Comparison
SmugMug vs Zenfolio: Prices, Selling Fees and Getting Your Photos Back Out
Both sell a portfolio site with a store attached. This page compares what each company publishes about price, selling fees and proofing, then the exit question: how you get your work back out.
Updated 17 September 2026
SmugMug and Zenfolio are two long-standing portfolio platforms that also deliver client galleries and sell prints.
This comparison covers features and price, then adds the exit. A library you have built over years is only as useful as the route that brings it back to your own drive.
Every competitor figure below comes from the company's own plans page or help centre, fetched on 17 September 2026 and listed under Sources. Where two of a company's own pages disagree, the cell is left empty and the reason is given.
The short answer
| Question | SmugMug | Zenfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Published price range | $20.00 to $37.00 a month, billed annually, in USD | CA$12 to CA$55 a month, monthly billing |
| What it takes from a sale | 15% of your markup | 7% of the order sub-total, on Professional and Advanced |
| Free trial | 14 days, site stays private | 14 days, no credit card |
| Download a whole gallery | Yes, as emailed .zip files | Yes, as an emailed zip |
| Download the whole account in one action | Not documented; only per gallery | No; one gallery at a time |
| Content after the account closes | Removed permanently 30 days after closure | Deleted permanently; no timeframe published |
The rest of the page explains each row and ends with who should choose which.
Prices as published on 17 September 2026
The two companies publish prices in different currencies and on different billing terms. They are not converted here, because a conversion would be our number, not theirs.
SmugMug. The plans page shows annual-commitment rates only. SmugMug's help centre says subscriptions are charged in USD and that you can choose to pay monthly or annually. The month-to-month price is not published on the plans page.
| SmugMug plan | Price shown |
|---|---|
| Direct | US$20.00 a month, billed annually |
| Portfolio | US$23.50 a month, billed annually |
| Pro | US$37.00 a month, billed annually |
| Enterprise | No price shown |
Zenfolio. The plans page served Canadian dollars on the fetch date. No USD figure could be verified, so none is printed.
| Zenfolio plan | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| Basic | CA$12 a month |
| Professional | CA$32 a month |
| Advanced | CA$55 a month |
Zenfolio's page also carries a banner offering up to 50% off annual plans. The banner's own stated end date is 15 September 2026, which had passed on the day we checked. The page still displayed lower annual figures, but we do not quote them as current prices. Check the page on the day you buy.
Storage and RAW files
| Plan | Storage as published |
|---|---|
| SmugMug (plans page) | "Unlimited full resolution JPEG storage" |
| SmugMug Source (RAW add-on) | US$10 a month for the first TB, then US$6 a month per additional TB |
| Zenfolio Basic | 15 GB of photos and videos |
| Zenfolio Professional | 150 GB of photos and videos |
| Zenfolio Advanced | 150 GB of video plus unlimited photos, with limits set in the Terms of Use |
SmugMug scopes its unlimited claim to JPEG. RAW files are a separate paid add-on.
Zenfolio meters Basic and Professional by gigabytes. Its pricing page puts those at about 4,500 and 60,000 photos. Its Advanced plan's unlimited photos are marked with an asterisk that points to limits in the Terms of Use.
What each one takes when you sell
Both platforms sell prints and downloads for you, and both take a share. The shares are measured on different bases, so read the base before the percentage.
| Fee | SmugMug | Zenfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Platform share | 15% of your markup; you keep 85%. The markup is your price minus SmugMug's default price. | 7% of the order sub-total, excluding sales tax and shipping |
| Plans that can sell | Portfolio and up | Professional and Advanced; listed as not available on Basic |
| Card fees | Included in the 15% | Charged separately, on the total including tax and shipping |
| Digital download base cost | US$0.49 per single file, US$1.99 per gallery download | Not stated in the articles read |
| Introductory waiver | None stated in the articles read | 7% waived for the first 30 days of new Professional and Advanced accounts |
A percentage of markup and a percentage of sub-total are not directly comparable. Run one of your real orders through both before deciding which is cheaper for you.
Client proofing, branding and domains
Zenfolio publishes a per-plan feature table in its help centre, updated 2 September 2026. The Zenfolio column below comes from that table.
| Feature | Zenfolio Basic | Zenfolio Professional | Zenfolio Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client proofing | Two Zenfolio pages disagree; see below | Included | Included |
| Remove Zenfolio branding | No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom logos | 1 | 1 | Multiple |
| Own domain and custom subdomain | Yes | Yes | Yes |
On proofing for Basic, the help-centre table does not list it. The pricing page lists "Client Galleries & Proofing" under what all plans include. We cannot tell which is right, so the cell stays empty. Ask Zenfolio before you buy Basic for proofing.
For SmugMug, the plans page lists client favoriting and customer download limits on Pro. It also lists a custom domain, but our reads of that page did not agree on which plan columns carry it, so no per-plan claim is made for the domain.
Getting your work back out
This is where the two differ most, and where a long-time customer has the most at stake.
| Exit question | SmugMug | Zenfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Whole gallery | Select All, then the download icon | Bulk download per gallery |
| Whole account in one action | No first-party route; SmugMug points to third-party tools it did not build and does not guarantee | Not possible; bulk downloads are done gallery by gallery |
| How the files arrive | An emailed link; large galleries are split into several .zip files | A zip sent to your account email |
| Link lifetime | The owner's link from the Site Organizer does not expire; visitor links expire after two weeks | Not stated |
| Minimum gallery size | 3 or more photos or videos for the download button to appear | Not stated |
| When the account closes | At the end of the monthly or annual term | At the end of the current subscription period |
| After closure | Files are removed permanently 30 days after closure | Content is deleted permanently if left closed; no timeframe published |
| Refunds | Not stated in the articles read | Non-refundable, apart from extraordinary cases |
SmugMug also has a visitor download size setting, and it defaults to Original. That matters for clients: unless you change it, visitors receive your original file.
Zenfolio asks for cancellation at least 2 business days before renewal. It also advises keeping a backup of your content outside Zenfolio.
The practical order for either platform is the same. Download every gallery you want to keep, confirm the files open, and only then cancel.
Galleries and trials
Zenfolio galleries do not expire by default. If you set an expiration date, the gallery turns inactive on that date and nobody can see it. SmugMug's help centre did not yield an article on gallery expiry, so no claim is made for it.
Both trials run 14 days. SmugMug keeps your site private during the trial, and gallery sharing is not available until you subscribe. Zenfolio needs no credit card to start, and the account becomes inactive after 14 days unless you upgrade.
Who should choose which
- Choose SmugMug if you want a large JPEG portfolio under a JPEG-unlimited plan, prefer a share of markup to a share of the order, and want RAW storage from the same company as an add-on.
- Choose Zenfolio if you want a published month-to-month price, and if a 7% fee on sales suits your order sizes.
- Stay where you are if your print and product sales run through either store. Neither our product nor a plain gallery host replaces a storefront.
Where clientgallery.io fits
We are a narrower product than either. We only deliver galleries and collect client picks.
| clientgallery.io | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price | One plan, $10 a month or $100 a year |
| Free account | 1 gallery, 5 GB |
| Fair-use ceilings | 1,000 photos per gallery, 250 GB of proofs per paid account |
| What is hosted | Proof JPEGs of about 0.6 MB each; no RAW files, no master video |
| Full-resolution handoff | A ZIP per gallery, live 3 days per handoff, re-uploadable, 100 GB of standing ZIPs per account |
| Store and commission | No print store, no commission |
Galleries run on your own subdomain with no platform branding on client pages. Clients download the whole gallery in one click, or any single photo. Hosted galleries never expire.
A two-way Lightroom Classic plugin publishes proofs and pulls client picks back into the catalog. Face Search is included and off until you switch it on per gallery.
There is no importer for SmugMug or Zenfolio. Moving from either means downloading your galleries from the old platform, then uploading them with the web uploader or the Lightroom plugin. clientgallery.io hosts proofs, not masters, so keep your originals on your own drives.
If you are leaving SmugMug, the step-by-step export is in how to download all photos from SmugMug. Other platforms are compared on the alternatives index.
Sources
Every competitor figure, quote and policy on this page comes from the pages below, fetched on 17 September 2026. Help-centre articles show their own update date. clientgallery.io figures were checked against the product on 17 September 2026.
- SmugMug, Plans, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmug.com/plans
- SmugMug Help, Subscribe to SmugMug, article updated 31 July 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212220436372-Subscribe-to-SmugMug
- SmugMug Help, Get paid my profits, article updated 9 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212462590868-Get-paid-my-profits
- SmugMug Help, Download several images in a gallery, article updated 11 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212879427348-Download-several-images-in-a-gallery
- SmugMug Help, Download photos from my SmugMug site, article updated 7 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212774666004-Download-photos-from-my-SmugMug-site
- SmugMug Help, Third-party uploaders, downloaders, migration tools and utilities, article updated 9 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212852213908-Third-party-uploaders-downloaders-migration-tools-and-utilities
- SmugMug Help, Cancel your subscription, article updated 29 August 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212207203604-Cancel-your-subscription
- SmugMug Help, Restore deleted photo or video, article updated 25 August 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212481465236-Restore-deleted-photo-or-video
- Zenfolio, Plans and Pricing, fetched 17 September 2026, prices served in Canadian dollars, https://zenfolio.com/plans-pricing/
- Zenfolio Success Center, Zenfolio NextZen Plans Comparison, article updated 2 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/11787149819539-Zenfolio-NextZen-Plans-Comparison
- Zenfolio Success Center, What Are The Fees Involved With Selling, article updated 2 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/15431066201235-What-Are-The-Fees-Involved-With-Selling
- Zenfolio Success Center, Zenfolio Free Trial Questions, article updated 2 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/48479395923219-Zenfolio-Free-Trial-Questions
- Zenfolio Success Center, Creating An Expiration Date For A Gallery, article updated 16 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/33346184008083-Creating-An-Expiration-Date-For-A-Gallery
- Zenfolio Success Center, Downloading Original Photos Back to Your Computer, article updated 16 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7430784497555-Downloading-Original-Photos-Back-to-Your-Computer
- Zenfolio Success Center, Cancelling or Deleting Your Account, article updated 14 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://success.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7430771285139-Cancelling-or-Deleting-Your-Account
- clientgallery.io plan, fair-use ceilings, full-resolution ZIP and import scope, checked 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Is SmugMug or Zenfolio cheaper?
They cannot be compared directly from their own pages. SmugMug shows US$20.00, US$23.50 and US$37.00 a month billed annually, and does not publish its month-to-month price. Zenfolio showed CA$12, CA$32 and CA$55 a month in Canadian dollars on 17 September 2026. Zenfolio's annual discount banner carried an end date of 15 September 2026, which had already passed on the day we checked.
What does each platform take from print and download sales?
SmugMug keeps 15% of your markup, which is your price minus its default price, and that 15% includes card payment fees. Zenfolio charges 7% of the order sub-total, excluding sales tax and shipping, on Professional and Advanced, with payment processing fees on top. Zenfolio lists selling as not available on Basic.
Can I download my whole account from SmugMug or Zenfolio?
Not in one action from either company's own tools. SmugMug documents a .zip per gallery and points to third-party tools it did not build for anything wider. Zenfolio states bulk downloads must be completed gallery by gallery, with each zip sent to your email.
What happens to my photos after I cancel?
SmugMug closes the account at the end of the term, and a separate help article says files are removed permanently 30 days after closure. Zenfolio keeps the account open until the end of the paid period, then deletes the content permanently if the account stays closed, without publishing a timeframe.
Does Zenfolio Basic include client proofing?
Zenfolio's own pages disagree. Its help-centre plans comparison, updated 2 September 2026, lists client proofing on Professional and Advanced only, while its pricing page lists client galleries and proofing among what all plans include. Ask Zenfolio before buying Basic for proofing.
Can clientgallery.io import my SmugMug or Zenfolio galleries?
No. The only importer reads Pixieset. From SmugMug or Zenfolio you download your galleries and upload them to clientgallery.io with the web uploader or the Lightroom Classic plugin.
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.
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