ppl.studio
Create first UGC

UGC Cost Calculator

Enter your product photo production needs to compare traditional photography, UGC creators, and AI UGC — and see exactly how much you save with ppl.studio.

Your photo needs

avg. cost per lifestyle shot with photographer

Enter your photo production needs to see your savings

Fill in the form on the left and click "Calculate savings" to see how much you save with AI UGC vs. traditional photography and UGC creators.

Why brands switch to AI UGC

Everything you need to produce lifestyle content at volume, at a fraction of the cost.

  • 60 seconds per photo

    From product upload to lifestyle photo in under a minute. No scheduling, no logistics.

  • Refreshes at model cost

    Seasonal updates, new variants, A/B test creative: each new photo costs Google's image price on your key, nothing more.

  • Consistent AI persona

    The same face across every photo. One AI expert, your entire catalog.

  • $1.99/week + Google's image price

    About $0.05 a photo on your own Gemini key, paid to Google. No model releases, no shoot rescheduling.

  • Your real product, every shot

    Upload your product once. It appears naturally in every lifestyle scene.

  • Full commercial rights

    Every generated image includes commercial licensing for ads, social, and storefronts.

See pricing & all features

Learn more

The maths, worked through

A catalog of 20 products, 8 lifestyle photos each, refreshed 4 times a year.

LineCalculationPer year
Photos a year20 products × 8 photos × 4 refreshes640
Photo shoots640 × $250 a lifestyle photo$160,000
UGC creators640 × $200 a piece$128,000
ppl.studio plan$1.99 a week × 52$103.48
Google image cost640 × $0.05 (2K, your Gemini key)$33.54
AI UGC totalplan + images$137

AI comes to $0.21 a photo against $250 for a shoot and $200 from a creator. The creator and shoot rates are typical quotes, not invoices: put your own in the calculator. Google's price is its list price; a failed render isn't charged and a retry is.

Frequently asked questions

$150–$500 per lifestyle photo with a professional photographer, or $2,000–$8,000 per shoot day for 10–30 images. Most brands pay $200–$300 per lifestyle shot on average.

$150–$500 per piece of content depending on creator tier, usage rights, and deliverable type. Monthly retainers for ongoing content typically run $2,000–$5,000/month.

ppl.studio costs $1.99 a week (about $103 a year). Images run on your own Gemini key at Google's list price, about $0.05 per photo at 2K, paid to Google. So 1,000 photos a year come to roughly $156, less than a single day's product shoot.

For lifestyle and UGC-style content used in ads, social media, and product pages, AI UGC is indistinguishable from real photography to the average viewer. ppl.studio generates photos that fit naturally into Instagram feeds, Facebook ads, Shopify product pages, and TikTok content.

Lifestyle photos (person with product in real-world setting), model shots, flat lays, and talking-head video thumbnails. ppl.studio generates photos with consistent AI personas — the same face across every image — so your brand looks cohesive.