{"id":77359,"date":"2026-09-01T15:12:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shutterfly.com\/ideas\/?p=77359"},"modified":"2026-09-01T15:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:36:45","slug":"shutterfly-vs-mixbook-photo-books-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shutterfly.com\/ideas\/shutterfly-vs-mixbook-photo-books-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutterfly vs. Mixbook Photo Books: What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shutterfly and Mixbook both offer customizable photo books<\/a> with a range of sizes, designs, page types, and tools for bringing your photos together in one place. But the two services aren’t identical. Differences in book formats, creation tools, printing options, premium upgrades, and other features can shape the experience from your first upload to the finished book.<\/p>\n

To make those differences easier to understand, we compared Shutterfly and Mixbook photo books across the features customers are likely to consider when creating a book.<\/p>\n

Shutterfly vs. Mixbook Photo Books at a Glance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Feature<\/th>\nShutterfly<\/th>\nMixbook<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Photo book sizes<\/strong><\/td>\n6 sizes: 8\u00d78, 8\u00d711, 10\u00d710, 11\u00d78, 11\u00d714, 12\u00d712<\/td>\n8 sizes: 6\u00d76 to 14\u00d711<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Photo book templates<\/strong><\/td>\n122 photo book styles<\/td>\n762 photo book templates<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Page count<\/strong><\/td>\n20\u2013111 pages<\/td>\n20\u2013400 pages on select books<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cover options<\/strong><\/td>\nSoftcover, glossy hardcover, matte hardcover, premium leather on eligible books<\/td>\nSoftcover, glossy hardcover, matte hardcover<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Page options<\/strong><\/td>\nStandard Pages, Standard Layflat, Deluxe Layflat<\/td>\nSemi-gloss, matte, lustre, and layflat options vary by book type<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Premium albums<\/strong><\/td>\n31 templates with thick, seamless pages<\/td>\nAvailable with ultra-thick layflat pages<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AI-assisted creation<\/strong><\/td>\nAI-powered Autofill<\/td>\nAuto-Create and Story Mode<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AI writing assistance<\/strong><\/td>\nMagic Writer<\/td>\nSmart Captions and Story Mode<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Professional design service<\/strong><\/td>\nFree 24-Hour Designer Service<\/td>\nNo comparable professional design service found<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Professional printing upgrade<\/strong><\/td>\nProfessional 6-Color Printing on eligible books<\/td>\nNo comparable selectable upgrade found<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spellcheck<\/strong><\/td>\nBuilt into editor<\/td>\nSpellcheck was not observed during testing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Collaboration<\/strong><\/td>\nProject sharing and copying<\/td>\nUp to 30 collaborators<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Logo removal<\/strong><\/td>\nAvailable<\/td>\nLogo cannot be removed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mobile apps<\/strong><\/td>\niOS and Android<\/td>\niOS; Android not currently available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fastest delivery<\/strong><\/td>\nSuper Rush: 1\u20132 business days on eligible books<\/td>\nRush: production time + 1\u20132 business days shipping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Photo Book Sizes and Page Counts<\/h2>\n

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Both Shutterfly and Mixbook offer square, landscape, and portrait photo books, with different dimensions available from each service.<\/p>\n

Shutterfly’s core photo books come in 8\u00d78, 8\u00d711, 10\u00d710, 11\u00d78, 11\u00d714, and 12\u00d712 sizes, covering popular square, portrait, and landscape formats. Photo books start at 20 pages and can include up to 111 pages.<\/p>\n

Mixbook offers sizes ranging from 6\u00d76 to 14\u00d711, with availability varying by book type. Select softcover and hardcover books can contain up to 400 pages.<\/p>\n

While Mixbook supports a higher maximum page count, Shutterfly’s 111-page limit accommodates many common projects, including annual family yearbooks, vacations, weddings, baby books, and milestone celebrations.<\/p>\n

Cover, Page, and Premium Album Options<\/h2>\n

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Shutterfly and Mixbook both offer several ways to customize how a finished photo book looks and feels, but they organize these options differently.<\/p>\n

Shutterfly photo books are available with softcovers and hardcovers, including glossy and matte hardcover finishes. Premium leather covers are also available for eligible photo books. For the inside of the book, choose from Standard Pages, Standard Layflat, or Deluxe Layflat. Standard Layflat pages use a hinged binding that allows spreads to open flat, while Deluxe Layflat books feature double-thick pages with a satin finish and seamless two-page spreads.<\/p>\n

Eligible Shutterfly photo books can also be upgraded with Professional 6-Color Printing, which adds lighter cyan and magenta inks to the standard CMYK printing process to help create smoother color transitions and tonal detail.<\/p>\n

Mixbook organizes its options somewhat differently. Cover choices vary by book type, including softcover and glossy or matte hardcover options. Its available paper finishes include semi-gloss, matte, and lustre, while its layflat books use thicker pages designed for seamless spreads.<\/p>\n

For a higher-end option, both brands also offer premium albums<\/a>. Shutterfly’s premium albums are available in 31 templates and feature thick seamless pages, rounded corners, a protective box, an included cloth cover, and additional premium cover options. Mixbook’s Album tier pairs ultra-thick layflat pages with matte or lustre finishes and a keepsake presentation box.<\/p>\n

Photo Book Designs and Customization<\/h2>\n

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Starting with a professionally designed template can make it much easier to turn a large photo collection into a cohesive book.<\/p>\n

Shutterfly offers 122 photo book styles, not including its 31 premium album templates. Designs cover occasions and themes including travel, weddings, family, celebrations, and everyday memories.<\/p>\n

Mixbook offers 762 photo book templates across its collection.<\/p>\n

Both editors provide tools for changing layouts, arranging and resizing photos, adding text, selecting backgrounds, and incorporating decorative elements. Shutterfly also lets you customize the cover, back, and spine on eligible hardcover books and provides tools for adjusting photos with zoom, rotation, auto-enhance, and filters.<\/p>\n

The services handle some book-level options differently. Shutterfly surfaces options for changing book specifications within the creation experience. During our Mixbook testing, choices including book type, size, paper finish, and cover finish appeared after selecting Order rather than within the primary design editor.<\/p>\n

A Free Professional Photo Book Designer<\/h2>\n

One feature that sets Shutterfly apart is its free professional design service.<\/p>\n

With the free 24-Hour Photo Book Designer Service<\/a>, you upload your photos and provide your preferences, and a Shutterfly designer creates the book for you within 24 hours. Once the design is ready, you can order it as created or make your own edits first.<\/p>\n

We did not find a comparable professional design service from Mixbook.<\/p>\n

This gives you three different ways to approach a Shutterfly photo book: design every page yourself, get a head start with AI-powered Autofill, or have a professional designer build it for you at no additional cost.<\/p>\n

AI Tools That Make Photo Books Easier to Create<\/h2>\n

Both companies have introduced automated tools that can reduce the amount of time it takes to build a photo book from scratch.<\/p>\n

Shutterfly’s AI-powered Autofill<\/a> organizes selected photos and automatically arranges them into book layouts. You can choose the photos you want to include and set design preferences before Autofill creates the book, then continue adjusting layouts, photos, backgrounds, text, and other elements yourself.<\/p>\n

For help with the words that go alongside your photos, Magic Writer<\/a> can generate caption suggestions.<\/p>\n