Táve — now rebranded as VSCO Workspace following VSCO's May 2025 acquisition — is a powerful, highly customizable studio management tool with a loyal photographer following. But the acquisition created genuine uncertainty about the platform's future direction, and the $22–$45/month pricing means you're paying for features whether you use them all or not.
Maroo is free to start, purpose-built for the wedding industry, and adds 1099 e-filing and contractor payments that Táve/VSCO never offered. For photographers evaluating their options after the rebrand, Maroo's stability and free entry point are worth a serious look.
Choose VSCO Workspace if: You're a power user who loves Táve's workflow automation depth and questionnaire customization, and you're comfortable with the VSCO acquisition.
Choose Maroo if: You want a free starting point, need 1099 support for contractors, or prefer a platform that isn't subject to corporate acquisition risk.
In May 2025, VSCO — best known as a photo editing app — acquired Táve Studio Manager. By August 2025, the platform was officially relaunched as VSCO Workspace, with all six Táve team members joining VSCO and continuing in their roles.
VSCO positioned the acquisition as a "World Photography Day" launch moment, offering 30-day free trials with the code "VSCO." The pricing structure remained similar to Táve's legacy plans, and VSCO promised no changes for existing customers through at least 2025–2026.
On paper, this sounds reassuring. In practice, it created the exact kind of uncertainty that makes independent software buyers nervous:
These aren't rhetorical questions. The history of creative software acquisitions — think Adobe acquiring dozens of tools, or VSCO's own parent company's various moves — suggests that acquired products often see deprioritization within 2–3 years. The Táve team is still there now. Whether they'll remain, and whether the platform will continue to evolve for studio owners, is genuinely unclear.
This uncertainty alone has driven a meaningful cohort of Táve users to explore alternatives. Maroo is one of the most common landing spots.
VSCO Workspace (formerly tave.com) is a studio management platform originally built for photographers and creative studios. Its standout feature has always been extreme customizability — workflows, automations, client forms, and document templates that you can configure to match almost any business process.
Táve was known for having a steeper learning curve than competitors like HoneyBook or Studio Ninja. The payoff was a system that could handle complex multi-photographer studios, multiple brands, and highly automated client journeys. It attracted photographers who wanted to build "set it and forget it" systems.
Post-acquisition, VSCO Workspace maintains this identity. The plans run from $22.49/month (Solo, billed annually) to $44.99/month (Studio, billed annually), with up to 10 users on the top tier.
Maroo is a CRM, contracts, invoicing, and payments platform built specifically for wedding and event businesses. It covers the full client lifecycle from lead to final payment, with the unique additions of contractor payments (free B2B ACH) and 1099-NEC e-filing. Over 13,000 wedding businesses use the platform.
Maroo's free Starter plan costs $0/month — a genuine differentiator in a market where even "affordable" tools like Studio Ninja charge $13/month. For photographers transitioning away from Táve/VSCO Workspace, it's a meaningful option for the financial and contract side of the business.
Additional users on Studio: $4.99/user/month. No platform transaction fee — standard Stripe/Square rates apply.
The plans differentiate primarily on number of users (2/6/10), brands (1/4/unlimited), and bookable event type templates (2/unlimited/unlimited). The all-plans-include-everything promise is largely true — you're mostly paying for capacity, not feature access.
For a solo photographer, the starting cost difference is stark: $270/year for VSCO Workspace Solo vs. $0 for Maroo Starter.
Let's be direct about the genuine strengths of this platform:
Workflow automation depth. Táve built its reputation on automation. You can create complex, conditional workflows that automatically trigger emails, tasks, documents, and reminders based on any combination of events. For photographers who've spent time building these systems, they represent real efficiency gains. Maroo's automation is limited to the core conversion workflow (quote → contract → invoice).
Questionnaires. VSCO Workspace has sophisticated client questionnaire tools that integrate with contracts and project records. Wedding photographers who gather detailed client information — venue logistics, shot lists, family groupings — find this genuinely valuable.
Text messaging. VSCO Workspace includes SMS text messaging for US and Canadian clients, which is useful for reminders and quick communication.
Scheduling. Built-in appointment booking is available on all plans.
Studio management for multi-photographer operations. For studios with 3–10 photographers, multiple brands, and complex booking workflows, VSCO Workspace's capacity and customization are hard to match.
Cost. Maroo's free plan represents $270/year in savings versus VSCO Workspace Solo. For a solo photographer starting out or keeping overhead low, that's meaningful money.
1099 and contractor support. Pay your second shooters, editors, and other contractors directly through Maroo's free B2B ACH. Store their W-9s. File their 1099-NECs at $5/form. VSCO Workspace has no equivalent. For any photographer who regularly employs contractors, this gap is significant.
Platform independence. Maroo is an independent company purpose-built for the wedding industry. VSCO Workspace is now a feature within a consumer photo app company's portfolio. The stability and focus of an independent platform matter when you're building long-term business systems.
Wedding-industry focus. Táve was built for photographers broadly. Maroo was built for the wedding industry specifically — which means its workflows, terminology, and features align more closely with how wedding businesses operate, even for photographers.
Free entry point. Switching CRM platforms is painful. If you're evaluating alternatives to Táve/VSCO, starting on Maroo's free plan costs you nothing. You can test it thoroughly before committing.
Here's the honest assessment: VSCO Workspace may be absolutely fine for the next five years. The Táve team is still running it, the pricing hasn't changed, and VSCO has signaled continued investment.
But here's what's also true: VSCO is a consumer brand trying to build a B2B software product. The incentives and culture are different. Studio management is a niche within a niche. And VSCO's own history includes platform pivots that affected their user base.
If you're a wedding photographer building a 10-year business, the question isn't just "does this platform work today?" It's "will this platform still be here, improving, and focused on my needs in five years?" Maroo, as an independent wedding-industry platform, has a clearer answer to that question.
For wedding planners who are evaluating CRM options — not just photographers — the VSCO Workspace rebrand is even less relevant. Maroo pairs naturally with ThatsTheOne (TTO) to cover the complete planning business: TTO handles the logistics (guest lists, timelines, seating charts, vendor management, budget tracking, and wedding websites), while Maroo handles the financial side (proposals, contracts, invoices, payment processing, contractor payments, and 1099 filing). This stack offers the independence and wedding-specific depth that VSCO Workspace can't match for planners.
Related Reading:
Best CRM for Wedding Photographers — the complete comparison of photography CRM options in 2026
Maroo vs HoneyBook — how Maroo compares to the market leader following HoneyBook's 2025 price hike
Is Táve still available, or has it been completely replaced by VSCO Workspace?
As of August 2025, Táve Studio Manager officially became VSCO Workspace. The tave.com domain redirects to vsco.co/workspace. Existing Táve customers were migrated to VSCO Workspace accounts. No pricing changes were made for legacy customers through at least 2025–2026.
Does VSCO Workspace charge any platform transaction fees?
No. VSCO Workspace does not add its own fee on top of payment processing. You pay standard Stripe or Square rates only. Note that SMS text messaging has delivery fees for US/Canada messages.
Why are photographers switching away from Táve/VSCO Workspace?
The most common reasons are the VSCO acquisition creating uncertainty about platform direction, pricing ($22–$45/month), and the desire for a free starting point. Maroo addresses all three — it's independent, purpose-built for weddings, and starts at $0.
Does Maroo have workflow automations like Táve did?
Maroo's automation is focused on the core conversion workflow: one-click quote → contract → invoice. It doesn't offer the deep conditional automation that Táve/VSCO Workspace provides. If workflow automation is central to how you run your business, VSCO Workspace has the edge here — the question is whether that's worth $270–$540/year.
Can I switch from VSCO Workspace to Maroo without losing client data?
You can export client information from VSCO Workspace and import it into Maroo. Maroo's setup takes approximately 2 minutes by their own documentation, and support is available to assist with migration questions.
