Migration
How to Switch From Pixieset Without Re-uploading Everything
A six-step plan: audit, import the whole account in one click, check galleries side by side, swap links, keep Pixieset alive until nothing points at it, then cancel.
Updated September 2026
What keeps photographers on Pixieset past the point where they want to leave is rarely the price. It is the archive. The assumed way out is to download every collection as a ZIP, upload it again somewhere else, then rebuild sets, passwords and photo order by hand. Put that way, the move waits another season.
This guide is for the photographer who has decided, or nearly, and wants the switch without that weekend. The centre of it is a whole-account import: sign in to your Pixieset dashboard, click one bookmark, and every collection is reproduced on clientgallery.io under your brand, at full size, with sets, titles, descriptions, event dates, passwords and photo order kept. Around it sits a short plan, and a plain account of what does not move and when staying is the better decision.
Why re-uploading is the slow road
Pixieset's help centre documents no bulk download of an entire account. As the photographer, you download a collection the way a client would: from the gallery itself, as a ZIP, by default behind a 4-digit download PIN, and at original resolution only if the collection's settings allow it. Original resolution is an upgraded-plan feature; the other high-resolution size is 3600px. Repeat that for every collection, then rebuild sets, order, event dates and passwords by hand somewhere new. That is why people postpone.
What Pixieset does hand you is an export of collection information: a CSV with each collection's name, the client's first name, last name and email, the download PIN, the collection password, the client private password, the folder password and the collection URL. It contains no photos or videos. For a migration, that file is your inventory, nothing more. The export guide walks through it.
One more fact takes the pressure off: Pixieset collections do not expire unless you switched on its Auto-Expiry feature. Nothing is at risk while you plan.
The switch, in six steps
The import is the easy part. The steps around it are what make the switch clean.
- Audit what you have on Pixieset. Export the CSV from your dashboard. Sort it by client and mark two groups: active galleries (recent deliveries, open print orders, links sent in the last few months) and archive. Note which collections carry a password; you will verify those by hand later. Count the collections on your dashboard; the import panel reports the number it found, and the two should match. Check your storage figure too: every upload counts toward the plan's storage, so the size of your account tells you which tier you are paying for.
- Run the whole-account import. In your clientgallery.io studio, open the import page and drag the bookmark to your bookmarks bar. Sign in at galleries.pixieset.com and click the bookmark once. A small panel opens and reads your account: every collection, its sets, titles, descriptions, event date, password and photo order. Your galleries are reproduced on clientgallery.io one by one, photos at full size, filed in their sets, in your order, under your brand. Pixieset is only read, never changed, and your sign-in password never reaches clientgallery.io; the panel works inside the session you are already signed in to. If the connection drops, click the bookmark again: what is already imported is skipped, so a large account can move in stages without duplicates.
- Check a few galleries side by side. Open the same collection on both sites. Compare the photo count per set, the set order, the event date and the cover. Enter the password from the CSV and confirm it opens the imported gallery, then download as a client would. Do this for your most recent delivery, your largest gallery, and one with a password. If any of them is off, sort it out before you send a single new link.
- Swap links with clients. Active clients get a short message: new link, same password, downloads work the same way. Update the link in your contract and welcome templates, the client-login button on your website, and any automated email in your CRM. Archive clients do not need a message; when one asks for their gallery, you send the new link.
- Keep Pixieset alive until nothing points at it. Do not cancel the day the import finishes. Give it one billing cycle, and watch for clients opening old links, print orders still open, and any collection you forgot. On a yearly plan, note the renewal date: yearly plans renew once a year on their original purchase date, and that date is your natural deadline.
- Cancel. Pixieset lets you cancel at any time; cancelling fully ends the subscription and removes access to that product. Refunds are not issued for account cancellations, so cancel at the end of a paid period, not the start of one. After cancellation Pixieset keeps your collections "for a period of time" before deleting them, and does not say how long. Treat that window as a courtesy, not a backup; your backup is your own archive of masters plus the galleries now on clientgallery.io.
What moves and what does not
The import moves galleries. It does not move a business that lives inside Pixieset.
| What | Moves? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Collections | Yes | Reproduced one by one at full size, under your brand, on your own subdomain. |
| Sets inside a collection | Yes | Filed in their sets, with titles and descriptions. |
| Photo order | Yes | Set order first, then your ordering inside each set. |
| Titles, descriptions and event dates | Yes | As set on Pixieset. |
| Collection passwords | Yes | A protected gallery stays protected. Your Pixieset sign-in password is never sent. |
| Client names and emails | No | They are in the CSV export. Keep the file. |
| Download PINs | No | Clients download the whole gallery in one click or any single image; hosted galleries never expire. Full-resolution delivery is a paid feature: one full-resolution ZIP per gallery, live for 3 days per handoff, re-uploadable any time, with 100 GB of standing ZIPs per account. |
| Print store, price lists and orders | No | No print store and no commissions here. Orders stay in Pixieset; save what you need before you cancel. |
| Anything that runs inside Pixieset's own apps | No | Only the galleries move; whatever lives inside Pixieset stays there. |
| RAW files and videos | No | clientgallery.io hosts JPEGs, not RAW files or master video. Keep masters in your own archive. |
| Platform branding | Nothing to move | None on any client-facing page here, on every account. On Pixieset the footer is hidden on upgraded plans only. |
What the imported galleries look like
Each imported gallery sits on your own studio subdomain with no platform branding on any client-facing page, on every account rather than as a paid unlock. Clients download the whole gallery in one click or any single image, and hosted galleries never expire. Full-resolution delivery is a paid feature: you upload a full-resolution ZIP per gallery, it stays live for 3 days per handoff and can be re-uploaded any time, with 100 GB of standing ZIPs per account. Face Search is included, and sub-galleries, folders inside a gallery, are there for new work. New deliveries can come straight out of Lightroom Classic through the two-way plugin, which publishes proofs from the catalog and pulls client picks back in; the Lightroom workflow guide and the photo delivery guide cover that side.
The two price lists, side by side
Money is part of the decision, not the main reason. Pixieset's figures are the USD prices on its pricing page; the real-cost guide goes through them line by line.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Storage | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pixieset Free | 0 $ | 0 $ | 3 GB | Unlimited galleries; 15% commission on sales |
| Pixieset Basic | 10 $/month | 8 $/month | 10 GB | Branding removed; full-resolution download; commission-free sales |
| Pixieset Plus | 20 $/month | 16 $/month | 100 GB | |
| Pixieset Pro | 30 $/month | 24 $/month | 1 TB | RAW upload; bulk share |
| Pixieset Ultimate | 50 $/month | 40 $/month | Unlimited photo storage | |
| clientgallery.io | 10 $/month | 100 $/year (8.33 $/month) | No storage tiers; fair use is 1,000 photos per gallery and 250 GB of proofs per paid account, which is hundreds of thousands of photos; free accounts hold 5 GB | Unlimited galleries, photos and clients under fair use; no platform branding; no print store; no commissions |
Pixieset's terms add a fair-usage line the pricing page does not show: additional fees are possible above 20 GB per collection and 100 GB of bandwidth per month.
When to stay on Pixieset
A migration guide that never tells you to stay is a sales page. These are the cases where staying is right.
- You sell through the gallery. If print and product orders through Pixieset's store are a real revenue line, clientgallery.io has nothing to replace them with. Stay, or keep the store there and move delivery only, which means paying for both.
- You deliver RAW files or video. RAW upload is part of Pixieset's Pro plan, and its collections can hold videos. clientgallery.io hosts JPEGs and does not warehouse RAW files or master video; that is what keeps the price flat.
- You are on the free plan with a small archive. At 3 GB with unlimited galleries, Pixieset Free costs nothing, and the 15% commission only bites if you sell. Its footer stays on your galleries, since branding is hidden on upgraded plans only; if that footer is your only reason to move, weigh 10 $/month against it honestly.
- You are part-way through a yearly plan. Not a reason to stay, but a reason to time it: no refund comes with cancellation, so run the import now, swap links over the following months, and cancel on the renewal date.
Sources
Every figure and policy above comes from one of these pages, fetched the same day. Pixieset's prices are the USD figures its pricing page shows; visitors from Canada see it in local currency.
- Pixieset pricing page, fetched 2 September 2026, https://pixieset.com/pricing/
- Pixieset help centre: Managing your Subscription, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003816812-Managing-your-Subscription
- Pixieset help centre: Do my Collections expire, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002975012-Do-my-Collections-expire
- Pixieset help centre: Using folders to share and organize galleries (the CSV export), fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/31178129650957-Using-folders-to-share-and-organize-galleries
- Pixieset help centre: Client Download Experience, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003594212-Client-Download-Experience
- Pixieset help centre: Download Sizes and Available Resolutions, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003793252-Download-Sizes-Available-Resolutions
- Pixieset help centre: Logos and Branding, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002970812-Logos-Branding
- Pixieset help centre: Uploading to Client Gallery, fetched 2 September 2026, https://help.pixieset.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003740132-Uploading-to-Client-Gallery
- Pixieset Terms of Service, last updated 20 March 2026, fetched 2 September 2026, https://pixieset.com/terms/
- clientgallery.io pricing, fetched 2 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Do I have to download every Pixieset gallery as a ZIP before switching?
No. The whole-account import reads your Pixieset dashboard and reproduces every collection at full size, with sets, titles, descriptions, event dates, passwords and photo order kept. ZIP downloads are only needed for your own archive of masters.
Does the import need my Pixieset password?
No. You sign in at galleries.pixieset.com yourself and click the bookmark. The panel works inside that signed-in session, only reads, and your sign-in password never reaches clientgallery.io. Gallery passwords are carried over, so a protected gallery stays protected.
What happens if the import stops halfway?
Click the bookmark again. Collections already imported are skipped, so nothing is duplicated. A collection still processing on Pixieset at the time is collected on the next run.
Will anything change on my Pixieset account?
No. The import only reads. Your collections, settings and links on Pixieset stay as they were, and old links keep working until you cancel.
When should I cancel Pixieset?
After nothing points at it: links swapped, orders closed, one quiet billing cycle. Pixieset issues no refunds on cancellation, so cancel at the end of a paid period. It then keeps collections for an unstated period before deleting them; do not rely on that window.
What if I sell prints through Pixieset?
Then think twice. clientgallery.io has no print store and takes no commission, so it cannot replace a store. If print orders are a real revenue line, stay, or keep the store on Pixieset and move delivery only.
Your client galleries, under your name
Unlimited galleries, your branding, one-click Pixieset import, and a Lightroom plugin — a flat 10 $/month, everything included. Your first gallery is free.
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