Pass Gallery vs Pixieset
Both are monthly subscriptions for photographers delivering finished work to clients. Pixieset Client Gallery starts free with 3 GB and climbs to unlimited at $40/mo billed annually; Pass Gallery lists Starter at $1/mo and drops store commission to zero from Standard at $20/mo. Neither pricing page lists a way for wedding guests to upload — that is a separate tool.
Free to set up. Activate the live guest QR when the wedding is ready.
Guest upload layer
No app or account needed
One QR code for guests
Browser photo and video upload
Private review before sharing
Side-by-side criteria
Every Pass Gallery and Pixieset figure below is taken from each company's own pricing page on the date shown, tier by tier. Both are billed in US dollars and both change their packaging, so confirm the number at checkout.
| Criteria | Pass Gallery | Pixieset | Candid Cam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | A photographer subscription, monthly or annual. The plan cards list Starter at $1/mo, Basic at $6/mo billed annually ($72/yr) or $8/mo billed monthly, Standard at $20/mo annually ($240/yr) or $24/mo monthly, Unlimited at $38/mo annually ($456/yr) or $44/mo monthly, and Platinum at $125/mo behind a "Check Eligibility" step. Basic, Standard and Unlimited are all advertised at $1 for the first month. | A photographer subscription on the Client Gallery product. Free is $0 and "Billed Never"; Basic is $8/mo billed annually or $10/month; Plus is $16/mo annually or $20/month; Pro is $24/mo annually or $30/month; Ultimate is $40/mo annually or $50/month. Add-ons are priced separately: Photo Editor at $12/month and Video Add-Ons at $5/month per additional hour. | One flat price per event, not a subscription. You build and test the whole event free, then pay once when you want real guests to upload. Upgrade a tier mid-event and pay only the difference. Venues are the single exception and run on a monthly plan. |
| What the free tier gives you | The pricing FAQ says you can start on the Free plan and upgrade as your needs evolve, and the detailed comparison table carries a Free column. Standard also carries a free 30-day trial: no credit card required, and the account downgrades automatically to a beginner plan when the 30 days end. | Free is a real published tier: $0, 3 GB of photo storage, unlimited galleries, up to 3 mobile apps, and the ability to sell directly in galleries — at a 15% store commission. No setup fees and no credit card required. Note what is not on the free feature list: full-resolution download starts at Basic. | Free until you go live. You can create the event, set the date, generate the QR code, scan it yourself, upload a test photo and approve it before paying anything. |
| Storage per tier | Starter 10 GB, Basic 20 GB, Standard 100 GB, Unlimited and Platinum unlimited. Read the entry tier carefully: the feature summary states 10 GB for 6 months / 2,000 photos, then 2 GB after 6 months, with a 20 GB upgrade at $6/mo annually or $8/mo monthly. Standard is shown as 100 GB / 20,000 photos, with an unlimited upgrade at $38/mo annually or $44/mo monthly. | A straight ladder: Free 3 GB, Basic 10 GB, Plus 100 GB, Pro 1,000 GB, Ultimate unlimited photo storage. RAW upload arrives at Pro, and Ultimate footnotes RAW at "Upload up to 1,000 GB of RAW photos". Video storage is separate: 30 minutes of HD video from Basic up, then $5/month per additional hour. | Tiers are sized by upload allowance rather than gigabytes — a photo count and a separate video count per tier, recommended from your expected guest count. Above the top fixed tier there is a self-serve Custom option. |
| Store commission | The plan comparison table shows 15% store commission on Starter and Basic and 0% on Standard, Unlimited and Platinum. The store feature row adds a caveat: "No Commissions on Store Sales… (Note: 3% fee charged on orders where Pass handles payment)", and the Standard plan card itself lists 3% commission fees. | The FAQ is explicit: "There are no commission fees for all upgraded accounts. Free accounts are subject to a 15% commission fee on store sales." The free tier lists that 15% figure on the plan card too. Store and the Mobile Gallery App are included in every Client Gallery plan. | There is nothing to sell through Candid Cam — no print store and no digital-sales storefront. You pay once for the event and that is the only charge. |
| Delivery and downloads | Client galleries with permission controls, clients choosing favourites, hi-res and low-res downloads, slideshow creation and publishing. Gallery templates, custom watermark and album proofing start at Standard. One thing to plan for: the FAQ says cancelling downgrades your storage to the free plan, and "Any galleries above the storage limit will be removed." | Unlimited galleries on every plan including Free. Full-resolution download, custom branding, custom domain and removal of Pixieset branding all begin at Basic. Bulk share collections arrive at Pro. Email campaigns scale with the tier: 100/month on Basic, 500/month on Plus, 10,000/month on Ultimate. | Approved media is published to unlimited curated albums, shared through password-protected links with optional expiry. Deletion is host-controlled, with no automatic deletion after a fixed period. |
| Who uploads the photos | The photographer. Every capability on the pricing page — gallery sharing, client galleries, favourites, print store, album proofing — describes publishing finished work to a client. No guest-upload feature is listed. | The photographer. Client Gallery is described as a better way to share, deliver, proof and sell photos. No guest-upload feature is listed on the pricing page. | Your guests. They scan one QR code and upload photos and videos from a phone browser with no app and no account, behind a built-in consent prompt. |
| Video | The pricing page lists Video and Slideshow Sharing under "Add-ons Available" and again under "AI Add-ons Available", without publishing a price for either. | Video support from Basic up, starting with 30 minutes of HD video storage, extendable through the Video Add-On at $5/month per additional hour. | Every tier carries its own video allowance alongside its photo allowance, because video costs more to store and serve. Videos count against the video limit, photos against the photo limit. |
| Notable extras | Custom branding, AI Photo-Search and support for your clients at Basic; custom domain, gallery templates, custom products and album proofing at Standard; a free Pass Pro Consult described as a $250 value on annual plans; a print concierge and fully customised store setup on Platinum. The site says 30,000 photographers. | Custom branding and domain from Basic, RAW upload from Pro, a Photo Editor add-on at $12/month, and a Pixieset Suite tab that bundles Client Gallery with Website and Studio Manager at up to 37% off. | A private review queue before anything is public, unlimited curated albums, password-protected album links with optional expiry, and a guest consent prompt on every upload. |
Product details checked 21 August 2026 against: Pass Gallery pricing and Pixieset Client Gallery pricing, including each page's plan cards, detailed feature-comparison table and FAQ. Candid Cam's per-event model is described on its pricing page.
Three conflicts worth flagging. Pass Gallery's plan comparison table shows Standard at 0% store commission, while the Standard plan card on the same page lists “3% Commission Fees” and the store feature row explains a “3% fee charged on orders where Pass handles payment”. We report 0% headline with that 3% caveat attached. Separately, the Pass Gallery plan card shows Starter at $1/mo under both the Annual and Monthly toggles, while a summary block higher up the same page labels a “Beginner / Starter” tier at $6/mo annually and $8/mo monthly — the figures the plan cards attach to Basic. And the same summary block lists the “Premium” Platinum tier at “From $44 Per Month” ($38 annually) — the figures the plan cards attach to Unlimited — while the Platinum plan card itself says $125/mo. We report the plan-card figures. Check which tier you are actually buying at checkout.
The verdict
The print store is the point. Store commission drops from 15% to 0% at Standard ($20/mo billed annually, $24/mo monthly), and that tier is where custom products, album proofing and gallery templates unlock, with a free Pass Pro Consult listed as a $250 annual-plan perk. Budget honestly for two things: the entry tier is 10 GB for six months and then 2 GB, and cancelling downgrades storage to the free plan, where any galleries above the limit are removed.
You want the most usable free tier and the cleanest storage ladder. Free is genuinely $0 with 3 GB and unlimited galleries, then storage climbs 10 GB, 100 GB, 1,000 GB and unlimited for $8, $16, $24 and $40 a month billed annually. Just know the free plan is a shop window, not a delivery tool: full-resolution download starts at Basic, and free accounts pay a 15% commission on store sales that upgraded accounts do not.
The job is guest photos, not client delivery. Neither pricing page lists any way for wedding guests to upload — both platforms are built for a photographer to publish finished work to a client, and priced as an ongoing monthly subscription. Candid Cam is the other half of the day: one QR code, guests uploading from a phone browser with no app or account, a private review queue before anything is shared, and one flat price for the event instead of a recurring bill. Plenty of photographers run both.
One QR code that works on any phone, with no app download and no guest account to create.
Nothing is public until you approve it. Every upload waits in a private review queue.
One flat price per event, where Pass Gallery runs $1–$125/mo and Pixieset Client Gallery $0–$50/mo.
Reception clips, speeches, selfies and table candids arrive through the same upload flow.
Buying checklist
Both platforms bill monthly, so the cost question is not the headline price — it is which tier your storage, downloads and store terms actually land on.
Which tier clears your real storage need — 3 GB, 10 GB, 100 GB, 1 TB or unlimited?
Does the entry tier keep that storage, or step down after an introductory period?
At your tier, what commission does the store take on a print sale — 15%, 3% or 0%?
Is full-resolution client download included at the price you are actually paying?
Who collects the guest phone photos, given neither platform lists guest uploading?
Related comparisons
Compare Pass Gallery-style delivery with QR-first guest photo collection.
Compare Pixieset-style galleries with no-app wedding guest uploads.
Compare another photographer gallery decision beside guest collection needs.
See the browser upload path guests use from a QR code or link.
Pass Gallery vs Pixieset FAQ
It depends on the tier, and the two ladders are not aligned. Pixieset Client Gallery starts at $0 with 3 GB and runs $8, $16, $24 and $40 a month billed annually for Basic, Plus, Pro and Ultimate, or $10, $20, $30 and $50 billed monthly. Pass Gallery lists Starter at $1/mo, Basic at $6/mo annually or $8/mo monthly, Standard at $20/mo annually or $24/mo monthly, Unlimited at $38/mo annually or $44/mo monthly, and Platinum at $125/mo. Compare like for like on storage: at 100 GB, Pass Standard is $20/mo annually and Pixieset Plus is $16/mo annually; for unlimited storage, Pass Unlimited is $38/mo annually and Pixieset Ultimate is $40/mo annually.
Pixieset is a straight ladder: 3 GB free, 10 GB on Basic, 100 GB on Plus, 1,000 GB on Pro and unlimited on Ultimate, with RAW upload from Pro and a 1,000 GB RAW footnote on Ultimate. Pass Gallery lists 10 GB on Starter, 20 GB on Basic, 100 GB on Standard, and unlimited on Unlimited and Platinum — but its feature summary qualifies the entry tier as 10 GB for 6 months and 2,000 photos, dropping to 2 GB after 6 months, with a 20 GB upgrade at $6/mo annually or $8/mo monthly.
Pixieset states it plainly in its FAQ: no commission fees on any upgraded account, and a 15% commission on store sales for free accounts. Pass Gallery shows 15% on Starter and Basic and 0% from Standard up in its plan comparison table, with one caveat printed on the same page — a 3% fee is charged on orders where Pass handles payment, and the Standard plan card itself lists 3% commission fees.
Neither pricing page lists a guest-upload capability. Both products are built around the photographer publishing finished work: Pass Gallery describes gallery sharing, client favourites, album proofing and a print store, and Pixieset describes Client Gallery as a way to share, deliver, proof and sell photos. Guest phone photos from the reception are a separate job, which is what a QR-code collection tool like Candid Cam covers.
Yes, and that is the usual setup. Candid Cam is not a client-gallery, proofing or print-store platform and does not replace either one. The photographer keeps delivering the edited set through Pass Gallery or Pixieset on their monthly plan, while Candid Cam collects guest photos and videos on the day through one QR code — no app, no guest account, every upload held in a private review queue until the host approves it, and one flat price for the event rather than a subscription.