The session holds the job.
Set up a session type once. When a job books, you see the client, the time, the balance, and what to do next without hopping between apps.
Your studio, on WordPress.
Mankai is a WordPress photography CRM for clients, sessions, contracts, invoices, payments, galleries, and email — in one place you own. Your domain. Your database. Not another SaaS login that meters you by client count.
See what’s included Visit the live studio (opens dandelionsoul.studio in a new tab)
Built by @eplemanski for real studio work, not a pitch deck.
Clients
Sessions
Booking
Calendar
Golden hour
Quotes
Contracts
Invoices
Payments
Retainers
Expenses
Inbox
Email templates
Forms
Workflows
Documents
Galleries
Proofing
Print shop
Client portal
Mobile PWA
Website tools
The whole job, one place.
These are real Mankai screens from a demo studio. This is the software you install, not a marketing mockup.
Your real inbox.
Connect the mailbox you already use. Threads stay tied to the client and the job, so you're not digging through Gmail for "which shoot was that?"
Calendar with availability.
Galleries on your domain.
Golden hour on the session.
Inquiry to shoot day.
One screen per job.
Status, payments, documents, delivery, and your notes sit on the session. You shouldn't need four tabs open just to finish one booking.
- See status, balance, and the next step immediately
- Reschedule, deliver, and collect without leaving the job
- Notes stay with the session, not lost in a chat thread
One record per client.
Sessions, invoices, emails, galleries, and documents all point back to the same person. From first inquiry to final delivery, you're not rebuilding context every time.
- Lead and client lists with quick actions
- Full history per client in one place
- CSV import if you already have a list
Offer real hours only.
Weekly hours, blocked time, booking notice, and per-offering rules keep public booking honest. Less email tennis about "are you free Tuesday?"
- Weekly availability with per-day windows
- Blocked time and buffer rules
- Booking notice and daily caps
Set the offering once.
Price, retainer, duration, contract, questionnaire, and delivery window live on the session type. New bookings show up already set up.
- Price, retainer, and duration per offering
- Contract and questionnaire attach automatically
- Add-ons and upsell pricing when you need them
Money stays on the job.
Client approves a quote, it becomes booked work. No retyping. Card payments go through your Stripe or PayPal. Mankai doesn't take a cut on top of the processor.
Galleries and a real client portal.
Proofing, favorites, downloads, and watermarking live on your site, not a third-party gallery brand. Clients get a simple checklist: sign the contract, pay the retainer, open the gallery, order prints.
- Favorites and proofing selections from the client
- Pay Now, documents, and signing in the same portal
- Print shop with your products, sizes, and prices
- Deliverables stay available behind one login
Less busywork.
Forms create clients. Workflows react to real events. Templates keep the wording consistent so you're not rewriting the same email every week.
Forms
Intake and booking forms that create real client records, not a pile of unread emails.
Workflows
A booking, payment, or signature can kick off the next step so you don't have to remember it.
Email templates
From booking confirmed to gallery delivered. Edit them, preview them, send them looking like you.
Documents
Contracts with merge tags, signing, and PDF export. Same place as the rest of the job.
Works on your phone too.
Check sessions, answer clients, and glance at payments from your phone. It installs like an app from your own site. No separate mobile product to rent.
You own the hosting.
Mankai is a WordPress plugin. Client records, invoices, galleries, and email live in your database, on your domain, next to your website. Not rented from a SaaS stack that can change pricing or lock you out.
- Data stays in your WordPress database, exportable any time
- Unlimited clients, sessions, and galleries. No metered tiers
- Portfolio, blog, testimonials, branding, and SEO tools included
Want the matching public site? The Photography Theme is built around the CRM. It's what Dandelion Soul Studio runs, a real portrait studio in central Wisconsin. Existing CRM customers can add it for $59.99/year. If you want both from day one, grab Mankai Complete.
Photography Theme: public site, booking, and galleries on your domain.
Flat price. No meters.
No client limits, seat pricing, or extra cut from your payments. Start with the CRM, or get the complete studio and website package.
Mankai CRM
$149.99/year
For photographers who already have a website and mainly need the CRM.
- Clients, sessions, booking, and calendar
- Quotes, contracts, invoices, and payments
- Inbox, forms, templates, and workflows
- Galleries, proofing, print orders, and client portal
- Unlimited clients, weekly updates, and support
Recommended
Mankai Complete
$199.99/year
CRM plus the Photography Theme. Best if you need both the studio system and public website.
Save $9.99/year vs buying separately
- Everything in Mankai CRM
- Photography Theme included
- Public site, portfolio, booking, and galleries
- One brand across CRM and public site
- One annual license for both
Existing CRM customers
Photography Theme
$59.99/year
The matching public site when you already run Mankai CRM.
- Requires an active Mankai CRM license
- Portfolio, about, and inquiry-ready pages
- Booking and pricing pulled from the CRM
- Theme updates while licensed
New customer? Get Mankai Complete instead.
One-time service
Setup & Migration
$799.99one time
I install it, configure it, and migrate what we can after you buy Mankai.
- Install and branding
- Booking, forms, and payment setup
- Workflows and email templates
- Theme setup if you own it
- Migration help from your current tools
Buy Mankai first. I review the request, then invoice.
Straight answers.
Licensing, data, and what happens when a license expires. Plain language. Anything else, email me.
Yes. Mankai CRM is a WordPress plugin, and the Photography Theme is a WordPress theme. You install them on hosting you control. Or buy Setup and Migration and I'll get it running with you.
No. The CRM works with the theme you already have. The Photography Theme is the matching public site built around Mankai. It needs the CRM, and it's not a generic theme for random sites. Want both from the start? Get Mankai Complete.
Each product is an annual license through Freemius. You need an active CRM license to use the admin. There's no per-client or per-session cap. Flat year, unlimited studio.
You get seven days to renew. After that, CRM admin locks until you reactivate. Your stored business data isn't deleted. Public booking and client portal pages aren't gated the same way as the admin.
Your public site keeps running with what's already there. Updates and licensed support pause until you renew. The theme doesn't use the CRM admin lock.
No. Clients pay through your Stripe or PayPal at normal processor rates. Mankai adds nothing on top. Cash, check, Venmo, and other manual payments can be recorded too.
Yes. Setup and Migration is a one-time project. Buy Mankai first, then send a setup request. I review it and send an invoice after. Nothing auto-charges from the form.
In your WordPress database on your hosting. You can export it. I'm not renting your client list back to you. Uninstalling doesn't wipe business data unless you turn that on yourself.
Stop renting five tools.
WordPress plugin. Weekly updates. Flat annual price. No per-client meters.
Prefer reading? See what’s included or read the docs.