Mpix is a well-known high-end photo printing service that claims the fastest by-mail turnaround time and offers specialties like giclée prints. Its prices are higher than those of some competing photo printing services, but its website interface, printing options, and shipment packaging are outstanding. Professional photographers will appreciate that it's one of the only major photo print services that still develops film. That said, Nations Photo Lab has the edge thanks to its slightly superior image quality, sturdier shipping packages, and more image format support, making Nations our Editors’ Choice winner. For bargain basement prices, Walmart is our Editors' Choice winner, and for local one-hour pickup, it's Walgreens Photo.

How Much Does Mpix Cost?

For 4-by-6-inch prints, you pay 36 cents per photo at Mpix, with no discount for quantity unless you’re printing more than 10 of the same shot, in which case they go down to 27 cents per print. Nations Photo Lab also charges 36 cents per print, and Printique charges 32 cents. Snapfish is the lowest-cost option for this size at 9 cents. Walmart Photo is the next most economical choice at 14 cents, while Amazon Photos charges 17 cents.

(Credit: Mpix)

Larger sizes are similarly on the high end of the price scale, but Mpix is not the most expensive here, with 5-by-7s for $1.69 and 8-by-10s for $3.29. That compares with just 69 cents and $2.09 at Amazon Prints and $1.09 and $2.94 at Walmart Photo. Closer high-end competitors Printique and Nations Photo Lab charge $2.65 and $3 for 8-by-10 prints, respectively.

The standard E-surface paper option the service suggests has a slightly marbled, matte texture. If you want glossy prints, you pay 44 cents per 4-by-6, $2.04 for a 5-by-7, and $3.73 for an 8-by-10. This is using giclée paper and processing, which, according to Mpix, produces "a wider color range, smooth gradations, and detailed, vibrant color reproduction." I ordered both E-surface and giclée for testing.

Mpix requires you to set up an account before you can start your order, which is actually good because having an account helps you keep track of your orders later. It's surprisingly not a universal practice among photo printing services.

Mpix Photo Gifts and Cards

Mpix offers a good variety of objects that can be emblazoned with your photos. You can get cards, calendars, and photo books, as well as bag tags, personalized baseball cards (make Junior feel like an MLB star), blankets, holiday ornaments, and keychains. One of the more interesting options is the cutout statuette, starting at $16.

(Credit: Mpix)

Mpix has more than 400 designs for holiday photo card options, as well as premium features like decorative shapes and foil printing. If you want folding cards, you have to create your own layout design. Cards range from 89 cents apiece for a flat single image to $3.90 each for foil cards with multiple photos, with discounts for larger quantities.

Uploading and Ordering Photos on Mpix

Mpix has a clear, well-designed website. The service lets you upload photos from your computer, and you can also get photos from your Google Photos account. Mpix saves your uploaded photos in folders for later use. One limitation is that on the website, you can only upload JPGs or PNGs—no HEIC/HEIF or TIFFs, though you can upload HEIC/HEIF files in the mobile app. That said, it was one of the few services that didn’t reject a 108-megapixel shot from a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra smartphone because of its size. (Nations Photo Lab also accepted it.) The uploading interface does support drag-and-drop from computer folders.

(Credit: Mpix/PCMag)

After you upload photos, you see a filmstrip view of thumbnails across the top, and each image is displayed large in the center with all the size options in a column on the left. Cropping, zooming, rotation, text overlay, and effects like black-and-white are available. You can also choose a paper type (standard, metallic, or black and white), luster or linen texture, and matting/mounting.

(Credit: Mpix/PCMag)

After you upload photos, you see a filmstrip view of thumbnails across the top, and each image is displayed large in the center with all the size options in a column on the left. Cropping, zooming, rotation, text overlay, and effects like black-and-white are available. You can also choose a paper type (standard, metallic, or black-and-white), luster or linen texture, and matting/mounting.

After you choose all your print sizes and quantities, the next page gives you more chances to make changes to your order. Here, you see a clear order summary with all the products and quantities you can choose. You can also change the print quality to giclée, glossy, semi-gloss, or fine art matte.

On the last page before finalizing the order, you can see the final image preview or add photo retouching services of several varieties: Facial, Glass Glare Removal, Stray Hair Removal, Red Eye Reduction, Braces Removal, and Teeth Whitening. Professional retouching is not offered by your run-of-the-mill photo printer, and most cost $8 per service for one head.

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If desktop computers aren't your thing, Mpix has a mobile app called Tap to Print that lets you order from your phone using pictures on your phone. You get all the same capabilities as you do on the website, including cropping and mounting options.

Shipping Options Galore

Shipping costs are similar to those of other services. For orders of more than $35, Standard shipping is free at Mpix. For my order of 23 prints, Economy shipping was $4.99 with a delivery window of 14 to 21 days. Economy Plus, at $6.99, adds tracking with a timeframe of 7 to 14 days. For $9.99, Standard gets you the shots in 3 to 7 days. The $19.99 Expedited option has a shipping window of 1 to 3 days, and Expedited with Signature Required ($21.99) has the same time frame.

Mpix's faster rates are comparably reasonable. For example, Shutterfly charges $58.91 for a 7-day guaranteed delivery of the same order.

You can add "boutique packaging" for $10. One free option is "white label" packaging for clients or gifts, which removes any mention of Mpix or pricing. Another is custom text printing on the back of your photos. By default, the photos' filenames are printed on the backs of the pictures, but this lets you print the same message on the back of each picture in the order.r

Mpix Packaging and Print Quality

Just five days after I placed the order, Mpix shipped our test prints in a cardboard envelope with clear plastic sleeves stiffened by sheets of cardboard inside for each set of photos. The company did not use a cardboard box the way Nations Photo Lab and Printique did for the same order. An included invoice clearly states the contents. Below, you can see the shipping package comparisons, with Mpix second from the top right:

(Credit: PCMag)

The print quality from Mpix is very good. Our test 4-by-6 prints came on Fuji Professional paper, while the 8-by-10s used paper with no identifying watermark. By contrast, Nations Photo Lab uses the highly rated and long-lasting Kodak Endura paper. Mpix’s standard E-surface paper option that the service suggests has a slightly marbled, matte texture. That's fine for most uses, but it can get in the way of fine detail we see in the glossy prints we use for testing. Most services offer an entry-level glossy option, but Mpix charges more for its two glossy options.

In comparing a portrait shot in 4-by-6 prints from the three high-end professional services with which it competes, the Mpix print has both more natural colors and more sharpness than Printique and Nations. Here are scans of the same image's prints from the tested services. (The Mpix print is on textured e-paper, which uses Fujicolor Professional paper.)

(Credit: PCMag/Justin Pietropaoli)

Here's the original photo image file for comparison:

(Credit: PCMag/Justin Pietropaoli)

Mpix turned in a good, if not leading, performance with a cityscape test, as you can see below. Its detail is better than Printique's, another premium service, but the Nations Photo Lab print beat it out with better detail and color saturation.

(Credit: PCMag)

Here's the original photo's image file, cropped to match the above selections for comparison:

(Credt: PCMag)

Photo Sharing With Mpix

Even though Mpix isn't an online service for photo sharing like Flickr, you can have the service create an email invitation for others to view your online hosted photo galleries. A side benefit is that you can offer recipients the option to purchase your photos, though you don't get a commission, as you do with SmugMug and 500px. The recipient can view the images as gallery thumbnails or as a well-presented slideshow with large images.

A Premium But Pricey Choice for Printing Photos

We were impressed from the start with the Mpix ordering pages, which are clear and packed with options. The price is the highest among the mail-order contenders we tested, but it's within the expected range for a premium service. The delivery packaging isn't as protective as other top services, but the photo print quality is very good. That said, Nations Photo Lab edges it out as our Editors' Choice winner thanks to its more accurate colors, sturdier packaging, and top-notch paper. If you're more concerned with spending as little as possible, our Editors' Choice for price is Walmart Photo, and if you need prints available for same-day pickup, our Editors' Choice is Walgreens Photo.