Launch year Our first year on sale. Half off your first year of Pro. Half off your first year. Ends Dec 31 The launch price is here until December 31, 2026. Ends December 31. All of Pro Every Pro feature, on your own WordPress site. All of Pro, your site. $125 was $249.99 first year Claim launch pricing
Mankai
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For WordPress developers and agencies

Build photography sites that run the business, not just the portfolio.

Mankai is a WordPress plugin that adds booking, contracts, payments, galleries and a client portal to the photography sites you build, and one Developer license covers 5, 10, 20 or 50 of them. You build in any theme, and the photographer runs the studio from their own admin.

Try Mankai free See pricing
  • Free to install
  • No credit card
  • No fee on your payments
Jessica Miller's Overview in the client portal of Northlight Photography, for her family session on October 24 at Riverside Park: Pay $300.00 (invoice #1021, due October 21), Contract signed, and Questionnaire complete, each with a link beside it. The studio's sign-in page on a phone: Northlight Photography, an email and password with a Log In button, and below it an Email me a sign-in code button.

Works with the WordPress setup you already have

One plugin, not a stack

Booking, payments and galleries in one plugin

A photographer's site tends to collect a booking plugin, a forms plugin, a gallery plugin and a payment add-on, each with its own settings and renewal. Mankai does those jobs in one plugin, and each session keeps its contract, invoice and gallery on the same record.

  • Booking on the studio's hours, with the contract and retainer in the same visit
  • Contracts, invoices and card payments on every session
  • Proofing galleries and a client portal on the site's own domain

1 pluginOne settings area and one update on each site.

The Day view of Saturday, October 24 on the Mankai calendar: a family session with Jessica Miller from 4:30 to 5:30 PM and a mini session with Chris Anderson at 6:00 PM, with a Month, Day and List switch above the hours.
The pane that opens on a click: Jessica Miller’s family session on October 24 is in golden hour, her questionnaire is completed, her contract is signed, her $150.00 retainer is paid and $300.00 is still due.
Click a session and see where it stands. The contract, the retainer and the balance are right there, and so is the golden hour for that day.

Any theme, Gutenberg or Elementor

Fits the theme and builder you already use

Mankai is a plugin, not a theme, so you build the site the way you always do. Its blocks and Elementor widgets show live studio data, and when the photographer changes a price or adds a testimonial, the page follows.

  • Blocks for testimonials, a contact form, studio details, a call to action and gift cards
  • The same pieces as Elementor widgets, plus session packages with a Book now button
  • A [booking_form] shortcode, or link a button to the booking page

Your themeThe blocks use its fonts, so they match the rest of the site.

The Carter wedding gallery on the photographer’s own site: Megan has hearted five of her twenty photos, and a Submit selections button sends her picks.
The photographer’s Copy file names panel for the same gallery: Capture One is chosen, the five picks are listed as plain camera file names DSC_0412 to DSC_0498, and a Copy button puts them on the clipboard.
She hearts, you copy. Her picks arrive as the file names from your camera, ready to paste into your editor.

Client handover

Hand it over, and the photographer runs it

Once the site is live, the photographer runs the studio from their own WordPress admin. Card payments go to their own Stripe or PayPal account, and clients see the studio's name and logo on the portal, invoices and emails.

  • Each site connects the photographer's own Stripe or PayPal
  • A setup wizard and step-by-step lessons for the photographer
  • If the license runs out, the site keeps the free version and all its data

$0Mankai fee on anything the studio charges its clients.

The Payment Records list of Northlight Photography: Stripe payments from Ashley Thompson ($100.00), Jessica Miller ($150.00), Chris Anderson ($150.00), Emily Johnson ($100.00) and Megan Carter ($186.00), and a $395.00 check recorded by hand for the Garcia family (listed as The Garcia family), each with its client and what it was for, plus Export CSV and Record payment buttons.
The Integrations settings: Stripe is connected and in use, so clients pay by card through the studio’s own Stripe account.
Paid into your own account. Card payments go to your own Stripe or PayPal account; cash, checks and transfers you record yourself, all in one list.

For developers

Webhooks, a calendar feed and data in WordPress

Mankai is an ordinary WordPress plugin that keeps its data in the site's own database. When a client wants other tools in the loop, a Pro workflow posts a JSON message to any web address, and every site has a private calendar link for Google, Apple or Outlook.

  • A Send Webhook action in Pro workflows, for Zapier, Make or your own endpoint
  • A private calendar feed, with a switch that shows every event as Busy
  • Needs WordPress 6.4 and PHP 8.1 or newer, on a single site

Your databaseClients, sessions and invoices stay in the site's own WordPress tables.

The workflow builder with one rule: when a session is booked by the client, only if the session type does not equal mini, wait 1440 minutes (a day), then send the Questionnaire Reminder email.
The workflow’s run history: the three latest runs, for Emily Johnson on October 13, Rachel Moore on October 9 and Nicole Martinez on October 7, each marked OK with the questionnaire reminder sent.
When this happens, do that. One rule, drawn as you would say it: book, check the session type, wait a day, send the email. Every run is logged.

Three ways to give a photographer a working studio site

Glue separate plugins together, send them to a hosted studio app, or install one plugin built for photographers.

What you get Stack of separate plugins Hosted studio app Mankai
Booking, contracts, payments and galleries in one place No Yes Yes
Runs inside the client's own WordPress Yes No Yes
Client records in the site's own database Yes No Yes
Client portal on the site's own domain Partly Partly Yes
One license for several client sites Partly No Yes
One thing to update and get support for No Yes Yes

Try Mankai free

What each client site needs

Mankai runs on the hosting you or your client already pay for. Check these before you quote the job.

  • WordPress 6.4 and PHP 8.1

    Or newer, on a single site. On anything older, Mankai stays inactive and shows a notice instead of breaking the site.

  • A mail plugin

    Invoices, reminders and confirmations go by email, so set up something like FluentSMTP to get them into inboxes.

  • The studio's Stripe or PayPal

    One processor at a time, in the photographer's own account. The keys and a webhook address go in Settings, then Integrations.

One license for the sites you build

The Developer plan is Pro on 5, 10, 20 or 50 sites, with one license, one renewal and priority support. When a project ends, move the license to the next site.

Every site gets everything in Pro. Monthly billing is also available. Compare all plans

Frequently asked questions

Can one Mankai license cover several client sites?

Yes. The Developer plan is Pro on 5, 10, 20 or 50 sites with one license and one renewal, from $699 a year for 5 sites. To move it, deactivate it on the old site from Mankai's Account page and activate it on the new one.

Does Mankai work on a WordPress Multisite network?

Not today. Mankai is built and tested for single WordPress sites, so each client site is its own install, and one Developer license covers several of them.

What support comes with the Developer plan?

Priority support through the contact page, open every day, 8 AM to 2 PM Central (Wisconsin time). It covers Mankai itself. Hosting, backups, WordPress updates and email delivery on each server stay with you or your client.

What happens when I hand the site over to the photographer?

They run the studio from their own WordPress admin, and payments go to their own Stripe or PayPal. If they would rather pay for Mankai themselves, they buy Pro for their site and you deactivate your license there to free the spot.

How do Mankai updates reach client sites?

Through each site's normal WordPress Updates screen, like any other plugin, while the license is active.

What happens to a client site if the license runs out?

That site goes back to the free version, and nothing is deleted. Clients, sessions, invoices and galleries stay, booking and the client portal keep working, and the Pro tools come back on renewal.

Give your next photography client more than a portfolio.

Try the free plugin on a test site today. Pick a Developer plan when you are ready to put it on client sites.

Try Mankai free See pricing