Successware vs. PhotoOne vs. StudioCloud

So, I've been looking at studio management software packages. I've narrowed my choice down to one of the 3 listed

in the title. Each seems equally capable and could work for my business. (We do portraits, weddings, sports, and

school photography.)

 

I am wondering if any of you have gone through the same process; which package you chose, and why. I'll still be

making my own decision - but it's always good to hear how others arrived at their decision. The cost of the software

is not the main consideration; but the ease of learning it, ease of use, and reliabiliity are prime considerations for me.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/comments/suggestions.

I'm currently researching the same topic. I've downloaded demos for Successware, Studiocloud, Daylite and

Billings(mac), Gcal, etc... I don't do wedding photography predominantly and many of these apps are suited towards that

- but some can be customized more than others.

 

I wanted to like Successware, but after researching reviews and trying it out, it seems like a lot of users are frustrated with the time

needed to work it properly. If you have multiple photographers and many projects per week, it may be justified. Successware might be

worth a try for you but i find everything separated and disjointed for my tastes.

$50/month is not cheap.

 

I'm trying to like Studiocloud. At $25/month, it's much more affordable and should provide me with enough usefulness to

be worth it. I'm probably going to start with this and see how it goes. You can stop subscribing at any time so there's not

much risk.

 

If you have a mac, also look at the Daylite/Billings combo.

 

Check out the demos if you haven't yet. Most offer 30 days.

 

Good Luck,

Ric

Ric:

 

Thanks for your insight. I think you've nailed Succesware; like you I found it to be useful for multiple photographers. - and that's not my situation.

 

I'm looking harder now at StudioCloud and PhotoOne.

 

Regards,

Jim

Though I've never been exposed to the other two and can't comment on them, PhotoOne has been great for our

studio. We have used for it ages.

 

The customer support is great- we implemented a new policy regarding deposits and payments, and hence upgraded to

the latest version, and a customer support person walked our owner (who is not known for her computer saviness)

through all the steps necessary to make our policy change easy to implement and maintain (it was regarding

pre-paying deposits to secure appointments and how that effects the customer/prospect and schedule modules).

 

I can't say enough great things about them. The program is intuitive, incredibly stable on Windows, and for our

portrait/formerly-weddings/school studio, it has been very easy to customize and use.

 

Good look with your decision. I'll stick to my guns about PhotoOne.

Check out Photo One? They usually have a demo. I've been using an old version (used) and it works well for

managing contacts, assignment, etc. A little too pricy for me to upgrade.

 

I also use Photobyte for contracts and stuff. Very useful antiquated software. But Free.

 

I've briefly used Studio cloud and it's promising but not in-depth/customizable with its features. It is an

online/on computer solution.

 

Sucessware = clunky (I tried the demo). I when I was ready to buy they didn't pick up there phone for a week.

When I finally got a response the immediately ask for my credit card info, by that time I'd lost interest.

 

I ended up going for Photo Jobs Database (1word) and I'm regretting it. There's no demo. I bought the software,

downloaded it and found no manual for it. It's not as user friendly as I thought, and I'm a PC user. It would not

export anything to MS Outlook (contacts/calendars), which I use daily but works with outlook express which I've

never used. You can't print a single address on a Dymo label it only prints on Avery sheets.

 

It comes with 1,000 industry contacts that I found useless, but there's no way to delete them accept one by one.

Once you register (online) you can't change any of the info addresses, phone numbers, emails, etc. The worst part

is that this

software totally doesn't work out for me (this is my 3rd day of ownership) and they don't do cash refunds unless

the software was defective. Defective according to their test.

<p>Since PhotoOne has been bought out, I had to look at the whole Studio Management Software thing again. I'm writing about the whole process on my blog. Let me know what you guys think. <a href="http://www.larissaphotography.com/blog/2011/01/photoone-bought-by-studioplus-software/">http://www.larissaphotography.com/blog/2011/01/photoone-bought-by-studioplus-software/</a></p>

<p>We are switching away from Successware (OMG, so clunky to use, what a pain). I like StudioCloud, but what's the deal with not being able to print checks? Are there any other simple processes that are not available of which I should be aware? My accounting needs are simple, but check printing seems like it should be a basic function. If I have StudioCloud, do I NEED to have QuickBooks as well? If so, why don't I just get QB and skip StuidoCloud?</p>

<p>Kim,<br>

For us, the only reason we care about Quickbooks is because our accountant uses that software. I'm thinking you should be able to use StudioCloud without needing Quickbooks.<br>

We're still new to the software, but it seems to make a lot of sense so far.<br>

We've never really printed checks from our studio management software. Is writing checks something you do in high volume?</p>

<p>Has anyone looked at Tave<br>

Rob</p>

<p>Tried StudioCloud... was duplicating clients and was slow on my windows PC. Didn't like the invoices. You can also create your contracts in Studio Cloud and it should pull the info from the Client and Job into the invoice. This didn't work either. Probably if I had some HTML experience - I could have made it work... but I don't so began looking again.<br>

Tave - just tried it. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Easy to use. Its quick and works with our normal workflow of taking phone calls/emails for leads - booking them. Then the client can do everything online. Choose their pkg, sign their contract and pay their deposit. Have only used it for 2 weeks now - but am VERY impressed. It has a 30 day trial. Takes a while to set up the products but once you've got that its pretty smooth. </p>

<p>We are looking to get away from SuccessWare also (we have used it for the past 4 years). We really need remote access as well as multi-user access.</p>

<p>Has anyone used Daylite and some sort of accounting software as a solution? I am most concerned with being able to have the level of reporting (financial/product/session) that I am used to with SuccessWare.</p>