Client Gallery plan is 0%. So is every Suite plan and every Studio plan.
The base of that 15% matters. Pixieset calculates it on the order subtotal before any discounts, coupon codes, taxes or shipping. A coupon lowers what your client pays. It does not lower the commission.
| Pixieset Free order | Amount |
|---|---|
| Order subtotal | 200 $ |
| Coupon applied | minus 50 $ |
| Client pays (before tax and shipping) | 150 $ |
| 15% commission, on the 200 $ subtotal | 30 $ |
The 200 $ order is our example. The rule is Pixieset's.
Pixpa states that it charges no setup fees, listing fees or transaction fees on store orders. Its Client Galleries Only plans list zero commission on sales. You still pay your payment provider's fees, and Pixpa does not state that rate in the article we read.
In practice the gap closes as soon as you pay Pixieset. Both platforms then take 0% of sales. The difference only bites if you sell from Pixieset's free plan. Our Pixieset free plan commission guide works through that case in more detail.
Storage: Pixpa publishes it, Pixieset's help centre does not
Pixpa meters its plans by storage and prints the numbers. The Client Galleries Only plans run from 20 GB on Lite to unlimited on the Unlimited plan. The All-in-One plans, which include a website, run from 3 GB on Basic to 100 GB on Advanced.
| Pixpa plan | Family | Storage | Products you can sell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | Client Galleries Only | 20 GB | Not stated per plan |
| Standard | Client Galleries Only | 100 GB | Not stated per plan |
| Growth | Client Galleries Only | 500 GB | Not stated per plan |
| Premium | Client Galleries Only | 1,000 GB | Not stated per plan |
| Unlimited | Client Galleries Only | Unlimited | Not stated per plan |
| Basic | All-in-One | 3 GB | Up to 3 |
| Creator | All-in-One | 5 GB | Up to 10 |
| Professional | All-in-One | 25 GB | Up to 100 |
| Advanced | All-in-One | 100 GB | Unlimited |
Two details in Pixpa's help centre change how far that storage goes. First, it counts the original images you upload to client galleries and store galleries, plus files you sell as digital products and files in the Files section. Originals are full-size files. Second, the All-in-One Basic plan includes 200 gallery images only.
Pixieset's help centre is silent on storage per plan. Its articles point to a pricing page that refuses automated reading, so we could not confirm a figure from Pixieset itself. We will not print one from a review site. Open Pixieset's pricing page in your browser and note the storage for the plan you are considering.
Gallery expiry and what happens to old galleries
Pixieset states that collections stay online for as long as you have an active subscription, or until you delete them. They do not expire unless you use its Auto-Expiry feature.
Auto-Expiry is optional. When it fires, the collection is set to Hidden and clients can no longer view it. Pixieset states that this does not delete the collection or remove it from your account.
Pixpa lets you set an album expiry date and time if you want an album to close. It is a setting you choose per album. We found no Pixpa statement on whether an expired album keeps using storage.
On both platforms, then, expiry is a choice rather than a default. The practical difference is storage. On Pixpa, every album you keep online counts against a published meter.
Delivery and proofing controls
Pixpa documents its client-side controls in one FAQ, and they are detailed:
- Four download sizes: Original, Large (2048 px), Medium (1200 px) and Small (400 px).
- A cap on how many times a visitor can download the gallery or favourites list as a ZIP.
- A cap on how many images a client can add to a favourites list.
- As many public or private albums as you like, with storage as the only meter.
Its Client Galleries Only plans also list proofing and favourites, image comments and ratings, watermarks, selling prints or downloads, your own branding and connecting your own domain.
This page does not compare Pixieset's proofing tools. We limited Pixieset to the facts its help centre confirms on fees, plans and expiry, so a row that is not in the table is not a claim that the feature is missing.
Who should choose which
Choose Pixpa if you want a portfolio website and galleries under one account, and you want the storage figure in writing before you pay. It also suits a studio that sells prints or downloads and wants zero commission on every plan, including the cheapest.
Choose Pixieset if you want galleries that stay online by default for as long as you subscribe, with a published entry price. It also suits a studio that wants a website and studio management in one bundle, through Suite. Stay off its free plan if you plan to sell, because that is where the 15% applies.
Stay where you are if your business runs on print and product sales through the gallery. Both of these platforms have a store. That matters more than any row above.
A third option, and what it does not do
clientgallery.io is narrower than either platform. It is a delivery and proofing gallery with one plan: 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year.
| clientgallery.io | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price | 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year, one plan |
| Galleries | Unlimited under fair use; free accounts hold 1 gallery and 5 GB |
| Fair-use ceilings | 1,000 photos per gallery; 250 GB of proofs per paid account |
| What is hosted | Browser-compressed proof JPEGs of about 0.6 MB each; no RAW files or master video |
| Full-resolution handoff | Paid plan: a ZIP per gallery, live 3 days per handoff, re-uploadable, 100 GB of standing ZIPs |
| Expiry | Hosted galleries never expire while the account exists |
| Commission | None, because there is no store |
| Website builder | None |
What you get: no platform branding on client pages, your own subdomain, star and love picks, optional Face Search, and a two-way Lightroom Classic plugin that publishes proofs and pulls client picks back into the catalog.
What you do not get is just as important. There is no website builder, so a studio that wants its portfolio site and galleries in one place should use Pixpa or Pixieset. There is no print store and no product sales. You can paste your own payment link, but unlocking downloads after payment is a switch you flip yourself. The product applies no watermark. There are no team logins; a two-person studio shares one account.
Moving over is uneven. A whole-account Pixieset import runs from one bookmark on the Pixieset dashboard, reads the account without changing it, and brings photos at Pixieset's largest web size. It is not a backup, so keep your masters on your own drives. There is no importer for Pixpa. Leaving Pixpa means downloading your galleries there and uploading them here.
If you are already on Pixpa and weighing a move, the Pixpa alternative page goes further.
Sources
Every competitor page was fetched on 17 September 2026. Help-centre articles also show the date the company last updated them. Pixieset's per-plan prices and storage are left out because its help centre does not confirm them and its pricing page refuses automated reading. Pixpa prices are left out because neither Pixpa pricing page returned one.
- Pixieset Help Center, "How does the 0% commission fee work?" (15% on Free, 0% on paid Client Gallery, Suite and Studio plans; plan names), updated 8 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002975072-How-does-the-0-commission-fee-work
- Pixieset Help Center, "What is the cost of goods sold application fee?" (commission on the subtotal before discounts, coupons, taxes and shipping; plans as low as 8 $ a month billed annually or 10 $ billed monthly), updated 11 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003793352-What-is-the-cost-of-goods-sold-application-fee
- Pixieset Help Center, "Managing your Pixieset subscription" (yearly plans up to 20% off; Suite bundles Client Gallery, Website and Studio Manager), updated 11 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003816812-Managing-your-Pixieset-subscription
- Pixieset Help Center, "Do my Collections expire?" (online while subscribed, no expiry unless Auto-Expiry), updated 16 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002975012-Do-my-Collections-expire
- Pixieset Help Center, "How do I set an Expiry Date to the Gallery?" (Auto-Expiry sets the collection to Hidden and does not delete it), updated 10 August 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003479211-How-do-I-set-an-Expiry-Date-to-the-Gallery
- Pixpa pricing (All-in-One plan names, storage, products, unlimited private client albums, billing terms offered, 15-day trial, 30-day money-back guarantee), no date on page, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.pixpa.com/pricing
- Pixpa Client Galleries pricing (Lite, Standard, Growth, Premium and Unlimited storage; included features; zero commission; trial and guarantee), no date on page, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.pixpa.com/clientgalleries/pricing
- Pixpa Help, "Does Pixpa charge commissions on orders?" (no setup, listing or transaction fees; payment provider fees apply), updated 14 August 2025, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixpa.com/kb/pixpa-charge-commissions-orders/
- Pixpa Help, storage and original files (what counts toward storage; 3, 5, 25 and 100 GB), updated 27 July 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixpa.com/kb/meant-space-original-files/
- Pixpa Help, the 200-image limit (Basic includes 200 images only), updated 17 July 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixpa.com/kb/meant-200-images-start-plan/
- Pixpa Help, "Client Galleries FAQs" (album expiry, four download sizes, download and favourite limits, unlimited albums), updated 11 November 2025, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixpa.com/kb/client-galleries-faqs/
- Pixpa Help, "Upgrading to a paid subscription" (billing in US dollars), updated 21 April 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://help.pixpa.com/kb/upgrading-to-a-paid-subscription/
- clientgallery.io plan, fair-use ceilings, proof hosting, full-resolution ZIP, expiry, no store, no website builder, no watermark, no team logins and the whole-account Pixieset import, checked 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Does Pixpa take a commission on sales?
No. Pixpa states that it charges no setup fees, listing fees or transaction fees on store orders, and its Client Galleries Only plans list zero commission on sales. Your payment provider's own fees still apply.
Does Pixieset take a commission on sales?
Only on Client Gallery Free, at 15%, calculated on the order subtotal before discounts, coupon codes, taxes or shipping. Every paid Client Gallery, Suite and Studio plan is 0%.
Which has more storage, Pixieset or Pixpa?
We cannot say from official sources. Pixpa publishes storage per plan: 20 GB to unlimited on Client Galleries Only, and 3 GB to 100 GB on All-in-One. Pixieset's help centre does not confirm a storage figure per plan, and its pricing page refuses automated reading, so check it in your own browser.
Which is cheaper, Pixieset or Pixpa?
Pixieset states that its Client Gallery plans start as low as 8 $ a month billed annually, or 10 $ billed monthly, with yearly plans up to 20% off. Neither Pixpa pricing page returned a dollar figure when we fetched them on 17 September 2026, so we cannot compare the two honestly.
Do Pixieset or Pixpa galleries expire?
Pixieset collections stay online while you are subscribed and do not expire unless you use Auto-Expiry, which hides the collection without deleting it. Pixpa lets you set an optional expiry date and time on each album.
Can I import my Pixpa galleries into clientgallery.io?
No. The only importer reads Pixieset. Leaving Pixpa means downloading your galleries from Pixpa and uploading them to clientgallery.io with the web uploader or the Lightroom Classic plugin.
Does clientgallery.io have a website builder or a print store?
No to both. It is a delivery and proofing gallery at 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year. A studio that wants its portfolio website or print sales in the same account should choose Pixpa or Pixieset.
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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.
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