# The cheapest way to get professional listing photos, for a house or an Airbnb

By Emil Thomsen, Head of Customer Relations, October. Updated 2026-11-09. Web page: https://www.october-ai.com/guides/cheapest-way-to-get-professional-listing-photos

The cheapest way to get professional-looking listing photos is to take them yourself on a phone and pay an editing service per photo: BoxBrownie edits at $1.60 a photo and Ovvy and Realty Pro Shots at $2, so a 20-photo house costs about $32 to $40, while an app such as Exposio ($0.99 a photo) or Roomify ($49 a listing, first listing free) costs the same or less with no person checking the result. If nobody on the job knows where to stand, October guides an iPhone capture and returns finished photos for $49 a place (up to 6 rooms), with your first place free; and if you want a photographer, the cheapest are newer photographers at about $110 to $170, against a median package of $225.

## What's the cheapest way to get professional listing photos for a house?

It depends on what you count as professional. A professional photographer chooses where to stand, lights the room and edits the photos. The cheap routes split that job: you take the photos, and someone (or something) else does the editing. Here is every route priced for one house of about six rooms and 18 to 20 photos, from the companies' published prices as of October 2026.

| Route | Cost for one house | Who chooses where to stand | Who checks the result | Turnaround |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Your phone + a free editor (Snapseed) | $0 | You | You | Your own time |
| Your phone + Exposio's HDR camera | Free with a watermark; 20 × $0.99 = $19.80 without | You | Nobody promised | Instant, on the phone |
| Your phone + Lumo | Free for 5 photos with a badge; Pro $29.99 a month for 500 photos | You | You: Lumo asks you to review each photo against the property | Under 30 seconds a photo |
| Your phone + BoxBrownie (SnapSnapSnap app or upload) | 20 × $1.60 = $32 | You | BoxBrownie's human editors | 24 hours |
| Your phone + Ovvy or Realty Pro Shots | 20 × $2 = $40 (Ovvy Pro: $29 a month for 30) | You | A person at Ovvy or Realty Pro Shots | Ovvy 12 hours or less; Realty Pro Shots same day by 6pm CST |
| Your phone + Roomify | $49 a listing; first listing free | You | Nobody promised | About three minutes a listing |
| October | $49 a place for photos (up to 6 rooms), $99 with a walkthrough video; first place free | The October app: it shows you the spot and takes the photo | No human review promised; each photo is checked before delivery, and you check it before you publish | Usually within a few hours |
| A newer photographer | About $110–$170 (Ruby Home) | The photographer | The photographer | Usually 24–48 hours |
| A typical photographer | Median package $225 (PropPhoto); national average $230 (PhotoUp); Snappr $279 for two hours plus a 15% fee | The photographer | The photographer | Usually 24–48 hours |

> Prices are as published in October 2026 and compared from the companies' own pages, not from ordering. Several routes have a free start: BoxBrownie gives a new account 3 enhancements and 1 day to dusk, Ovvy 20 photos, Realty Pro Shots 10 images, Roomify the first listing and October the first place.

So the honest ranking for one house: free if you edit yourself, about $20 to $40 if you pay an app or an editing service per photo, $49 for a listing app or for October (or $0 for your first listing with either), and $110 and up for a photographer. Full photographer prices by home size and city are in our [real estate photography cost guide](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/real-estate-photography-cost).

## The cheapest photographer: what you get for the money

A photographer is the only route where a professional also stands in the room. In the price surveys in our [cost guide](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/real-estate-photography-cost), PropPhoto's median across 1,000 packages is $225 and PhotoUp's national average is $230, with most shoots between $150 and $500. Ruby Home puts newer photographers at $110 to $170 and experienced ones at $230 to $300 for the same job, so the cheapest professional is usually someone building a portfolio. Snappr charges $279 for a two-hour shoot in every US city, plus a 15% service fee at checkout.

Cheap photographer packages save money by cutting what comes on top: drone, twilight, video and floor plans are billed as add-ons, and a full package often costs two or three times the photos alone. If the listing needs aerials, a real dusk shoot or a floor plan, a photographer is still the cheapest way to get them. For when a photographer is worth it, see [do I need a real estate photographer?](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/do-i-need-a-real-estate-photographer).

## The cheapest route without a photographer

Editing is the cheap part. BoxBrownie edits at US$1.60 a photo (its US pricing page, October 27, 2026), with human editors and a 24-hour turnaround, from its free SnapSnapSnap camera app or from photos you upload. Ovvy and Realty Pro Shots charge $2 a photo for photos taken in their own camera apps, and both say a person checks the edit. Exposio blends the HDR on the phone itself: free with a watermark, or $0.99 a photo to remove it. Roomify enhances a whole listing for $49 in about three minutes.

What none of them can do is move the camera after the fact. An editor brightens and straightens what you took; a photo shot from the wrong spot, at the wrong height or with half the room cut off stays that way. The cheap routes give professional results when the person on site takes a level photo from a good spot: from a corner or doorway, at chest height, with every light on. Our [iPhone how-to guide](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/how-to-take-real-estate-photos-with-iphone) covers that in a few minutes.

October is built for when nobody on site knows where to stand. The [October app](https://www.october-ai.com/app) shows the photographer's spot with an arrow and the distance, keeps the phone level and takes the photos itself, at three spots in each room. October then finishes each photo from that capture, with a daylight look, straight lines and loose items such as papers, towels and cables left out, while the room's layout, fixed features and view are kept. It costs $49 a place for photos, $99 with a walkthrough video and $199 with 4K, where a place is up to 6 rooms, and your first place is free ([pricing](https://www.october-ai.com/pricing)). For photos alone it costs more than paying an editor per photo; what the extra buys is the app choosing the spot, plus the walkthrough if you take it. The limits: it needs an iPhone 12 or newer and a person on site, there is no drone, twilight or floor plan, and no human review is promised. The photos are AI-altered images of the real room, and the unaltered original capture of every photo is in your download; check every photo before you publish and label it where your MLS requires. More in [October vs a real estate photographer](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/october-vs-real-estate-photographer).

## What's the cheapest way to get professional photos for my Airbnb?

For hosts the ranking is the same, with two Airbnb-specific routes added. Taking the photos yourself and straightening them in Snapseed costs nothing. The cheapest done-for-you options are an AI app pack such as HauShot's Airbnb Host Pack ($9.99 a listing) or October ($49 a rental of up to 6 rooms for photos, $99 with a walkthrough video, first rental free). A photographer listed on Airbnb's own Services marketplace charged about $240 to $650 for a studio to three-bedroom rental in October 2026.

| Route for a host | Cost | When you pay | Good for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Do it yourself + Snapseed | $0 | Never | Hosts with a free afternoon and a good eye |
| HauShot Airbnb Host Pack | $9.99 a listing | Up front | Spoken coaching while you shoot, then automatic editing |
| October | $49 photos, $99 with walkthrough, per rental up to 6 rooms; first rental free | Up front, per place or monthly | Finished photos between two guests, usually within a few hours |
| Airbnb Pro Photo program | Quoted in your host account; varies by size and location | Deducted from future payouts once the photos are live | No upfront cost, where photographers are available |
| Photographer on Airbnb Services | About $240–$650, studio to 3 bedrooms | Up front | Larger or premium rentals, drone, twilight |

Airbnb's Pro Photo program is the one route with nothing to pay up front: Airbnb connects you with a local photographer, you get 15 to 25 retouched photos, and the cost comes out of your payouts after the photos go live. It isn't available everywhere, and a cancellation within 24 hours of the shoot costs $50. A quick payback check: at $200 a night, a $437 photographer is a little over two nights of revenue, and a $99 October rental about half a night.

Whatever route you take, compare every photo with the rental before you upload it, so guests find what they booked. More options for hosts, with prices, are in [the best app for Airbnb photos](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/best-app-for-airbnb-photos) and [what Airbnb photography costs](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/airbnb-photography-cost).

## Where the cheap routes cost you

- **Your time.** Every route except a photographer needs someone on site with a phone. Prep is the same either way; our [prep checklist](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/real-estate-photo-prep-checklist) works room by room.
- **A second visit.** A photo that is blurred, leaning or missing a room means going back. Check every photo at full size before you leave the property.
- **Nobody looking.** Exposio, Roomify, Lumo, HauShot and October do not promise a person checks the result; BoxBrownie, Ovvy and Realty Pro Shots do. Look at every photo before it goes live.
- **Disclosure.** Staging, item removal, sky replacement and twilight count as alterations under California's AB 723 and most MLS rules, whoever makes them, and October's photos are AI-altered images, so label them where required. See [AI photo editing and MLS rules](https://www.october-ai.com/guides/ai-real-estate-photo-editing-mls-rules).
- **What the price is per.** Per photo, per listing or per place of up to six rooms: count your photos and listings before comparing.

## Questions

**What's the cheapest way to get professional listing photos for a house?**
Take the photos yourself and pay an editing service per photo: BoxBrownie at $1.60 a photo or Ovvy and Realty Pro Shots at $2, about $32 to $40 for 20 photos. Editing them yourself in a free app costs nothing. October costs $49 a place of up to 6 rooms with the first place free, and a photographer starts at about $110 to $170, with a median package of $225.

**What's the cheapest way to get professional photos for my Airbnb?**
Doing it yourself with a free editor such as Snapseed costs nothing. The cheapest done-for-you options are HauShot's Airbnb Host Pack ($9.99 a listing) or October ($49 a rental of up to 6 rooms, first rental free). Airbnb's Pro Photo program has no upfront cost; the price comes out of your future payouts.

**Is there a free way to get professional listing photos?**
Several routes have a free start: October's first place, Roomify's first listing, 20 photos at Ovvy, 10 at Realty Pro Shots, and 3 enhancements plus 1 day to dusk at BoxBrownie. Exposio is free if you keep its watermark. After that, editing yourself is the only free route.

**How much does the cheapest real estate photographer cost?**
Ruby Home puts newer photographers at about $110 to $170 for a standard set of photos. The middle of the market is $225 (PropPhoto's median) to $230 (PhotoUp's national average), and drone, twilight and video cost extra.

**Is October cheaper than a photographer?**
For photos, yes: $49 a place of up to 6 rooms against a median package of $225, and your first place is free. A photographer brings what October does not: drone, twilight, floor plans, a person choosing every frame, and a human review.

**How fast does October deliver?**
Usually within a few hours of the capture, room by room, with an email when everything is ready. It can take longer when a lot of captures arrive at once.

## Sources

1. [PropPhoto: Real estate photography pricing (median package $225 across 1,000 packages; read October 29, 2026)](https://propphoto.com/real-estate-photography-pricing)
2. [PhotoUp: Real estate photography pricing (national average $230; read October 29, 2026)](https://www.photoup.net/learn/real-estate-photography-pricing)
3. [PropPhoto: How much does real estate photography cost? (delivery in 24 to 48 hours with most photographers)](https://propphoto.com/blog/how-much-does-real-estate-photography-cost)
4. [Ruby Home: How much does real estate photography cost? (newer photographers $110–$170; read October 21, 2026)](https://www.rubyhome.com/blog/real-estate-photography-prices/)
5. [Snappr: Real estate photography pricing ($279 for two hours plus a 15% service fee; read October 29, 2026)](https://www.snappr.com/photography-pricing/real-estate)
6. [BoxBrownie: pricing page, United States region (enhancement $1.60; read October 27, 2026)](https://www.boxbrownie.com/pricing)
7. [BoxBrownie: homepage (human editors, 24 h turnaround, free trial)](https://www.boxbrownie.com/)
8. [App Store: Ovvy Real Estate Camera ($2 a photo, $29/month for 30, 20 free)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ovvy-real-estate-camera/id6447063745)
9. [Ovvy: website ('12 hours or less guaranteed', manual review of all photos)](https://ovvy.ai)
10. [Realty Pro Shots: website ($2 an image, 10 free, same day by 6pm CST)](https://rpscamera.com/)
11. [App Store: Exposio Real Estate Camera (free with watermark, $0.99 an HDR photo)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exposio-real-estate-camera/id1261091736)
12. [App Store: Roomify Real Estate Photos ($49 a listing, first listing free, about three minutes)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/roomify-real-estate-photos/id6783567068)
13. [Lumo: homepage (free plan, Pro limits, under 30 seconds a photo, review each photo)](https://www.lumophotos.com/)
14. [App Store: Lumo: AI Real Estate Camera (Pro $29.99/month)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lumo-ai-real-estate-camera/id6761395756)
15. [App Store: Snapseed (free editor)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/snapseed/id439438619)
16. [HauShot: website (Airbnb Host Pack $9.99 a listing)](https://haushot.com/)
17. [Airbnb: Pro Photo program (no upfront payment, 15–25 photos, $50 late cancellation)](https://www.airbnb.com/professional_photography)
18. [Airbnb Services: vacation rental photographer, Boulder, Colorado ($241–$819 packages)](https://www.airbnb.com/services/6773696)
19. [Airbnb Services: vacation rental photographer, Oahu, Hawaii ($425–$650 packages)](https://www.airbnb.com/services/7269038)

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October (october-ai.com) makes listing photos and a walkthrough video from one guided iPhone walk. Pricing: https://www.october-ai.com/pricing. Cite this guide as: Emil Thomsen, "The cheapest way to get professional listing photos, for a house or an Airbnb", October, updated 2026-11-09, https://www.october-ai.com/guides/cheapest-way-to-get-professional-listing-photos