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The all-in-one platform for professional photographers: client galleries, quotes and invoices, online booking, and an AI copilot.

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Pelli vs SmugMug: from delivered gallery to signed quote

SmugMug has hosted and sold photos for over twenty years, with unlimited JPEG storage and a solid print fulfilment chain. Pelli starts from a different place: covering the whole job, from the gallery you deliver to the client all the way to the signed quote, the invoice and the appointment booked online. Both platforms host your images and take payment for your sales; one keeps 15% of the markup you add, the other takes no commission — you only pay the usual Stripe fees on your own account. Here, line by line, is what each one covers and what it leaves out.

  • Pelli takes no commission on your sales; you only pay the usual Stripe fees. SmugMug keeps 15% of the difference between your price and its base price, but states that it absorbs credit card processing fees.
  • Quotes, invoices, signed contracts and online booking (Ultra plan) are built into Pelli. SmugMug does offer “Customer Leads” client records, but neither quotes nor invoicing appear in its published offering.
  • SmugMug gives unlimited JPEG storage on every plan, a genuine strength next to the 1 TB on Pelli's Ultra plan; its videos are capped at 20 minutes at 1920×1080.
  • With SmugMug, selling starts on the Portfolio plan at $23.50/month billed annually, and there is no free plan. With Pelli, the store opens on the Pro plan, at $390 a year.
  • Pelli is built in France, available in French, and ready for the French 2026-2027 e-invoicing reform (Peppol, on the Pro and Ultra plans).
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Detailed Comparison

Discover why Pelli is the best choice for your photography business

Galleries and client delivery

Feature
Pelli
SmugMug
Client galleries under your own brand
Included
Included
Photo storage
10 GB on Lite, 100 GB on Pro, 1 TB on Ultra
Unlimited full-resolution JPEG; RAW is an add-on at $10/month for the first TB
Video
1 hour on Lite, 5 hours on Pro, 15 hours on Ultra
20 minutes and 1920×1080 maximum per video, 3 GB per file
Password-protected galleries
Included
Included
Watermarking and image protection
Included
Included
Lightroom plugin
Included
Included

Selling and getting paid

Feature
Pelli
SmugMug
Selling prints and digital files
Included on the Pro and Ultra plans
From the Portfolio plan ($23.50/month billed annually)
Platform commission on your sales
0% Pelli commission; only the usual Stripe fees apply on your own account
15% of your markup, meaning the gap between your price and SmugMug's base price; credit card processing fees are stated as covered
Base cost on a digital file
None
$0.49 per file and $1.99 for a gallery download
How your earnings reach you
Straight into your own Stripe account
Automatic payout once you reach $500 in profits, otherwise a manual request; processed after the 7th of the month
Printing and shipping handled for you
Yes, through the Pelli printing solution (Pro and Ultra plans)
Included
Coupons, packages and gift cards
Pro and Ultra plans
Coupons and packages from the Pro plan ($37/month billed annually)

Running your business

Feature
Pelli
SmugMug
Client records and sales pipeline (CRM)
Included
“Customer Leads” client records (contact details, purchase history and gallery subscriptions), in the selling tools on the Portfolio and Pro plans
Quotes with electronic signature
Included
Not mentioned in its published offering
Invoices and payment tracking
Included
Not mentioned in its published offering
Contracts signed online
Included
Not mentioned in its published offering
Appointment booking with a deposit
Included on the Ultra plan
Not mentioned in its published offering
French 2026-2027 e-invoicing (Peppol)
Pro and Ultra plans, once activated
Not mentioned in its published offering

Brand, marketing and support

Feature
Pelli
SmugMug
Portfolio website
Website included: 1 page on Lite, 3 pages on Pro, unlimited on Ultra, with visitor statistics; built with Léa, the AI assistant, on Pro and Ultra
No-code site templates on every plan; advanced gallery-style customisation from the Portfolio plan
AI assistant: natural-language search, face detection
Léa, the AI assistant, on the Pro and Ultra plans, with natural-language search and face detection
SmugMug's “Assistant” is delegated access for another person, not an AI; no artificial-intelligence feature is mentioned in its published offering
Email and SMS campaigns
Included
Marketing tools and sales analytics are advertised; email or SMS campaigns are not mentioned in its published offering
Google review booster
Included
Not mentioned in its published offering
Express transfer for large files
Included
Digital delivery through the galleries
Interface and documentation languages
Interface in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Swedish
Help centre published in English only; interface languages are not stated in its published offering

Pricing: what you actually pay

Subscription for subscription, SmugMug's selling tiers start lower: selling opens at $282 a year on Portfolio, while Pelli's store opens on the Pro plan at $390 a year. The gap closes as soon as you sell, because the 15% taken from your markup grows with your revenue while Pelli's commission stays at zero — bearing in mind that SmugMug states it absorbs credit card processing fees, whereas with Pelli the Stripe fees apply on your own account. Then there is scope: Pelli includes the CRM, quotes and invoices, and online booking on the Ultra plan, which many photographers currently pay for in a second subscription. The other way round, SmugMug offers unlimited JPEG storage that Pelli does not match.

Pelli

PRO

€25/month

Monthly

Yearly: €15/month · That's €180 per year

  • 100 GB storage (30,000+ photos)
  • Quotes, invoices & contracts
  • Léa, your AI copilot
  • Online store
Try 15 days free

ULTRA

€50/month

Monthly

Yearly: €35/month · That's €420 per year

  • 1 TB storage
  • Quotes, invoices & contracts
  • Léa, your AI copilot
  • Online booking
Try 15 days free
Simple, transparent pricing

SmugMug — the subscription, plus 15% of your markup

  • Direct: $20/month billed annually, or $240 a year. This plan does not allow selling.
  • Portfolio: $23.50/month billed annually, or $282 a year. This is the first plan that allows selling.
  • Pro: $37/month billed annually, or $444 a year, with multiple pricelists, coupons and packages.
  • No free plan. A 14-day trial, during which gallery sharing is not available.
  • On every sale, SmugMug keeps 15% of the gap between your price and its base price.
  • Unlimited JPEG storage is included; RAW files are an add-on at $10/month for 1 TB, then $6/month per extra TB.
  • SmugMug states that it covers credit card processing fees (“Credit card processing fees: None”).

Pelli — the subscription only, 0% commission

  • Lite: $9/month or $90 a year, with 10 GB of storage, 1 hour of video and unlimited galleries.
  • Pro: $39/month or $390 a year, with 100 GB, 5 hours of video, the online store and Léa, the AI assistant.
  • Ultra: $79/month or $790 a year, with 1 TB of storage, 15 hours of video, the full store and online booking.
  • 0% commission: your sales land directly in your own Stripe account, where only the usual Stripe fees apply.
  • A 15-day trial with no credit card, then a 30-day money-back guarantee.
  • CRM, quotes, invoices and contracts are included in the subscription, at no extra cost.

So, Pelli or SmugMug?

  • SmugMug remains a safe choice for hosting alone: unlimited JPEG storage, a Lightroom plugin, mobile apps, 24/7 support and credit card processing fees it says it covers.
  • If you sell regularly, the 15% taken from your markup eventually weighs more than the difference in subscription price.
  • Pelli covers what happens after the gallery: a full CRM, quotes, invoices, signed contracts and online booking (Ultra plan), none of which appear in SmugMug's published offering.
  • For a business registered in France, Pelli is built in France, available in French, and ready for the e-invoicing reform (Pro and Ultra plans).
  • A 15-day trial with no credit card and a 30-day refund: you can compare without committing.

If what you mainly need is unlimited photo hosting and a well-oiled print store, SmugMug has done that job well for twenty years. If you also want to issue a quote, get it signed, send the invoice, fill your calendar and keep your margins with no platform commission, that is the ground Pelli covers.

Other comparisons

Compare Pelli with other solutions on the market

Pelli vs ShootproofPelli vs JingooPelli vs CloudspotPelli vs HoneybookPelli vs FotostudioPelli vs ZenfolioPelli vs PixiesetPelli vs Google-drivePelli vs WetransferPelli vs Pic-timePelli vs DropboxPelli vs DubsadoPelli vs PhotodeckPelli vs PicdropPelli vs Lumys
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Methodology note

Compare the features, plan limits and billing period you need. Public prices and features can change; review dates are stated alongside the pricing details where available. Pelli payment and optional-service fees are separate from subscription prices. A trial lets you evaluate the workflow with your own project.

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