Shopify questionAnswer4 min read
How Much Does Product Photography Cost for an Online Store?
Studio product photos are priced per image, with models and styling billed by the hour. Here are published prices, three worked budgets and the shots worth paying for.
Key takeaways
- On-demand studios price product photos per image. soona listed $39 per photo on 7 November 2026, plus a $149 studio pass per booking unless you pay for a membership.
- Models and styling are billed on top, by the hour: soona listed styling at $149 an hour and a full-body model at $159 an hour.
- A 20-product catalog with 4 photos each is 80 images, which comes to $3,269 with one studio pass at those prices.
- Shopify says square product images display best at 2048 x 2048 px, which a good phone and window light can reach for simple products.
- Who it is for
- Store owners budgeting for photos
- Time needed
- 5 minutes to read
- What you need
- Your product and variant count
Professional product photography for an online store is usually priced per finished image, and on-demand studios publish rates around $39 a photo (soona's listed price, as checked on 7 November 2026). Add models, styling or video and the cost per image climbs quickly. A small catalog of 20 products with 4 shots each costs about $3,300 before extras, so plan the shot list before you book anything.
What a studio charges
soona is one of the few studios that publishes a full price list, so I use it as the benchmark. Local studios often quote per day or per project instead, which makes a per-image breakdown the only fair way to compare.
| Item | Listed price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Photo | $39 | Per image |
| Studio pass | $149 | Per booking, no membership |
| Membership | $13 or $49 a month | Billed annually |
| Video clip | $93 | Per clip |
| Styling | $149 | Per hour |
| Hand model | $79 | Per hour |
| Full-body model | $159 | Per hour |
The $49 Standard membership waives the studio pass, gives 10% off models and styling, and includes premium photo edits, which otherwise cost from $9 each. Production costs, meaning the photos and services you book, are not included in either membership.
Three worked budgets
What a shoot costs at published prices
- White-background catalog$3,26980 photos (20 products, 4 each) plus one $149 studio pass.
- Same shoot with a membership$3,70880 photos plus a year of the $49 a month plan.
- Lifestyle hero set$1,15510 photos, 2 hours styling, 2 hours full-body model, one pass.
The membership only pays off if you book several shoots a year. For a single catalog shoot, paying the studio pass once is cheaper.
What drives the price
- Number of images. Every color variant that needs its own photo multiplies the count.
- Shot type. White-background shots are the cheapest. Lifestyle, model and ghost mannequin shots add hourly fees.
- Retouching. Jewelry, glass and reflective products need more editing per image.
- Props and sets. Studios charge for buying and styling props, so bring your own where you can.
When DIY photos are enough
For flat or simple products, a recent phone, a large window and a white sweep can produce usable images. Shopify recommends 2048 x 2048 px for square product images and accepts files up to 5000 x 5000 px or 25 megapixels, under 20 MB. Consistency matters more than perfection: same background, same angle, same crop on every product. My guide to adding products to Shopify the right way covers image order and alt text.
Spend money on the shots that sell
From a conversion point of view, the first image does most of the work on collection pages, and the rest answer questions on the product page: scale, detail, texture and the product in use. If budget is tight, pay a studio for the hero image and one in-use shot per product and do the detail shots yourself. My guide to designing a high-converting product page shows where each image type earns its place.
Prices in the UK, EU and Australia
The prices above are soona's published prices in $. Studios in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia usually quote in £, € or A$, often as a day rate. Ask each one for the cost per finished image, including retouching, so you can compare them with each other and with the figures here.
What to do next
- Count your images. Products times variants times shots per product.
- Write a shot list. Hero, scale, detail and in-use, with the same crop for every product.
- Get per-image quotes. Compare at least two studios on the same shot list.
- Test before you scale. Shoot your best seller first and see how the page performs.
If your photos are good but the product pages still don't sell, my CRO work starts from $500 with a fixed quote. For the wider launch budget, see what a Shopify store costs.
Free tools
Check your own store
Free, no sign-up. Each one runs a part of this guide for you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does product photography cost per image?
On-demand studio soona listed $39 per photo on 7 November 2026, plus a $149 studio pass per booking without a membership. Models, styling and premium edits cost extra.
How many photos does each product need?
I recommend 4 to 6: a clean hero image, a scale shot, one or two detail shots and the product in use. Add one image per color variant so shoppers see what they're buying.
Why are lifestyle photos more expensive?
They need styling, props and often models, which studios bill by the hour. At soona's listed prices, styling is $149 an hour and a full-body model $159 an hour, on top of $39 per photo.
What size should Shopify product images be?
Shopify says a size of 2048 x 2048 px usually displays best for square product images. Files can be up to 5000 x 5000 px or 25 megapixels and must be under 20 MB.
Is a photography studio membership worth it?
Only if you shoot several times a year. For one 80-photo shoot, paying a single $149 studio pass came to $3,269, while adding a year of the $49 a month membership came to $3,708.
Can I use my supplier's product photos?
Only with the supplier's permission. Even then, the same images appear on every other store selling that product, so your own photos help you stand out.
Sources
- soona pricing, soona
- Product media types, Shopify Help Center
- Theme images, Shopify Help Center
Related services and work
I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.
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