01
0% Pixalo Commission on Sales
Pixalo does not charge a sales commission on your sales. Your revenue flows directly through your connected payment providers (standard fees from Stripe or PayPal may apply).
Buyer's guide 2026
School Photography Software & Shop System Comparison 2026
Decision helper for photographers. What you should look for when choosing an online shop system for school and daycare photography.
Checklist
2026- 01Pricing Model
- 02Payout
- 03Branding
- 04Workflow
- 05Data Protection
5 criteria for your decision
Criteria
What Photographers Look for When Choosing School Photography Software
When selecting software for school and daycare photography, the pricing model, payout, branding, workflow, and data protection play an important role.
- 01
Pricing Model
Check whether monthly fees, sales-dependent commissions, or additional checkout fees apply.
- 02
Payout
Compare whether payments are paid out directly to you or processed through the platform provider.
- 03
Branding
Clarify how visible your own brand, logo, and domain are in the checkout process.
- 04
Workflow
Pay attention to whether QR codes, PIN galleries, app-based workflows, and automated photo matching are supported.
- 05
Data Protection
Check whether hosting, DPAs, access protection, and data deletion workflows fit your requirements.
The Pixalo answer
Pixalo: Your Own Shop System for School & Daycare Photography
Pixalo provides you with tools for digital school photography under your own brand – with a monthly flat rate and 0% Pixalo commission.
02
Direct PayPal & Stripe Payments
Parents pay directly into your PayPal or Stripe account. This keeps you in control of cash flow and payout.
03
Custom Domain and Branding
Use your own domain, logo, and colors. Pixalo operates in the background as a technical platform.
04
Modern app workflow
The Pixalo app helps you organise the photo day. Assignment runs through the QR photo card: shoot the card, then the child. The upload does the rest.
Providers in detail
Cost models compared: Pixalo, fotograf.de/GotPhoto, Pictrs, Portraitbox, SmugMug, PhotoDay and Zenfolio
School photography software is billed in one of two ways: a commission on every sale, or a fixed monthly fee based on storage. Which one is cheaper depends entirely on how much you sell. The overview summarises what the four providers relevant in German-speaking markets plus SmugMug, PhotoDay and Zenfolio as international references publish on their own pricing pages.
Last checked: 09/18/2026, SmugMug, PhotoDay, Zenfolio: 09/16/2026. All figures exclude VAT.| Criterion | Commission on your sales revenue | Additional platform payment fee | Permanently free plan | Cheapest paid plan | Price is based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pixalo0 % Provision | 0% | none — Stripe and PayPal settle directly with you | no — 14-day free trial | €9.99/month for 10 GB | storage |
fotograf.de / GotPhotofotograf.de/preise | 13,25 % on the free plan, 6,75 % on the top plan | 2,25 % on every payment | yes: €0/month, 2 GB, but 13,25 % service fee | 9,90 €/month for 10 GB, plus 11,75 % service fee | revenue and storage |
Pictrspictrs.com/preise | 15 % / 17,5 % on the free plan, ab 6 % / ab 8,5 % on the top plan — download / print respectively | none — Pictrs covers the payment providers' costs | yes: €0/month, 10 GB, but 15 % / 17,5 % service fee | 8,90 €/month billed annually for 120 GB, plus 13 % / 15,5 % | revenue and storage |
Portraitboxportraitbox.com/preise | 0% | not stated on the pricing page | no | 16,90 €/month for 1 GB | storage |
SmugMugsmugmug.com/plans | 15 % of your markup: profit is 85% of the difference between your price and the base cost | included in the 15 %, which SmugMug says covers credit card fees | no, 14-day free trial | 23,50 $/month billed annually, unlimited storage (cheapest plan with selling) | plan tier, unlimited storage |
PhotoDayphotoday.com/pricing | 10 % transaction fee on the sub-total of every order (before tax and shipping), volume discounts available per pricing page | 2,9 % card processing fee plus 0,30 $ per order | yes: no subscription, unlimited storage, but 10 % transaction fee on every order | none: no subscription, $0 base fee, all costs are charged per sale | revenue (pure commission model) |
Zenfoliozenfolio.com/plans-pricing | 7 % commerce fee on the sub-total of every order (excluding tax and shipping), waived for the first 30 days of a new account | none of its own, Stripe or PayPal settle directly with you | no | selling from Professional only: 10 €/month billed annually (20 € monthly) for 150 GB, plus commerce fee | revenue and storage |
- Pixalo0% commission on your sales revenue
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 0%
- Additional platform payment fee
- none — Stripe and PayPal settle directly with you
- Permanently free plan
- no — 14-day free trial
- Cheapest paid plan
- €9.99/month for 10 GB
- Price is based on
- storage
- fotograf.de / GotPhotofotograf.de/preise
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 13,25 % on the free plan, 6,75 % on the top plan
- Additional platform payment fee
- 2,25 % on every payment
- Permanently free plan
- yes: €0/month, 2 GB, but 13,25 % service fee
- Cheapest paid plan
- 9,90 €/month for 10 GB, plus 11,75 % service fee
- Price is based on
- revenue and storage
- Pictrspictrs.com/preise
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 15 % / 17,5 % on the free plan, ab 6 % / ab 8,5 % on the top plan — download / print respectively
- Additional platform payment fee
- none — Pictrs covers the payment providers' costs
- Permanently free plan
- yes: €0/month, 10 GB, but 15 % / 17,5 % service fee
- Cheapest paid plan
- 8,90 €/month billed annually for 120 GB, plus 13 % / 15,5 %
- Price is based on
- revenue and storage
- Portraitboxportraitbox.com/preise
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 0%
- Additional platform payment fee
- not stated on the pricing page
- Permanently free plan
- no
- Cheapest paid plan
- 16,90 €/month for 1 GB
- Price is based on
- storage
- SmugMugsmugmug.com/plans
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 15 % of your markup: profit is 85% of the difference between your price and the base cost
- Additional platform payment fee
- included in the 15 %, which SmugMug says covers credit card fees
- Permanently free plan
- no, 14-day free trial
- Cheapest paid plan
- 23,50 $/month billed annually, unlimited storage (cheapest plan with selling)
- Price is based on
- plan tier, unlimited storage
- PhotoDayphotoday.com/pricing
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 10 % transaction fee on the sub-total of every order (before tax and shipping), volume discounts available per pricing page
- Additional platform payment fee
- 2,9 % card processing fee plus 0,30 $ per order
- Permanently free plan
- yes: no subscription, unlimited storage, but 10 % transaction fee on every order
- Cheapest paid plan
- none: no subscription, $0 base fee, all costs are charged per sale
- Price is based on
- revenue (pure commission model)
- Zenfoliozenfolio.com/plans-pricing
- Commission on your sales revenue
- 7 % commerce fee on the sub-total of every order (excluding tax and shipping), waived for the first 30 days of a new account
- Additional platform payment fee
- none of its own, Stripe or PayPal settle directly with you
- Permanently free plan
- no
- Cheapest paid plan
- selling from Professional only: 10 €/month billed annually (20 € monthly) for 150 GB, plus commerce fee
- Price is based on
- revenue and storage
Worked example: €25,000 in sales per year
A photographer sells €25,000 worth of photos in a year, each on the cheapest plan that carries that volume. Base fee plus commission gives the real platform cost:
Annual sales€25,000
€5,000€100,000
Choose your sales volume from €5,000 to €100,000. Plans stay the cheapest entry plans; higher plans with lower commission are not modelled.
SmugMug and PhotoDay bill in US dollars; their rows show $10,000 in sales without conversion, the bars compare the numeric values. SmugMug charges 15 % of the markup, not of revenue; for digital sales the base cost is a few cents, so the whole revenue is treated as markup (upper bound). PhotoDay adds 0,30 $ per order, which depends on the number of orders and is not included here (lower bound).
- Base fee per year
- Commission & fees
- Pixalo10 GBBase fee per year: €119.88Commission & fees: 0 %Cost per year€119.88
- PortraitboxPro, 6 GBBase fee per year: €660.00Commission & fees: 0 %Cost per year€660.00
- ZenfolioProfessional, billed annuallyBase fee per year: €120.00Commission & fees: €1,750.00 (7 %)Cost per year€1,870.00
- PhotoDayno subscription, in US dollarsBase fee per year: $0.00Commission & fees: $3,225.00 (10 % + 2,9 %, plus 0,30 $ per order)Cost per year$3,225.00
- PictrsProfi, billed annuallyBase fee per year: €106.80Commission & fees: €3,250.00 (13 %)Cost per year€3,356.80
- fotograf.de / GotPhotoBasicBase fee per year: €99.00Commission & fees: €3,500.00 (11,75 % + 2,25 %)Cost per year€3,599.00
- SmugMugPortfolio, billed annually, in US dollarsBase fee per year: $282.00Commission & fees: $3,750.00 (15 % of markup)Cost per year$4,032.00
Where it flips
A commission is worth it as long as you sell little. At €9.99 per month, the break-even point against fotograf.de's free plan is around €770 in annual revenue, and against Pictrs' free plan around €800. Below that, a commission-based free plan is cheaper. Above it, commission becomes your largest single cost.
€770Annual revenue from which Pixalo is cheaper than the free plan of fotograf.de / GotPhoto
€800Annual revenue from which Pixalo is cheaper than the free plan of Pictrs
All figures are taken from the providers' public pricing pages, checked on the date shown above:fotograf.de/preisepictrs.com/preiseportraitbox.com/preisesmugmug.com/planssmugmughelp.com: Get paid my profitsphotoday.com/pricingzenfolio.com/plans-pricingsuccess.zenfolio.com: Fees Involved With Selling
fotograf.de and GotPhoto are two brands of the same platform; according to the legal notice on both websites the operator is Fotografen Online Service GmbH, Berlin (HRB 147385 B). The worked example covers base fee and sales commission only, not lab, product or shipping costs.
Getting started in three steps
The Simple Way to Start with Pixalo
How to get started with Pixalo as your shop system for school and daycare photography.
- 1
Create Pixalo Account
Register for free and test Pixalo with all features for 14 days at your own pace.
- 2
Connect Domain & Providers
Set up your own domain, upload your logo, and connect Stripe or PayPal for direct payments.
- 3
Create Galleries
Create a gallery, define prices, prepare parent access codes, and sell photos online.
Questions and answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most important questions about our software.
Pixalo is an alternative for school and daycare photographers who want to work with their own brand, own domain, direct payment processing, and 0% Pixalo commission.
No. You can test Pixalo for 14 days, connect your domain, set up Stripe or PayPal, and create your first galleries. Existing student lists can be imported via CSV.
Parents pay via your connected Stripe or PayPal account. Pixalo does not act as an escrow or intermediary for your payouts.
No. You print the QR photo cards yourself on normal paper and shoot them with the same camera as the child. No scanner, dongle or radio transmitter needed.
Pixalo offers hosting in Frankfurt, protected galleries, access controls, and a digital DPA in the dashboard. Actual compliance also depends on your specific settings and processes as a photographer.
Yes. You can test Pixalo for 14 days and check if the workflow, branding, payments, and galleries fit your business.
Get started
Start commission-free today
* Standard transaction fees from payment providers (Stripe/PayPal) may apply.
- Used by professional school & daycare photographers
- 0% commission & direct payouts to your account
- Your own brand, logo, and domain (White-Label)
- GDPR-compliant hosting in Germany