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A free online gallery for photographers: what the free plans really give you
Every client gallery platform has a free plan, and every free plan is built to be outgrown. This guide puts four of them side by side, works out what 5 GB holds in weddings and portrait sessions, and names the point at which paying starts to make sense. If you are delivering your first paid job this month, a free plan is enough to get you through it.
Free plans, side by side
Four platforms photographers actually use, on their free plans only. Where a limit is lifted by a paid plan, the cell says which one and what it costs. Details and prices checked September 2026, before VAT.
| What you get | Pixieset Vancouver, Canada | Pic-Time Israel, servers in the EU, US and Australia | picdrop Berlin, hosted in Germany | Photoglacier Austria, hosted in Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | 3 GB | 10 GB for photos plus 1 GB for video | 1 GB | 5 GB |
| Number of galleries | Unlimited | No gallery cap listed on the plan page we checked | 3 galleries | Unlimited galleries and images |
| Full-resolution downloads | Not listed as a free-plan limit; RAW upload starts on Pro at USD 30 a month | Not listed as a free-plan limit on the page we checked | Not mentioned as a free-plan limit on the page we checked | Yes, on every plan, with a per-gallery switch to turn downloads off |
| Video | None on the free plan; 30 minutes of HD video from Basic at USD 10 a month | 1 GB of video on the free plan | Video conversion is metered in hours on the paid plans; nothing is listed for Free | One clip per gallery, played in the browser, counted against the 5 GB |
| Expiry or shrinkage | No expiry listed on the plan page we checked | The 10 GB drops to 3 GB after six months | No expiry listed on the plan page we checked | None. No time limit, and galleries never expire |
| Branding | Pixieset branding; custom branding from Basic at USD 10 a month, USD 8 yearly | Your own logo is listed on Professional at USD 25 a month, USD 21 yearly | picdrop branding; custom branding from Pro at EUR 14.99 a month | Powered by Photoglacier; removed on Starter at EUR 8 a month yearly, EUR 12 monthly |
| Commission on sales | 15% on store sales from the free plan | Has a print store; the free-plan commission is not stated on the page we checked | No print store, so no commission | No print store, and no commission on anything, ever |
| Password protection | Not listed as a free-plan limit on the page we checked | Not called out as a free-plan limit on the page we checked | Not mentioned as a free-plan limit on the page we checked | Email gate on Free; passwords and download PINs from Starter at EUR 8 a month yearly |
What 5 GB actually holds
Storage numbers mean nothing until you convert them into jobs. The conversion depends almost entirely on the export size you choose, so here is the same 5 GB three ways.
A wedding at 2048px
A finished wedding delivered at 2048px on the long edge is about 600 to 800 JPEGs at 1 to 1.5 MB each, so roughly 1 GB for the whole day. Five gigabytes holds four to eight of those. At web size, a free plan is a working tool, not a trial.
The same wedding at full resolution
The same 600 to 800 images straight out of Lightroom at full resolution weigh 5 to 8 MB each, which is 3 to 6 GB. That is one wedding, and possibly not the whole of it. If the contract promises full-resolution files, 5 GB lasts exactly one job.
A year of portrait sessions
A portrait session that ends in 40 to 60 delivered images at 2048px comes to 50 to 90 MB. Fifty sessions fit in 5 GB with room to spare, so a year of family, headshot and newborn work sits comfortably on a free plan, as long as you deliver at web size and take old galleries down once the job is done.
What free plans usually take away
The storage number is the headline, but it is rarely the reason someone upgrades. These four things are what every provider holds back, because they are what a working photographer wants first.
Their name on your gallery
A free gallery carries the platform's branding, and removing it is the first paid feature on all four. Pixieset lists custom branding from Basic at USD 10 a month, Pic-Time your own logo from Professional at USD 25, picdrop from Pro at EUR 14.99, and Photoglacier removes its Powered by line on Starter at EUR 8 a month on yearly billing.
A password on the door
Free plans tend to give you a link and nothing to lock it with. On Photoglacier the free plan has an email gate, which tells you who opened the gallery, while passwords and download PINs start on Starter. If a client has asked for privacy in writing, check that the free plan you are on can actually promise it.
Video
Video is the most uneven line in the table. Pixieset has none on Free, Pic-Time gives 1 GB, picdrop meters conversion by the hour on its paid plans, and Photoglacier allows one clip per gallery that plays in the browser and counts against the 5 GB. A wedding film is usually several gigabytes on its own, so on any free plan it competes with the photos for space.
Your own domain
A gallery at galleries.yourname.com is a paid feature on the plans we checked. Pixieset lists a custom domain from Basic at USD 10 a month, Photoglacier from Pro at EUR 19 a month on yearly billing. For most photographers it is the last thing worth paying for: clients open the link you send them and rarely read the address bar.
A free gallery in ten minutes
The steps are the same on any platform. Most of the ten minutes is the export, and most of the mistakes are made there.
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Export at the size you mean to deliver
Export sRGB JPEGs at quality 90 or higher. Choose 2048px on the long edge for a viewing gallery, or full resolution if the client is owed the files. This one decision sets how far the free storage goes, so make it on purpose rather than by default.
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Create the account, no card required
The free plans in the table above do not ask for a credit card. Sign up, confirm the email, and make one gallery. Name it by client and date, because in a year you will be looking for it by exactly those two things.
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Upload and split the set into sections
Drag the folder in. If the platform supports sections inside a gallery, split a wedding into getting ready, ceremony, portraits and party while the upload runs. Choose a cover image; it is the first thing the client sees and the only thing they will remember about the design.
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Set the rules before you send
Decide whether downloads are on, whether visitors leave an email before they enter, and whether favourites and reactions are switched on. Do it now: changing the rules after the link is out means explaining the change to the client.
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Send one link, then watch the dashboard
Send the link with two sentences: what is in the gallery, and what you would like the client to do. The dashboard tells you when it was opened. If nothing happens in three days, that is your cue to follow up, not a sign the client is unhappy.
When it is time to pay
A free plan stops being the right plan on a specific day, and it is usually one of these three.
The first invoice
The day you charge for the photographs, the gallery should carry your name and not the platform's. The cheapest removals on the plans we checked are Photoglacier Starter at EUR 8 a month on yearly billing and Pixieset Basic at USD 8 a month yearly; picdrop Pro is EUR 14.99 and Pic-Time lists your logo on Professional at USD 25.
The first full-resolution wedding
One wedding at full resolution fills a free plan on its own, and a second one will not fit. The 100 GB tier is where a wedding business starts: Photoglacier Starter at EUR 8 a month yearly, Pixieset Plus at USD 20 a month or 16 yearly, Pic-Time Professional at USD 25 or 21 yearly. picdrop skips 100 GB and goes straight to 500 GB on Pro at EUR 14.99.
The first client who asks for a lock
A corporate client, a school, or a couple who do not want the photos found by a guessed link will ask for a password, and a free plan generally cannot give them one. On Photoglacier that is Starter, which adds passwords and download PINs and lets you export the client's selections as a filename list for Lightroom.
What the Photoglacier free plan is for
Photoglacier is a gallery platform built in Austria and running on servers in Germany, so client photos stay in the EU under the GDPR on every plan. The free plan is meant to be used, not tried: 5 GB, unlimited galleries, no time limit and no credit card. It has edges too, and they are listed below with the rest.
- 5 GB with unlimited galleries and images; galleries never expire and nothing is deleted for inactivity
- Full-resolution downloads on the free plan, switched off per gallery when a job calls for it
- Email gate, guest lists and reactions (stars, likes, reject) included, so a free gallery can double as a proofing round
- One video clip per gallery, played in the browser, counted against the 5 GB like any other file
- The free plan shows a Powered by Photoglacier line and has no passwords; those come with Starter at EUR 8 a month yearly. No print store or watermarking on any plan
Questions people are asking
Is there a free online gallery for photographers?
Yes, and most of the established platforms offer one. Pixieset gives 3 GB, Pic-Time 10 GB that drops to 3 GB after six months, picdrop 1 GB across three galleries, and Photoglacier 5 GB with unlimited galleries and no expiry. The differences are less in the number and more in what is taken away: branding, passwords, video, and in Pixieset's case a 15% commission on store sales.
What is the best free client gallery?
The best free client gallery is the one whose limits you can live with for the work you actually do. For a photographer who delivers finished sets and wants nothing to expire, Photoglacier's 5 GB with unlimited galleries and full-resolution downloads goes furthest. Pixieset's free plan brings a strong Lightroom plugin and unlimited galleries but only 3 GB and no video; Pic-Time starts at 10 GB but shrinks after six months; picdrop's 1 GB and three galleries are a trial rather than a working plan.
How much does 5 GB hold?
About 4,000 JPEGs at 2048px, or around 700 at full resolution. A wedding delivered at web size is 600 to 800 images at 1 to 1.5 MB each, so four to eight weddings fit; the same wedding at 5 to 8 MB per image uses most of the space on its own. A portrait session of 40 to 60 images at web size takes 50 to 90 MB, so a year of them fits comfortably.
Do free galleries expire?
Some do, some shrink, and some stay. On Pic-Time the free 10 GB is reduced to 3 GB after six months. Pixieset and picdrop list no expiry on the plans we checked. Photoglacier's free plan has no time limit, and galleries never expire on any plan.
Can clients download full resolution on a free plan?
On Photoglacier, yes: full-resolution downloads are on every plan including Free, with a per-gallery switch to turn downloads off. For the other providers, download sizes are not called out as a free-plan limit on the pages we checked, so test it with one gallery before you promise a client anything. The size clients receive is decided first by what you upload, so export at the size you intend them to have.
Can I remove branding for free?
Not on any of the four free plans we checked. Photoglacier shows a Powered by Photoglacier line on Free and removes it on Starter at EUR 8 a month on yearly billing; Pixieset lists custom branding from Basic at USD 10 a month, USD 8 yearly; picdrop from Pro at EUR 14.99; Pic-Time lists your own logo on Professional at USD 25, USD 21 yearly. Removing branding is the first thing every provider charges for, because it is the first thing a working photographer wants.
Is a free gallery good enough for a wedding?
For one wedding at web size, yes. 600 to 800 images at 2048px come to about 1 GB, which fits on every free plan in the table except picdrop's 1 GB, and on Photoglacier the couple can open the link, pass it to family and download without an account. What free plans usually lack is your own branding, a password and room for the full-resolution files, so if the contract promises those, the wedding is the moment to move to a paid plan.
A free client gallery, and where it ends
A free online gallery for photographers is easy to find and hard to choose, because the storage number on the pricing page tells you very little. Pixieset's 3 GB, Pic-Time's 10 GB that becomes 3 GB after six months, picdrop's 1 GB across three galleries and Photoglacier's 5 GB with unlimited galleries all look like the same kind of offer until you convert them into weddings and portrait sessions. At 2048px a wedding is about 1 GB; at full resolution it is 3 to 6 GB. That arithmetic, not the headline figure, decides which client gallery for photographers is free for you in practice.
The other thing to read on a free client gallery is what has been taken away. Branding removal, passwords, video and a custom domain are paid features across the plans we checked, and Pixieset's free plan also takes 15% of store sales. Photoglacier's free plan keeps full-resolution downloads, an email gate, reactions and one video per gallery, shows a Powered by Photoglacier line, and never expires. When the first invoice goes out or the first full-resolution wedding arrives, Starter at EUR 8 a month on yearly billing removes the branding and adds 100 GB, passwords and download PINs.
More guides
Pixieset, Pic-Time and picdrop are trademarks of their respective owners. Photoglacier is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any of them; their names appear here only to describe the services this page compares. Plan details and prices were checked in September 2026 and may change, so confirm them on each provider's own pricing page before you decide.
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