Zenfolio Professional Account Review - Read below to find out if Zenfolio is right for you. Get detailed feature breakdowns, price comparisons, and Zenfolio discount coupons below...
Pricing | Good, three different levels of service (but no free option) |
Intro Offer | Good, 14 day free trial plus $10 off Any account- Current Zenfolio Best Offer Save $10 on Any Account with this code: 9EN-BKB-H6W |
Zenfolio Print Prices (4x6 glossy) | OK, 19 cents each for pro-grade prints |
Customizable Galleries? | Good, 3 pre-defined layouts plus other options including customized domain name, logo, and color schemes |
Backup Photos? | Great, unlimited storage and free downloads for pro accounts |
Print at Home? | Great, any size, for free |
Easy to Sell Photos? | Great, you set your photo price, credit card and paypal payments accepted. |
The Zenfolio Pro account is a cool $100 a year, and it offers a pretty good deal, especially when the competition costs $149 a year (read more about SmugMug Pro here). What do you get for $100? Well, you can use your own domain name, remove the Zenfolio logo completely, as well as sell photos for a 12% commission applied only to your profits. It also has super easy-to-use SEO options, all denoted by a little "SEO" which make them easy to find and use across your entire site. It also has Facebook and Twitter plug-in integration built in all over the place, so if you want to share your photos in the social media space, you, or your visitors, can do so easily! Just like the other Zenfolio accounts, the UI is slick, and looks great with a minimum amount of customization.
The bottom line for many users will be that Zenfolio is one of the cheapest sites for pro's and aspiring pro photographers who wish to sell their photos online and make a profit. It is not only the cheapest yearly fee, but the cheapest commission as well, since Zenfolio only charges commission on your profit, not your entire order! Also, there are lower fees when you sell a digital download. Plus, they offer lower commission when you self-fulfill orders, and print the photos yourself for shipping to your customer. Personally, I prefer to have them handle everything, which allows me more time to work on my photography and editing, but for those pinching pennies or for those perfectionists that want 100% control over what gets shipped to their customers, this option may be for you!
For $100 a year and only 12% commission, you can turn your hobby into a small business, or take your studio to the next level with a very small investment. The photos are shipped in plain "vanilla" packaging so as not to confuse your customers, and you can offer a variety of print sizes and even digital downloads at any price you want. Set one price for prints across your entire site, or have different prices by gallery or even photo, the choice is up to you.
The new Premium Business plan from Zenfolio seems like a lot of extra money, for only a few extra features. But, for working professional photographers, those extra features are extremely useful. Based on feedback from lots of users, Zenfolio completely redesigned their shopping cart, adding the ability for their premium users to completely manage their customers shopping experience, giving photographers a lot more control over the order fulfillment process. Read our full review of Zenfolio's Premium Business Plan