Guides / Studio Haven
Pixieset alternative for photographers
Pixieset is a capable product, but it was not designed around shoot work. Here is where that shows, and what a shoot-first platform does differently.
Where Pixieset falls short
A shoot is only half the job. Delivery, client galleries, and print or file access are where the admin actually lives, and stitching a scheduler to a separate gallery host means two subscriptions and two logins.
Pixieset is excellent at galleries and does not really try to be a booking system, so the inquiry, deposit, and scheduling half of the job stays elsewhere.
Studio Haven vs Pixieset at a glance
- Session packages with deposit on booking and balance before delivery
- Private client galleries with controlled download access
- Gallery delivery tied to the booking, so nothing is emailed manually
- Deposits through Stripe Connect, paid directly to you
- Client portal carrying shoot history and deliverables
- Booking, contract, and delivery in one place instead of three tools
What Pixieset does well
Pixieset galleries are excellent and clients like them. Nothing here is trying to talk you out of a gallery product you already trust.
The point of this page is not that Pixieset is a bad product. It is that it was built for a different job than shoot work, and the gap shows up in the parts of the week that cost you the most time.
What switching actually involves
You can keep Pixieset for delivery and use this only for enquiries, scheduling, and deposits. If you would rather have one bill, move galleries across shoot by shoot rather than all at once.
What it costs
Studio Haven Pro is CA$15/month in Canada, or US$15/month in the United States and Europe. Draft setup is free; a 14-day trial starts when you go live. While Pro is active, clients do not pay a Studio Haven platform fee at checkout, and deposits settle into your own Stripe or Square account. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
Try it before you move anything
Open the live demo studio and book against it as a client, deposit included, without creating an account. When it looks right, create your store and move your work across at your own pace. More comparisons are in the guides index.
Everything included for CA$15 / US$15
Studio Haven Pro for photographers: CA$15/mo in Canada, US$15/mo elsewhere. Deposits, gallery tools, and your own storefront included.