Paintings From Photo vs Paint Your Life: An Honest Comparison

Last updated: September 2026

Paintings From Photo vs Paint Your Life

Quick answer: Both services turn a photograph into a hand-painted oil portrait on canvas, both show you a photograph of the finished painting before it ships, and at the popular sizes the prices are close. The real differences are in how you pay (their 20% deposit against our payment up front, refunded in full if your photograph won't paint), returns (their 30-day money-back guarantee is more generous than ours), currency (they price in US dollars) and how the process is run (here, a person reads your photograph within one working day). Below is the comparison we'd want if we were choosing.

We should say up front that we are one of the two companies. We've tried to be fair, we've taken Paint Your Life's figures from their own website on 17 September 2026, and where they're better, we say so.

Who they are, who we are

Paint Your Life is a large service, priced in US dollars, and probably the best-known name in photo-to-painting anywhere. You choose a size and a medium, pay a deposit, send your instructions through their customer service team (you don't speak to the artist directly) and pay the balance when you approve the painting.

Paintings From Photo is a small UK business run by one person, who reads every photograph. The painting is done by hand in oil on canvas by professional portrait artists; you pay when you order, see a photograph of the actual canvas before it ships, and it arrives rolled in a tube with delivery included, wherever you are.

Prices, side by side

Paint Your Life publishes its prices in US dollars for one person or pet; the site may show you a converted figure depending on where you are. We publish in pounds and show the same painting in your own currency on the site. The pound figures for Paint Your Life below use mid-September 2026 rates (roughly $1 = £0.74), so treat them as a guide.

Canvas	Paint Your Life, one subject	Paintings From Photo, one subject
12 × 16″	$275 (about £203)	£220
16 × 20″	$355 (about £262)	£275
24 × 36″	$495 (about £366)	£449
30 × 40″	$545 (about £403)	£489

Extra people or pets: Paint Your Life adds from about $20 each, depending on the size; we add £35 each on the three smaller canvases and £55 to £79 on the larger ones — every figure is on the price table. Both include delivery in the price (Paint Your Life advertises free shipping to the US; check the terms it shows you for the UK). Neither charges extra for a change of background or for leaving something out of the photograph.

So: at 12 × 16″ and 16 × 20″ there's little in it. At 24 × 36″ and above, Paint Your Life is cheaper, by £80 or so. If you're buying a large canvas on price alone, that's a real difference and we won't pretend otherwise. What you're paying us for on top is set out below.

How you pay

Paint Your Life: 20% deposit at order, the remaining 80% after you approve the finished painting. Klarna and other pay-later options are offered.

Paintings From Photo: the full price at order, by card, Apple Pay or Klarna through Stripe. Then a person looks at your photograph within one working day. If it won't make a good painting you can send another, or have every penny back before any paint goes on canvas. That check is why we can take payment up front: nobody is charged for a painting of a photograph that can't be painted well.

Which is better depends on you. A deposit keeps most of your money in your pocket for a month. Paying once means no second bill when the painting is finished and no balance to remember.

Before painting starts

Paint Your Life works from your photograph and your instructions, passed to the artist through their customer service team and studio managers, with unlimited free revisions once the painting is shown to you.

Paintings From Photo: We read the photograph and reply within a working day with an honest read — whether it will paint, which size suits it, what would make it better. Then the painting goes ahead with a written brief: the likeness, the markings, what to leave out, the background you want. There's no digital preview and no sketch; the first thing you see is the painting.

Approval, revisions and refunds

Both services send you a photograph of the finished painting and wait for your yes.

Paint Your Life: unlimited modifications, free. And their standout policy: a 100% money-back guarantee within 30 days of receiving the painting.

Paintings From Photo: if something in the approval photograph isn't right — a face, a colour, a background — it goes back to the painter until it is, at no charge. But once you've approved that photograph and the painting has shipped, we don't offer change-of-mind refunds; each canvas is painted to order from one photograph and can't be sold to anyone else. If it arrives damaged, or isn't what you approved, it's replaced or refunded in full. The refund terms are here.

On returns, then, Paint Your Life's policy is the more generous one. We'd rather you knew that than found out.

How long it takes

Paint Your Life quotes a delivery time on each order and sells an express service that promises a portrait in as little as 12 days.

Paintings From Photo: about three to four weeks to paint, plus delivery, and no express option. Oil paint dries slowly and we don't hurry it. For Christmas, order by the date shown at the top of every commission page.

Sizes, framing and what arrives

Paint Your Life offers a long list of sizes plus custom sizes entered at order, and sells frames as an add-on.

Paintings From Photo paints six standard canvases from 12 × 16″ to 36 × 48″ (custom sizes on request — ask) and ships every painting unframed, rolled in a tube. A framer near you stretches and frames it, which costs roughly £30 to £80 and takes one to three weeks, and a frame chosen in your room suits the room better than one shipped from a warehouse.

Reviews and track record

Paint Your Life is the bigger and longer-established name, with far more reviews than we have. We are newer and smaller, and we won't dress that up. What we can show you is real paintings from the studio with the photographs they came from, and a process where the person you email is the person accountable for your order. Ask us anything before you buy: hello@paintingsfromphoto.com.

Which should you choose?

Choose Paint Your Life if you want to pay a deposit rather than the full price, if a 30-day return matters to you, if you want a custom size or a frame in the same order, or if you're buying a big canvas and the price gap decides it.

Choose Paintings From Photo if you want a person to look at your photograph and tell you the truth before you're committed, if you'd rather pay once, in pounds or your own currency, with no balance later, if you want delivery included wherever in the world you are, and if you prefer a small business where the same person reads your email and checks your painting.

Either way, ask both of us the same three questions: is it painted by hand in oil on canvas, will I see a photograph of the actual painting before it ships, and what happens if my photograph isn't good enough? Any studio worth your money answers all three plainly.

Frequently asked

Is Paint Your Life hand-painted?

They say so — "hand-painted portraits" is how they describe the product — and they show you the finished painting for approval before shipping, which is the right test. We haven't commissioned one ourselves, so we can only report what they publish.

Are Paintings From Photo's paintings hand-painted?

Yes: real oil paint on canvas, by hand, by professional portrait artists, with fine brushes in a smooth realist technique. Every customer gets a photograph of the actual canvas before it ships. If you want to check any studio's claim, including ours, here's how to tell a hand-painted portrait from a print or an AI image.

Which is cheaper?

At 12 × 16″ and 16 × 20″ they're within about £20 of each other once you convert the dollars. At 24 × 36″ and larger, Paint Your Life is cheaper by roughly £80 to £90. Extra subjects are cheaper with them on most sizes.

Can I pay in instalments with either?

Both offer Klarna. Paint Your Life also takes a 20% deposit with the balance on approval; we take the full amount at order and refund it in full if your photograph won't make a good painting.

Ready? Start a commission, delivery included worldwide, or send your photograph for a free check first.