Hand Over the Finished Set
Delivering photos to clients is getting the finished pictures to the person who paid for them, in full quality, in a way that looks like it came from you. Photographers do it three ways: a gallery service, a shared cloud folder, or a transfer link.
A gallery service gives clients a page of pictures with downloads, favorites and sometimes prints. A folder or a transfer link hands over the files and nothing more. The question is which of those a job needs. This page compares the options, and is plain about who should still use a gallery.
Loop
Loop is a Mac app that turns a file or a folder into your own branded link. Share a folder of finished photos, subfolders included, and the client opens one page with your logo and name, a note from you, a row for each folder and file, and a Download All button. They need no account. Loop tells you when they download. The recording below shows a client opening a folder of architecture photos.
A real recording of Loop's reader page. Press play, or jump to a step.
The same steps in words:
- Open. The client opens the folder page, in your branding, with your note.
- Look Around. They move through the folders and files, listed by name and size.
- Download All. They press Download All and get a zip of the whole folder, in the same folder shape, with the original files.
- Open a Photo. They open one picture on its own page, with a link back to the folder.
- Draw or Download. From the picture they can draw, leave a note or an emoji, or download it.
The folder page lists files by name and size, not as a grid of thumbnails.
Highlights
- A folder becomes one link. Subfolders included, with your note on the page.
- Download All. A zip of the original files in the same folder shape, built for up to about 5,000 files.
- Know when they download. Loop tags the person "Downloaded" and sends a notification on your Mac, once per browser per link.
- Your own brand. Your logo, colours and typeface, and your own subdomain such as photos.yourstudio.com.
- Controls. Download off, a password, or an expiry after 1, 7, 30 or 90 days.
- No account for your client. They open the link in any browser.
- Pay once. $49 for one person with a 14-day free trial. A small "Shared with Loop" badge shows on your pages during the trial and goes with a licence.
Your own branded link, with notes on the exact second. $49 once.
Options
The tools below differ in what they add around the delivery, such as favorites and print stores, and in what they cost. Most have a free plan with small storage.
| Tool | Best for | Cost, one person |
|---|---|---|
| Loop | Branded folder, Download All | $49 once |
| Pixieset | Galleries, favorites, print store | $96 a year |
| Pic-Time | Galleries, favorites, print store | $252 a year |
| Picdrop | Proofing and delivery | $192 a year |
| Dropbox | Shared folders, branded transfers | $180 a year |
| WeTransfer | Transfer links, own branding | $228 a year |
These are US dollars for one person, billed yearly, before tax. Each uses the plan that adds your own branding where the vendor sells one: Pixieset Basic, Pic-Time Professional, Picdrop Pro, Dropbox Standard and WeTransfer Ultimate.
Cheaper plans keep the vendor's branding. Pic-Time Beginner is $84, Dropbox Plus is about $120 and WeTransfer Starter is $84. Pixieset, Pic-Time and Picdrop were read live on 23 October, Picdrop from its own dollar table because its page shows pounds. Dropbox is from an archived US copy of 23 October, and WeTransfer is from its US prices read on 23 October.
Pixieset
Pixieset is a client gallery service with favorites, comments on selections and a store for prints and downloads. Its pricing page lists a free plan with 3 GB, no custom domain, no logo and no full-resolution download. Basic is $96 a year, with your own domain and logo and Pixieset's branding removed. See Pixieset's client galleries.
Pic-Time
Pic-Time offers galleries, download permissions, a Lightroom integration and a print store, with activity tracking on every plan. Its pricing page lists a free plan with 10 GB that drops to 3 GB after 3 months, and client selections from Professional. Professional is $252 a year and removes Pic-Time's branding and adds your own domain.
Picdrop
Picdrop is built for delivery and proofing, with single-file and zip downloads on every plan, comments, votes and scribbles from clients, and notifications about what clients do. Its pricing page lists a free plan with 1 GB and 3 galleries. Pro is $15.99 a month billed annually, about $192 a year, with your own branding.
Dropbox
Dropbox shares a folder or a transfer link, and Standard adds your logo, a background, a password and longer expiry. Standard is $15 a user a month billed yearly, $180 a year, and Plus is about $120 a year without branding. The free plan has 2 GB. See Dropbox's plans.
WeTransfer
WeTransfer sends a transfer link, and its Ultimate plan adds custom branding per transfer and a yourname.wetransfer.com address, at $19 a month billed yearly, $228 a year. Anyone can download without an account. It removed Reviews and Portals on 22 December 2025. See WeTransfer's pricing.
Limits
Loop is built for handing over a finished set under your name. It is not a gallery product, and these gaps matter for photographers:
- No gallery grid or thumbnails. The folder page lists files by name and size.
- No favorites or proofing selections. A client can leave a note or an emoji on a picture, but cannot send you a list of picks.
- No print store or payments. Loop does not sell prints, albums or downloads.
- No watermarked previews. The only watermark is a reader's email on PDF pages.
- No next and previous picture buttons, slideshow or Lightroom plug-in. You drag a folder from Finder after exporting.
- Large uploads are lightly tested. Files upload in 64 MiB parts, and we do not promise a maximum file size.
- Storage beyond Cloudflare's free 10 GB is billed by Cloudflare.
- Notifications are on your Mac only, and Loop must be running. There is no email or phone alert.
- Mac only on your side. Clients open the link in any browser.
Use a gallery service if your clients choose favorites or approve picks, if you sell prints or albums, if you want a gallery grid and a slideshow, or if you need watermarked previews while you retouch. Loop fits when the job ends with a finished set: corporate, real estate, architecture, event or product work, or any client who just wants the files from you under your name.
Cost
For one person for one year on a plan with your own branding, Loop is $49, paid once. Pixieset Basic is $96, Dropbox Standard $180, Picdrop Pro $192, WeTransfer Ultimate $228 and Pic-Time Professional $252. Pixieset, Pic-Time, Picdrop and Dropbox also have free plans of 1 to 10 GB, though Pixieset's free plan has no full-resolution download and Pic-Time's drops to 3 GB after 3 months. The yearly prices come back every year, while Loop has no renewal.
Loop's files are stored in your own Cloudflare account, free up to 10 GB. Past that, Cloudflare bills you. Cloudflare's pricing page, updated 1 October 2026, lists $0.015 per GB-month with no charge for downloads, so 100 GB stored for a month is about $1.35 after the free 10 GB. Cloudflare may also ask for a card when you switch storage on.
Loop includes a 14-day free trial that starts on first run, and Loop asks for no payment to begin it. During the trial a small "Shared with Loop" badge shows on the pages your clients see, and it goes with a licence.
Delivering Photos
Five habits make any delivery smoother, whichever tool you use.
- Export the final set first. Deliver finished files, in a folder structure the client will understand.
- Write a note. "All 86 photos from the shoot, edited and ready to use" tells the client what they are getting.
- Name folders by use. Details, Exterior and Hero are easier to find than a pile of numbered files.
- Set an expiry. A link that closes after 30 days stops old links floating around.
- Check your own download. Open the link yourself and press Download All once, to see what the client sees.