ShootQ API
ShootQ's public JSON API does one thing: create a lead, plus a read of the referrers list. Jobs, contracts, invoices, payments, and clients have no programmatic path, and there are no webhooks or SDKs. Auth is a static api_key query parameter, enabled per brand by an admin.
Frequently asked questions
ShootQ scores A on the API Report Card. ShootQ's public JSON API does one thing: create a lead, plus a read of the referrers list. Jobs, contracts, invoices, payments, and clients have no programmatic path, and there are no webhooks or SDKs. Auth is a static api_key query parameter, enabled per brand by an admin.
ShootQ has a workable official integration path. Most engineering teams can build against it directly. Open API: self-serve, documented, with SDKs
ShootQ is a SaaS studio-management / CRM platform built specifically for professional photographers and small photography studios.
Studio / Photography Business Management - effectively a vertical CRM. Target market is wedding photographers, portrait studios, event/commercial photographers, and multi-photographer 'hub' studios with up to ~10 users and multiple brands. A photography studio uses ShootQ to: capture inbound leads from website contact forms (FloForms and a WordPress plugin), route leads by brand or photographer, send branded proposals with packages and pricing, generate and e-sign contracts, take deposits and full payments via an integrated merchant account (Square Preferred Payment, Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Authorize.Net), schedule shoots and sync to external calendars, run questionnaires before/after sessions, automate workflow tasks and email reminders, track jobs through pipeline stages, and report on bookings, revenue, and conversion.
Recognized name within the photographer-CRM category with a long history (one of the original studio-management tools), but well behind HoneyBook in raw user count and behind Tave/Dubsado/Studio Ninja in modern mindshare.
Yes, for a small photography business this is the system of record - lead pipeline, signed contracts, deposit/payment history, client PII (names, emails, phones, event addresses), shoot schedules, and revenue reporting all live in ShootQ.
Roughly 18-20 years old (launched circa 2006-2008, one of the original photographer-CRM products). Has changed ownership multiple times and shows its age in the UI relative to HoneyBook, Bloom, and Studio Ninja.
Public API is scoped to a single write action (create lead) - no programmatic access to jobs, contracts, invoices, payments, or clients, so studios cannot sync data to accounting, BI, or modern CRM stacks. No webhooks - third-party tools cannot react to events like 'contract signed' or 'invoice paid' without polling, and polling isn't supported because the read endpoints don't exist. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include HoneyBook, Tave / VSCO Workspace, Dubsado, Studio Ninja, 17hats, Sprout Studio. Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.