SmugMug vs. Flickr

After trying SmugMug for a few days, I’ve decided to keep it, although I’ll still continue to use Flickr.

SmugMug
Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

SmugMug has several pros & cons in comparison with Flickr. SmugMug lets you create really beautiful galleries where you can customize both the color theme and the photo layout. The default layout shows thumbnails on the left side with a large view of a single photo on the right. You can even let your visitors choose which layout they want to use.

Smugmug Album View
Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

SmugMug does have some significant weaknesses, though. On Flickr, all of your photos appear in your photo stream and it can also be included in multiple sets or group pools. SmugMug doesn’t have a photo stream; it has albums and every photo can appear in only one album. Flickr also feels more like a community.

For general use, I prefer Flickr, but for a professional, SmugMug seems like a nicer way to show off your best photos.

Check out my SmugMug gallery at mike3k.smugmug.com, and as always my Flickr photo stream is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_c/

5 thoughts on “SmugMug vs. Flickr”

  1. Hey, thanks for the write-up! I think you nailed it on the head – we have great display and Flickr has great community.

    One note, though – we do have photostream. We call it "Timeline" but it's essentially the same thing – or at least, we think so. You can put it on your homepage from your Control Panel.

    If I'm wrong, though, I'd love to know more! We don't really do competitive research, so I'm not 100% sure how Flickr's differs from ours. But you can tell me – and then I can build what you want. 🙂

    Reply
  2. I do the same, I have a Pro account on smugmug so I can continue to use my personal URL (www.imagebysp.com) and sell prints for profit and I still maintain my Flickr account as I find the social part of Flickr to be stronger than smugmug. I tend to put the images I think could sell on my smugmug site and my experimental and just for fun photography on Flickr to see how people react to it.

    Both are great sites and both have a place.

    Reply
  3. Pingback: SmugMug vs. Flickr

Leave a Comment