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Are you looking for the best virtual staging service to successfully market your listing? To make your decision easier, check out our comparison of VHT virtual staging vs PhotoUp: Which is better?

Virtual staging strongly shows a home’s full potential without the expense or hassle of traditional staging.

There are many companies offering real estate professionals the ability to virtually stage their listings. But how should you choose from among the many options?

Let’s help you make your decision easier by comparing these two popular virtually staging services.

VHT Virtual Staging vs PhotoUp

VHT is based in Rosemont, Illinois. They’ve been offering real estate photography and marketing services since the company’s founding in 1998. 

With a nationwide network of professional photographers and image editing specialists, VHT Studios offers affordable visual marketing services to real estate agents and industry professionals.

VHT Studios homepage

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. 

They have virtual staging editors and designers in the Philippines and their customer service team is located in the US. They were founded in 2011. 

PhotoUp: the best virtual staging service

We’ve reviewed these service companies and examined the results. Now, we’re going to compare both companies’ offerings, with the following in mind:

  • Account creation & pricing
  • Design and style options
  • Image quality
  • Turnaround time

So let’s get started!

1. Account Creation & Pricing

VHT requires an online account to be created to order virtual staging services. Once the account is created, the agent or photographer can upload photos and select among design options and other services.

One strange, minor detail — the account you create with VHT is branded differently. To use VHT you create an account with Wecihert Design Services. 

In terms of pricing, VHT offers the following price list:

  • Staging an empty room – $79 per photo
  • Redecorating – $199 per photo
  • Decluttering – $99 per photo
  • Virtual twilight – $39 per photo
VHT Studios virtual staging price page

VHT does offer discounts for bulk work and can handle custom requests, for higher price points. 

PhotoUp offers free account set-up (which was very easy to navigate) and uses a credit system to make payments as easy as possible and features discounts for bulk buying of credits.

Their standard plans is:

  • $1 per credit for subscription clients
  • $2 per credit for on-demand, pay-as-you go clients

Virtual staging prices with PhotoUp are as follows:

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

PhotoUp's virtual staging pricing page

Sets vary in terms of the number of design pieces and furniture as well as how many frames a single room or space requires. 

Next, let’s look at both sites’ design and style options.

Fast & Affordable

Virtual Staging Service

Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.

2. Design and Style Options

It was slightly difficult to survey VHT’s design library, since it isn’t featured on their website, nor is it organized by style type or themes. 

But, once you request their virtual staging service, it does appear that VHT offers a large selection of design styles and furnishings — and all the major style types are present. 

VHT Studios virtual staging library

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

Design styles include:

  • Mid-Century Modern
  • Scandinavian
  • Coastal
  • Industrial
  • American
  • And several others
PhotoUp virtual staging library

Now, next, let’s move on to image quality.

3. Image Quality

Both VHT and PhotoUp provide hi-res sample images of their virtual staging work. And both sets of samples are of high quality and look great.

VHT Studios Virtual Staging Example

VHT Studios Virtual Staging Example

PhotoUp Virtual Staging Examples

It’s clear that both companies have highly skilled and experienced teams of virtual stagers and photo editors

However, PhotoUp offers more photorealistic virtual staging with inviting decor and accessories such as books and plants that make the space look “homier,” yet clean and modern.

Additionally, both services can custom brand each image with an agent’s name and contact information. 

4. Turn Around Time

In terms of the turn around times, both companies’ strive to get an agent the completed, virtually staged photos as soon as possible. 

With VHT, virtual staging takes up to 3 business days from order form receipt using the template system.

When you order virtual home staging from PhotoUp you can expect low-resolution proofs back for your approval the next day. And once approved, they provide high-resolution renders within just a few hours.

Fast & Affordable

Virtual Staging Service

Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.

The Results – Which Is Better?

Now that we’ve given an overview of both services, let’s tally our comparisons of these two platforms to see which one is the better option.

Both VHT and PhotoUp offer many of the same virtual staging features and services. 

However, PhotoUp’s site is easier to create an account with and use. VHT maintains several sites and depending on what you click or need to do, you end up jumping from one site to another making it a bit hard to use. 

Going further, PhotoUp is less expensive, charging much less for the same or similar services. 

Finally, PhotoUp also has the advantage in terms of production turnaround time, getting you finished, hi-res virtually staged photos a day or two faster than VHT. 

Therefore, in terms of ease of use, turnaround time, and price — we think PhotoUp is the better option.

Start Working With PhotoUp Today

To recap, PhotoUp’s virtual staging services result in outstanding and authentic images that will help you sell properties quicker, and for better prices. 

Our comprehensive virtual staging services make any space or room look amazing — these include:

  • Staging vacant rooms with your choice of hundreds of design styled furnishings
  • Repairs and remodeling editing
  • Decor updates and replacements
  • Decluttering and depersonalizing rooms
  • Sky replacement and lawn greening
  • And much more!

So, why wait? 

Sign up for a free account with PhotoUp today, and get the absolutely best virtual staged images that’ll help you sell your listings faster and for higher prices. 

In summary, this post compared VHT virtual staging vs PhotoUp: Which is better? — And we found PhotoUp to be superior.

We hope this post helps in your decision-making process. If you liked reading this post, you’ll also want to 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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