Reference
Direct, factual answers to the questions photographers actually ask before signing up. If you don\'t see your question, email hello@12img.com.
· 42 answers
Plans, costs, trials, refunds, and discounts.
12img has three plans. Free is $0 forever (3 galleries, 3 GB storage, 12img watermark). Starter is $9/month or $96/year (5 galleries, 10 GB, no watermark, contracts, invoicing, client portal, custom domain). Pro is $29/month or $288/year (unlimited everything, video delivery, white-label, 0% sales commission). Every new account starts with a 14-day Pro trial — no credit card required.
Yes. Every new account starts on Pro free for 14 days with full feature access — no credit card. After 14 days the account downgrades to Free unless you choose a paid plan. You can convert to Starter or Pro any time before, during, or after the trial.
Yes. Cancel from /account/billing any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. No cancellation fee, no penalty, no support call required.
Yes. We offer a 7-day money-back guarantee on your first paid month. After that, prorated refunds at our discretion — email hello@12img.com.
You enter a 21-day grace period during which your account stays fully active. We retry the card and email you. If payment still fails after 21 days the account auto-downgrades to Free, and any galleries beyond the Free limit are archived to the Photo Vault — never deleted. Add a working payment method to restore.
Yes. Starter is $96/year (~11% off the monthly equivalent of $108). Pro is $288/year (~17% off the monthly equivalent of $348).
For your subscription: card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank transfer (US). For invoicing your clients: same plus Link. All via Stripe.
A limited Lifetime Founders offer is open to early supporters. See /pricing#lifetime-founders for current availability.
What each plan includes and the differences that matter.
Free includes 3 galleries with up to 200 images each, 3 GB storage, full-resolution downloads, file transfers active for 30 days, digital sales with a 15% platform fee, and 30-day gallery expiry. The 12img watermark and footer branding are shown.
Starter ($9/mo) gives you 5 galleries, 10 GB storage, contracts, invoicing, client portal, custom domain, custom slugs, no watermark, and 10% sales commission — but no video delivery and 12img footer branding remains. Pro ($29/mo) is unlimited galleries, unlimited storage, video delivery (up to 25 GB per file), white-label, Turbo Transfers, priority support, and 0% sales commission.
Yes — Pro plan only. Video delivery supports up to 25 GB per file natively. The Large Video add-on ($15 one-time per gallery) raises the cap to 50 GB. Multipart resumable upload via Tus.js handles flaky Wi-Fi gracefully.
Free: 15%. Starter: 10%. Pro: 0%. Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction) apply on top — those go to Stripe, not 12img.
Yes, on Starter and Pro. Point any domain or subdomain (e.g., gallery.yourstudio.com) at your 12img account. SSL is provisioned automatically via Let's Encrypt. Setup guides cover GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, and Google Domains.
Free tier: yes, the 12img watermark is enforced. Starter and Pro: no watermark. You can also turn on your own watermark in settings on any tier.
Free-tier galleries expire 30 days after creation, with a grace period before the gallery is archived to Vault (never deleted). Starter and Pro galleries never expire.
Pro supports unlimited shooters under one studio account today. Dedicated team plans with seat-based billing and per-user permissions are planned.
12img is mobile-web first today — works fully on phone browsers. Native iOS and Android apps are on the roadmap.
Public, machine-readable endpoints exist at /api/pricing.json, /api/features.json, /api/changelog.json, and /api/facts.json. A full authenticated programmatic API is on the roadmap.
Day-to-day questions about delivery, contracts, and invoicing.
Upload photos, click Share on the gallery, and copy the link. Send via email, text, or any messaging app. Optionally set a password and an expiration date. Clients view the gallery without creating an account.
Yes — you control this per gallery in gallery settings. When enabled, clients download individual photos at full resolution or the entire gallery as a zip.
No. Galleries are viewable by anyone with the link. Client portals (the per-client URL with timeline, contracts, invoices) use magic links — clients receive a sign-in link in their email and click it to authenticate.
On Starter and Pro, you create a contract from a template (wedding, portrait, engagement, family, headshot, boudoir, commercial), edit clauses per client, and send. The client signs digitally — typed, drawn, or click-to-agree. Signatures are timestamped, IP-logged, and PDF-exportable. Legally binding under the US ESIGN Act.
Connect your Stripe account in 2 minutes (or paste an existing Stripe Payment Link for zero setup). Pre-filled templates for wedding deposit, portrait session, engagement, album add-on, and rush delivery. Card, Apple Pay, ACH all supported. Money lands in your bank in 2 business days.
Standard Stripe payouts: 2 business days to your US bank. International payouts vary by country (typically 2–7 days).
Yes, via CSV import. Pro plans get 30 minutes of free migration assistance from the founder if you're switching from another platform.
Yes. RAW upload and archival are supported. Common formats: CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, DNG, RW2, ORF, PEF.
Original files are stored on Supabase Storage (encrypted at rest). Image derivatives and video are stored on Cloudflare R2 with zero-egress pricing for fast global CDN delivery.
Migrating from Pixieset, ShootProof, Pic-Time, or HoneyBook.
CSV-import your clients into the CRM, then upload galleries directly to 12img (no automated migration from Pixieset today). 12img Pro at $29/month covers everything Pixieset Studio does ($22/month) plus contracts, invoicing, CRM, and 0% sales commission. See /vs/pixieset for a feature-by-feature comparison.
CSV-import clients and copy your contract templates into 12img Smart Contracts. 12img Pro at $29/month replaces HoneyBook ($19/month) plus the gallery + file-transfer stack you currently pay separately for. See /best-pixieset-alternative for a HoneyBook-specific comparison.
CSV-import clients, then upload galleries directly. 12img Pro matches ShootProof on galleries and print sales while adding contracts, invoicing, CRM, and video at the same price. See /vs/shootproof for the full comparison.
CSV-import clients and upload galleries directly. 12img Pro covers gallery delivery and print sales like Pic-Time, plus contracts, invoicing, and 0% commission. See /vs/pic-time for the full comparison.
Yes. Many photographers run 12img alongside Pixieset/ShootProof for 1–2 months while migrating clients gallery by gallery, then cancel the old subscription. Use code SWITCH15 for 15% off your first month while you migrate.
Authentication, encryption, and data handling.
Authentication via Clerk (SOC 2 Type II). Database access via Supabase Postgres with row-level security policies that enforce tenant isolation at the database layer. Files encrypted at rest. HTTPS-only with HSTS. CSP headers and security middleware on all routes.
No. We never sell user data, never train AI on user images without explicit opt-in, and never share data with third parties beyond payment processors and email/SMS providers operating under DPA agreements.
Yes. Account export available on request. Right-to-delete honored within 30 days. We process EU client data under standard contractual clauses. See /legal for the full privacy policy and DPA.
Yes. Account export (clients, contracts, invoices, gallery metadata) available on request via /account/export. File download for galleries available any time from the gallery page.
Gallery passwords are bcrypt-hashed before storage — never stored in plaintext. Even 12img staff cannot read your gallery passwords.
Primary hosting on AWS US-East via Vercel. Cloudflare R2 globally distributed for derivatives and video. Supabase Postgres in US-East. Email delivery via Resend (US).
How to reach us and where to find help.
Visit /help for the help center, /community for the community forum (peer help), or email hello@12img.com. Pro plans get priority support with faster response times.
A public status page is on the roadmap. For incidents in the meantime, follow @12img on Twitter/X.
Yes — 30% recurring commission for the first 12 months on referrals who convert to a paid plan. Apply at /affiliate.
Full feature history at /updates/changelog. Machine-readable JSON at /api/changelog.json. Roadmap at /roadmap.
Email hello@12img.com or start a 14-day Pro trial — no card required — and we'll answer questions while you explore.