Alternatives Guide
17hats went from three tiers to one $60/mo plan — great if you used everything, painful if you didn't. The honest 2026 alternatives list for photographers.
17hats' 2026 single-plan pricing ($60/mo, $600/yr) made the value question sharper: it's fair if you use the bookkeeping, automations, and general-business machinery, and expensive if you're a photographer using a quarter of it.
Photography-specific CRMs cover the shoot workflow — inquiries, contracts, booking, delivery — at a half to a third of the price. What you'd give up is the bookkeeping and the everything-in-one-place breadth.
Full disclosure: this guide is published by Fstop CRM, which appears in the list below. We put real alternatives on this page, including ones that compete with us, and we say who each one is actually right for.
The List
Every feature on every plan. 7-day free trial.
A third of 17hats' price, built only for photographers and videographers: pipeline, contracts, invoices, booking pages with deposits, galleries, questionnaires, and timelines.
Best for: Photographers who used a fraction of 17hats and paid for all of it
Tradeoff: No bookkeeping — pair with your accounting tool of choice.
Full Fstop vs 17hats comparison →$160-400/yr.
Photography-native, cheap, and simple, with native gallery-platform integrations.
Best for: Solo photographers who want the essentials done well
Tradeoff: No galleries or bookkeeping; job caps on Starter.
$36/$59/$129 monthly. 30-day trial.
The most polished client experience in the category — smart files, scheduling, automations, payment plans, galleries.
Best for: Creatives who win business on client-facing polish
Tradeoff: Essentials ($49/mo billed yearly) is where the real features live.
$335/$525 per year.
Maximum configurability: custom forms, workflows, portals, multi-brand. The opposite of 17hats' pre-wired approach.
Best for: System-builders who want every detail their way
Tradeoff: Significant setup investment; scheduling needs Premier.
How to Choose
Common Questions
17hats retired its three-tier structure; as of August 2026 there's one all-inclusive plan at $60/mo, $600/yr, or $800 for two years. Legacy subscribers may retain old plans, but new signups get the single plan.
Fstop CRM ($19.99/mo billed yearly) covers the photography workflow — including galleries, which 17hats never had — at a third of the price. Studio Ninja (from $16/mo) is the budget photography-native pick. Neither includes bookkeeping.
Not really — bookkeeping is 17hats' genuine differentiator. Most photographers pair a CRM with dedicated accounting software; factor that cost into the comparison.
Fstop CRM is built for photographers and videographers — inquiries, contracts, invoices, booking, and galleries in one place. 7-day free trial, from $19.99/mo after.