Comparison
Artwork Archive vs Art.industries: which fits a working gallery
Artwork Archive is a well-built collection-cataloguing tool, originally for individual collectors and artists. Art.industries is built for working commercial galleries that need the catalogue plumbed into CRM, viewing rooms, Stripe-backed invoicing, and an optional public website. The two overlap on cataloguing and diverge on everything else. This page is blunt about which fits which gallery.
At a glance
| Dimension | Art.industries | Artwork Archive |
|---|---|---|
| Primary user | Working commercial galleries, dealers, studios, and advisors with active sales every week. | Originated for individual collectors and artists; gallery features layered on later. |
| Pricing | Core $15/mo, Advanced $40/mo, Max $200/mo. Capacity add-ons. No per-seat tax on collaboration. | Tiered seat-based pricing with feature gates per plan. Verify against modules you actually open. |
| Catalogue + CRM | Contacts and works share one workspace; relationship history survives staff change. | Contact list with light tagging; weaker linkage between contacts and live availability. |
| Private viewing rooms | First-class viewing rooms reading live inventory, with watermark and revocation controls. | Sharing flows skew toward static portfolio links rather than live, revocable rooms. |
| Payments and invoicing | Stripe-backed invoicing with deposits, instalments, refunds, multi-currency, multi-party splits. | Basic sales records and invoicing; verify rails, refunds, and tax handling for your jurisdiction. |
| Public website | Website Studio (Advanced) on your own domain, fed from the same catalogue. | Public profile pages on limited templates; full custom site usually requires a separate platform. |
| Exports and migrations | Stable internal IDs, configurable PDF and CSV exports, lender and customs templates. | Standard reports and PDFs; verify against your specific lender, insurer, and accountant formats. |
| How to test fit | One real exhibition + one consignment + one Stripe deposit, end to end, in trial. | Run the same loop and compare. Catalogue polish does not predict gallery throughput. |
Where Artwork Archive fits, and where galleries outgrow it
Artwork Archive is genuinely good at what it was built for: a clean, accessible catalogue of works for an individual collector, an estate, or a solo artist. The cataloguing fields are sensible, the import is friendly, and the price point is reasonable for non-commercial use.
Galleries usually outgrow it at the same point: when private sales become weekly habits and the gallery starts needing live viewing rooms, Stripe-backed deposits and instalments, real consignment splits with statements, and email campaigns tied to the collector list. Each of these can be added by bolting on additional tools (Mailchimp, Stripe direct, a separate viewing-room product, Squarespace), but the gallery now maintains four products that do not share a single record per work.
The cataloguing question (where the two are closest)
On pure cataloguing, the two products are roughly comparable. Both let you record canonical artist records, two-unit dimensions, edition copies, primary images, custody chains, and condition history (see How to catalogue artwork properly for what the catalogue has to capture).
The difference shows up at the edges: editioned works with reserved copies, consigned works with split agreements, multi-location pieces in transit during fair week. Art.industries was built for these specifically; Artwork Archive handles them but with more manual workarounds. Test the messiest 20 works in your inventory in both products before deciding.
What "operations" means and why it matters
A gallery's operational layer is the set of weekly workflows that touch the catalogue: reserving works for collectors, sending private viewing rooms to specific buyers, taking deposits via Stripe, issuing invoices with the right tax and split handling, shipping to fairs, and reconciling at month-end.
On Artwork Archive, most of these workflows live in adjacent tools (or in email and Slack). On Art.industries, they live on the same record per work. The functional difference is whether the gallery spends Monday morning copy-pasting between systems or actually doing gallery work.
A migration plan if you are switching from Artwork Archive
Artwork Archive exports works as CSV with image files in a folder. The Art.industries import accepts both, with a preview and validation pass before commit. The fields map cleanly for the common attributes (artist, title, year, medium, dimensions, edition, primary image); custom Artwork Archive fields can be added as Art.industries custom fields with a simple configuration step.
The work that takes longer is contacts and consignments: Artwork Archive's contact and consignment models are simpler than Art.industries' equivalents, so during migration most galleries take the opportunity to clean up the artist database and structure consignments properly. Plan 4-6 weeks for a full cutover; the first two on inventory, the next two on contacts and consignments, the last on workflow rollout (rooms, invoicing, fair prep).
Pricing comparison: read carefully
Artwork Archive's headline pricing looks competitive against Art.industries Core. The fair comparison is at the workflow level. Art.industries Core ($15/month) includes inventory, CRM, viewing rooms, and Stripe-backed invoicing. Artwork Archive's comparable plan covers cataloguing and basic CRM; rooms and structured invoicing live in adjacent tools the gallery has to add separately.
For galleries also wanting a public website and email campaigns, Art.industries Advanced ($40/month) covers both. The Artwork Archive equivalent is "Artwork Archive plus Squarespace plus Mailchimp" with the integration burden borne by the gallery. The total cost of ownership comparison usually favours Art.industries by the time the workflow is honest.
When to stay on Artwork Archive
Some users genuinely fit better on Artwork Archive. A solo collector with no commercial dimension, an estate with a static catalogue and few active sales, an individual artist with no studio sales pipeline: for any of these, Artwork Archive is well-suited and Art.industries would be over-spec.
For commercial gallery operations (multiple staff, weekly sales, fair participation, consignor settlements), Art.industries is built specifically for the workflow.
How to actually run the comparison pilot
Real comparison happens in real workflows. Pick a representative slice (one current exhibition or one major consignment), run the same loop end-to-end on both platforms in parallel, and time the actual operations. The platform that survives a real fair-week test wins the migration.
Specifically, the loop to test: catalogue 20 works including 2 editions and 1 consigned work; build a viewing room for one collector; take a Stripe deposit; issue a real invoice; refund and reissue once; close out a consignment statement. The platform where this loop is one workflow rather than four is the one to migrate to.
FAQ
- Is Artwork Archive bad for galleries?
- No. It is well-built for individual collectors, estates, and solo artists. For commercial gallery operations with weekly private sales, viewing rooms, Stripe-backed invoicing, and consignor settlements, Art.industries is built specifically for that workflow.
- How does pricing actually compare for a working gallery?
- Compare workflows, not headline prices. Art.industries Core ($15/month) bundles cataloguing, CRM, viewing rooms, and Stripe-backed invoicing. Artwork Archive's comparable plan covers cataloguing plus basic CRM; the rest is in adjacent tools the gallery adds. By the time the stack is honest, total cost of ownership usually favours Art.industries.
- Can we import our Artwork Archive data cleanly?
- Yes. CSV import with image folder is supported, with field mapping and a validation preview before commit. Common fields map directly; custom fields are configurable. Most galleries finish the inventory portion of the migration in 2-3 weeks.
- Does Art.industries take a percentage of our sales?
- No. The gallery connects its own Stripe account and the funds settle directly to the gallery's bank. Stripe takes its standard processing fee; we never insert ourselves into the money flow.
- Can we use both during migration?
- Yes. Most galleries run a parallel pilot for 4-6 weeks: a representative slice of inventory and one full sales loop on Art.industries while the rest stays on Artwork Archive. Once the loop proves out, the full migration follows in batches.
- What about the public website?
- Artwork Archive offers basic public-profile pages on limited templates. Art.industries Website Studio (Advanced and Max) is a real gallery website on your own domain, fed from the same catalogue. For a meaningful gallery web presence, this is usually the deciding feature.
- How do we handle estate and foundation collections that live alongside our active gallery operations?
- Art.industries handles both: active commercial inventory and managed estate/foundation collections in the same workspace, with permissions distinguishing them. See Software for art collectors and Consignment management.
Run the migration pilot in two weeks
Import 30 works (Artwork Archive CSV maps directly), build one viewing room, take one Stripe deposit, refund and reissue. The loop either fits how your gallery operates or it does not.