Image: Thomas Hawk | SmugMug
SmugMug caters to photographers of all skill levels, but it has a few tools (like the ability to sell images online) that have made it particularly popular for pros. Today, the site unveiled a major makeover. Flickr did much the same thing several weeks ago, but, as David Pogue notes, whereas Flickr made changes to make itself more appealing to casual users, SmugMug doubled down on professional-friendly options.
Still, even casual users will find a lot to like in the new SmugMug.
Among the biggest changes involves how images are presented. You’ll now have the option of up to 24 different layout options with the ability to fine-tune your photo pages even further, if you want. You can essentially turn SmugMug into your own private photo expo (or public, if you want to sell your photos). “Basic” users ($40/year) won’t have as many custom display controls as those who opt to pay up for “Power” or “Portfolio” accounts (full pricing here) but you’ll still have the option to apply one of six gallery styles, pick fonts and color combinations as well as put your own logo or personal branding on the page.
Another big change is a drag-and-drop organizer, so you can easily arrange your photos with a few clicks of the mouse. The mobile version of SmugMug has been updated to mimic the look and features of the desktop site too.
The net result: your photos will look a lot nicer on the new SmugMug. The bigger question: is it a good home for your images, especially compared to Flickr, which is offering 1TB worth of photo storage for free.
Flickr vs. SmugMug
Fortunately, there are a few differences between the two that can help you decide. While there are no free options for SmugMug, $40/year buys you an unlimited number of photos and video uploads. If you max out your free terabyte on Flickr (which equates to over half a million images), you can double your storage for $499/year.
Flickr is also more restrictive with video uploads: they cannot exceed 1GB in size and can only be played back on the site for up to three minutes. SmugMug, by contrast, gives you video uploads up to 3GB in size (or up to 20 minutes in length) and unlimited playback.
If you’re very concerned with how your images look online, SmugMug will give you more control over that. Both display images in an attractive new layout, but SmugMug simply has more layout options.
So, the bottom line: if you’re very casual photographer who doesn’t take a lot of video and doesn’t want to spend a dime on photo storage, Flickr is the way to go. If you take a lot of photos and videos and want to exercise a greater degree of control over how they’re organized and displayed online and don’t mind paying the rather modest $40 annual fee, go with SmugMug.