The Redwood City studio that turns full camera rolls into things you can hold - photo books, cards, calendars and wall art, designed your way.
Almost everyone carries thousands of photographs and prints almost none of them. Mixbook has spent nearly two decades working that gap. The company gives people free design software - in a browser or on a phone - and earns its living printing what they make: photo books, greeting cards, calendars, wall art and home decor.
The company was founded in 2006 by Andrew Laffoon and Aryk Grosz, who had developed the idea as undergraduates at UC Berkeley after entering a business-plan competition. The first version was aimed at helping high school groups make their own yearbooks. Early revenue was modest - by one account about $800 a month - and the website struggled to get traction.
The turn came from an unexpected place. A photo-book application the team built on Facebook found an audience, and that momentum seeded the company's first outside funding. From there Mixbook broadened from yearbooks to a general-purpose studio for personalized photo products, adding a consumer photo-book editor in 2009 and cards and calendars the following year.
Today Mixbook reports more than 6 million customers, over 20 million projects printed and upwards of 2 billion photos uploaded. It employs roughly 130 people and remains led by its founders - Laffoon as chief executive, Grosz on product.
Figures reported by the company and public sources; revenue is an approximate estimate.
Free browser and mobile design tools let anyone lay out a fully customizable photo book, card, calendar or wall print. Mixbook manufactures and ships the finished piece.
Parents, couples, wedding parties, hobbyists and students. Weddings and school yearbooks are distinct, high-value categories alongside everyday consumer projects.
Photos pile up in the cloud and are rarely seen again. Mixbook's job is to make turning them into a physical keepsake fast enough that people actually do it.
Mixbook's competitors - Shutterfly, Snapfish, Chatbooks and others - often compete on price or on fill-in-the-blank templates. Mixbook's pitch is the opposite: an open canvas where you can move nearly any element, paired with print quality that independent reviewers keep ranking at the top.
The tradeoff is deliberate. More creative freedom means a slightly steeper learning curve than a template-only tool, but it is why designers and detail-minded makers gravitate to the studio. The company backs the output with an A+ BBB rating, a roughly 4.6-star Trustpilot average and a "100% Happiness Guarantee."
Illustrative comparison based on public reviews and company claims.
In 2023 Mixbook launched Mixbook Studio, which uses machine learning to lay out a draft book from a batch of uploaded photos. The point is not to remove the person from the process - it's to remove the intimidating empty first page so people start editing instead of starting over.
That expertise sits on two decades of print manufacturing know-how: color, paper, binding and fulfillment at scale. The combination - software craft plus print craft - is what lets Mixbook promise both creative freedom and a finished object worth keeping.
Mixbook is direct-to-consumer. The design tools are free; revenue comes from selling and printing the physical products, plus seasonal promotions and volume categories like weddings and yearbooks. The model rewards ease of creation - the faster a project comes together, the more likely it ships.
In a personalized-print market dominated by scale players like Shutterfly and Snapfish, Mixbook occupies the premium, design-forward corner - the choice for people who care how the finished book looks and feels rather than only what it costs.
Berkeley students Andrew Laffoon and Aryk Grosz develop the concept for a business-plan contest.
Launches with a focus on helping students and groups make yearbooks.
A Facebook photo-book app finds traction and seeds a ~$1M round from Labrador Ventures and Band of Angels.
Releases a customizable photo-book editor, then adds photo cards and calendars.
Raises $10M from Level Equity and acquires scrapbooking site Scrapblog.
Ships a mobile app, integrates Instagram import and acquires Yobongo.
Adds photo prints and canvas, expanding into wall art and home decor.
Acquires wedding app WedPics and refocuses on connecting people through stories.
Introduces machine-learning layout and AI-assisted design.
Remains a top-ranked photo-book brand heading into its 19th year.
Mixbook is a direct-to-consumer platform for designing and printing personalized photo products - photo books, cards, calendars, wall art, home decor, yearbooks and wedding collections - using a free online design studio.
Andrew Laffoon and Aryk Grosz, both UC Berkeley graduates, founded Mixbook in 2006. Laffoon is CEO and Grosz leads product.
Mixbook is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and employs roughly 130 people.
Mixbook emphasizes full creative control and print quality rather than the lowest price. Reviewers such as Wirecutter and Tom's Guide have repeatedly ranked its photo books at or near the top.
Yes. Mixbook Studio, launched in 2023, uses machine learning and AI-assisted tools to auto-lay-out projects from your uploaded photos so you can start editing instead of building from a blank page.