Image Depot vs PhotoDeck
Both let you deliver and sell photos to clients online. Here's how the two actually differ, on the specifics that affect your bottom line -- not a marketing spin.
| Image Depot | PhotoDeck | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on sales | 0% on every paid plan, from $9.99/mo (Starter); 3% on Free | 0% on its Standard, Business and Team plans. Its entry Essential plan doesn't include selling at all |
| Pricing | $9.99/mo Starter, $24.99/mo Solo, $39.99/mo Pro, $54.99/mo Studio, $119.99+/mo Agency, with a month free when you pay annually. Plus a Free plan with no time limit | $12/mo Essential (no selling), $25/mo Standard, $45/mo Business, $100/mo Team, billed annually -- or $30, $54 and $120 month to month (Essential is $15/mo, billed quarterly). No free plan, just a 14-day free trial |
| Storage | A real quota per plan: 2GB (Free), 25GB (Starter), 50GB (Solo), 100GB (Pro), 250GB (Studio), 1TB (Agency) | 10GB (Essential), 100GB (Standard), 300GB (Business), 500GB (Team), with more for sale. On Standard and Business that's more storage per dollar than Image Depot -- worth comparing directly |
| Print fulfillment | You fulfill prints yourself by default, through any lab you already use. Automatic lab fulfillment is set up per studio on request -- it isn't a self-service setting yet | Built-in automated fulfillment through WhiteWall, WHCC and One Vision Imaging (the lab bills you directly), or fulfill orders yourself -- a genuine PhotoDeck advantage |
| Payments | Your own Stripe account (PayPal coming soon) -- funds settle directly to your bank | Also paid straight to you, with more options: Stripe, PayPal, Skrill or Authorize.Net, or offline payments like bank transfers and checks |
| Finding every photo of one person | Find My Athlete: families search a name or jersey number across your whole public portfolio, built on the tags you add. The optional AI Athlete Tags add-on reads printed jersey numbers and team names for you (Pro plan and up, $19.99/mo for 2,500 photos a month, your first 200 photos free). No facial recognition, by design | Optional face recognition: clients click a face (Faceclick) or take a selfie (Selfie Search) to find every photo of that person, and AI can tag bib numbers. Standard plan and up, with 200 AI "microjobs" a month included |
| Video | Highlight videos on Solo and up (60 minutes included, +300 minutes for $9.99/mo), sold as downloads through the same checkout as photos | Photos and videos in the same galleries, delivered and sold the same way; Essential holds up to 3 clips, and Standard's 100GB is sized at about 100 |
| Getting photos in | Drag-and-drop upload in the browser, plus Image Depot Live: photos land in the gallery within seconds, straight from your camera, mid-event -- part of the $19.99/mo Quick Upload add-on, Pro plan and up | Bulk folder upload, a Lightroom Publish plugin, a Photo Mechanic export module and FTP upload |
| Protecting your photos | Watermarking, plus half of every preview blurred until it's purchased -- baked into the file itself. Image Watch searches the web for copies of your photos ($9.99/mo add-on, Solo and up) | Customizable watermarks and right-click protection, plus a Pixsy integration to track and monetize copyright infringements |
| Keeping your library | An export of every original photo, guaranteed on every plan including Free -- in writing. At your storage limit, archive a gallery for $5/mo instead of deleting anything | PhotoDeck says it never automatically archives or deletes your galleries, and it sells extra storage |
| Website and reach | A branded Portfolio Website on every plan, with your own domain on Solo and up -- for studios in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand | A full website builder with a page editor, your own domain on every plan, 15+ supported languages and European hosting (GDPR-compliant) |
Credit where it's due: PhotoDeck is a mature, zero-commission platform, and it's the stronger pick on several points -- more storage per dollar at its Standard and Business prices, print fulfillment built in through WhiteWall, WHCC and One Vision Imaging, optional face recognition with selfie search, more ways to get paid, stock-licensing tools, and a full website builder with European hosting and 15+ languages. Image Depot comes out ahead on getting started: a Free plan with no time limit, and 0% commission from $9.99/mo, where selling on PhotoDeck starts at $25/mo billed annually ($30 month to month). And it's built around high-volume sports and event work -- Find My Athlete, photos live from the camera with Image Depot Live, and highlight videos sold alongside photos -- with a written guarantee on every plan that every original photo can be exported.
Common questions
Does PhotoDeck take a commission on sales?
No. PhotoDeck's Standard, Business and Team plans sell prints and downloads with zero commission, according to its own plans page, though its entry Essential plan doesn't include selling. Image Depot is also 0% on every paid plan, starting at Starter ($9.99/mo), and 3% on Free. On both, your payment processor's own fees still apply.
Does PhotoDeck have a free plan?
No -- every PhotoDeck plan starts with a free 14-day trial, no credit card required. Image Depot has a Free plan with no time limit: 3 active galleries and 2GB of storage, with 3% commission on sales.
Which is better for selling prints?
If you want prints produced and shipped without touching them, PhotoDeck: WhiteWall, WHCC and One Vision Imaging are built in, and orders can go to the lab automatically. On Image Depot you fulfill prints yourself by default, through any lab you like, and automatic lab fulfillment is set up per studio on request.
Does Image Depot have face recognition or selfie search?
No, and that's deliberate. Find My Athlete searches the names and jersey numbers you tag, and the optional AI Athlete Tags add-on reads the jersey numbers and team names printed in your photos -- it never identifies anyone from their face. If face search is what you need, PhotoDeck offers it on its Standard plan and up.
See how Image Depot stacks up against every other option at once in photography gallery software alternatives, or the sports-specific case at best gallery software for sports photographers.
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