Mankaiby Elijah Lemanski
Get Mankai

Public release: July 22, 2026 Updated weekly

Run your photography business from one connected system.

Mankai brings clients, sessions, booking, galleries, invoices, communication, and delivery together inside WordPress. Your domain, your database, your brand.

Get Mankai See the Product
The real Mankai dashboard for a fictional test studio: sessions, items needing attention, upcoming work, income and expenses, and recent payments.
Next session A confirmed session card for a fictional family booking.
Latest payments A list of recent fictional payments recorded in Mankai.

Built directly by Elijah Lemanski around real photographer workflows.

Core capabilities

Everything the business side needs, in one place.

Every screen below is a real capture from Mankai running on a local test studio with fictional data. This is the software you are buying.

Run the work

Set the offering up once. Every booking carries it forward.

Session types define the price, retainer, duration, contract, questionnaire, and delivery window. The session workspace shows the client, time, golden hour, balance, and next action in one view.

  • Session types with per-offering rules
  • Calendar, availability, and golden hour
  • A dashboard list of what needs attention today
The Mankai session workspace with upcoming fictional sessions, client details, balance, contract status, and internal notes.

Communicate clearly

Your real inbox, sorted by what needs you next.

IMAP and SMTP connect the mailbox you already use. Conversations stay linked to the client and the job.

The Mankai inbox with fictional conversations organized into pipeline stages.

Deliver

Galleries on your domain.

Proofing, selections, downloads, watermarks, and print ordering under your brand.

A real Mankai client gallery cover for a fictional studio.

Automate

Workflows react to real events.

Bookings, payments, signatures, replies, and delivery can trigger the predictable steps for you.

Mankai workflow automations for fictional inquiries, reminders, and gallery delivery.

Keep control

Self-hosted WordPress.

Your hosting, your database, your branding. Unlimited clients, sessions, and galleries with no meter.

  • CSV exports and normal backups
  • Staff app installs as a PWA
  • Project mode for non-photographers

View every feature in the documentation

From booked to paid to delivered

One client record carries the whole job.

Scroll through what happens after the inquiry: the money, the client experience, and the flow that connects them. Every capture is the real interface with fictional data.

01 · Get paid

The quote, contract, invoice, and payment stay on the same job.

A client approval can turn a quote into booked work without retyping anything. Invoices track retainers, balances, and installments. Card payments run through your own Stripe or PayPal account, and Mankai adds no percentage on top.

  • Quotes with client approval in the portal
  • Retainers, installments, reminders, receipts
  • Manual payments for cash, check, and Venmo
The Mankai quote workspace showing a fictional senior portrait quote with line items, status, and total.
02 · What clients see

One login for the whole relationship, under your brand.

The client portal turns internal state into a clear checklist: sign the contract, finish the questionnaire, pay the retainer, open the gallery. Delivered work stays available from the same account on your domain.

  • Session details, countdowns, action items
  • Invoices with Pay Now, documents, signatures
  • Galleries, downloads, and print orders
The Mankai client portal for a fictional client with an upcoming session, payment status, signed contract, and action items.
03 · How it flows

Eight steps, one record, no retyping.

Each milestone hands the same client and job forward instead of making you rebuild the context in another tool.

  1. 01
    Inquiry A form or email becomes a lead.
  2. 02
    Quote Line items the client can approve.
  3. 03
    Booking Price, deposit, and contract applied.
  4. 04
    Preparation Questionnaires and reminders attach.
  5. 05
    Session History, balance, and notes in one view.
  6. 06
    Proofing Clients pick favorites first.
  7. 07
    Delivery Galleries and prints on your domain.
  8. 08
    Follow-up The record stays in one history.
The Mankai client workspace showing fictional client profiles, messages, financial summary, and sessions.
Why Mankai

Your website can run the business, not just advertise it.

A client inquiry becomes a quote, a booking, a contract, a session, an invoice, a gallery, and a long email thread. That is one relationship. Running it should not feel like six unrelated subscriptions taped together.

01

Your data

Business records live in your WordPress database. CSV exports and your normal backup routine work. Uninstalling keeps business data unless you explicitly remove it.

02

Your client experience

Booking, portal, galleries, invoices, and email carry your domain and branding from the first inquiry to the final print order.

03

No meters

Unlimited clients, sessions, and galleries. No per-seat math, and Mankai adds no percentage to your payments.

04

Honest licensing

An active annual license is required for CRM administration. Expiry starts a seven-day grace period, and your stored data is not deleted.

The licensing rule, plainly: if a CRM license expires you get seven days to renew, then CRM administration locks until reactivation. Public booking and client portal pages are not gated the same way, and your stored business data is never deleted by expiration.

Read the FAQ
Companion product

The Mankai Photography Theme, proven on a real studio.

The theme is the public side of the same system, designed specifically around Mankai CRM. And the workflow it presents is not theoretical: Mankai was built around Dandelion Soul Studio, a working portrait studio in central Wisconsin.

The live Dandelion Soul Studio homepage running the Mankai Photography Theme: full-width family hero, studio navigation, and Book Your Session.
The live studio site: portfolio, investment, booking, and contact layouts wired to the CRM.

Mankai CRM is required. Existing customers can add the theme for $59.99 per year; new customers who want both should choose Mankai Complete. Session pricing and booking on the public site stay synced from the CRM, and theme updates ship while the license is active.

If a theme license expires, your public website keeps rendering with its content and layouts. Updates and support pause until you renew.

Get the Companion Theme Visit the live studio(opens dandelionsoul.studio in a new tab)
Actively developed

Public since July 22, 2026. Updated weekly.

Weekly releases: fixes, refinements, and new capabilities, built and maintained directly by the founder. An active license includes every eligible update as it ships.

Elijah Lemanski

Built closely, not distantly.

Elijah Lemanski · Marathon City, Wisconsin

I built Mankai around the problems I watched photographers deal with firsthand, starting with my mom’s studio in Wisconsin. I still write the code, the documentation, and the support replies. The person answering your question can change the software.

Read the longer story

What’s new

See what’s new
Pricing

Three products. Annual licensing. No meters.

No per-client fees, no per-seat math, and no transaction percentage from Mankai. Pick the CRM, add the companion theme later, or get both together.

Mankai CRM

$149/year

The core business platform inside your WordPress site.

Get Mankai CRM
  • Clients, sessions, booking, calendar
  • Quotes, contracts, invoices, payments
  • Inbox, forms, workflows
  • Galleries, delivery, client portal
  • Weekly updates and licensed support
Photography Theme

$59.99/year

The companion website theme, for existing Mankai CRM customers.

Get the Companion Theme
  • Requires an active Mankai CRM installation
  • Photography-focused public website design
  • Booking and pricing connected to the CRM
  • Theme updates while the license is active

Does not include the CRM. Need both? Choose Mankai Complete.

Recommended · Mankai Complete

$199/year

Mankai CRM and the Photography Theme together, in one checkout with both license entitlements.

Get Mankai Complete
  • Everything in Mankai CRM
  • The Mankai Photography Theme
  • The complete connected experience
  • Weekly updates and licensed support

Annual licensing only. An active Mankai CRM license is required for CRM administration; expiry starts a seven-day grace period and stored business data is not deleted. An expired theme license leaves your public website rendering while updates and support pause. Details in the FAQ.

Want Mankai set up for you? Professional Setup and Migration, $799 one time. Purchase Mankai first, then request the project.

Professional Setup and Migration

$799 one time, invoiced after review

The service covers installation, branding, session types, booking, forms, payment configuration guidance, email templates, automations, theme configuration if you own the theme, and migration of applicable clients, sessions, and galleries from your current system.

  1. 1Purchase Mankai CRM or Mankai Complete.
  2. 2Submit a setup and migration request with your current system and approximate volume.
  3. 3The project is reviewed and an invoice is issued.
  4. 4Work begins after approval and payment.

Nothing is charged automatically from the request. Unusually large migrations may need scope confirmation before the invoice, and not every source platform can be migrated completely.

Request Setup and Migration
The facts up front

Every feature, side by side.

How the Mankai products cover the job, next to the tools photographers commonly pair. These are good products; the difference is how much of the job each one covers and where your data lives.

Feature Mankai CRM$149/yr Photography Theme$59.99/yr Mankai Complete$199/yr HoneyBookfrom $588/yr Pixiesetfrom $336/yr Sessionsfrom $290/yr ShootProoffrom $132/yr
Clients and leads ✓ ✕ ✓ ✓ ~ ✓ ~
Sessions and booking ✓ ~ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ~
Calendar with golden hour ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Quotes and e-sign contracts ✓ ✕ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Invoices and online payments ✓ ✕ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
No added transaction percentage ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕ ~ ~ ~
Real email inbox (IMAP sync) ✓ ✕ ✓ ~ ✕ ✕ ✕
Forms and questionnaires ✓ ~ ✓ ✓ ~ ✓ ~
Automated emails and workflows ✓ ✕ ✓ ✓ ~ ✓ ~
Proofing galleries and selections ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓
Watermarks and download protection ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓
Print ordering at your prices ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓
Client portal on your domain ✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Public photography website ✕ ✓ ✓ ✕ ~ ~ ✕
Self-hosted, data in your database ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Flat annual price, unlimited clients ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

✓ included · ~ partial or limited · ✕ not offered. The Photography Theme requires Mankai CRM; its checkmarks describe the public website it adds. Competitor rows are drawn from each product’s public feature and pricing pages, July 2026, using their entry annual plans. Prices and features change on their schedule, so confirm on their sites before deciding.

Mankai is now public

Your photography business can run from one connected system.

Built on WordPress, improved every week, and priced without meters.

Get Mankai Complete Compare Options

Want the long version first? Read the documentation.

The Mankai calendar listing fictional portrait sessions with dates, clients, and statuses.
FAQ

Straight answers.

Yes. Mankai CRM is a WordPress plugin and the Photography Theme is a WordPress theme. You install them on hosting you control, or request Setup and Migration and I will configure them with you.

No. Mankai CRM runs with your existing WordPress theme. The Photography Theme is the companion public website built around the CRM; it requires Mankai CRM and is not sold as a generic standalone theme. New customers who want both should choose Mankai Complete.

Each product uses an annual license sold through Freemius. An active Mankai CRM license is required to use the CRM administration system. There are no per-client or per-session caps.

You get a seven-day grace period to renew. After that, CRM administration locks until the license is reactivated. Your stored business data is not deleted, and public booking and client portal pages are not gated the same way.

Your public website keeps rendering with its existing content and layouts. Theme updates and licensed support pause until you renew. The theme does not use the CRM admin lock.

No. Clients pay through your own Stripe or PayPal account at standard processor rates, and Mankai adds nothing on top. Manual payments such as cash, check, and Venmo can be recorded too.

Yes. Professional Setup and Migration is a one-time service. Purchase Mankai first, then submit a setup request; the project is reviewed and an invoice is sent afterward. Nothing is charged automatically.

In your WordPress database on your hosting. It is exportable and not rented from me. Uninstalling does not wipe business data unless you explicitly turn that on.
Mankai · from $149/yr
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