Hickory for photographers
Hickory vs Pixieset — Delivery Plus a Designed Book, or Delivery Plus a Price List
Pixieset does client delivery beautifully and has done for years. If your clients are buying prints and downloads, it's hard to beat. The gap it leaves is the album: the store can sell you a book, but somebody still has to design it, and that somebody is you at 11pm.
Start with an event you’ve already delivered. No new shoot required.
Where the two overlap
Both deliver galleries under your branding, both let clients buy from the gallery, both drop-ship. If gallery delivery is all you need, Pixieset is a mature, well-built answer and we'd say so to your face.
Where Hickory is different
Hickory starts from the assumption that the book is the product. Upload the gallery and a complete book comes back drafted — sequenced, covered, captioned — which you then edit. That's the labour Pixieset's storefront leaves on your desk.
What we won't claim
Our book is an 8.5x11 casewrap hardcover on archival paper. It is not a lay-flat flush-mount album, and if your comparison is a premium album lab's flush-mount, that lab wins on binding. We compete on the evening you get back, not on the spine.
| Feature | Hickory | Them |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery delivery | Yes, under your branding | Yes, under your branding |
| Book design | AI drafts the full book, you edit | You design it yourself |
| Time to a sellable book | Minutes after upload | An evening per album |
| Client checkout in gallery | Yes | Yes |
| Fulfillment | Drop-shipped, 7–14 days | Lab-dependent |
| Book format | 8.5x11 casewrap hardcover | Lab catalogue |
Questions photographers ask
Should I switch off Pixieset?
Not necessarily. Some studios keep an established delivery gallery and use Hickory for the events where they want book revenue. Try it on one gallery before deciding anything.
How does pricing compare?
Opening a studio is free — set one up, upload a gallery, and look at the book it drafts before you pay us anything. You set the retail price your client sees, and you keep what's left after print cost: a 36-page hardcover lands at $20.50 for a single copy with US shipping included. We have not set a studio subscription price yet, so we are not going to post one. The pricing page has the full cost breakdown and a form to be told first when the number is decided.
Related
Try it on one event you’ve already shot.
Upload a finished gallery and look at the book it drafts. That’s the whole evaluation. Books print and ship to your client in 7–14 days, under your studio’s name.