Facial recognition that writes athlete names into your photo files. Built for sports photographers and the athletic departments that use them: communications, marketing, development, and everyone else who needs the photos.
Two different problems. Here is what each one needs.
Checked against published pricing and support documentation.
| Capability | GalleryIDCloud & Desktop | Enterprise sports platformsPhotoShelter for Brands | Client gallery platformsSmugMug, Zenfolio, Pixieset… | Delivery toolsPicPortal, DeadlineFTP… |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facial recognition | Some. Visitor selfie search | |||
| Reads jersey numbersFor helmets, and faces turned away | ||||
| Matches against your rosterReads the photo, rather than scanning a QR card | Built-in league library | Some import a name list | Some import a name list | |
| Names written into the photo fileIPTC and XMP that travel with the JPEG | Default behavior | Lands in Keywords | Names stay on the platform | Only what you type yourself |
| Search the archive by athlete name | Keyword tagging at most | |||
| Runs on your own Mac or PCNo upload required | Desktop, Mac and Windows | Varies | ||
| FTP delivery out | Some | |||
| Unlimited staff accounts on all plans | 2–5 library seats; viewers unlimited | Capped team seats, never unlimited | User count capped by tier | |
| Unlimited IDs, no cap | No cap, no credits | Entitlements set per contract | — | — |
| Published pricing | From $10/mo | Quote only | ||
| Built-in store, 0% commission | Paid direct to your Stripe | No storefront | 0–15%, varies by vendor | — |
Verified August 2026. Competitor capabilities change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Cancel the subscription.
Open the photos.
Do they still know who is in them?
On a hosting platform the name is a database row you lose access to. In GalleryID the name is written into the file, so it still reads in Lightroom, in your archive, and on a hard drive in ten years.
PhotoShelter is the established platform for large sports organizations, and a capable one. Its PlayerID uses face, jersey number and team logo together. The difference is who it is priced for.
SmugMug, Pixieset and Pic-Time have spent a decade on print storefronts and lab partnerships. If print revenue is the point, they are the better fit.
Enterprise platforms go deeper on video libraries, transcription and social distribution. Check what a given social integration does first. Most hand assets to a person who posts them rather than posting for you. GalleryID gives your social staff permissioned access to the archive. It does not post for you.
QR subject cards and tethered capture are what Captura and PhotoDay are built for. GalleryID is built for game day and the season archive.
Upload by browser or FTP. Facial recognition against your roster, with jersey numbers behind it. A metadata template you set once. Deliver by automatic FTP export or a private or password-protected gallery link. The names ride inside the files either way.
There is a separate page for that: GalleryID Desktop vs Photo Mechanic, Lightroom and the roster tools.
You handle the camera.
We’ll handle the names.
14 days free. Cloud, Desktop, or both. From $10/month.
All features on all plans. No credits. No commission.
PhotoShelter, SmugMug, Zenfolio, Pixieset, Pic-Time, PicPortal and DeadlineFTP are trademarks of their respective owners. GalleryID is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them, and the names are used here only to identify the products being compared. Feature details reflect each vendor’s published documentation as of August 2026 and may have changed since.