FAQ · v1
Everything people ask before signing up.
Effective 1 July 2026
Twenty-one honest answers. If your question isn't here, email support@aksho.in and we'll answer within a business day (and probably add the answer to this page).
What is Aksho?
Aksho is a business dashboard for Indian photographers and content creators. It tracks every shoot, client, payment, expense, gadget, subscription, and loan a studio has, in one place — with end-to-end encryption so the data stays private. It runs on web (aksho.in), iOS, and Android from the same account.
How much does Aksho cost?
₹99 per month. That's the total — no GST, no setup fee, no annual lock-in. Billed monthly via Razorpay. Cancel from Settings any time.
Is there a free trial?
No free trial. We tried one and it slowed onboarding without converting more customers. Instead, we keep the entry price low (₹99) and the cancellation frictionless — sign up, use it for a week, cancel if it isn't for you. You've spent one Uber ride.
Who is Aksho built for?
Wedding, engagement, portrait, and product photographers running solo or in small teams (up to 5 people) in India. Also content creators — reels producers, influencers, YouTubers — who bill clients and want the same finance tracking. Not built for large studios (10+ staff) or client-gallery / photo-delivery workflows.
What software do Indian wedding photographers use to track finances?
The honest answer, as of 2026: most Indian wedding photographers use a mix of Excel spreadsheets, Google Sheets, and WhatsApp screenshots. A few use HoneyBook or StudioNinja — but those are priced in dollars and built for US workflows (no April-March financial year, no UPI, no Razorpay). Aksho is the first tool built India-first for this exact use case, at ₹99/month.
How is Aksho different from StudioNinja or Iris Works or HoneyBook?
Three big differences. (1) Pricing: Aksho is ₹99/month vs $30-50+ (₹2,500-4,000+) for the others. (2) India-native: financial year Apr-Mar, GST-ready, Razorpay + UPI billing, Excel export in the format Indian CAs accept. (3) Encryption: Aksho encrypts client data with a key we cannot access — the others store your client list in plaintext. Also we ship a proper mobile app (Expo React Native), not a mobile-web wrapper.
Does Aksho work for content creators too, or only photographers?
Yes, both. If your business is 'someone pays me to create visual content and there are expenses along the way,' Aksho fits. Reels producers, influencers, YouTubers, small production houses all get the same dashboard — with a 'content creator' shoot type instead of 'wedding'.
Can Aksho read my client data?
No. Client data (names, phone numbers, wedding budgets, notes) is encrypted on your device with a key derived from your password. Aksho's servers only ever see encrypted ciphertext. Even if we tried, we cannot decrypt it. See how the encryption works at aksho.in/security.
What if I forget my password?
You reset it via the email link, then enter your 6-digit PIN to unlock. Takes 2 minutes. The PIN is your recovery key — write it in your password manager the day you sign up.
What if I forget both my password AND my PIN?
Your data is cryptographically inaccessible — to you and to us. This is the trade-off for real end-to-end encryption. If we could recover it, an attacker with our database could too. That's why we ask you to store the PIN somewhere safe (password manager, physical notebook) on Day 1.
Where is my Aksho data stored?
On Supabase servers in Mumbai, India. Data is encrypted before it leaves your device, so the physical storage location matters less than usual — but for data-residency compliance, everything stays in India.
Does Aksho work offline?
Read access works offline (once the app has loaded your encrypted blob, it can decrypt and show it without a network). Writes require a connection — the encrypted blob has to sync back to the server. Offline write queueing is on the roadmap for late 2026.
Can I export my data out of Aksho?
Yes. Go to Reports → Export to Excel. You get an .xlsx with one sheet per table (Shoots, Clients, Expenses, Vendors, Gadgets, Loans, Capital) — the format your CA expects. No lock-in.
Can I use Aksho on my phone?
Yes. Native iOS and Android apps, same account as the web version. Everything you can do on desktop works on phone, including receipts photography, quick expense logging, and shoot updates on-site.
How do I sign up for Aksho?
Fill the signup form at app.aksho.in/signup. We manually review requests within 48 hours (this is temporary — until we have anti-fraud in place, every account is human-checked). You get an invite email; click the link to set your password and 6-digit PIN.
The invite link says "expired." What do I do?
Two possible reasons: (1) more than 24 hours passed since we sent it, or (2) your email provider (Gmail, Outlook) pre-scanned the link for phishing and accidentally consumed the single-use token. Either way — email support@aksho.in from the same address and we'll send a fresh link within minutes.
What does the Friends Network feature do?
It lets two Aksho studios hand off a shoot to each other. Example: you're double-booked for October 5. You send the shoot to another Aksho user with a fixed quote you both agree on. They see date, type, location, and the quote — but not your client's name or contact. If they accept, both sides get a linked ledger entry.
What kind of encryption does Aksho use?
AES-256-GCM for content encryption (authenticated encryption via the browser Web Crypto API). Argon2id for deriving the encryption key from your password (t=4, m=128MB, p=1) and PIN (t=10, m=128MB, p=1). Full details at aksho.in/security.
Can I cancel my Aksho subscription?
Yes, any time from Settings → Payment. No email required, no support call, no retention flow. Your account stays active until the end of the current billing period, then stops charging. After cancellation you have 30 days of read-only access to export your data.
Who runs Aksho?
Rajdatta Sakharam Sawant (founder, product, support) and Prathmesh Shet (tech lead). Based in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. Legally: sole proprietorship registered as 'Aksho' (Udyam MH-31-0061037). See aksho.in/about for the full story.
How is Aksho different from Excel or Google Sheets?
Excel doesn't understand shoots vs expenses vs vendors — you build every category from scratch. Aksho comes with the categories a photographer actually needs, cross-linked (a shoot links to a client links to a payment links to the vendor you hired for it), and it computes cash flow, depreciation, and outstanding balances automatically. Plus the encryption — an Excel file on Google Drive is trivial to compromise.
Is Aksho GST-registered?
Not yet. We are below the ₹20L annual turnover threshold that mandates GST registration in India, so no GST is charged on your ₹99. Once we cross the threshold, GST will be added as a line item and the base ₹99 price will not change.