ArkCentral vs SmugMug
ArkCentral
arkcentral.com
SmugMug
smugmug.comSide by side
| Figure | ArkCentral | SmugMug |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $10/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 12 |
| Spec score · Photo Storage Services | 8.4 (#12) | 8.6 (#11) |
| Headquarters | Sheridan, Wyoming, United States | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Integrations | The product is presented as a private alternative for family chats and photos scattered across services such as WhatsApp, Google Photos, Drive, and iCloud. | Official integrations include Adobe Lightroom, Flickr uploads and Dropbox uploads. |
| Product | The Ark is a private home device for storing family photos, videos, files, and messages on hardware the buyer owns. | SmugMug describes its service as an all-in-one platform for storing, sharing, and selling photography. |
| Support | The company lists [email protected] as its support contact. | SmugMug advertises 24/7 human customer support and provides a support center and contact channel. |
Plans
SmugMug
- Direct$20 a month
- Portfolio$23.50 a month
- Pro$37 a month
- SmugMug Source RAW add-on$10 a month
- SmugMug Source RAW storage add-on$10 a month
- Direct$20 a month
- Portfolio$23.50 a month
- Pro$37 a month
- Direct$240 a year
- Portfolio$282 a year
In their own words
ArkCentral
ArkCentral has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
SmugMug
SmugMug is a photography service for storing, sharing, and selling images. Its plans include unlimited full-resolution JPEG storage; RAW storage is a separate add-on priced at $10 a month for up to 1TB, then $6/mo for each additional TB. The Direct plan is $20 a month billed annually and includes privacy controls, digital delivery, Lightroom integration, and 24/7 live human support. Portfolio costs $23.50 a month billed annually and adds print and digital download sales, website templates, and order fulfillment. Pro costs $37 a month billed annually and adds custom pricelists, coupons and packages, client favoriting, and customer download limits. Subscribers can manage photos with iOS and Android apps, or use macOS and Windows apps for automatic uploads. Integrations include Adobe Lightroom and uploads from Flickr and Dropbox. Privacy settings, passwords, watermarks, and right-click protections help control access to photos and galleries. SmugMug offers a 14-day trial but no free plan.