Where to Get Professional Headshots in 2026: Every Option Ranked

You've decided you need a professional headshot — now what? There are more options than most people realize, and they vary wildly in cost, quality, and convenience. This guide covers every legitimate option for getting a professional headshot in 2026, ranked honestly by what you actually get.

Your Options at a Glance

Option 1: Local Professional Photographer

Cost: $150–$600+ | Turnaround: 1–3 weeks | Output: 10–25 edited final photos

A dedicated professional headshot photographer is still the best option for specific use cases — particularly if you want to capture your personality and environment in a way that tells a unique story. Actors, creative professionals, and executives building a distinctive personal brand often benefit most from a human photographer who can direct expressions and find the right moment.

The downsides: cost, scheduling lead time (most good photographers book 1–3 weeks out), and the limited number of final photos. If you need headshots in a specific style, background, or industry aesthetic, you'll need to communicate that clearly upfront and hope the photographer delivers what you envision.

How to find one: Search Google for "[your city] headshot photographer," check their portfolio on their website and Instagram, read Google reviews, and confirm they specifically offer business/professional headshots (not just family or event photography). Expect to pay a session fee plus per-image pricing for final edits.

Best for: Actors, creative professionals, executives doing media appearances, personal brand builders who want authentic environmental shots.

Option 2: JCPenney Portrait Studios

Cost: $14.99 session fee + $59.99 for one digital image (packages up to $300+) | Turnaround: Same day | Output: 1–5 digital photos depending on package

JCPenney Portraits is one of the most accessible walk-in headshot options in the US — with locations inside JCPenney stores in most major markets. The session fee is just $14.99, but digital image pricing is steep: a single digital image is $59.99, and most professional-use packages run $150–$300.

Quality is solid for a chain studio — professional lighting, neutral backdrops, trained photographers. The limitation is stylistic range: you're getting what the studio setup offers, not creative direction. For a basic LinkedIn or company directory headshot, it works. For anything requiring specific industry aesthetics or stylistic nuance, you'll hit the ceiling quickly.

What you actually get: A professional studio environment, good basic lighting, and a competent photographer. Typically a 20–30 minute session with multiple poses and expressions, from which you choose 1–5 images to purchase digitally.

Best for: Professionals who want a quick, good-enough headshot for LinkedIn or a company bio page, without the cost and scheduling of a private photographer. Walk-in appointments often available.

Option 3: CVS, Walgreens, and Retail Chains — Not What You Think

Let's clear up a very common misconception: CVS, Walgreens, Target, and similar retail chains do not offer professional headshot or portrait photography services.

What they do offer: passport photo services. A CVS or Walgreens employee will take a quick passport-spec photo against a white background — correct dimensions, proper lighting for a government ID — for $16–$20. This is a valid, standardized service for passports, visas, and similar official documents.

These are not professional headshots. They're taken with a standard retail camera setup, in a store environment, with minimal lighting setup and no direction. The result looks exactly like what it is: a passport photo. You would not want to use a CVS passport photo as your LinkedIn photo or in a professional context.

If you're wondering "can you take a headshot at CVS?" — technically yes, they'll take a photo of your face. But it won't serve professional headshot purposes.

Option 4: Costco — Discontinued in 2023

Costco operated Portrait Studios inside many warehouse locations for decades — a popular option for family portraits and some professional headshots. Costco discontinued all in-store portrait studio services in 2023.

What Costco currently offers for photos is strictly print services — photo prints, cards, and photo products — through a partnership with Shutterfly. You can order photo prints at Costco, but there is no in-person portrait photography service at any Costco location in the US.

If you searched for "Costco headshots" expecting to book a session, that service no longer exists. Your alternatives are JCPenney Portraits (the most comparable remaining chain studio option), a local photographer, or an AI headshot generator.

Option 5: AI Headshot Generator

Cost: $29 | Turnaround: 20 minutes | Output: 40+ photos in multiple styles

AI headshot generators are the fastest-growing option for professional headshots — and for most professionals using headshots on LinkedIn, a company website, or professional profiles, they're now the best value by a wide margin.

How it works: you upload 5–10 existing photos of yourself (phone photos, casual selfies, any clear shots of your face), and the AI trains a model on your appearance and generates 40+ professional studio-quality headshots in multiple styles, backgrounds, and lighting setups. The entire process takes about 20 minutes.

FlowHeadshots is one of the leading AI headshot generators — $29 for 40+ headshots across 20+ professional styles. The output is indistinguishable from studio photography and fully acceptable everywhere professional headshots are used.

The key advantage over every other option: quantity and variety. You get 40+ photos in different styles (corporate, LinkedIn, dark background, light background, casual professional, industry-specific) from a single $29 session. Getting that variety from a photographer would require 3–4 separate sessions at $150–$500+ each.

Best for: LinkedIn, company bios, professional profiles, corporate directories, personal brand content, anyone who needs multiple headshot styles without multiple photographer sessions.

Get 40+ Professional Headshots in 20 Minutes → $29

Option 6: DIY at Home

Cost: Free | Turnaround: 1–2 hours | Output: Unlimited attempts

Taking your own headshot at home is possible — modern smartphones can produce sharp, high-quality photos — but it's harder to execute well than most people expect. The main challenges: consistent studio-quality lighting is difficult to replicate at home, and you can't easily see yourself from the camera's perspective while trying to pose naturally.

If you go this route: face a north-facing window for soft natural light, use a plain neutral wall as your background, mount your phone at eye level on a tripod, use portrait mode, and set a 2-second timer. Take 50–100 shots and pick the best 3–5. Full guide here.

Best for: A quick temporary placeholder, testing how certain outfits or backgrounds look, or when you genuinely have no budget. Upgrade to a professional option as soon as your situation allows.

Which Option Is Right for You?

• Need headshots in the next hour: AI headshot generator (20 min turnaround)
• Budget under $50: AI headshot generator ($29) or DIY (free)
• Need a quick walk-in option: JCPenney Portraits (same-day, no scheduling)
• Building an acting/modeling portfolio: Local professional photographer
• Need 40+ headshots in multiple styles: AI headshot generator
• Doing media appearances or public speaking: Local professional photographer
• LinkedIn or corporate bio update: AI headshot generator or JCPenney Portraits
• Thought leadership personal brand: AI headshot generator (multiple styles) or local photographer (documentary-style)