This guide does not give a price list by speciality or a "market rate". Another photographer's prices reflect their costs, volume and positioning, not yours. It gives you a worksheet to fill in with your own numbers, a fictional example so you can see the whole calculation, and the French tax and legal rules to check before you publish a price.
The thresholds and rates quoted are those published for 2026 by the French administration, consulted on 12 October 2026.
Before you calculate: three separate questions
Three topics often get mixed up. They follow different rules.
1. Which social regime do your earnings fall under?
- Micro-entreprise: social contributions are a percentage of the turnover you collect. For 2026, Service Public gives 21.2% for commercial services (BIC), 25.6% for a non-regulated liberal activity (BNC) and 23.2% for regulated liberal activities under the Cipav. With the versement libératoire (flat-rate income tax paid alongside contributions), these become 22.9%, 27.8% and 25.4%.
- Sole trader under the real regime, or a company: contributions and tax depend on profit or pay, not turnover. Estimate them from your expected profit or pay.
- Artiste-auteur: this regime covers earnings from creating works of the mind, photography included, for example selling original works or exercising and assigning copyright (Service Public, artiste-auteur page; article R382-1-1 of the Code de la sécurité sociale).
Your regime does not follow from your photographic style. It depends on the nature of the activity and the earnings, and one person can have earnings under different regimes. The Service Public page on artistes-auteurs does not settle the case of commissioned photo services. If in doubt, ask Urssaf (the artistes-auteurs portal for that regime) before setting your prices.
2. Are you under the micro-entreprise thresholds?
For 2026, the micro regime applies if the turnover excluding VAT of the previous year or the year before does not exceed €83,600 for services and liberal activities (€203,100 for selling goods). The regime only ends after two consecutive years above the threshold. In the year you start, the threshold is prorated to the time you were active.
3. Do you have to charge VAT?
The VAT franchise (franchise en base) is a separate scheme with its own thresholds: being a micro-entreprise does not mean being exempt from VAT. For services in 2026, Service Public states:
- the franchise is possible if turnover did not exceed €37,500 the previous year and does not exceed €41,250 in the current year;
- above €37,500 in a year (without exceeding €41,250), VAT applies from the following 1 January;
- above €41,250, the franchise ends on the day you exceed it;
- under the franchise, your invoices carry the mention "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI".
The same page says the plan for a single €25,000 threshold was abandoned and the 2026 thresholds are unchanged.
If you charge VAT, the standard rate is 20% in mainland France. Some operations fall under a reduced rate; check which rate applies to each line (service, prints, rights assignment).
The worksheet
Copy these lines onto paper or a spreadsheet and write your numbers next to them. All amounts exclude VAT.
| Line | What you write down |
|---|---|
| A. Target annual income | What you want to pay yourself over the year, before income tax (unless your rate on line H includes the versement libératoire) |
| B. Annual fixed costs | Insurance, accountant, software and subscriptions, website, phone, training, equipment spread over its useful life, CFE and other contributions depending on your situation |
| C. Variable costs per job | Travel, prints and albums, assistant or second shooter, venue or equipment hire, online payment fees where applicable |
| D. Total hours per job | Pre-session exchanges, preparation, travel, shooting, culling, editing, delivery, invoicing |
| E. Hours available per year for jobs | Weeks worked × hours per week, minus time not tied to a job (prospecting, bookkeeping, training, website upkeep) |
| F. Maximum capacity | E ÷ D |
| G. Jobs you expect to sell | Your estimate of demand, no higher than F |
| H. Contribution rate | The micro rate for your activity, or an estimate of your actual contributions expressed as a share of turnover |
| I. Chosen margin | Annual amount you add for quiet months, surprises and investment |
Then:
- Turnover needed = (A + B + C × G + I) ÷ (1 − H)
- Floor price per job, excluding VAT = turnover needed ÷ G
- Commercial usage rights: a separate line when the client uses the images beyond private use (see below).
Measure line D rather than guessing it: time each step on a few recent jobs. The time away from the camera is usually what gets forgotten.
Worked example
Fictional assumption. The figures are round and invented to show the calculation; replace them with yours. This is neither a recommended rate nor an average.
The photographer in this example is a micro-entreprise. For the example only, we use the 2026 rate for commercial services (21.2%). Their clients pay by bank transfer, so the "online payment fees" line is €0 here.
| Line | Assumption |
|---|---|
| A. Target annual income | €30,000 |
| B. Annual fixed costs | €6,000 |
| C. Variable costs per job | €40 (travel €25, supplies €15) |
| D. Total hours per job | 6 h (1 h of exchanges and preparation, 1 h of travel, 1 h of shooting, 2.5 h of culling and editing, 0.5 h of delivery and invoicing) |
| E. Hours available | 44 weeks × 35 h = 1,540 h, minus 640 h not tied to a job = 900 h |
| F. Maximum capacity | 900 ÷ 6 = 150 jobs |
| G. Jobs sold | 100 |
| H. Contribution rate | 21.2% |
| I. Chosen margin | €4,000 |
Calculation:
- Total variable costs: €40 × 100 = €4,000
- Turnover needed: (30,000 + 6,000 + 4,000 + 4,000) ÷ (1 − 0.212) = 44,000 ÷ 0.788 ≈ €55,838
- Check: 21.2% of €55,838 ≈ €11,838 in contributions, leaving €44,000
- Floor price per job: 55,838 ÷ 100 ≈ €558 excluding VAT
If demand is only 80 jobs, the calculation becomes (30,000 + 6,000 + 3,200 + 4,000) ÷ 0.788 ≈ €54,822, or about €685 excluding VAT per job. Line G matters as much as your costs: a price based on capacity you don't sell is too low.
Last check, the thresholds. €55,838 stays under the €83,600 micro threshold but exceeds the higher VAT franchise threshold (€41,250). This photographer would have to charge VAT during the year: if they keep a displayed price of €558, part of that amount becomes VAT; if they want to keep €558 excluding VAT and the standard rate applies, the price including VAT becomes about €670. That is the moment to redo the calculation, before publishing prices.
Commercial usage rights
A session for a private client and a commission for a company that will use the images in advertising do not have the same value, even with the same working time. Invoice rights on a separate line, described by what the client may do: media, duration, territory, any exclusivity. The amount is your call; this guide does not offer a scale.
Our photography contracts guide covers what to specify in a rights assignment.
From the calculation to your packages
The calculation gives a floor, not the price you have to display. You can position yourself above it according to the value of your work for your clients, the demand you see and the clients you want. Just check that no offer goes below the floor.
In Graindevue, each Package is either fixed-price or "On quote":
- Fixed price: you enter a price, or switch to "Itemize lines" to separate, for example, the session, an album and a rights assignment. Amounts are entered excluding VAT and VAT follows the regime confirmed in your billing profile.
- On quote: the Package has no public price; you set the contract lines when the booking comes in.
You set your own prices: the platform imposes no minimum or maximum. Graindevue takes no commission on your bookings. Online payments go through Stripe, whose processing fees apply according to its pricing; the amount received is shown in your Stripe account. Offline payments (cash, cheque, direct bank transfer) carry no Stripe fee.
To test your worksheet on a real Package, start a 30-day trial and set it up as fixed-price or on quote.
Displaying and changing your prices
- For consumers, the price is shown in euros including all taxes, and the client must be able to know it before agreeing, without having to ask. If the price can't be calculated in advance, you provide the calculation method or a sufficiently detailed quote to a client who asks (Service Public, price display).
- A written quote is mandatory only for certain activities listed by the administration, and photography is not among them (Service Public, mandatory quotes). It remains useful to fix the scope of a custom job.
- When your costs change, redo the worksheet and apply the new prices to new bookings. Contracts already signed keep their terms.
Deposits
Set the advance payment according to preparation, costs committed and timing, rather than applying a percentage presented as a norm. In France, in a contract between a business and a consumer, sums paid in advance are arrhes unless stated otherwise (article L214-1 of the Code de la consommation). State which mechanism you chose: an acompte commits both parties; with arrhes, the client can withdraw by forfeiting them and the business by paying back double. The consequences of a cancellation, a failure to perform and a withdrawal must be kept apart. Our deposit and payment guide explains these choices and their effects.
What next
- If your floor price is above what your clients accept, the problem may not be price but demand, time per job or the offer: our guide to scaling a photography business helps you find what is holding you back.
- If demand is what's missing, start with the SEO checklist for photographers.
- To estimate the cost of your tools (line B), see our guide to choosing management software.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the minimum price of a photo session?
Add your target income, your fixed costs, your variable costs multiplied by the number of jobs you expect to sell and the margin you choose. Divide by (1 minus your contribution rate), then by the number of jobs. Count the full time of each job, including preparation, travel, editing and admin, to check that number is realistic.
Should I show my prices on my photography website?
Both approaches exist. Showing a price or a "from" price filters out requests that don't match your offer. Working on quote lets you adapt the scope. For consumers, the price must in any case be knowable before the contract is agreed. In Graindevue, a Package can be fixed-price or "On quote".
How do I raise my prices?
Redo the worksheet when your costs, your time per job or your demand change. Apply the new prices to new bookings, tell regular clients in advance, and leave signed contracts on their terms.
Do I have to charge VAT on my photography prices?
It depends on your turnover, not only on your status. In 2026, for services, the VAT franchise applies as long as turnover did not exceed €37,500 the previous year and does not exceed €41,250 in the current year. Under the franchise, the invoice carries the mention "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI". Above that, VAT applies, and you can in principle recover the VAT on your business purchases.
Am I an artiste-auteur photographer, or do I fall under another regime?
It depends on the nature of your activity and earnings, not your style. The artiste-auteur regime covers earnings from creating works, such as selling original works or assigning copyright; other activities fall under the micro-entreprise or a standard business. Check your case with Urssaf.