Comparison guide
Pic-Time alternatives: what to use instead, and what each one gives up
Most searches for a Pic-Time alternative start with one of three things: a free plan that shrinks after six months, a video quota that fills faster than the photo storage, or a print store you never open. This guide puts Pixieset, picdrop and Photoglacier next to Pic-Time on the numbers that matter, then helps you pick by what you actually use it for. Prices were checked in September 2026.
Why photographers look elsewhere
Pic-Time is a capable platform, and plenty of photographers are happy on it. The ones who leave tend to name the same three reasons.
The free plan gets smaller
Pic-Time's free plan starts with 10 GB for photos and 1 GB for video, then drops to 3 GB after six months. A gallery you set up in spring may no longer fit by autumn, which is an odd thing to have to plan around. The free plans at Pixieset, picdrop and Photoglacier stay the size they were on day one.
Video has a quota of its own
Video on Pic-Time is a separate allowance per plan: 1 GB free, 5 GB on Beginner, 30 GB on Professional, 60 GB on Advanced. Because it is counted apart from the photo storage, you can be out of video room while most of the photo space sits empty. One 4K wedding film is enough to feel it.
A platform built around print sales
The centre of the product is the print store, with automated marketing and more than 30 labs behind it. If prints are part of your income, that is exactly what you want. If you deliver galleries and never sell a thing, it is machinery you carry and pay for without using it.
The alternatives, side by side
Pic-Time is in the first column so the comparison is honest. Pic-Time and Pixieset are priced in US dollars, picdrop and Photoglacier in euros; monthly prices are shown, with the yearly rate in brackets where one is published. Checked September 2026.
| What matters | Pic-Time The one you are leaving | Pixieset Client gallery suite | picdrop Proofing and collaboration | Photoglacier Delivery galleries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 10 GB photos and 1 GB video, cut to 3 GB after six months | 3 GB, unlimited galleries, no video, 15% commission on store sales | 1 GB and 3 galleries | 5 GB, unlimited galleries, no expiry, Photoglacier branding shown |
| First paid plan | Beginner, USD 8 (USD 7 yearly): 20 GB plus 5 GB video | Basic, USD 10 (USD 8 yearly): 10 GB, custom branding and domain | Pro, EUR 14.99: 500 GB, custom branding | Starter, EUR 12 (EUR 8 yearly): 100 GB, branding removed, passwords |
| Price of 100 GB | Professional, USD 25 (USD 21 yearly) | Plus, USD 20 (USD 16 yearly) | Pro at EUR 14.99 already includes 500 GB | Starter, EUR 12 (EUR 8 yearly) |
| Video | Separate quota per plan, from 1 GB free to 60 GB on Advanced, up to 4K | None on Free; 30 minutes HD on Basic, about 5 hours on the top plans; 4K downloads only on Pro and Ultimate | Counted in conversion time: 1 hour a month on Pro, up to 4 hours on Business | Counts against storage like any file; 1 clip per gallery free, 3 on Starter, unlimited from Pro; files up to 10 GB |
| Hosting | Israeli company; servers in the EU, the US and Australia | Canadian company; data may sit outside the EU, transfers under Standard Contractual Clauses | Berlin company, hosted in Germany, AVV available | Austrian company, servers in Germany, DPA and AVV |
| Print store | Yes, more than 30 labs with automated marketing | Yes, 15% commission on the free plan | No | No |
| Design and branding | Premium gallery design; logo and watermarks from Professional | Custom branding and a custom domain from Basic | Custom branding from Pro; built for work rather than presentation | Branding removed from Starter, custom domain from Pro, no watermarking |
| Proofing | Client selections and album proofing from Professional | Not a headline feature on the plans we checked; the strength is the Lightroom plugin | The strongest here: selections, votes, colour marks, drawn annotations, file versions | Stars, likes and reject on every plan; filename export from Starter; pinned comments from Pro |
Pick by what you use Pic-Time for
Nobody uses the whole of Pic-Time. Most accounts lean on one part of it, and the right alternative depends on which part that is.
The premium design
Pic-Time's gallery design is a real reason to stay, and most alternatives are plainer. Of the three here, Pixieset is the most presentation-led, with custom branding and a custom domain from its first paid plan. picdrop is built for work rather than show. Photoglacier keeps design deliberately simple: two fonts, two layouts and three colours on the free plan, full customisation from Starter, a custom domain on Pro.
The store and its automation
If prints are a real line in your income, keep a store. Pixieset has one, with a 15% commission on the free plan. Neither picdrop nor Photoglacier sells prints at all, so moving to either means ordering from a lab yourself and invoicing the client, which for a handful of prints a year is often simpler than a store anyway. Nothing here replaces Pic-Time's automated marketing.
Client selections and album proofing
Pic-Time puts selections and album proofing on Professional at USD 25 a month. picdrop is the strongest proofing tool in this comparison, with votes, colour marks, drawn annotations and file versions, and it is priced for it. Photoglacier includes stars, likes and reject on every plan including the free one, exports the chosen filenames from Starter so you can paste them into Lightroom, and adds comments pinned to a spot in the image on Pro.
Plain delivery
Most galleries are a handover: upload, send the link, the couple downloads. For that job the store, the marketing and the face recognition are weight, not features. Photoglacier and picdrop are the delivery-first answers. Photoglacier's free plan gives 5 GB with full-resolution downloads, an email gate and no expiry; picdrop's gives 1 GB and three galleries.
Moving off Pic-Time
Nothing moves across automatically between gallery platforms, so the move is a re-upload. Done in this order it takes an afternoon and leaves no client with a dead link.
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Start from your own archive, not the download button
The files you uploaded to Pic-Time are exports from Lightroom or Capture One, and that is where the new galleries should come from too. Re-exporting from the catalogue gives you the same files at the same quality, rather than a copy that has passed through a second platform.
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Run both side by side for a month
Keep Pic-Time live while you build the first galleries elsewhere. Every alternative here has a free plan, 3 GB at Pixieset, 1 GB at picdrop, 5 GB at Photoglacier, which is enough to move one recent job across and watch a real client open it before you commit.
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Rebuild your presets and download rules once
Cover style, fonts, download sizes, watermark and password settings do not travel. Write down how your standard wedding and portrait galleries are set up, then rebuild each as a preset in the new platform so you only do it once. Photoglacier gives one preset on the free plan and unlimited presets on Pro.
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Re-send the links for galleries still in use
List the galleries still inside their delivery window: recent weddings, sessions the client has not finished downloading, proofing that is still open. Those are the only ones that need to move now. Send each client the new link with a short note, and re-apply the password or email gate on the new side.
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Cancel last, and mind the store
Cancel the Pic-Time subscription only after the last active gallery has moved, any print orders in progress have shipped, and the automated store emails have been switched off. Then note the date the account closes and keep your own archive as the copy of record, which it should have been all along.
Where Photoglacier fits, and where it does not
Photoglacier is the plain-delivery option in this comparison: a gallery platform built in Austria and running on servers in Germany, so photos and client data stay inside the EU under the GDPR. It is not a Pic-Time replacement for a photographer who sells prints, and it does not pretend to be. There is no print store, no CRM or invoicing, no watermarking, no face recognition and no unlimited-storage tier, and the free plan shows a small Powered by Photoglacier line. What it does instead is the delivery job, at a lower price and with fewer moving parts.
- 5 GB free with unlimited galleries, no credit card, and galleries that never shrink or expire
- 100 GB on Starter for EUR 8 a month billed yearly, with branding removed and password-protected galleries
- Video in the same gallery as the photos, counted against storage rather than a separate quota, files up to 10 GB each
- Stars, likes and reject on every plan, and the selected filenames exported to paste into Lightroom from Starter
- No commission and no per-image or download fees, plus a DPA or AVV to sign for your records
Questions people are asking
What is the best Pic-Time alternative?
It depends on which part of Pic-Time you use. Pixieset is the closest like-for-like, with a print store, premium design and a website builder in the same suite. picdrop is the answer for commercial and editorial proofing with German hosting. Photoglacier is the delivery-only option: EU hosting, no commission, and a free plan that does not shrink, but no print store.
Is there a free Pic-Time alternative?
Yes, and the free plans elsewhere hold steady where Pic-Time's drops from 10 GB to 3 GB after six months. Pixieset gives 3 GB with unlimited galleries but no video and a 15% commission on store sales. picdrop gives 1 GB and three galleries. Photoglacier gives 5 GB with unlimited galleries, full-resolution downloads, one video clip per gallery and no expiry.
Where does Pic-Time store photos?
Pic-Time is headquartered in Israel and runs on Azure, AWS and MongoDB infrastructure in the EU, the US and Australia. Which region a given gallery sits in is a question for their support. If you need EU-only storage stated outright, picdrop hosts in Germany with an AVV, and Photoglacier stores every photo in Germany with a DPA and AVV.
Pic-Time or Pixieset?
They are similar in shape: both sell prints, both put weight on gallery design, both are priced in US dollars and neither guarantees EU-only storage. Pic-Time has the larger video quotas on paid plans and face recognition on Advanced. Pixieset has custom branding and a custom domain from USD 10, unlimited storage at USD 50, a strong Lightroom plugin, and a studio manager with CRM and invoicing. If you sell nothing, look at the delivery-only tools instead.
Can I keep selling prints after leaving Pic-Time?
Only if you move to a platform with a store. Pixieset has one, with a 15% commission on the free plan. picdrop and Photoglacier have no print store at all, so prints become an order you place with a lab yourself and invoice separately. For photographers who sell a few prints a year that is often the simpler arrangement.
How do I move my galleries off Pic-Time?
By uploading them again from your own archive, because nothing transfers automatically between gallery platforms. Re-export from Lightroom or Capture One, run the old and new accounts side by side for a month, rebuild your presets, send new links only for galleries still in their delivery window, and cancel Pic-Time last, after any print orders have shipped.
Is there an EU-hosted Pic-Time alternative?
Yes. picdrop is a Berlin company hosted in Germany with an AVV. Photoglacier is an Austrian company with all photos stored in Germany and a DPA and AVV to sign. Further afield, scrappbook and Pictrs host in Germany, and Lumys and pelli in France. Pic-Time and Pixieset both run at least partly outside the EU.
Free and EU-hosted Pic-Time alternatives
Searches for a Pic-Time alternative come from two directions. One is price: the free plan that shrinks to 3 GB after six months, video quotas sold in gigabytes, and a print store that costs money to carry whether or not you sell. The other is location. Pic-Time runs on infrastructure in the EU, the US and Australia, and for a photographer in Europe whose clients ask where their photos are, a provider that simply says Germany is the easier answer. Both concerns point to the same shortlist: Pixieset for the full suite, picdrop for proofing, Photoglacier for delivery.
Photoglacier is an Austrian company running on German servers, so photos and client data never leave the EU. It covers the delivery half of what Pic-Time does: branded galleries shared by link, full-resolution downloads, video alongside the photos, stars and likes on every plan, and no account needed for the person at the other end. Every plan includes unlimited galleries, there is never a commission, and the free plan starts at 5 GB and stays there.
More guides
Photoglacier is not affiliated with Pic-Time, Pixieset or picdrop. Product names are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to describe the services this page compares. Prices and plan limits were checked in September 2026 and change without notice, so verify current terms on each vendor's own site.
Delivery without the store
Branded galleries, EU hosting, and a free plan with 5 GB that does not shrink.
