Zenfolio or Smugmug

Heather09 · Mar 8, 2009

anyone? One is 100$ for pro the other is 150$.... likes /dislikes? I need to decide tonight , I got folks waiting for pics from a horse show.

dcclark · Mar 8, 2009

I think this particular topic has been discussed quite a bit (try searching the forums). Do note that there are 50% off coupon codes for Smugmug all around the place, so I wouldn't worry about the price difference.

Here is my particular thought, and it really is just my opinion: Zenfolio's themes are much more elegant, clean, and pleasant to use than Smugmug's. I have tested both (I will be setting up shop on Zenfolio within a month), and for me appearance is key: I want my art to be shown as I intend, in a simple and elegant way, without forcing me to write my own code. Smugmug is infinitely customizable, but without editing the HTML and CSS myself, I couldn't make my pages look any better than one of those horrible old geocities free pages. If you're a fair hand with website design, go for it. Otherwise, I'd choose Zenfolio for appearance alone. (I like its other features too -- especially the ability to create coupons.)

fwellers · Mar 8, 2009

Also, don't quote me on this, but check it out. It's one of the deciders for me when I went with Zenfolio. With Z you can upload unlimited for that price. As long as your largest image size in no more than 12g, you can upload them all day long.
I kind of think of my zenfolio account as a last resort backup of my stuff. Yea, it would be a pain to get it all off, but if my world went to hell, zenfolio still has all the full size jpgs and tiffs.

Heather09 · Mar 9, 2009

I went with zenfolio and Im likin it! thanks for the opinions!

sabbath999 · Mar 9, 2009

Another vote for Zenfolio.

My direct link to my Zenfolio

chrisburke · Mar 9, 2009

smugmug is unlimited upload as well.. but on the main page of the beginners forum, there is already a topic on this..

Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2009

dcclark said:
I think this particular topic has been discussed quite a bit (try searching the forums). Do note that there are 50% off coupon codes for Smugmug all around the place, so I wouldn't worry about the price difference.

Here is my particular thought, and it really is just my opinion: Zenfolio's themes are much more elegant, clean, and pleasant to use than Smugmug's. I have tested both (I will be setting up shop on Zenfolio within a month), and for me appearance is key: I want my art to be shown as I intend, in a simple and elegant way, without forcing me to write my own code. Smugmug is infinitely customizable, but without editing the HTML and CSS myself, I couldn't make my pages look any better than one of those horrible old geocities free pages. If you're a fair hand with website design, go for it. Otherwise, I'd choose Zenfolio for appearance alone. (I like its other features too -- especially the ability to create coupons.)

Dgrin.com is smugmug's forums. They have a section for customization where the Smugmug employees and coders will help you with every little thing you need, even writing the CSS code for you and telling you where to put it in the customization pages.

That's my secret weapon.

My Smugmug - www.digitalroomstudios.com

Chris Stegner · Mar 9, 2009

I'm a huge Zenfolio fan. For the same reasons stated above... It's all about the interface for me. Looks very clean, and if my parents can figure it out without trouble I know about anyone can.

Heather09 · Mar 9, 2009

I likey the zenfolio, Im DONE, uploaded 300 photos it looks professional and clean and set my prices ...NICE I may play with it more later, but its yahoo..done! I can go outside and play in the warm weather now.

Parkerman · Mar 9, 2009

I took the 14 day trial with both.. And ended up choosing Smugmug.. just for one small reason... Less clicks to get to the pictures... which means to me.. a smoother interface.

Ill explain what I mean.
If you were to go to my website, you would have one click to actually enter the site. [where you click the image]... and once you are in the site, You click the gallery you want to View and there it is.. You are good to go.

With Zenfolio, You have the page to choose what gallery you want to look at, you click that gallery, then it shows you the pictures.. then to see the picture.. You have to click it again, which puts you in another gallery.

I didn't like that.. So, I didn't go with them.

Lynnzora · Mar 11, 2009

Am I wrong but Smugmug seems to have a lot more merchandise too... So if your clients are interested in putting their image on a mug, t shirts, stickers... smug mug seems to have more stuff. I know that's not a reason you'd want to choose one over the other... just an observation... I'm still trying to decide between the two.

Village Idiot · Mar 11, 2009

Lynnzora said:
Am I wrong but Smugmug seems to have a lot more merchandise too... So if your clients are interested in putting their image on a mug, t shirts, stickers... smug mug seems to have more stuff. I know that's not a reason you'd want to choose one over the other... just an observation... I'm still trying to decide between the two.

Smug mug has two printers now as well. They used to have just one, which iirc is EZPrints based out of Atlanta? I'm not sure about that.

They just aquired Bay Photo which is a professional printing lab. They charge a little more but they have options where they'll do color correction and such to your photos for a small fee. This is optional.

It's nice to have two choices though.

and this is apparently coming soon, SmugMugPro

trigeminal · Oct 20, 2009

I like the ability to upload videos at Smugmug, but the sleek backend of Zenfolio won me over in the end.

You can however have a lot more control over at Smugmug with a completely custom look to your site.

Both have pretty good prices (for what you get) and they both are really unlimited storage (I've seen people posting over 80gigs of pics on both), which in my mind means I can take as many pictures as I want and not have to worry about running out of room.

Personally I think everyone should have some sort of online back up for their photos. Think of how much we spend on photo albums, and keep in mind that those were not exactly reliable methods of safe guarding pictures. Hard drives etc are even worse as they are pretty prone to failure. What did it to me was the loss of a hard drive recently with some irreplaceable pictures. I had them backed up on an "archive quality" DVD, but when I went to restore them, I found the DVD had corrupted. I had done everything that I could by storing it in a cool, dry place etc. Oh well those pics are now gone. Apparently both of these sites "guarantee" that they are stored in several different geographic locations so your pics are backed up and safe all the time.

I've found the following coupons, and used the Zenfolio one for a $5 discount:
$5 off at Smugmug
MjmiE0xAHBhwQ

$5 off at Zenfolio
9MS-YYH-CBP