An Iris Works alternative for wedding photographers
Iris Works is a full studio-management CRM built for photographers of every kind — genuinely good at running a whole business. But if what you actually want is for the wedding quote to close and the deposit to land the moment a couple says yes, you may not need the whole studio. quolby does that one thing: a single branded link the couple builds, accepts and e-signs, with the deposit paid straight into your own Stripe — 0% platform fee, and we're never in the money flow.
This is an honest comparison, not a takedown. Iris Works and quolby aren't really the same category of thing, and pretending otherwise would just waste your time. So let's be clear about what each one is for, where they genuinely overlap, and where quolby's narrow bet — just the interactive quote, the e-signed contract and the deposit, for €15/mo — fits better than a full CRM. We'll only state facts you can check on their own site, and we won't quote you a competitor's price we can't guarantee is current.
What Iris Works actually is
Iris Works is a studio-management system — a CRM — designed for photographers across every genre: portraits, families, newborns, seniors, brands and weddings. Its whole premise is bringing the moving parts of a photography business into one dashboard. Publicly, its feature set centres on things like client records, online booking and scheduling, contracts with e-signatures, invoicing, client questionnaires, email templates, and workflow automations that fire reminders and next steps as a shoot moves along.
That breadth is the point. If you shoot many sessions a month across different genres, and you want one place that remembers every client, chases every unpaid invoice and nudges every questionnaire, a system like Iris Works earns its keep. It's built to run the business, not just to send a price.
Where quolby is different — and deliberately smaller
quolby doesn't try to run your studio. It does one thing, and tries to do it beautifully: turn the moment a couple decides into a booked, signed, deposit-paid wedding. You build your packages and add-ons once. Then, for each couple, you send a single interactive, branded quote link. They open it on their phone, pick their collection and extras, watch the total and the deposit update live, accept, e-sign a real booking contract on the spot, and pay the deposit — all in the same place.
Two things make that wedge distinct. First, the couple builds the quote themselves instead of reading a static PDF or proposal — which is a very different experience from being sent an invoice. Second, the deposit is paid directly into your own Stripe account, and quolby charges no platform fee on top (you still pay Stripe's own processing). It's a focused quoting-and-booking tool, not a business suite.
How quolby compares to Iris Works
| Iris Works (studio CRM) | quolby | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Whole business: clients, scheduling, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, workflows | One step: the interactive quote, the contract and the deposit |
| Built for | Photographers of all genres running many shoots | Wedding photographers who want the quote to close |
| The couple sees | A proposal, contract or invoice you send | An interactive quote they build themselves |
| Setup | Import clients, configure workflows and templates | ~10 minutes — build packages, send a link |
| Deposit | Yes, via connected payments | Yes — paid on the spot, straight to your Stripe |
| Who holds the money | Paid through the platform's payment setup — check their current site | Nobody but you — a direct Stripe charge into your own account; quolby never holds it and takes no cut (Stripe's own rules still apply) |
| Platform fee on payments | Check their current site | 0% on top of Stripe's own processing |
| Price | Subscription — check their current site | Free to start · €15/mo Pro |
Only the quolby column states our own facts as fact. Everything in the Iris Works column is either a publicly visible capability or an explicit "check their current site" — because their plans and prices are theirs to change, not ours to freeze.
What quolby does, in plain terms
- A branded quote link your couple builds themselves — pick packages and add-ons, watch the total and deposit settle, accept.
- A real booking contract e-signed in the same flow, so "yes" and "signed" happen together.
- The deposit paid in that same tap, directly into your own Stripe account — quolby takes no cut.
- You're notified the moment the date is reserved.
- Free to build and send quotes; Pro (€15/mo) adds deposit collection, with 0% platform fee.
- A no-signup AI catalog builder to draft your packages fast, and a public lead-intake page if you want couples to come to you.
See it in 60 seconds
Build a sample interactive quote exactly like your couple would — no signup.
Build your free quote link →Who should keep Iris Works
If a lot of your day is admin across many clients — scheduling sessions, sending questionnaires, tracking invoices, automating the follow-through — a full CRM is the right shape of tool, and Iris Works is a mature one. Ripping that out to run a single-purpose quoting app would be a step backwards. In that case, the smarter move isn't to switch; it's to decide whether the quote itself is as good as the rest of your system.
Who quolby fits
quolby is for the wedding photographer who quotes by PDF, email or WhatsApp today and wants that one moment — the "how much?" turning into a booked, paid date — to feel effortless and look professional, without adopting and maintaining a whole business suite to get there. Maybe you're solo or part-time and a full CRM is more machine than the job requires. Maybe you already run a CRM but your quote is still a flat attachment that couples read and then go quiet on. Either way, quolby's narrow job is the quote-to-paid step, and it's happy to sit alongside whatever else you use.
If you're weighing your options more broadly, we've written the same honest comparison for a few other tools: HoneyBook, Dubsado, and Studio Ninja — and if you're stuck between the two big CRMs, see HoneyBook vs Dubsado for wedding photographers. And if you just want to sharpen the quote itself, start with how to send a wedding photography quote that books the date or learn how to collect a wedding photography deposit.
Frequently asked questions
Is quolby an Iris Works alternative?
Yes — but a focused one. Iris Works is a full studio-management CRM for every kind of photographer. quolby replaces just the quoting-and-booking moment: one branded link where the couple builds their quote, accepts, e-signs the contract and pays the deposit. If you want that single step to be excellent and fast — without adopting a whole business suite — quolby is a genuine alternative. If you also need scheduling, questionnaires and invoicing, treat it as a lighter, narrower option.
Does quolby charge a fee on deposits?
No platform fee. When a couple pays their deposit, the money is a direct Stripe charge into your own Stripe account, and quolby takes 0% on top. The only cost is Stripe's own card processing (around 2.9%), which runs through your Stripe just like any card payment you take. quolby is never in the money flow, so there is no cut, no markup and no per-transaction charge from us.
Can I keep Iris Works and still use quolby?
Absolutely — they aren't mutually exclusive. Plenty of photographers run a CRM like Iris Works for scheduling, questionnaires and invoicing, and use a focused tool purely for the quote-to-booked moment. quolby sits alongside whatever else you use; it doesn't import your clients or take over your workflow. If your quote is the weak link but the rest of your system works, add quolby for that one step and keep everything else exactly as it is.
How much does quolby cost?
quolby is free to start: you can build packages and send interactive quote links at no cost. Pro is €15/mo and adds deposit collection, so couples can pay on the spot. Deposits land directly in your own Stripe with 0% platform fee from quolby — you only pay Stripe's standard processing. For Iris Works' current pricing, check their site; plans change, so we won't quote a competitor figure we can't guarantee is up to date.
Where does the couple's deposit go?
Straight into your own Stripe account. quolby uses a direct Stripe charge, so when a couple pays, the deposit lands in the Stripe account connected to your business — not in a quolby balance, and not in a shared platform wallet you withdraw from later. You stay the merchant of record. The money is yours from the moment it's paid, and payouts follow your own Stripe schedule, exactly as for any charge you take directly.
Can quolby freeze or hold my money?
No — and that's by design. Because the deposit is a direct charge into your own Stripe account, quolby never holds the funds and takes no cut of them — your money answers to Stripe's normal rules alone, with no extra platform layer on top. There's no middleman wallet sitting between you and your couple's payment. Your relationship is directly with Stripe; quolby simply builds the quote and triggers the charge. The money is in your account, under your control, from the start.
The short version
Iris Works is a full studio CRM for photographers of all kinds — keep it if you live inside it. quolby is the opposite bet: one interactive quote your couple builds, accepts, e-signs and pays the deposit on, for €15/mo with 0% platform fee and the money landing in your own Stripe. Different tools for different jobs. If the job you care about is turning "how much?" into a booked, paid wedding, that's the one quolby is built for.
Build your free quote link with quolby
Set your packages once, send one interactive link, and let couples accept, sign and pay the deposit on the spot.
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