Photo sharing
Is there a free online photo album I can share?
Yes, and there are two kinds. A free online album you share out is a Google Photos album or an iCloud Shared Album: you add the photos, send the link, and anyone can view in a browser at no cost. A free online album other people can add to without signing up is a Gathmo QR album: you create the event, share the code or link, and everyone uploads from their phone browser with no app and no account. The free plan holds 60 photos, videos, and voice messages from unlimited people for 30 days, and the album is private to you and whoever has the link. Choose the first kind for showing your photos and the second for gathering everyone else’s.
Free albums you share out
Google Photos albums are the most flexible free option: they work on iPhone and Android, viewers need no account, and invited contributors can add if they sign in with Google. The album lives as long as your account and your 15 GB quota do.
iCloud Shared Albums are free and outside the 5 GB quota, so they cost nothing even on a full iCloud. They are best between iPhones: viewing from Android or a browser works, contributing does not.
Both are libraries first. Neither holds an upload for approval, neither takes a voice message, and neither can be printed on a card at a party as a code to scan.
Free albums other people fill
A Gathmo album is an online album whose main door is a QR code. Print it, show it on a screen, or send the link; each guest scans, picks photos from their camera roll, and uploads in about 3 taps. Nobody installs anything and nobody creates an account.
Every upload waits for your approval before it appears, so the album is safe to share with the whole guest list and to project on a screen. Guests can also leave a 30-second voice message through the same code.
The free plan is sized for a small gathering: 60 items, 30 days, video up to 30 seconds. Paid plans are one payment per event — not a subscription — for unlimited items, longer video, 90 to 365 days, and the ZIP download of originals.
Common follow-ups
Can people see the album without an account?
Yes. A Gathmo album opens in any browser for anyone with the link, and uploading needs no account either.
Is the free album public?
No. Only people with the code or link can open it, and you approve each upload before it shows.
Can I keep the album longer than 30 days?
Yes, on a paid plan: 90 days on Essential, 183 on Celebrate, 365 on Grand. One payment per event.
Where to go next
- QR code photo albumWhat a scan-to-upload album is, and how a guest fills it in about 3 taps without an app or an account.
- Gathmo compared with Google PhotosA shared Google album is free and never expires. What it has no notion of is an evening — where each one stops.
- Pricing and plan limitsWhat each plan costs and where its item cap, retention window and video length sit. One payment per event, no subscription.
Related questions
- Can you send a whole photo album to someone?Yes. Share the album as a link from Google Photos or iCloud, or hand over a ZIP of the originals. What each method keeps, and where it stops.
- What is the easiest photo sharing site?Easiest depends on who has to act: Google Photos for you, a QR album for everyone else. The one that asks nothing of the other person wins.
- What is the best way to share a bunch of photos with someone?