Pixieset alternative from Europe: what aftersnap does differently

For many photographers, Pixieset is the first gallery they ever use: a free plan, quick to set up, on the market since 2013 and, by its own account, used by more than a million photographers. People rarely search for “Pixieset alternative” because the gallery is bad. It is the things around it: the bill in US dollars, a dashboard that only speaks English, the question of where the servers are, the cancellation terms and, for wedding photographers, the question of why guests can’t find themselves. This post goes through those points, as of 17 August 2026.

Pixieset in three paragraphs

Pixieset Media Inc. is based in Vancouver and sells a toolkit of four parts: Client Gallery, Website, Store and Studio Manager, the last one a CRM with contracts, e-signatures, invoices and a booking flow (Pixieset: About). Individually, or bundled as the “Suite”. If you want everything from one provider (website, client management, sales, gallery), you get it there for one price, from $28 a month on annual billing (Pixieset Suite pricing).

The Client Gallery itself does what a gallery has to do: password and PIN, expiry date, downloads in five sizes, favourites with comments, watermarks, your own domain from the smallest paid plan, a Lightroom plugin, video, eight languages for the guest-facing gallery (Pixieset: Client Gallery). A print store is included, with six partner labs: five in North America and Australia, one in the UK that ships to continental Europe (Help Centre: labs).

New in 2026 is a “Photo Editor” with AI culling for $12 a month, separate from the gallery (Pixieset pricing). And the terms of service are clearly written for individual photographers: studios with more than one person are asked to take the Studio plans (Pixieset: Terms).

Pricing: dollars against euros

Pixieset bills in US dollars. Its pricing page shows monthly prices on annual billing; paying monthly costs more. Our prices are in euros and shown for Germany including 19 % VAT; other EU countries apply their own rate, and businesses with a valid VAT number are billed ex VAT (reverse charge). You can cancel monthly; the annual plan costs ten months and runs for twelve.

Sources: Pixieset pricing, aftersnap pricing.

On storage the two are close: Pixieset Pro with 1,000 GB for $24 (annual) against our Studio with a terabyte for €24.99 including VAT: depending on exchange rate and tax, roughly the same money, except that on Pixieset VAT still comes on top. On the small plans we are more generous: 50 GB for €7.99 against 10 GB for $8. On “unlimited”, Pixieset at $40 is clearly cheaper than our Unlimited plan at €99; if you really need more than a terabyte, you pay less there. Pixieset also caps each collection at 20 GB and traffic at 100 GB a month (Pixieset: Terms); our Unlimited plan has a fair-use rule.

One point that costs money and is easy to miss: by its own terms Pixieset refunds nothing (“no refund except in our sole discretion”), and according to reports on Trustpilot the account is closed the moment you cancel, without the paid period running out (Trustpilot: Pixieset). Those are individual voices, but they match the wording of the terms. With us, a cancelled subscription runs to the end of the paid period. After that, your galleries stay online for another 30 days: only new galleries and uploads are switched off. Then they go offline, your login still works, and a week later we cancel the account. Nothing is deleted in that time; book again and everything is back straight away.

What guests see, and what they can’t do

Guests can’t find themselves. Pixieset has no face recognition; it doesn’t appear on the Client Gallery feature page, and third parties offer it as an add-on service. At aftersnap, face search is part of the Studio plan: upload a selfie, see your own photos, no account needed. At a wedding with 120 guests, that is the difference between “could you send me the photos of me?” and a quiet inbox.

No subject search for guests. Pixieset’s AI search exists only in the “Photo Library”, for you, in early access. Guests don’t get it. Our content search runs in the gallery from Pro: dance, cake, flowers, view as filters, combinable with a person.

Slideshow without music. Pixieset’s slideshow runs without music and, according to the help centre, not in mobile browsers (Help Centre: slideshows). Our slideshow runs from Pro with music from a licensed aftersnap library, on the phone too, as the first impression before the gallery opens.

Languages. Pixieset shows the guest-facing gallery in eight languages (Help Centre: collection language); the dashboard is in English. aftersnap shows galleries in 32 languages (all 24 official EU languages and eight more, picked automatically from the browser setting) and the dashboard in 14 languages, English included.

Downloads. Pixieset lets guests choose between web sizes and original size and controls what is allowed per collection. We control per gallery: no download, single photos only, or the whole Set as a ZIP, plus the favourites selection as its own ZIP. Guests get the photo exactly as you uploaded it.

Delivery and proofing: two kinds of gallery

At aftersnap every gallery has one of two modes. The delivery gallery is the evening the couple sees the photos for the first time: slideshow first, large view, downloads on your terms, face search for the guests. The proofing gallery (Studio plan) is the step before that: clients make their selection and write notes directly on the photo, you edit and replace the photos in the same gallery, and as soon as downloads are released the client is notified. We started from a blank sheet here: everything happens on the photo, nothing in email threads.

Where Pixieset is clearly ahead

• Everything from one provider. Website, client management with contracts and invoices, store, gallery: one provider, one login. aftersnap is a client gallery, and concentrates on that.
• Print store. Six labs, payouts, price lists. If you are on the continent, the nearest lab is in the UK and you set up its price sheet yourself, but there is a store. aftersnap concentrates on delivery and presentation.
• Video. Pixieset delivers video, 30 minutes to 5 hours depending on the plan. Video is on our roadmap.
• Free plan. Free for good, with 3 GB. With us: a 14-day trial with every Studio feature.
• Download sizes. On Pixieset, guests choose the size.
• Thirteen years and a million users. Pixieset is an established provider. aftersnap is young and continuously developed: what you read here is the state of August 2026. Team accounts, video and a blog module that lets your galleries live inside your own website are on the roadmap, and updates arrive continuously, at no extra cost, for every account. Start with us today and you get more gallery every month.

Where aftersnap is different

• Euros, VAT included, cancel monthly. No exchange-rate surprises, and the subscription runs to the end of the paid period.
• Dashboard in 14 languages, 32 guest languages. You work in your language, your guests in theirs.
• Face search and content search for guests, computed on our own servers in Europe; no outside service ever sees the photos. And we don’t train any AI on your photos, not third-party, not our own. Face-search data is used only inside the gallery it was created for and disappears with it.
• Slideshow with music, on mobile too.
• Hosting in the EU, data processing agreement in your account. Pixieset is based in Canada and works with standard contractual clauses; its privacy policy and DPA are dated 22 May 2018, and Pixieset names neither a data-centre location nor an EU representative (Pixieset: Privacy, Pixieset: DPA, Help Centre: GDPR). That is no accusation, but it is a difference.
• Lightroom as a publish service. Both have a plugin; ours creates the gallery and its Sets from Lightroom Classic and keeps them in sync (Lightroom plugin). Included from Pro.
• Vendor galleries. The venue, the florist and the planner each get exactly the photos they are allowed to show (vendor galleries).

Who Pixieset remains the better choice for

If you want website, booking, contracts, invoices and gallery in one place and are happy to pay a Canadian provider in dollars for it. If you sell prints and albums through a built-in store. If you deliver video as well. If the free plan is enough for you. That is a large group, and Pixieset has served it for thirteen years.

Pixieset alternative: who aftersnap is for

If you want a gallery that shows guests something: large, calm, with a slideshow, in their language. If guests should be able to find themselves. If you want to pay in euros and know the photos are stored in the EU. If you want to work in your own language. If you publish straight from Lightroom Classic.

Switching: how it works in practice

1. Create an account and run both in parallel. 14-day Studio trial, no payment details. Your Pixieset galleries stay up for as long as your account there is active.
2. Publish the next delivery from Lightroom. The photos are in your catalogue; with the plugin, the gallery is a right-click away. Your catalogue is the source, so every photo arrives in the version you approved (no detour via the old gallery).
3. Cancel Pixieset only once nothing is needed there any more. Under Pixieset’s terms there is no refund, and according to user reports access ends the moment you cancel. Download beforehand whatever clients might still need.
4. Move your domain. You set up your own domain at aftersnap on the Studio plan.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import my Pixieset collections into aftersnap? The way in is the Lightroom plugin: the selection is in your catalogue, and the gallery is created straight from it, no detour via the old gallery.

Does aftersnap have a free plan like Pixieset? You get 14 days with every Studio feature, no payment details. Then you decide. The smallest plan is €7.99 a month.

Can I sell prints on aftersnap? aftersnap concentrates on delivery and presentation. If the store is your revenue, Pixieset or Pic-Time are built for that.

Is the dashboard available in my language? Yes: in 14 languages, English included; German is the source language. The gallery your guests see speaks 32 languages.

Details on Pixieset as of 17 August 2026, sources: pixieset.com/pricing, pixieset.com/client-gallery, Pixieset help centre, Capterra, Trustpilot. Prices are subject to change; what counts is what the providers show on their pages today. Our plans: aftersnap pricing.