What is the cheapest way to get product photos for 20 products?
The cheapest way to get product photos for 20 products in cash is a phone and free tools, at $0 to $30. The cheapest way once time has a value is AI credits, at about $104 to $112 for three images per product. The table ranks four routes on real cost, which is cash plus time.
The calculation uses 20 products with three images each, 60 images in all, and values time at $25 an hour. The hourly value and the minutes per task are Herofab's planning assumptions, not measurements, so each line below can be rerun with local figures.
| Rank on real cost | Route | Cash | Time | Real cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI credits, from phone photos | $31 to $39 | 2 h 56 min | $104 to $112 |
| 2 | Phone, no editing | $0 to $30 | 6 h 40 min | $167 to $197 |
| 3 | Phone plus free browser tools | $0 to $30 | 11 h 40 min | $292 to $322 |
| 4 | Per-image studio | $865 to $2,340, plus shipping | Packing and briefing | $865 or more |
How the time is worked out
A phone-only photo set is planned at 20 minutes per product, which covers setup and three usable images: 20 × 20 minutes is 400 minutes, or $167. Editing with free tools adds 5 minutes per image: 60 × 5 is 300 minutes, for 700 in total, or $292.
The AI route needs one clean source photo per product, planned at 5 minutes, plus 1 minute to review each output: 20 × 5 is 100 minutes, and 76 outputs add 76 minutes, for 176 in total, or $73.
When DIY wins
A phone beats AI credits if time is valued below about $8 an hour: the AI route costs $31 more in cash and saves 3.7 hours. A seller with spare time and simple products should start there. The ranking also compares cost only, not quality; a good phone photo of a matte product can be better than a poor AI result.
What counts as a professional product photo for a new store?
A professional product photo is sharp, true to colour, cleanly framed and matched to the real item, and the equipment behind it does not matter to the buyer. A new store's photos should also look consistent with one another: same background, same angle, same crop.
Selling channels set a floor. Google Merchant Center's image page says the image "must clearly display the exact item being sold" and, from 31 January 2027, must be at least 500 x 500 pixels, with 1500 x 1500 pixels or above recommended. It also lists watermarks and promotional text among things to avoid. Marketplace rules differ, so the Herofab marketplace rules guide is the place to check a specific channel.
How much does it cost to take product photos with a phone?
Taking product photos with a phone costs $0 to $30 in cash for a seller who already owns the phone: a window, a table and, as an assumed extra, foam boards and a paper backdrop. The real cost is time, planned here at 6 hours 40 minutes for 20 products.
Phone photos suit matte, simple products and an own-brand store. They fall short where a channel requires a pure white background, because a window-lit backdrop rarely measures pure white without editing. Technique is covered in the guides on taking product photos with an iPhone and on white background product photos.
Are free browser tools enough for product photos?
Free browser tools are enough to finish a good phone photo, not to replace one. They resize, compress, convert and check files, which saves rejected uploads, but a tool cannot add detail that the photo does not hold.
Herofab offers nine free browser tools at no credit cost, and each one runs in the browser with nothing uploaded. They check, resize, compress and convert images, upscale to 4K and make seamless textures. None of them cuts out a background. Free AI generators are a different category, and their limits are compared in a separate guide to free AI product photo generators.
Check a photo with the free product photo checker
How much do AI credits cost for 20 products?
AI credits cost about $31 for 60 product images on white, and about $39 for 60 on-model clothing images, at Herofab's October 2026 prices. Herofab's prices are used here because they are the ones Herofab can state exactly; other tools are compared in What AI product photography costs.
The calculation allows for reruns as a cautious planning figure. Herofab's automated check flagged 20.8% of 303 generated test outputs; a flagged image is not delivered, and credits are charged only on delivery, but a reviewer can still reject a delivered image and pay for a new one. Applying the same 79.2% pass rate to review, 60 accepted images mean 76 outputs (60 ÷ 0.792). The check covered images made between 24 September and 12 October 2026, before Herofab's late-October image engine change.
| Job | Credits for 76 outputs | Cheapest way to buy | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packshot or Product studio | 76 × 4 = 304 | Starter plan, 250 credits, plus 100-credit pack | $19 + $12 = $31 |
| Same job, packs only | 76 × 4 = 304 | 300-credit pack plus 100-credit pack | $30 + $12 = $42 |
| Virtual try-on | 76 × 5 = 380 | Seller plan, 700 credits | $39 |
Packshot studio from a phone photo
What the free credits cover
Herofab gives 20 free credits at sign-up with no card, enough for five 4-credit images. Images made with free credits carry a watermark, so they serve as a test and not as store images. Credit packs never expire and are used after plan credits.
When is a per-image studio worth paying for?
A per-image studio is worth paying for when the product is hard to photograph or the image carries the brand. For 60 on-white images, published rates give about $865 at ProShot Media ($15 a photo less 15% for 50 or more photos, plus a $100 setup fee per product type, read 31 October 2026), $1,800 at ProductPhoto.com ($30 for 51 or more photos, read 31 October 2026) and $2,340 at Soona ($39 per photo, read 13 October 2026). Each extra product type adds another setup fee at ProShot Media.
A single main image per product is the cheaper version of the same route: 20 photos cost $400 at ProShot Media and $700 at ProductPhoto.com's 11 to 50 photo tier. Standard turnaround is 7 business days at ProShot Media and 7 to 12 at ProductPhoto.com. Neither page prices shipping to the studio.
A mixed plan often spends best: a studio for the three bestsellers and a cheaper route for the rest. Nine images cost $235 at ProShot Media and $360 at ProductPhoto.com, a little over half the cost of one main image per product across the range.
How can a new clothing brand get photos before stock exists?
A new clothing brand needs one physical sample per style before it can get honest product photos, because every route on this page starts from the real item. Bulk stock does not have to exist. One sewn sample is enough to photograph on a hanger or flat, and the rest of the range can be built from it.
With AI tools, one sample can cover a whole colour range. For eight styles, one saved synthetic model (4 credits), one on-model image per style (8 × 5 credits), one ghost mannequin image per style (8 × 4 credits) and two extra colours of each on-model image (16 × 4 credits) come to 140 credits. Herofab's Starter plan at $19 includes 250, which leaves 110 credits for reruns. The sample cost is not included.
A colour image made from a sample still has to match the cloth that arrives. Compare each colour with a physical swatch, and hold back any colour the mill cannot match. A made-to-order brand can show one sewn sample in other fabrics from swatch photos with Fabric studio, and the page should state that the image is a preview.
A sketch, a tech pack or a 3D render is a concept image and not a product photo. It can support a pre-launch page if it is labelled as a concept, but it should not stand in for an item on sale. Herofab's Canvas requires a product photo, and Google's image page lists shared stand-in images and "Coming soon" graphics among things not to use.
AI product photos for new fashion brands
When is the cheapest route the wrong choice?
The cheapest route is the wrong choice when an image error costs more than the saving. Products with small legal text, ingredients or sizing on the pack need that text to stay readable, and AI tools can alter text, so those images deserve a real photo.
Jewellery, watches and glass need control of reflections and a close, sharp source photo; a poor source costs more in reruns than it saves. Garments sold on fit need honest fit evidence, which a generated image cannot provide. Accuracy limits are covered in Can AI show how clothes fit? and How to stop AI changing your product.
Speed can also outweigh price. A studio's 7 to 12 business days may not fit a launch date, and six hours of phone work may not fit a founder's week. The comparison should be run on the deadline as well as on the total.
Checklist
- List products and images per product before comparing any price.
- Put a value on your own hour and rerun the table with it.
- Photograph one product with each route and compare the results at full zoom.
- Allow about one rerun in five for AI images and review every output.
- Check each file against the size and background rules of the channel you sell on.
- Spend the studio budget on the bestsellers first.
- For a new clothing brand, secure one sample per style before planning images.
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help — Image link [image_link]
- ProductPhoto.com — Pricing
- ProShot Media — Services and pricing
- Framed by Davinci — Fashion photography pricing, April 2026
Checked 31 October 2026. Rules change; the official pages are the final reference.