Spiro vs Tonomo
A low-cost start for solo photographers, or the platform a team runs on
Spiro and Tonomo both run a real estate media business end to end: booking, scheduling, editing workflow, delivery and invoicing. Tonomo is built for a business with more than one person in it.
Every statement about Spiro links to Spiro's own help center and carries that article's date.
Which should you choose: Spiro or Tonomo?
Choose Tonomo if you:
Choose Spiro if you:
Neither choice locks you in. Tonomo's plans are month to month, and Spiro has no commitment.
Tonomo gives clients a professional booking page that books several services in one cart, hosts your video, connects to Claude and ChatGPT, and gives your agents a native app under your brand. Behind that, it syncs natively with QuickBooks Online and Xero, runs editing as independent jobs with a QC review stage, models brokerages as parent and child offices, and comes with a support team that builds your portal with you. Spiro's help center says it does not host video, has no native app and has no QuickBooks integration.
Spiro vs Tonomo at a glance
"Not documented" means we searched Spiro's public help center (405 articles) and found no mention. It does not mean the feature can't exist.
More feature differences
Spiro vs Tonomo pricing
Spiro charges $5 per completed job. Tonomo charges a monthly plan sized to your yearly volume, with no per-job charge. Spiro costs less to start. At 425 listings a year the difference comes to about $73 a month. What matters more is what the booking page gives back.
Sources: tonomo.io/pricing (October 15, 2026) and Spiro usage fees (as of 28 November 2025).
The booking page pays the difference back
The main reason studios move from Spiro to Tonomo is the booking page. Customers who switch see average order values rise by 10 to 15%. The reasons they give: a more professional page under their own brand, packages that are easier to understand, and add-ons that are offered at the right moment.
At 425 listings a year and a $300 average order, a 10% rise is about $12,750 a year. The price difference between the two products at that volume is $875.
Other fees you may encounter with Spiro
Spiro's help center lists these beside the $5 base fee:
- Video hosting. Spiro doesn't host video, so you need your own Vimeo plan (Dropbox video hosting guide, 28 November 2025).
- Merge Fleet video renders: $15 per final render (Merge Fleet, 11 February 2026).
- Agent portal translation: a separate monthly subscription (translation, 20 February 2026).
- Property website hosting: billed again after one year (website editor, 14 November 2025).
- Deleted and duplicate listings: still count as a charge, per the usage fees article.
Tonomo's plan includes video hosting, and your bill stays the same from month to month.
Booking page: which one earns more from each order?
Tonomo's booking page is the main reason studios switch: a professional page under your own brand, several services in one cart, add-ons offered at the right moment, and an embed on your website. Customers who switch see order values rise by 10 to 15%. Spiro's order page is built around one package plus add-ons per order, and cannot be embedded.
An agent wants 30 photos, a drone video and a floor plan for one listing. They want to book it in one pass, on a page that looks like your company.
- Several services, one cart. A client adds photos, video and a floor plan to the same order and checks out once.
- Add-ons that follow the cart. Recommended add-ons change with the service the client just selected.
- Pricing that flexes per service. Each service can price by square footage, photo count, bedroom count or acreage. That also suits work outside real estate, such as construction or marine.
- Branding beyond a logo. Custom colours, fonts and your own cover photos or video. White-label is on the Professional plan.
- On your own website. The booking form embeds on your site.
- Easier for your clients. One page, one pass, no cart to rebuild.
- Higher order values. Customers who moved to Tonomo report average order values 10 to 15% higher, from clearer packages and add-ons offered at the right moment.
- One package plus add-ons per order. Spiro's order page is built around bundles, with add-ons and a pop-up upsell on top. Individual services are stored as one-item bundles (Module 4, 1 April 2026). Spiro's help center documents no way to put several bundles in one order.
- No embed. Spiro's help center says the order page can't be embedded (order page overview, 3 November 2025). You link to it instead.
The booking page is the first thing an agent sees with your name on it, and it decides how much they order. A 10% rise in order value at 425 listings is about $12,750 a year, far more than the price difference between the two products.
Video: who hosts the files you deliver?
Tonomo hosts the video you deliver. Spiro does not host video; it embeds from your own Vimeo, Dropbox or YouTube account.
You deliver a listing video. The agent wants a link that plays, an embed for the property site, and a download.
- Tonomo hosts delivered video itself, with a single-video link and an embed page (Tonomo help).
- Editors can upload full-resolution files directly to Tonomo, so Dropbox is optional.
Source: Dropbox video hosting guide, 28 November 2025
- Spiro embeds video from your own Vimeo, Dropbox or YouTube account.
- A video streamed from Dropbox stops playing if the file is moved or deleted.
- Client downloads are documented only for Vimeo.
- Your media lives in storage you pay for and manage separately.
With Tonomo, the play link, the embed and the download are in the same place as the rest of the delivery, and there is no second subscription to pay for or second account to keep tidy.
AI assistants: can Claude or ChatGPT work in your account?
Tonomo has an MCP server, so Claude or ChatGPT can create orders and reschedule appointments in your Tonomo account. Spiro announced an API beta for selected participants in June 2026 and documents no AI-assistant connection.
A regular client messages at 9pm: move tomorrow's shoot to Thursday, and book a second listing for next week.
- Tonomo has an MCP server, the standard that lets AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT work with a business system directly.
- You connect your Tonomo account, then tell the assistant what you need in plain language.
- The assistant can create orders and reschedule appointments in your account, so the work gets done without opening the admin.
- Spiro announced an API beta for selected participants in June 2026 (23 June 2026 update).
- Spiro documents no MCP server or AI-assistant connection.
With Tonomo connected, you handle both requests in one sentence from the assistant you already have open.
Mobile: do your agents get a native app?
Tonomo gives your agents a native mobile app under your brand. Spiro has no native app; its portals are web pages added to the phone's home screen.
An agent is standing in a listing and needs the photos on their phone now, to text a seller or post to Instagram.
- The real estate agents you work for get a native mobile app under your brand.
- Delivered photos and videos download straight to the phone's camera roll, which is where agents need them for texting, social posts and MLS uploads.
- The app is for agents. Photographers and admins use Tonomo in the browser.
Source: use Spiro on your phone, 3 March 2026
- Spiro's help center says there is no downloadable app, and that its portals are web pages a user adds to their phone's home screen.
- A web page added to the home screen is not in the app stores.
Your agents open an app with your name on it, and their media is in the camera roll when they need it.
Accounting: does it sync with QuickBooks or Xero?
Tonomo syncs natively with QuickBooks Online and Xero. Spiro's help center says it has no QuickBooks integration.
Your bookkeeper works in QuickBooks Online or Xero and wants every invoice and payment there without retyping.
Tonomo syncs natively with QuickBooks Online and Xero, including contact, product and tax-code mapping (Tonomo help).
Spiro's help center answers the question directly: "Can I integrate Quickbooks? No" (admin tools quick reference, 25 September 2026). Its suggested route is your bank feed, or building your own connection with webhooks (QuickBooks, Xero and Spiro, 28 November 2025).
Every invoice that doesn't sync is typed twice. At three minutes an invoice, 425 invoices is about 21 hours a year. At $40 an hour for a bookkeeper, that is about $850, roughly the whole price difference between the two products at that volume.
Editing workflow: can photos ship while the video is still being edited?
Tonomo runs photo and video editing as independent jobs with a built-in review stage. Spiro chains tasks in sequence by default, so photo QC can wait for the video edit unless you turn on a setting Spiro added in September 2026.
An order comes in with photos and a video. The photo editor finishes in two hours. The video editor needs two days. The agent wants the photos today.
Tonomo's Jobs Management treats each piece of editing work as its own job. Photo and video jobs on the same order run independently. Every job has:
- its own editor, due date and priority
- an estimated workload in hours
- a built-in review stage, where the editor submits and a reviewer accepts or sends it back with a note
- a status that can move in either direction
Editors get their own view of their jobs, sortable by status. A dashboard reports by status, service and editor, and lists overdue jobs and jobs that need attention.
Spiro runs editing through a task builder. Tasks are chained by sequence number. By default, every task at one sequence number must finish before the next one unlocks, so with photos and video on the same order, photo QC waits for the video edit. Spiro's own release note says "Waiting on video to look at photos doesn't make any sense" (4 September 2026 update).
That release added a fix called Shared-Service Job Gating. It is an opt-in toggle, and orders placed before you turn it on need a refresh (setup guide, 2 September 2026). Spiro's help center also states that a completed task can't be reopened (23 September 2026).
Late photos are how agents start looking elsewhere. Say an agent books 20 listings a year at $300 an order: that agent is worth $6,000 a year to you, and the price difference between the two products at 425 listings is $875. Keeping one agent pays for it several times over.
Brokerage clients: can it model offices and negotiated pricing?
Tonomo models a brokerage as a parent with child offices, with price overrides at either level. Spiro's structure is company and team, and client-specific pricing means building a separate order page.
A brokerage with six offices signs with you. Each office has its own agents, the brokerage has negotiated rates, and the office managers want the order notifications.
- Tonomo models the brokerage as a parent with child offices.
- You set price overrides and a default coupon at the brokerage or office level.
- You route notifications to the right managers.
- Spiro's structure is company and team (how to create a team, 3 February 2026).
- Spiro documents no parent and child structure for offices.
- Client-specific pricing works by building a separate order page and assigning it to the agent, company or team (assigning an order page, 21 August 2024).
The negotiated rates live on the account structure, so you don't build and maintain an order page for every rate card. A brokerage contract is often the largest account a studio signs, and this is what running one looks like.
Support: who builds your portal, and who is there after launch?
Tonomo's support team builds your portal with you, keeps a private Slack channel open to your whole team, and makes ongoing changes for you. Spiro is self-serve: a help center, a setup course, a user community and group demos.
It's January. Your prices change for the new year, you've hired a second photographer who needs training, and an agent has a question on the delivery page at 6pm.
- Custom onboarding. We transfer and build out your services, packages and pricing with you, not from a template.
- A private Slack channel for everyone on your team, connected directly to our support team.
- Real-time messaging inside your portal, so questions get answered where the work is.
- Ongoing changes made for you. Send us the new year's pricing and we update it.
- Training for new team members as you hire.
- Yearly portal audits to tighten up how your system is set up.
- A 13-module self-serve setup course (Module 0, 6 February 2026) and a help center of about 405 articles.
- A user community: a Superuser Facebook group, a podcast, live sessions and webinars.
- Live group demos and a referral program (referrals, 3 July 2025).
- Spiro's help center describes its onboarding as self-serve. Advance credits are available through a concierge program it doesn't describe (credits, 22 September 2026).
New software is only as good as the week you switch and the months after. With Tonomo, a person you know builds the portal with you and is still there when something changes.
Where Spiro is the better fit
Spiro is the right call for some businesses. If you work alone and these matter more to you than the eight differences above, start there.
- No monthly fee and self-serve setup. You pay $5 when a job completes, and a 13-module course takes you from an empty account to a test order in about 90 minutes (Module 0, 6 February 2026).
- Tools for photographers in the field. An arrival-time text to the client, on-site check-in and mileage (photographer portal, 10 September 2025).
- Daily caps. Limits on jobs, hours and income per photographer, and a daily cap with overflow for editors (scheduling rules, 30 June 2026).
- Tax and fee automation. Automatic sales-tax lookup and cancellation-fee rules (sales tax, 16 September 2026).
Switching to Tonomo or Spiro from another platform
We work hand in hand with you to build out your portal, import your order history, and have you live within 14 days. Spiro is self-serve, and its help center says existing listings cannot be imported.
Switching to Tonomo. We work hand in hand with you to build out your portal. A person on our team transfers your services, packages and pricing, sets up your booking flow with you on dedicated onboarding calls, and imports your order history, so you don't start from an empty account. Most studios are live within 14 days, and the same team stays with you after launch (see key difference 8).
Spiro vs Tonomo: frequently asked questions
Is Tonomo better than Spiro?
It depends on the size of the business. Tonomo is the stronger fit for a business with a team, editors, brokerage clients, video or a bookkeeper. Spiro is the stronger fit for a solo photographer starting out who wants no monthly fee.
How much do Spiro and Tonomo cost?
Spiro charges $5 per completed job with no monthly fee, plus add-ons such as $15 per Merge Fleet video render. Tonomo Starter is $140 a month for up to 200 listings a year and one photographer. Tonomo Professional is $250 a month for up to 425 listings a year, unlimited photographers and white-label branding. At 425 listings a year the difference is about $73 a month.
Is Spiro free?
Spiro is free to sign up for and configure, but it has no free plan or monthly allowance. You pay $5 for each completed job or standalone delivery page, starting with the first one.
Does Tonomo require an annual contract?
No. Tonomo's plans are month to month and you can cancel anytime. Some third-party comparison sites say otherwise, and they are out of date.
Does Tonomo deliver media, or only handle booking?
Tonomo delivers media. It includes branded delivery pages, pay-to-unlock downloads, watermarks, property websites and video hosting.
Does Tonomo have a mobile app?
Yes, for your agents. It is a native app under your brand, and delivered media downloads to the phone's camera roll. Photographers and admins use Tonomo in the browser.
Can I use Claude or ChatGPT with Tonomo?
Yes. Tonomo has an MCP server, so either assistant can create orders and reschedule appointments in your account.
Does Spiro integrate with QuickBooks or Xero?
No, according to Spiro's help center as of 25 September 2026. Tonomo syncs natively with QuickBooks Online and Xero.
Does Spiro have project management for editing?
Yes. Spiro has a task builder, an editor portal and an assignment queue. The difference is the model: Spiro's tasks run in sequence by default, and Tonomo's jobs run independently with a review stage, workload hours and a dashboard.
Can I embed the booking form on my own website?
With Tonomo, yes. Spiro's help center says its order page can't be embedded (order page overview, 3 November 2025).
Can I take a deposit at booking?
With Tonomo, yes, on each booking flow. Spiro's documentation said retainers were not supported as of 8 July 2025 (payment and split payments).
Do both offer Pay at Close?
Yes. Both offer it through Titus.
How we compared Spiro and Tonomo
Tonomo wrote this page, so read it with that in mind. We tried to make it one you could check.
- Spiro sources. Every statement about Spiro comes from Spiro's public homepage, sign-up page, terms or help center, fetched on October 15, 2026. Each one links to its source and carries the date the article was last modified.
- "Not documented". We searched all 405 help-center articles and found nothing. It does not mean the feature can't exist.
- Tonomo sources. Statements about Tonomo come from tonomo.io/pricing and Tonomo's help center.
- Updates. Spiro releases updates every few weeks. We re-check this page each quarter. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Last verified: October 15, 2026.
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