Pixit
How photographers get paid on a booking app
On a booking app the client pays when they book, the platform holds that money rather than passing it straight on, and the photographer is paid after the work is confirmed delivered — minus a commission. On Pixit the photographer keeps 80% of the booking and 100% of any tip, and nothing is released until the client says the files landed. This page explains why the model is built that way, and what the 20% is actually buying.
The sequence, in order
The price is agreed first. Hours on site, kit, a delivery deadline and the figure — all settled on the booking screen, with the full split visible: what is held, what Pixit takes, and exactly what the artist receives.
The client pays at booking. Not on the day, not afterwards. The whole fee leaves the client’s account when the job is confirmed.
Pixit holds it. This is escrow. The money is not the photographer’s yet and it is no longer loose in the client’s account either. It sits to one side while the job happens.
The shoot happens. The client can follow it live — booked, getting ready, on their way, arrived, shooting.
The client confirms the files landed. Only now does the money move: 80% of the booking to the artist, plus any tip in full.
What the 20% is buying
The honest way to judge a commission is not the number but what disappears if you stop paying it. Three things do.
The client. A photographer working alone spends a meaningful share of every week finding work — posting, replying, quoting, being ghosted. That time is unpaid and it is the actual cost of freelancing. A booking that arrives already priced and already agreed is work that did not have to be chased.
The guarantee of payment. Booking directly, the risk runs both ways: the client risks a deposit on someone who may not turn up, and the photographer risks a day’s work on someone who may not pay. Escrow removes both. The photographer knows, before leaving the house, that the money for that job already exists and is already committed.
Not being the debt collector. Chasing an invoice is the part of freelance work nobody accounts for. It does not exist here, because the payment happened at the start.
Set against the alternative, the arithmetic is less about the split than about the base: 80% of a job that arrived is worth more than 100% of a job that never came in.
How that compares to the rest of the industry
Agencies. Photography and creative representation commonly runs on commissions in the region of 10% to 40% of the fee, depending on how much the agency does. At the upper end more than a third of the invoice never reaches the photographer.
Platforms. Commission rates across booking platforms vary widely, with some as low as single figures. A low headline rate is worth checking against what it excludes — payment protection, identity verification, and dispute handling are the things that cost money to provide.
Direct. No commission at all, and no protection either. You keep everything you manage to collect, you find every client yourself, and you carry the risk on cancellations. For an established photographer with a full diary this is often the right answer, and we would say so.
Why escrow rather than paying on the day
Paying on the day sounds simpler and is worse for both sides. It gives the client no recourse once the money has gone, and it gives the photographer no certainty until it arrives. Deposits exist to patch that — which is why 25% to 50% up front became normal — but a deposit only moves the risk around rather than removing it.
Holding the full amount is the version where neither party has to trust the other. The client’s money is out of reach until they say the work landed. The photographer’s fee is already funded before they pick up a camera. Neither of them has to be brave.
The verification underneath it
None of this works if either side can be anonymous. Both clients and artists verify with a government document and a live selfie, checked by Stripe, before they can trade at all. Those documents go straight to Stripe and never reach Pixit.
For what a shoot actually costs before any of this applies, see what a photographer costs in the UK.
Questions people ask
What commission does Pixit take?
20% of the booking. The photographer keeps the other 80%, and keeps any tip in full — Pixit takes nothing from tips. The full split is shown on the booking screen before anyone commits, so neither side discovers the fee afterwards.
Is 20% a lot?
It sits inside the normal band. Photography and talent agencies commonly work on commissions between roughly 10% and 40% of the fee, and at the top of that range you are handing over more than a third. What varies is what the commission buys — see the section on that below.
When does the photographer actually receive the money?
After the client confirms delivery. The client pays at the point of booking and Pixit holds that payment in escrow; the release happens once the files are confirmed landed, not when the shoot ends.
What happens if the client refuses to confirm?
The money stays held rather than going to either party automatically, which is the point of escrow — it stops a dispute becoming a chase. Report controls sit inside every conversation, and both sides are identity-verified, so neither party is anonymous.
Do photographers still need to take a deposit?
No, and that is one of the real differences. Booking directly, deposits of roughly 25% to 50% up front are standard practice precisely because there is no other protection against a cancellation. When the whole fee is already held, a deposit stops being necessary.
Does Pixit take a cut of tips?
No. Tips go to the artist in full.
Who handles the payments?
Stripe. Pixit records amounts, dates and status — never card or bank numbers. Identity documents used for verification go straight to Stripe and never reach Pixit at all.