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Increasing numbers of real estate photographers and sales professionals are turning to virtual staging to best showcase a listing. However, there are many virtual staging services available — which one do you choose? 

Virtual staging offers an easy way to showcase the full potential of a listing with high-quality, compelling photos. 

To make your decision easier, we’ve compared two of the more popular services, Box Brownie virtual staging vs PhotoUp – looking at results and pricing to see which is the better choice.

Alright, let’s get started!

Box Brownie Virtual Staging vs PhotoUp

BoxBrownie homepage

Headquartered in Maroochydore, Australia, Box Brownie has a talented team of photo editors and virtual stagers in locations around the globe. Founded in 2014, Box Brownie started offering virtual staging services in 2018. 

One of the largest companies in the industry, they specialize in the full range of real estate photo editing, virtual staging, and online visual marketing tools, as well as online retail and automotive photo editing services.

PhotoUp: The Best Real Estate Photo Editing Service

PhotoUp is a global real estate marketing company offering a full range of virtual staging services, as well as real estate photo editing, video editing, single property websites, and more. 

In business for more than 10 years, PhotoUp employs world-class virtual staging editors and designers in the Philippines. And to provide the best possible customer service, PhotoUp’s service team is located in the US.

We’ve researched both virtual staging services and examined their results and pricing. So, we’re going to compare both companies according to the following criteria:

  • Creating an account  
  • Turnaround time 
  • Pricing plans and options
  • The range of design styles
  • And the quality of the results

Now, let’s get going with our review and comparison!

1. Creating an Account

Box Brownie has customers create a free account on their website before they can place any orders. Getting started is easy and account creation takes less than two minutes. 

Box Brownie sign up form

Once the account is created, the agent or photographer can upload photos and select among photo editing options and other services. Box Brownie’s photo uploading is also fast and easy to use. 

PhotoUp also offers free account set-up, which was easy and quick, taking around a minute to get started. And their photo uploading is also fast and nearly effortless. 

Create a free PhotoUp account

Next, let’s look at both services’ turnaround times.

2. Turnaround Time

Regarding turnaround times, both companies deliver completed, virtually staged photos as soon as possible and as promised. 

With Box Brownie, standard photo enhancing takes 24 hours, while virtual staging takes 48 hours. Expedited turnaround times are available for an additional cost. 

PhotoUp delivers its virtual staging in under 48 hours and standard photo editing in 12-24 hours. You can expect low-resolution proofs back for your approval the next day. Once approved, PhotoUp provides high-resolution images within just a few hours.

Good, now, let’s compare both companies in terms of pricing plans and options. 

Fast & Affordable

Virtual Staging Service

Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.

3. Pricing Plans and Options

Here’s a look at Box Brownie’s basic pricing:

  • $24 per virtual staging photo with additional enhancements at an additional cost
  • $24 to $176 for virtual renovations — depending on the complexity
  • $48 or more for 360° virtual staging
  • $16 to $24 for 360° virtual tours

PhotoUp’s pricing plans use a credit system to make payments and offer discounts for bulk buying of credits.

Their standard plans are:

  • $1.15 per credit for subscription clients
  • $1.50 per credit for on-demand, pay-as-you-go clients

PhotoUp’s virtual staging prices are as follows:

  • Single set – 20 credits/$20 per photo
  • Double set – 30 credits/$30 per photo

Sets are determined by the number of design pieces and furniture as well as how many frames a single room or space requires. 

4. The Range of Design Styles

Box Brownie’s virtual staging features a range of 7 design categories, including:

  • Contemporary
  • Modern
  • Scandinavian
  • Traditional
  • Farmhouse
  • Urban/Industrial
  • And Hamptons
Box Brownie's virtual staging styles

PhotoUp offers a design library, featuring 11 design styles and 18 room types.  Additionally, there are 21 design accessories to choose from. 

PhotoUp’s design style categories include:

  • Mid-Century Modern (very popular with buyers)
  • Scandinavian
  • Luxury
  • Coastal
  • Hamptons
  • Farmhouse
  • Industrial
  • American
  • And several others
PhotoUp virtual staging library

Now, let’s move on to compare the quality of the virtual staging results. 

5.  Quality of Results

Box Brownie and PhotoUp deliver among the most stunning, high-quality virtually staging images in the entire industry. 

  • Both companies employ world-class, highly experienced virtual stagers and photo editors  
  • And both Box Brownie and PhotoUp offer custom branding with an agent’s name and contact information on each image (if requested)

Here you can compare virtual staging results from both providers:

Box Brownie Virtual Staging
PhotoUp Virtual Staging

In terms of image quality, it would be hard to go wrong working with either service for your virtual staging needs. Even though PhotoUp’s virtual staging looks more clean and fresh.

BoxBrownie vs PhotoUp: Which Is the Better Option?

The bottom line is both companies produce outstanding virtual staging images and deliver superb customer service. 

But let’s go a little deeper in our comparison to see whether Box Brownie or PhotoUp is the better virtual staging option.

To start, Box Brownie and PhotoUp offer many of the same virtual staging features and services.  And both sites are easy to use and create an account with — each within a couple of minutes or less. 

Secondly, both companies offer the same turnaround times, delivering proofs for approval within 24 hours and the final photos shortly after — the entire process taking 48 hours or less. 

Our next consideration, is image quality, with each service delivering extremely high-quality photos that look amazing. 

So far, both companies appear to be excellent choices to work with. However, we believe PhotoUP has a slight advantage — and for two reasons:

First, the selection of design styles:

  • Box Brownie offers 7 design styles 
  • PhotoUp offers 11 design styles, giving you more options

The second reason is pricing:

  • Box Brownie is quite similar in pricing for standard virtual staging services
  • However, Box Brownie’s prices increase quickly once you want any extra services, such as repairs, remodeling, or multiple revisions
  • PhotoUp’s virtual staging pricing is 20 credits or $20 per image for any of the above virtual staging services, and they also offer 2 free revisions

Therefore, when we finish analyzing all of our information — we think PhotoUp is the better choice.

Fast & Affordable

Virtual Staging Service

Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.

Partner With PhotoUp for Outstanding Virtual Staging

Work with the best — partner with PhotoUp for stunning and realistic virtual staging images that will give you a definite advantage over the competition. 

PhotoUp’s virtual staging services include:

  • Staging vacant rooms with today’s design styles popular with buyers
  • Easy decorating updates and replacements
  • Object removal, decluttering, and depersonalizing rooms
  • Virtual remodeling and renovations
  • Virtual landscaping
  • And much more!

Sign up for a free PhotoUp account, and let us deliver amazing images that’ll impress your clients and sell your listings faster and for higher prices.

So, today, in this post, we compared Box Brownie virtual staging vs PhotoUp with results and pricing to see which is the better option. And our results showed PhotoUp to be your better option for virtual staging.

We hope you enjoyed this post and it helps in your decision-making. You should also check out the following, related resources:

Gregory Gronbacher

Real Estate Sales Agent / Professional Blogger

Gregory is a real estate sales agent and a state-certified instructor of real estate licensing and law. Originally from New York City, he's called Grand Rapids, Michigan home since 1995.

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