SmugMug vs Voog: guide for 2024

Final verdict

SmugMug and Voog both offer unique strengths, catering to different user needs and preferences.

SmugMug (Overall Grade: 6.3/10)

is tailored for photographers and creatives, providing robust photo protection features and ecommerce capabilities for selling prints and digital downloads. It excels in offering customizable templates optimized for high-quality images, making it an ideal choice for users looking to showcase and monetize their photography work. However, its specialized focus may limit its versatility for other types of websites.
Voog (Overall Grade: 6.7/10)

stands out with its user-friendly interface, multilingual support, and versatile design templates. It is well-suited for individuals and small businesses aiming to create professional-looking websites without coding. Voog’s comprehensive set of features, including SEO tools and responsive design options, make it a strong contender for users seeking simplicity and global reach. However, it may not meet the needs of businesses with advanced ecommerce requirements.

	Overall grade: 6.3	Overall grade: 6.7
Design functionalities & templates	7.1	7.4
Ease of use	7.8	8.1
Ecommerce	7.3	6.9
Website Editors	7.3	7.6
Product testing options	7.4	8.6
Price	7.8	7.5
Hosting quality	5.0	7.7
Website speed optimization	5.5	6.2
Plugins and integrations	6.2	6.7
Marketing features	3.8	6.9
Customer support	7.9	6.1
Security	6.0	7.7
User Management	7.2	7.3

Best for ecommerce

7.3

6.9

Verdict

: SmugMug is tailored for photographers and creatives, while Voog offers a versatile platform for small businesses and international users.

SmugMug

: SmugMug is a premium website builder designed specifically for photographers and creatives. It offers robust photo protection features and ecommerce capabilities for selling prints and digital downloads. With customizable templates optimized for high-quality images, SmugMug ensures that photographers can showcase and sell their work effectively. However, its ecommerce features are more limited compared to dedicated ecommerce platforms, making it ideal for those primarily focused on photography.
Voog

: Voog is a versatile website builder with a strong focus on simplicity and design. It offers essential ecommerce features, multilingual support, and a range of customizable templates. Voog is suitable for individuals and small businesses looking to create professional-looking websites without needing to write code. While it may not meet the needs of businesses with advanced ecommerce requirements, Voog’s intuitive interface and global reach make it a solid choice for international users.

Best for informational & business websites

7.5

Verdict

: When it comes to creating informational and business websites, Voog and SmugMug both have their strengths, but Voog edges out slightly due to its versatility and ease of use.

SmugMug

: SmugMug is tailored for photographers and creatives, offering customizable templates optimized for high-quality image display. While it includes e-commerce capabilities, its primary focus on photography may limit its versatility for broader business needs. SmugMug scores 7.5 in this category, making it a solid choice for visually driven informational sites, especially those centered around photography.
Voog

: Voog stands out with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and strong multilingual support, making it ideal for international businesses. It offers a range of customizable templates and SEO tools, ensuring professional-looking websites that are easy to manage. Voog also scores 7.5, but its broader appeal and user-friendly design make it a slightly better option for diverse business needs. When comparing SmugMug vs Voog, Voog’s versatility and ease of use make it a more suitable choice for informational and business websites.

Detailed comparison

7.1

7.4

🏆

Winner: Voog.

Voog edges out SmugMug with a slightly higher score, offering a diverse range of design templates across various categories tailored for different website types such as business services, online stores, blogs, and more, catering to a wide audience.

SmugMug offers a variety of templates and designs, catering to the diverse needs of photographers and visual artists. Users can choose from an extensive collection of customizable templates, ensuring their website or portfolio reflects their unique style and brand.

SmugMug Themes

On the other hand, Voog offers a diverse range of design templates across various categories tailored for different website types such as business services, online stores, blogs, and more, catering to a wide audience. The platform highlights specific templates for creating visually appealing and functional webstores and blogs, emphasizing user-friendly design and mobile responsiveness.

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7.8

8.1

🏆 Winner: Voog

. With a score of 8.1, Voog edges out SmugMug (7.8) in terms of ease of use. Voog’s user-friendly interface and intuitive drag-and-drop design make it an excellent choice for individuals and small businesses. While SmugMug also offers a user-friendly interface, it is specifically designed for photographers and may not be as versatile for other types of websites.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Voog

. Both platforms offer learning resources, but Voog provides more extensive materials, including detailed guides on various topics, video tutorials, and webinars. SmugMug, on the other hand, offers beginner’s guides and YouTube tutorials.

Learn SmugMug

Learn Voog

7.3

6.9

SmugMug and Voog both offer ecommerce capabilities, but they cater to different user needs. SmugMug is specifically designed for photographers and creatives, offering robust photo protection features and ecommerce capabilities for selling prints and digital downloads. On the other hand, Voog is a versatile website builder with multilingual support and essential ecommerce features, suitable for individuals and small businesses. However, it might not meet the needs of businesses with advanced or specific ecommerce requirements.


Ecommerce themes and templates	8.0	6.5
Product page customization	6.5	6.8
Payment processing and commissions	6.0	7.0
POS capabilities	0.0	5.0
Payment gateways	5.0	7.5
Product numbers	9.0	5.5
Additional ecommerce features	6.5	6.0

SmugMug ecommerce features:

Digital Downloads
Product Pricing
Tax handling
Discounts and Coupons
Multiple Currencies support

Voog ecommerce features:

Order management
Global shipping
Product variants
Payment gateways integration

Ecommerce themes & templates

Almost all of the templates of SmugMug are designed with ecommerce in mind, providing built-in shopping cart functionality. For e-commerce, Voog highlights around 18 templates optimized for building online stores. These templates are praised for their attractive landing pages, spacious backgrounds for product images, and structured product and product list layouts, which aim to create a user-friendly browsing experience similar to visiting a physical store.

Product page customization

SmugMug prioritizes photography, offering a platform tailored for photographers to showcase and sell their work, despite having more limited product page customization compared to dedicated e-commerce platforms. It still provides enough functionality to detail digital and printed photography products effectively, enabling users to sell online with ease. This balance between showcasing art and facilitating sales makes SmugMug a suitable choice for photographers looking to professionalize their online presence and monetize their art efficiently.

Voog website builder provides functionality for customization of product pages within an online store. It enables the modification of various product aspects such as names, descriptions, categories, visibility status, and URL slugs. The system also allows for the inclusion of multiple images per product, and offers settings for net and sale prices, VAT rates, and inventory tracking. Voog facilitates the creation of product variants, like different colors or sizes, and allows for the adjustment of stock levels and variant visibility. Additionally, the platform includes features for optimizing product pages for search engines and social media, and permits the duplication of products to streamline the product setup process.

Payment processing

When it comes to payment processing, SmugMug has a unique approach. Payment processing for your sales is managed through your account settings, where you must complete a Tax & Payment form to set up your payment preferences. You can choose your profit payment schedule, with automatic monthly payments for balances over $500, or request payments for lower amounts. Your earnings are calculated as 85% of the markup on print prices or download sales, with SmugMug retaining 15% to cover various costs. Payments are made via ACH direct deposit for U.S. users or PayPal for international users, processed on the first business day after the 7th of each month for profits accumulated through the end of the previous month.

Voog supports a variety of payment gateways to accommodate diverse online transaction needs. Supported gateways include Swedbank Payment Gateway, Bank links through MakeCommerce (Nordics and Baltics), Montonio, Stripe, PayPal, EveryPay (for card payments and payment initiation), and Luminor Payment Gateway. These options offer flexibility in payment methods, catering to users in different regions and with different banking preferences. Voog also details its transaction fees, including a 3% fee for standard sales, while premium plan subscribers enjoy the benefit of no transaction fees.

7.3

7.6

🏆

Winner: Voog

. Voog, with a score of 7.6, offers a powerful and user-friendly website builder editor. It caters to a wide range of needs from basic blogs to complex, multilingual websites. It offers a rich array of features including customizable templates, SEO tools, e-commerce functionalities, and developer-friendly tools for advanced customization. With its strong multilingual support, Voog stands out as an ideal choice for creating international websites, ensuring accessibility for a global audience.

Voog editor

SmugMug’s website builder editor, scoring 7.3, offers a user-friendly interface that allows for the creation of visually appealing, professional-grade photography websites without the need for coding knowledge. Users can customize their site by choosing from a variety of templates, adjusting layouts, and incorporating their own branding elements like logos and colors. The editor also supports easy uploading, organizing, and showcasing of high-quality images, with robust privacy and security settings to protect content. Additionally, SmugMug provides tools for selling prints and digital downloads directly from the website, making it a comprehensive platform for photographers looking to display and monetize their work online.

Smugmug website editor

Mobile editor/app

7.5

5.5

🏆

Winner: SmugMug

. Both SmugMug and Voog have limitations when it comes to mobile editing. SmugMug offers a mobile editing app, but its functionality is limited to adding new photos and editing descriptions. Layout changes on the website are not possible through the app.

On the other hand, Voog does not have a dedicated mobile editor app. However, users can manage and edit their websites using the mobile browser version of the editor.

In summary, despite these limitations, SmugMug scores higher in the mobile editor category, making it the winner in this comparison.

7.4

8.6

Overall Result

:

Voog Wins

. Voog scores 8.6 in product testing options, outperforming SmugMug’s score of 7.4. Both SmugMug and Voog do not offer a free version, but they provide trial versions for users to test their platforms. Voog offers a longer trial period of 30 days compared to SmugMug’s 14 days. Both platforms allow users to test premium features during the trial period. However, neither of them offers a money-back guarantee.


Free Plan	No	No
Trial Duration	14 days	30 days
Testing Premium Features	During the free trial	During the free trial
Money Back Guarantee	No	No

7.8

7.5

SmugMug and Voog have similar pricing structures, but SmugMug offers more advanced features, especially for professional photographers and businesses.

	Offerings	Offerings
$10-$20	Power ($15.00/month): Best for the photographer who wants their entire photo catalog safe and shareable on their own terms. Unlimited storage, Seamless Lightroom integration. Value for price: 6.5	Standard (€14/month): Good for simple websites, with unlimited bandwidth, up to 30 website pages, online store with up to 3 products, 3% transaction fees, 5GB file storage, and up to 3 contributors. Value for price: 6.5
$20-$40	Portfolio ($31.00/month): Best for the photographer who wants to start selling photos and keep their archive organized perfectly. All Power plan’s features, plus 21 premade templates, prints and digital downloads sales, Custom Watermarks, Payment integration for credit cards and PayPal, Integrated cart and checkout experience, Sales statistics. Value for price: 8.0	Plus (€22/month): Recommended for most users for more advanced websites, with free custom domain if annual subscription is purchased, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited website pages, online store with unlimited products, 3% transaction fees, 20GB file storage, and unlimited contributors. Value for price: 8.0
$40-$60	Pro ($45.00/month): Adds to Portfolio with custom price lists and coupons, Platform access for assistant or second shooter, Full control over client downloads, Branded packaging and thank you notes for print sales, coupon creator. Value for price: 8.5	Premium (€50/month): Designed for more advanced needs with free custom domain if annual subscription is purchased, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited website pages, online store with unlimited products, no transaction fees, unlimited file storage, and contributors. Value for price: 9.0
$500+	Venture (Starts with $500/month): All Pro features, plus dedicated support contacts and account representative for all Smugmug needs, Design, workflow, and organization consultation and support.	No offering at this amount.

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a
location. As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their
websites.

5.0

7.7

Winner: Voog

. Voog offers hosting with unlimited bandwidth, from 5GB to unlimited storage, and automated daily backups. They also have a 99.9% uptime guarantee. However, they do not disclose the type of hosting or the locations of their data centers. On the other hand, SmugMug does not provide detailed information about their hosting features, type of hosting, uptime statistics, and data center locations. Based on the available information, Voog has a higher hosting quality score than SmugMug.


Do they offer hosting?	Yes	Yes
Type of hosting:	Not disclosed	Not disclosed
Uptime:	Not disclosed	99.9%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.9%	Yes, 99.9%
Data Centers:	Not disclosed	Not disclosed

5.5

6.2

🏆 Winner: Voog

Both SmugMug and Voog prioritize website performance and page speed, but Voog has a slightly higher Website Speed Optimization score.


Focus	Mobile Responsive design	Mobile Responsive design, Caching, Image Optimization, Code minification
Performance Tools	Not specified	Not specified
Key Strategies	Mobile Responsive design	Mobile Responsive design, Caching, Image Optimization, Code minification
Load Times	Varies widely, depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies widely, depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Core Web Vitals Improvement	No information available	No information available

SmugMug, a website builder designed for photographers and creatives, focuses on mobile responsive design for speed optimization. However, both load times and PageSpeed scores vary widely, depending on the optimization and website complexity. SmugMug does not share any information on Core Web Vital improvements.

Voog, a versatile website builder with a focus on simplicity and design, uses mobile responsive design, caching, image optimization, and code minification as strategies for speed optimization. Like SmugMug, Voog’s load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity. Voog does not disclose any information on their Core Web Vital improvements.

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6.2

6.7

🏆 Winner: Voog.

Voog scores 6.7, slightly higher than SmugMug’s 6.2. Voog offers a wide range of integrations to enhance your web presence, including finance, social media, utilities, and shipping. SmugMug, on the other hand, focuses more on integrations that enhance its functionality for photographers, such as Dropbox, Adobe Lightroom, Google Photos, Flickr, and Amazon Drive.

While SmugMug’s integrations are more specialized and cater to a specific audience (photographers), Voog’s integrations are more versatile and cater to a wider range of business needs. Therefore, Voog takes the lead in this category.

Voog Applications

Voog integrations

3.8

6.9

🏆

Overall Winner: Voog

. Voog offers a more comprehensive set of marketing features, including SEO tools, email marketing through third-party integrations, blogging, social media integration, analytics and reporting, and ads and promotions. SmugMug, on the other hand, lacks in several areas such as email marketing, blogging, and ads and promotions.


SEO Tools	Basic SEO tools	Advanced SEO tools
Email Marketing	✗	✓ (through third-party integrations)
Blogging	✗	✓
Social Media Integration	✓	✓
Analytics and Reporting	Basic analytics with Google Analytics integration	Advanced analytics with Google Analytics integration
Ads and Promotions	✗	✓ (through third-party integrations)

7.9

6.1

🏆 Winner: SmugMug

. In the SmugMug vs Voog comparison, SmugMug takes the lead with a customer support score of 7.9. SmugMug offers customer support through email and chat, available 364 days a year, ensuring users can get help when they need it. Additionally, SmugMug provides phone support for higher-tier business subscriptions, making it a robust option for professional photographers and businesses.

Voog, on the other hand, has a customer support score of 6.1. While Voog offers support through email 7 days a week and provides a range of support guides, it lacks the immediate response options and specialized enterprise support that SmugMug offers. This makes SmugMug a more comprehensive choice for users seeking reliable and accessible customer support.

6.0

7.7

🏆

Winner: Voog

. Voog takes a comprehensive approach to security, ensuring that user data is protected and websites are secure. They offer SSL encryption, manage technical aspects such as hosting and security updates, and provide robust support, including real-person assistance for complex issues.

SmugMug, on the other hand, also takes privacy and security seriously, implementing strict privacy settings and controls that allow users to manage who can access their content. However, they do not disclose detailed information about their website security measures, which makes Voog a more transparent and reliable choice in terms of security.


Personalized Design
SEO Optimization
Customer Behavior Analysis
Sales Predictions
Inventory Management
Content Generation

🏆 Winner: None

. Neither SmugMug nor Voog have AI capabilities. Both website builders focus on providing a user-friendly interface and a range of features for building and managing online presence, but they do not utilize AI to enhance the user experience or provide additional functionalities.

7.2

7.3

🏆 Winner: Voog

. Both SmugMug and Voog offer different levels of user management, but Voog edges out with a slightly higher score.

SmugMug allows the primary account holder full control over the account, with the ability to add additional users through “Shared Account Management” for Portfolio and Pro level accounts. These additional users can be given various roles with different permissions, enabling them to manage or edit the website without full access to billing or account settings.
Voog allows the addition of contributors based on the chosen plan. For the Standard plan, up to 3 contributors can be added. If you choose the Plus or Premium plans, there’s no limit to the number of contributors you can have. This flexibility allows for both small teams and larger organizations to effectively manage their online presence using Voog.

SmugMug User Roles and Access Levels:

Role	Description	Access Highlights
Owner	The primary account holder who has full control over the site.	Complete access to all features, settings, content management, and billing.
Admin	Users granted almost the same level of access as the owner, minus some critical billing or account settings.	Manage content, order prints, access to stats, and settings except for account and billing changes.
Contributor	Users who can upload and manage content in specific galleries.	Upload content to assigned galleries, edit captions, and keywords. Limited access to settings.

Voog User Roles and Access Levels:

Role	Description	Access Highlights
Admin	Admins, also known as owners, have full control over the website. They can manage all aspects of the site without any restrictions.	Full site management, including key account settings like subscription info.
Editor	Editors can manage certain aspects of the site, but they do not have access to key account settings. Their role is more focused on content management.	Limited to certain site settings; cannot manage subscription or account settings.

Additional Features


SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

User Feedback

SmugMug

33 reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

Voog

2 reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

Users appreciate SmugMug for its reliability, ease of use, and the platform’s ability to securely host and share high-resolution photographs and videos. Highlights include seamless mobile device syncing, excellent gallery features for showcasing assets, and robust customization options. However, some users desire improvements in facial recognition technology, expanded asset management capabilities, and more advanced search functionalities. Concerns about rising costs and the platform’s intuitiveness were also mentioned. Overall, SmugMug is valued for its central storage solution, privacy features for client photos, and its ability to simplify file sharing and photo sales.

The feedback for Voog emphasizes the platform’s ease of use, allowing users to create their workspace seamlessly. The main critique focuses on the desire for a more diverse and larger selection of stock photos. Voog is commended for its ability to facilitate the development of better products for client navigation, highlighting its problem-solving capabilities and benefits to the user and their team.

The making of this blog

We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.

Our Ranking Criteria

FAQ

Which platform is better for photographers, SmugMug or Voog?

SmugMug is specifically designed for photographers and creatives, offering robust photo protection features, customizable templates optimized for high-quality image display, and ecommerce capabilities tailored for selling prints and digital downloads. It’s the preferred choice for professionals and enthusiasts in photography.

Can I create a multilingual website with SmugMug or Voog?

Voog stands out for its multilingual support, allowing users to easily create and manage websites in multiple languages. This makes it an ideal choice for international businesses and personal sites aiming for a global audience. SmugMug does not specifically focus on multilingual website creation.

Which platform offers better ecommerce features for selling online?

SmugMug specializes in ecommerce for photographers, providing features tailored for selling visual content online, such as prints and digital downloads. Voog offers a more general ecommerce solution with essential features suitable for small businesses and individuals aiming for an international presence.

How do SmugMug and Voog compare in terms of ease of use?

Voog is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive drag-and-drop design, making it an excellent choice for individuals and small businesses, regardless of their technical skills. SmugMug also offers a user-friendly interface but is specifically designed for photographers, which may not be as versatile for other types of websites.

Which platform is more affordable, SmugMug or Voog?

Both SmugMug and Voog offer competitive pricing structures, but the value for money depends on your specific needs. SmugMug provides advanced features for professional photographers, while Voog offers versatile website building tools and multilingual support, making it a cost-effective option for creating professional, multi-language websites.

Can I get customer support easily on both platforms?

SmugMug offers comprehensive customer support available 364 days a year through email and chat, including specialized support for enterprise-level customers. Voog provides customer support 7 days a week through email and offers a wide range of support guides, but does not offer specialized support for enterprises.

Which platform offers better website speed optimization?

Voog has a slightly higher Website Speed Optimization score, focusing on mobile responsive design, caching, image optimization, and code minification. SmugMug also prioritizes mobile responsive design for speed optimization, but detailed information on their optimization strategies is less transparent.

Are there any AI capabilities in SmugMug or Voog?

Neither SmugMug nor Voog currently utilize AI to enhance the user experience or provide additional functionalities. Both platforms focus on providing a user-friendly interface and a range of features for building and managing an online presence.