FOCL vs SmugMug for wedding photographers

We make FOCL, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to be fair. SmugMug has been around since 2002, its support is real people around the clock. Prices below are from smugmug.com/plans and SmugMug’s help center on 12 September 2026, and from our own pricing page. Check both before you decide.

The short version

Choose SmugMug if you want unlimited full-resolution photo storage on every plan, a website with your own domain, a choice of 4 print labs, Lightroom sync, or a paid add-on that stores your RAW files next to your galleries. SmugMug is a photo hosting and selling platform first.

Choose FOCL if you shoot weddings and want the day itself handled, the timeline, shot list, family photo list, couple portal and offline phone app, next to galleries where favorites, download control and branding are on every plan, including a free one.

FOCL Galleries also works for portraits, families and events. Create a standalone gallery with a client or session name; no wedding is needed. In Settings → Downloads, choose which sections or individual photos clients can download while keeping the others visible. How download controls work.

Pricing

SmugMug has no free plan; it has a 14-day trial. The cheapest plan is $20 a month billed annually, or $29 month to month. FOCL starts free.

	FOCL	SmugMug
Free	3 GB, photos only, unlimited galleries and couples	No free plan (14-day trial)
Around $10 a month	Essentials: 100 GB, $10 monthly or $100 a year	Nothing at this price
Around $20 a month	Studio: 500 GB, $19 monthly or $190 a year	Direct: unlimited photos, $20 a month billed annually or $29 monthly. Delivery only: no selling for profit, no watermarks
Around $25 a month		Portfolio: unlimited, $23.50 billed annually or $35.50 monthly. Sells prints and downloads, watermarks, website templates, custom domain
Around $40 a month	Pro: 2 TB, $39 monthly or $390 a year	Pro: unlimited, $37 billed annually or $52 monthly. Adds client favoriting, download controls, packages, coupons, second-shooter access

The storage story is simple: SmugMug is unlimited from the first plan. If you keep more than 2 TB of finished work online for good, SmugMug wins on that line, by a lot.

The feature story is the reverse. On SmugMug, watermarks need Portfolio, and client favoriting and full control over client downloads need Pro, at $37 to $52 a month. On FOCL, favorites, the download switch, download PINs, passwords, expiry dates, watermarks and your branding are on the free plan. Video is the one feature that needs a paid FOCL plan.

Downloads and bandwidth

FOCL does not meter downloads or bandwidth. Storage is the only thing we count. On every plan you can switch downloads on or off per gallery, require a PIN for ZIPs, offer high resolution or 2048px web size, let a guest download one section on its own, and have large ZIPs emailed as a link valid for 7 days.

SmugMug lists digital delivery, QR codes and client galleries for review or download on every plan, but “full control over client downloads” only on Pro. It does not state a bandwidth cap.

Video

• SmugMug accepts videos up to 20 minutes long and 3 GB each, with unlimited uploads, and says it does not keep a copy of your original file. A gallery holds up to 5,000 photos and videos.
• FOCL accepts video on paid plans up to 30 GB per file, includes hours of it per plan (3 on Essentials, 10 on Studio, 30 on Pro), streams it adaptively, and the couple can download the original or a 1080p web version. Videos are never watermarked and never go into the ZIP. Files above about 200 Mbps cannot be processed, so export a delivery version first.

A full ceremony or speeches edit usually runs past 20 minutes, so on SmugMug you would split it or host it elsewhere. On FOCL it is one file, and the original stays available. See delivering wedding video alongside photos.

RAW files

SmugMug sells RAW storage as an add-on: 1 TB for $10 a month, then $6 a month per further TB. FOCL accepts JPEG, PNG, HEIC and WebP only, and does not take RAW. See can clients have the RAW files.

The wedding day itself

This is the real difference, and it is not something SmugMug tries to do.

FOCL started as a wedding-day app. The same subscription that hosts your galleries gives you:

• A timeline of the day with photo moments flagged. Import the planner’s PDF and it fills itself in. On the phone, “+5 min” cascades a delay through the rest of the day.
• A family photo list you work through on your phone, ticking off each grouping.
• A shot list in sections, assignable to a second shooter.
• A couple portal where the couple fills in people, family groupings and their timeline, and nothing lands in your brief until you approve it.
• A phone app that works with no signal at the venue.
• Team access: 2 seats included, $5 a month for each extra.

SmugMug’s “platform access for an assistant or second shooter” on Pro is access to your SmugMug account, not a shot list on their phone.

Galleries, feature by feature

Both do the basics: galleries the couple can review and download from, watermarks, branding, and a print store on paid plans.

Things FOCL does that we did not find on SmugMug’s plans page:

• Photo search for guests, by keyword or selfie, with your own moment tags.
• Couple Controls. The couple hides photos from their guests with a short code; you see what they hid and can restore it.
• Favorites on every plan, by person or by photo, with a CSV export. On SmugMug, client favoriting is Pro only.
• Shared sets for a florist or a magazine, with your branding.
• Email registration, passwords and expiry dates on every plan, and a design tab with a live desktop and phone preview.
• Team seats: 2 included, $5 a month per extra. SmugMug’s second-shooter access is Pro only.

Things SmugMug does that FOCL does not:

• Unlimited photo storage.
• A website with templates and a custom domain, from Portfolio up. FOCL offers a portfolio homepage and custom gallery domains on Studio and Pro, without a separate website builder.
• Lightroom sync, upload from Flickr and Dropbox, and auto-upload from SmugMug’s apps.
• RAW storage as an add-on.
• 24/7 support by real people.

Print store

FOCL’s prints are made by WHCC. You set a markup over the lab cost and keep the difference; FOCL handles payment and shipping, orders appear in your studio, and payouts go through Stripe.

SmugMug’s store needs Portfolio or Pro. On Direct, orders are placed at SmugMug’s cost and you earn nothing. You choose a lab (Bay Photo, Fujifilm, WHCC, or Loxley in the UK), set prices, and SmugMug fulfills. SmugMug keeps 15% of your markup. Its help center defines your profit as 85% of the difference between your price and SmugMug’s default price, and 85% of the amount above base cost on downloads ($0.49 per file, $1.99 per gallery). The 15% covers card fees, so there is no separate processing fee. Pro adds packages, coupons, branded packaging and proof delay. For setting the markup, see how to price prints in your gallery.

Switching

Moving from SmugMug to FOCL is a download and an upload. Download your originals, then drag each folder into a FOCL gallery; folders become sections. Your couples get a new link. There is no importer for favorites or visitor history.

If SmugMug is your archive as well as your delivery, do not move the archive. FOCL meters storage, so keep every frame you have ever shot on drives or a backup service, and put finished galleries on FOCL.

Which one should you pick?

If unlimited storage is the point, or you want website, galleries and store under one roof with your own domain and a choice of labs, SmugMug is the stronger fit, and its Pro plan is a complete selling setup.

If you are a wedding photographer first, want favorites, download control and branding without paying for Pro, want a free plan to start on, and want the wedding day run from your pocket, that is what FOCL is built for. For the rest of the field, see FOCL vs Pixieset.