Album design software compared: BookProofs vs SmartAlbums vs Fundy
BookProofs Designer, SmartAlbums (formerly Pixellu Smart Albums), and Fundy Designer. Here’s a fair look at how they’re priced and who each one is right for.
Last updated August 4, 2026
Free demo · No credit card required · macOS & Windows
The comparison chart
| Feature | BookProofs | SmartAlbums | Fundy Designer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model for album design software | One-time purchase | Sold as an annual or monthly subscription | Your choice of a one-time purchase of the current major version, or a subscription billed yearly or monthly |
| Company focus | Album design and client proofing | Album design, client proofing, slideshows, and galleries | All-in-one studio suite: albums, wall art, cards and magazines, slideshows, client proofing, skin retouching, and in-person sales tools |
| What's included vs paid extra | Every design feature and updates for the lifetime of the product. Client proofing is a separate product, free for your first client and a subscription for more than one client at a time | Album design on the base plan, for as long as you subscribe. Cloud proofing on a higher plan or per album | Album Suite leaves wall art out, Pro Suite includes it. Buy once and proofing and slideshows arrive as a 3-month trial of the Pro Enhancements add-on, which renews annually after that |
| Auto-layout | FlashDesign | Auto Build | 1-Click Design Wizard |
| Client proofing | Yes. Free for your first client, then a subscription | Yes, Cloud Proofing. On a higher plan or per album | Yes, Online Design Proofing. An annual add-on if you buy once |
| Print vendor export | Print-ready specs for album labs built in | Print-ready specs for album labs built in | Print-ready specs for album labs built in |
| Direct in-app lab ordering | No. Export print-ready files and upload them to your lab | Yes, with some select integrated labs. For non-integrated vendors, export print-ready files and upload them to your lab | Yes, with some select integrated labs. For non-integrated vendors, export print-ready files and upload them to your lab |
| Wall art and in-person sales | No | No | Yes, extensive |
| Platform | macOS and Windows | macOS and Windows | macOS and Windows |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
BookProofs vs SmartAlbums
SmartAlbums is the closest comparison to BookProofs Designer, and it’s genuinely good software for album design. It has been the default wedding album design tool for more than a decade, it’s not overly difficult for new users to learn, and cloud proofing is wired into the workflow. If you already use it and it fits how you work, there is no urgent reason to move outside of the business model.
That business model is the clearest difference. SmartAlbums is sold as a subscription: you pay for as long as you use it, and cloud proofing sits on a higher plan or a per album cost. BookProofs Designer is a one-time purchase. Every design feature and updates for the lifetime of the product are included, and there is no renewal. Our client proofing is its own product, free for your first client and a subscription past that, but the designer app itself never bills you again. That is the honest shape of BookProofs Designer as a SmartAlbums alternative: you trade a bill that repeats for one that does not.
On the design work itself the two are close. In BookProofs, zoom, pan, rotate, and exposure all happen directly on canvas. The template panel stays open by default or closes if you want the screen real estate, templates exist at page level as well as spread level, and you can build and save your own.
Where SmartAlbums is ahead: reach and time in market. More photographers use it, more labs have tested against it, its user community doubles as front-line support, its current lab list is longer, and it can now send an order to some select integrated labs, including cover design.
BookProofs vs Fundy Designer
Fundy Designer is a different kind of product. It designs albums, but it also designs wall art, builds in-person sales presentations, and invoices clients with a signable agreement attached.
Fundy owns in-person sales and wall art. If you sell wall art in the room with your client, or you want IPS tooling built into the same app you design in, Fundy is the right software and we’ll say so plainly.
Fundy also sells a one-time option, so we’re not going to claim we’re the only one. What matters is what that price covers. Slideshows, unlimited proofing galleries, skin retouching and the design library all sit in the Pro Enhancements add-on, free for three months and annual after that, while subscribing includes them. So with Fundy the one-time option buys a narrower version of the software than the subscription does.
The other difference is scope. Fundy is an entire studio suite. If you want album design without paying for wall art, sales tools and other features you won’t open or use, that’s a reason to continue considering BookProofs. If you actually want a full suite with those tools, Fundy is your best option.
One-time purchase vs subscription: the ten-year math
Album design software is a tool you use for a whole career, which makes the overall cost matter more than the yearly sticker price. Ten years into a subscription you’ve paid for the software many times over.
The real cost of album design software over 10 years
That range is what subscription album design software costs across ten years. Prices move, so don’t take our word for any of it. Price all three yourself before you buy anything, the same way you should try all three. Ours is on the pricing page.
Which one is right for you
- In addition to albums, you run in-person sales: Fundy Designer. It’s built for exactly that.
- You want a clearly established album tool and are okay with a subscription: SmartAlbums. Long track record, plus in-app ordering with some select labs.
- You want focused album design as a one-time purchase: BookProofs Designer. Modernized album design software, every design feature included, no yearly renewal.
Choose whichever fits your business best.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a SmartAlbums alternative without a subscription?
Yes. BookProofs Designer is album design software sold as a one-time purchase, with every design feature and updates for the lifetime of the product included and no renewal on the app. Fundy Designer also sells a one-time option, though moving up to a new major version carries its own upgrade price.
What is the best album design software for wedding and portrait photographers?
It depends on your business. If you run in-person sales and sell wall art, Fundy Designer is built for that. If you want a clearly established album tool and are okay with a subscription, SmartAlbums is very good software. If you want focused album design as a one-time purchase, look at BookProofs Designer. All three have a free trial, so the fastest answer is to simply try them all and compare pricing.
Is there one-time purchase album design software for Mac and Windows?
Yes. BookProofs Designer runs natively on macOS and Windows and is a one-time purchase of $249 with no subscription. Fundy Designer also offers a one-time option, and SmartAlbums is sold as a subscription. All three run on both platforms.
Download all three and decide for yourself
All three companies let you try the software before you pay. Use that. Download BookProofs, SmartAlbums, and Fundy, design the same album in all three, and see which one you actually want to open on a Tuesday night with an album due Friday.
Then add up what each one costs you over the next ten years, and choose. We’re happy to be judged on that comparison and it’s the reason this page exists.
Free demo · No time limit · No credit card required
What photographers
are saying
Real Reviews from Real Photographers
"I love how versatile BookProofs is. It truly is like the Lightroom of album design. It's intuitive, seamless, and has so many customization options without being overwhelming."
"Bookproofs is an easy way for photographers to design albums without all the fuss! Easy to use and create albums quickly and efficiently!"
"BookProofs has made album building so simple and easy to navigate. All of my complaints on other album designers has been addressed and seems like every detail was very thought through to make our lives easier. I love how I can switch images seamlessly, change the layouts easily. Its amazing!"
"This is clearly an album design software for photographers BY photographers. It's super intuitive and easy to create albums quickly."
"BookProofs really opened my eyes to the creativity that is possible with album design! No more boring layouts that all look the same. I can finally create fully custom designs for my clients quickly and efficiently!"
"I'm blown away by how easy BookProofs is to use. It honestly makes album design fun again."
"I assumed a perfect album designer just didn't exist. I've tried several and not one had EVERYTHING thought out and implemented. Not only does BookProofs have EVERY feature I wished for, and ones I didn't know I needed, they're thoughtfully laid out/designed and beautifully put together for a really awesome experience. Using BookProofs has reinvigorated the promotion/excitement of doing albums for my wedding couples."
"BookProofs makes album design feel really intuitive and flexible. I love being able to swap templates on individual pages and quickly find layouts based on how many images I'm working with."
"BookProofs was extremely intuitive to use and made creating album designs very efficient. It offered endless options to customize and create a professional album for my clients while still saving time and energy."
"As a wedding photographer, efficiency and organization are huge when it comes to album design. BookProofs made the entire process incredibly smooth. I loved how customizable everything was while still keeping the workflow streamlined and organized. It made designing albums feel much less time-consuming, and the final results looked polished and professional. Overall, it's a great tool for photographers who want to design albums quickly while still maintaining full creative control!"
"I've used a lot of album design software over the years and honestly? BookProofs is the one that actually makes sense. You open it and it just...works. No learning curve, no digging through menus, no Googling how to do basic things. Someone clearly sat down and thought through every single detail before they built this and it shows. The whole design and proofing process is so much smoother than anything else I've tried. It feels like it was built by someone who actually shoots weddings and knows what photographers need, not just a dev team guessing from the outside. No subscription for BookProofs Designer. In an industry where every tool wants a piece of your monthly budget, that's a really big deal. If you're still using something else, just try BookProofs. I think you'll wonder why you waited."
"BookProofs Designer is giving us what we've been asking for without the subscription pricing."
"I loved having the flexibility of letting the software design my images, or letting me choose individual images to move wherever I wanted. Plus, the ability to design pages and not just spreads is awesome!"
"You can tell BookProofs was designed by actual Photographers. It goes the extra mile to look and feel like something photographers can use without the typical frustrations."
