Is there a free alternative to Pixieset for client photo selection?

For the selection step specifically, yes — a free local browser tool lets the couple open the delivery folder on their own laptop and send back their picks, with nothing uploaded and no account. It does not replace a gallery's delivery, sharing, branding or print-sales features.

Should I stop using my client gallery?

No, if you already pay for one. Favourites collected automatically in your dashboard is a better workflow than receiving a zip, and print sales often cover the subscription. A local tool is for cases where a gallery is not in play.

What do client galleries do that a local tool cannot?

Branded delivery, guest sharing by link, mobile access, print sales, download tracking, gallery expiry and PINs, and collecting the couple's favourites into your dashboard without a handover. A local tool does the choosing and nothing else.

Do my clients need an account to use a local selection tool?

No. There is no account, no sign-up and no charge. The constraint instead is the device: it needs a laptop or desktop running Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc or Opera, because that is what can read a folder from the drive.

Is it safe to send clients a third-party tool?

The relevant question is what it does with the photos. A tool that reads the folder locally in the browser never uploads them, which is verifiable in the network tab and by disconnecting from wi-fi after the page loads.

A free Pixieset alternative for client photo picks

Client galleries are better products than this one. They are also solving a bigger problem than album selects, and you pay for all of it.

Last updated 4 September 2026 · by Harshit Luthra

If you already run Pixieset or Pic-Time, use it for album selects — the favourites come back to you automatically and there is no handover step. A free local tool is the alternative for the case where you do not: you deliver by drive or file transfer, the delivery is large, and you do not want a gallery subscription just to collect a list of filenames.

The trade is real. You give up sharing, mobile access, print sales and branding, and you get no upload and no cost.

What client galleries are actually for

Pixieset and Pic-Time are not selection tools that happen to host photos. They are client-delivery businesses, and selection is one feature inside them. What you are paying for is:

Delivery and sharing. One branded link the couple forwards to every guest, working on every device.
Print sales. A storefront attached to the gallery, which for many photographers pays for the subscription on its own.
Branding. Your name, your colours, your domain — rather than a third-party tool with someone else's name on it.
Client management. Download tracking, expiry, PINs, per-gallery access.
Favourites, collected for you. The couple stars photos and you get the list in your dashboard. No zip, no filenames to reconcile.
Mobile. The couple can choose on a phone, on a sofa, over two weeks.

A free local browser tool does exactly none of that. It should not be compared to a gallery on features, because it is not competing for the same job.

Where a gallery is clearly the right answer

You already pay for one. Adding a second tool to the workflow is worse than using what you have.
Print sales are part of your revenue.
Your clients expect a branded delivery experience, and it is part of what they bought.
The couple wants to choose on a phone, or wants family involved in choosing.
You want the favourites list to land in your dashboard rather than in your inbox.

In all of those, stop reading. The gallery wins.

Where a free local tool fits instead

You deliver by hard drive, WeTransfer, or a shared cloud folder. The photos are already on the couple's machine; uploading them to a gallery so they can pick is work with no payoff.
The delivery is very large. Gallery storage is priced by volume, and multi-day Indian weddings with two or three shooters are exactly the deliveries that make that expensive.
You only need the selects. If the couple already has the photos and you just need a list of filenames back, a gallery is a lot of product for one list.
The client is privacy-sensitive. Some families do not want the wedding on a third-party server at all. "It never leaves your laptop" is an easy answer.
You are starting out. A subscription before your first few weddings is a real cost; this is not.
You have a gallery but it has expired. Old weddings coming back for a second album are the common version of this.

Side by side

	Client gallery	Free local tool
Cost	Subscription, priced by storage	Free
You upload the delivery	Yes	No
Client account needed	Usually a link or PIN	None
Works on phone	Yes	No — laptop and desktop only
Branded	Yes	No
Print sales	Yes	No
Guest sharing	Yes	No
How selects reach you	Favourites list in your dashboard	Couple sends a folder or filename list
Photos on a third-party server	Yes	No
Gallery expiry	Yes, per plan	Not applicable

Using both

The combination most working photographers land on: gallery for delivery, sharing and prints, and a local tool as the fallback you point couples at when the gallery is not the right fit for that job — an expired wedding, a client who wants everything off the cloud, or a delivery too large to be worth uploading twice.

It costs nothing to have in your back pocket, and it is one link in an email rather than a workflow change.

What to tell the couple either way

The tool matters far less than the brief. A number, a deadline, and three lines of method are what determine whether the selects come back — the full version is in the client selection workflow, with a delivery email you can copy.

The free tool for the picking part

Shaadi Pic opens the wedding folder straight from your drive — nothing is uploaded, there is no account and there is no charge. Left arrow skips, right arrow keeps, Z undoes. Your keepers are copied into a /selected subfolder with filenames unchanged, ready to zip and send back.

Open your folder and start picking →
Free · runs locally · no sign-up · needs a laptop running Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc or Opera

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Pixieset for client photo selection?: For the selection step specifically, yes — a free local browser tool lets the couple open the delivery folder on their own laptop and send back their picks, with nothing uploaded and no account. It does not replace a gallery's delivery, sharing, branding or print-sales features.
Should I stop using my client gallery?: No, if you already pay for one. Favourites collected automatically in your dashboard is a better workflow than receiving a zip, and print sales often cover the subscription. A local tool is for cases where a gallery is not in play.
What do client galleries do that a local tool cannot?: Branded delivery, guest sharing by link, mobile access, print sales, download tracking, gallery expiry and PINs, and collecting the couple's favourites into your dashboard without a handover. A local tool does the choosing and nothing else.
Do my clients need an account to use a local selection tool?: No. There is no account, no sign-up and no charge. The constraint instead is the device: it needs a laptop or desktop running Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc or Opera, because that is what can read a folder from the drive.
Is it safe to send clients a third-party tool?: The relevant question is what it does with the photos. A tool that reads the folder locally in the browser never uploads them, which is verifiable in the network tab and by disconnecting from wi-fi after the page loads.