Comparison guide
picdrop alternatives: free, open source and EU-hosted options compared
picdrop is a good tool, built in Berlin and hosted in Germany, and most photographers who search for a picdrop alternative are not unhappy with it. They have outgrown a storage tier, run out of video conversion hours, or noticed that a wedding couple does not need a collaboration suite. This guide compares the realistic alternatives, including the open source and self-hosted route, and explains how to move without losing a gallery.
Why photographers look elsewhere
Three reasons come up again and again, and none of them is a complaint about quality.
A storage ladder that stops at 3 TB
The free plan holds 1 GB and three galleries, which is a test run rather than a working account. Pro is EUR 14.99 a month for 500 GB, Advanced EUR 39.99 for 1 TB, Business EUR 99.99 for 3 TB, and there is no unlimited tier. If unlimited is what you want, look at scrappbook or Pixieset Ultimate. Photoglacier does not offer it either, and says so.
Video counted in conversion hours
picdrop measures video not in gigabytes but in conversion time: one hour a month on Pro, two on Advanced, four on Business. A photographer who delivers a highlight film with every wedding will hit the hour before the storage, and the quota resets monthly rather than following the job. Most other tools count video against storage, which is easier to reason about.
A collaboration tool where a couple wants a presentation
picdrop was built for commercial and editorial work as much as for weddings: votes, colour marks, drawn Scribbles, file versions, an Inbox for receiving files, Live Push from the camera. For an art director that is the whole point. For a couple opening their wedding photos on a Sunday evening, it is an interface to learn, when what they wanted was a cover, a slideshow and a download button.
The alternatives, side by side
The three tools most often compared with picdrop, plus picdrop itself, on the plans a working photographer would actually pick. Prices exclude VAT and were checked in September 2026; picdrop and Photoglacier bill in euros, Pixieset in US dollars.
| What matters | picdrop Berlin, hosted in Germany | scrappbook Germany, EU hosting | Pixieset Vancouver, Canada | Photoglacier Austria, servers in Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 1 GB, 3 galleries | 5 GB, 3 galleries | 3 GB, unlimited galleries, no video, 15% commission on store sales | 5 GB, unlimited galleries, no expiry, Photoglacier branding shown |
| First paid plan | Pro, EUR 14.99 a month (cheaper billed yearly) | Starter, from about EUR 19 a month | Basic, USD 10 a month (USD 8 billed yearly) | Starter, EUR 12 a month (EUR 8 billed yearly) |
| Storage on it | 500 GB | Unlimited, with a limited number of galleries | 10 GB | 100 GB, plus EUR 5 a month per extra 100 GB |
| Video | Counted in conversion hours: 1 a month on Pro, 2 on Advanced, 4 on Business | Not stated on the plans we checked | None on Free; 30 minutes HD on Basic, up to about 5 hours in total on higher plans; downloads capped at 2048px below Pro | Counts against storage like any file; one clip per gallery on Free, three on Starter, unlimited from Pro; plays in the browser |
| Hosting and AVV | Germany; AVV available; states no AI on user data | EU hosting; AVV available | Data may be stored outside the EU; transfers under Standard Contractual Clauses; DPA is part of the terms | Object storage and servers in Germany; AVV in German, DPA in English, signed electronically |
| Proofing tools | Selections, votes, colour marks, Scribbles, file versions | Not covered on the plans we checked | Not the focus; the strong point is the Lightroom plugin | Stars, likes and reject on every plan; filename export from Starter; pinned comments from Pro; Boards on Studio |
| Print store | None | Not listed on the plans we checked | Yes, with a website builder and studio manager alongside | None |
| Best for | Commercial and editorial proofing, and receiving files from others | A flat rate for unlimited storage in Germany | Print sales and a full studio suite | Plain delivery and proofing for weddings, portraits and events, kept in the EU |
Pick by what you use picdrop for
picdrop does several jobs, and the right alternative depends on which one you are actually replacing.
Commercial proofing with an art director
If your working day is votes, colour marks, Scribbles and file versions going back and forth with an agency, picdrop is hard to beat and staying is a reasonable answer. The nearest equivalents elsewhere are narrower: Photoglacier has comments pinned to a spot in the image from the Pro plan and Boards with annotations, approval status and versions on Studio, but nothing like colour marks or Live Push.
Receiving files from clients and colleagues
The picdrop Inbox lets other people send files to you. A client gallery runs the other way, from you to the client, so do not expect one to replace this. For the receiving direction a transfer tool or a shared folder does the job: SwissTransfer takes up to 50 GB free with links that last up to 30 days, and a Dropbox or Google Drive folder covers an ongoing job.
Editorial handovers
A picture editor wants full-resolution files, sensible filenames, a link that works without an account, and no expiry surprise. Any gallery with original-size downloads does that. What you give up leaving picdrop is file versions and Live Push from the camera; what you gain with Photoglacier is subsets inside one gallery, a download PIN from Starter, and a guest list showing who opened what.
Wedding and portrait delivery
This is where a switch is easiest, because the couple needs the least. A cover, a clean presentation, favourites, downloads their family can use, and a link that still works next year. Photoglacier's free plan does that with 5 GB and galleries that never expire; Starter at EUR 8 a month billed yearly removes the branding and adds passwords. If you also sell prints, Pixieset is the candidate instead.
Open source and self-hosted
A search for a self hosted picdrop alternative usually ends at Lumio, which is source-available and runs on your own server. It is a real option, with a real bill in hours.
What self-hosting gives you
You choose the server, the country and the domain. No plan ladder applies, storage costs what your host charges for disk, and the files sit on hardware you picked. For a photographer with a client contract that names a specific location, or with a volume where hosted storage fees dominate, that control is the whole reason to do it.
What it costs in time
You become the system administrator. Updates, backups in a second place, TLS certificates, monitoring, and the evening it goes down two hours before a delivery. You still need a processor agreement with whoever rents you the server, because GDPR obligations do not vanish when the software is yours. A hosted gallery's monthly fee is partly paying for someone else to be on call.
When it is worth it
If you already run servers, or have someone who does, self-hosting is cheap and the open source route is worth a weekend. If you photograph weddings and want the delivery to work without thinking about it, an EU-hosted provider is usually cheaper once your own hours are counted. The honest test: would you rather fix a certificate error or edit photos?
Moving off picdrop
There is no import button between gallery platforms on any of the tools we checked, and you do not need one. The files you need are already in your archive.
-
Export from your own archive, not from picdrop
Your edited files live in Lightroom or on your drive, so re-export at the delivery size rather than downloading galleries back. Do download anything that exists only in picdrop: files that arrived through the Inbox, and versions a client approved.
-
Keep both accounts live for one delivery cycle
Set up the new account, send one real job through it, and watch a client open it before you move anything else. Leave every open picdrop gallery where it is until that job is closed; a link a client already has should keep working until they are done with it.
-
Rebuild the presentation once, as a preset
Cover, fonts, colours, download rules, password. Set it up once and save it as a preset so the next gallery takes minutes. On Photoglacier the free plan holds one preset, Pro holds as many as you like, and subsets replace the sections you used for getting ready, ceremony and party.
-
Re-send links, then cancel last
Update the gallery link in your email templates, your contract and your website. Re-send anything still open. Then check picdrop's renewal date, because yearly billing renews on its own, and cancel once the last gallery has been closed.
If plain delivery is the job
For the delivery half of what picdrop does, this is what the same work looks like on Photoglacier. It is built in Austria and runs on servers and object storage in Germany, with an AVV in German and a DPA in English. The free plan is 5 GB with unlimited galleries and no expiry, enough to send one job through and watch a client open it before you decide anything.
- Photos and video in one gallery; video counts against storage, not an hourly quota, with one clip per gallery on Free, three on Starter and unlimited from Pro
- Stars, likes and reject on every plan; filename export for Lightroom from Starter; comments pinned to a spot in the image from Pro; Boards for teams on Studio
- Clients need no account or app; a gallery is a web page they can pass on to family
- AVV and DPA signed electronically, breach notice within 48 hours, nothing analysed or used for training
- What it does not do: no inbox for receiving files, no colour marks or Scribbles, no watermarking, no print store, no unlimited tier, and branding shows on the free plan
Questions people are asking
What is the best picdrop alternative?
It depends on which picdrop job you are replacing. For plain wedding and portrait delivery hosted in the EU, Photoglacier is the closest fit, with 5 GB free and 100 GB for EUR 8 a month billed yearly. For a flat rate on unlimited storage in Germany, scrappbook from about EUR 19 a month. For print sales and a studio suite, Pixieset. For picdrop's depth of commercial proofing, nothing on the plans we checked matches it exactly, and staying is a fair answer.
Is there a free picdrop alternative?
Yes. picdrop's own free plan is 1 GB and three galleries. Photoglacier's free plan is 5 GB with unlimited galleries, full-resolution downloads and no expiry, with Photoglacier branding shown. scrappbook offers 5 GB and three galleries free, and Pixieset 3 GB with unlimited galleries, no video and a 15% commission on store sales.
Is there an open-source or self-hosted picdrop alternative?
Lumio is the one we would name: source-available and self-hosted, so it runs on a server you rent or own. You trade the monthly fee for updates, backups, certificates and being the person on call, and you still need a processor agreement with your hosting provider. It is a good deal if you already run servers, and an expensive one if you do not.
Is picdrop GDPR compliant?
picdrop is a Berlin company, hosts in Germany, offers an AVV and states that no AI is run on user data, which covers the points a photographer needs from a provider. Compliance is also about your side: sign the AVV, set retention, use passwords where the photos are sensitive, and inform the people in the pictures. This page is not legal advice.
picdrop or Pixieset?
picdrop if you want German hosting, euro pricing and proofing tools for commercial work; Pixieset if you sell prints or want a website builder and studio manager in the same suite. On storage per euro picdrop wins clearly, 500 GB for EUR 14.99 against Pixieset Plus at USD 20 for 100 GB. Pixieset may store data outside the EU and takes a 15% commission on store sales on its free plan.
Which alternatives host in Germany or the EU?
In Germany: picdrop (Berlin), scrappbook (EU hosting, AVV), Pictrs (free 10 GB, Profi EUR 11.90 for 100 GB), and Photoglacier, an Austrian company with servers and object storage in Germany. PictoMento covers the Netherlands and Germany. Elsewhere in the EU, Lumys and pelli host in France, LookAt and wybierajka are Polish, and Arcadina is Spanish. Check the AVV or DPA before you sign up with any of them.
Can I move galleries from picdrop?
Not with an import button, because no tool we checked offers one, but you do not need it. Re-export the delivery files from your own archive, keep both accounts live for one delivery cycle, rebuild your presentation as a preset, re-send the links that are still in use, and cancel picdrop last. Download anything that only exists there, such as Inbox uploads and approved versions, before you close it.
picdrop alternatives for photographers in Germany and the EU
Most searches for a picdrop alternative come from photographers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland who want to stay on European servers and are checking whether the alternatives do too. That is the right instinct. Where the files sit decides which privacy law covers the people in your photos, and it is the first thing a corporate client asks. picdrop, scrappbook, Pictrs and Photoglacier all host in Germany with an AVV on offer; Pixieset and Pic-Time may store data outside the EU and rely on contractual clauses for transfers. A free picdrop alternative exists on each of the European tools, with 5 GB on Photoglacier and on scrappbook.
The self hosted picdrop alternative is a smaller search but a serious one, and Lumio is where it ends: source-available software on your own server, with the hours that implies. A picdrop alternative open source photographers can run themselves makes sense for a studio that already runs infrastructure; for a single photographer delivering weddings, an EU-hosted gallery with a signed AVV is usually cheaper once time is counted. Whichever way you go, the move is the same: re-export from your archive, run both accounts for one cycle, and cancel last. Photoglacier offers the delivery half of that on a free plan you can test with one real job.
More guides
picdrop, scrappbook, Pixieset, Pic-Time, Pictrs, Lumio and the other brand names on this page belong to their respective owners. Photoglacier is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any of them. Prices and plan details were checked in September 2026 and may change; check each provider's own page before you decide.
A gallery for the delivery half
EU hosting, galleries that never expire, and a free plan with 5 GB.
