SmugMug vs Surf Snaps for NYC Marathon Photographers

SmugMug and Surf Snaps solve different problems. One is a strong home for your own portfolio and client galleries. The other is a marketplace where runners find race photos without knowing your name. For a marathon, that difference decides who sees your work.

The race-day problem

Fifty thousand runners finish the NYC Marathon, and almost none of them know who shot them. They know their bib number, their wave, the street where their family stood and the date. A gallery hosted behind your own name is hard to find with that information. A gallery tagged by sport, place and date is easy.

What SmugMug does well

SmugMug is a good tool for hosting your own portfolio and delivering client work under your own brand. If you already have a following, a domain and clients who know your name, it works well. As Surf Snaps describes it in its FAQ, the limit is discovery: buyers need to already know your name or have your gallery link. Check SmugMug's current plan pricing and commerce terms on its own site, since they vary by plan.

What Surf Snaps does differently

Event-based discovery. Every session is tagged with sport, place and date, and galleries from every photographer covering the same event can be found in one place. Runners search Explore by where they ran and when.
No account to browse. A runner can look through galleries before creating an account. An account is needed to buy.
Indexed galleries. Each gallery gets its own shareable page that search engines can index, rather than sitting in a feed.
Automatic watermarks. Previews are watermarked and the original unlocks on payment.

Costs side by side

Surf Snaps: free to join, free to upload, no storage tier or upload limit. A Surf Snaps fee of up to 10% applies only when a photo sells, and you can pass it on to the customer. Surf Snaps handles checkout and card processing, so there are no Stripe or PayPal fees on your side. Payouts arrive monthly by bank transfer on the first.
SmugMug: priced by plan. Compare its current plan costs, storage rules and any commerce fees against your expected sales before you commit.

The structural difference is when you pay. A plan is billed whether or not you sell. Surf Snaps charges nothing until a photo sells, and you choose who pays the fee. We are not claiming the lowest rate for every photographer, because that depends on your plan and sales. The point is that the risk sits with the platform until you earn.

Ownership and control

On Surf Snaps you keep the copyright, set your own price per photo and can change it later. A sale is a licence to the buyer for that image. Your portfolio gets a public page at surf-snaps.com/u/yourname, so you are not choosing between a marketplace and your own page.

Choose by situation

Choose SmugMug first if most of your income comes from clients who already know you, or you want a branded site with your own domain.
Choose Surf Snaps first if your sales depend on strangers finding you, as they do at a race with tens of thousands of runners.
Use both if you want a portfolio on SmugMug and a place where runners can find and buy race photos by event.

Rules for marathon photos on any platform

Wherever you host, ask NYRR's media office what is allowed before you sell marathon images. The race has official imagery partners, including a Getty Images partnership announced in 2019. The same question applies to smaller races, so ask the organizer.

For a three-way breakdown, see SmugMug vs. Pixieset vs. Surf Snaps and The Best SmugMug Alternative for Sports Photographers in 2026, or the Surf Snaps vs SmugMug comparison page. When you are ready, create a free account and upload your first session.

SmugMug vs Surf Snaps FAQ

Can I use SmugMug and Surf Snaps together?

Yes. Many photographers keep a portfolio on one and list event galleries where buyers can search by sport, place and date.

Which is better for selling marathon photos?

Surf Snaps is built for event discovery, so runners can find galleries without knowing your name. SmugMug is stronger for branded portfolios and client delivery.

Does Surf Snaps charge a subscription?

No. There is no subscription, listing fee or storage tier. A fee of up to 10% applies only on a sale and can be passed on to the customer.

Who keeps the copyright?

You do, on Surf Snaps. A sale licenses one image to the buyer.

Can I move galleries I already have?

You can upload any sports photos you own as new sessions tagged with sport, place and date.