Wedding photos
What are the two most popular photo sharing platforms?
By installed base the two are Google Photos and Apple iCloud Photos, because both ship as the default on their platform and most phones use one or the other without the owner choosing it. If you mean social sharing rather than storage, Instagram and Facebook are the pair. None of the four is built to collect photos from event guests. Google Photos and iCloud both require the contributor to hold an account on that platform, and the social networks keep your photos inside an account you cannot export cleanly. For a wedding, a dedicated guest album works better, because the guest needs nothing beyond a phone camera and a QR code.
Why the defaults fall short for an event
A shared Google Photos album is genuinely good and genuinely free, and it works across iPhone and Android. The cost is that every contributor needs a Google account, and a meaningful share of your guest list either does not have one or cannot remember the password on the night.
iCloud Shared Albums have the same shape with a narrower door: they work beautifully between iPhones and awkwardly with everyone else.
Both also give you no moderation. Anyone with the link can add anything, and it appears immediately. That is fine among family and uncomfortable among 120 guests.
What a dedicated album adds
No account for the guest, at all. The QR code opens a page and the page takes the upload. This is the single biggest difference in how much you actually collect.
Approval before publication, which is what makes an album safe to project on a venue screen.
Voice messages alongside photos and video, which none of the general platforms offer. On Gathmo all 3 arrive through the same code, and paid plans export the originals as a ZIP.
Common follow-ups
Is Google Photos free for a shared album?
Yes, within the account's storage quota. The limitation for an event is the account requirement, not the price.
Can I move a Gathmo album into Google Photos afterwards?
Yes. Download the originals as a ZIP on any paid plan and upload them wherever you keep your archive.
Which is better for iPhone-only guest lists?
An iCloud Shared Album is reasonable if literally everyone has an iPhone. A QR album still avoids the account step.
Where to go next
- 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.
- How to make a shared Google Photos album
- Wedding photo sharingThe main wedding page: one QR-code scan, photos, video and voice messages, and what the album does after the day.
Related questions
- How much does a QR code cost for a wedding?The code itself is $0. A dynamic code with scan stats is a subscription, printing is cents to a few dollars, and the album behind it is $0 to $99, paid once.
- How do I create a QR code for my wedding?Album first, code second: a code generated from the album needs no generator, no link shortener, and never expires. The 2-minute version and the long way.
- Is there a 100% free QR code generator?Yes: Chrome, the iPhone Shortcuts app, and any generator that makes static codes. What stays free for good, and what stops working after a 14-day trial.