Google Photos alternative for event photos
Google Photos is built for your own library. Collecting from a room full of guests is a different job.
The short answer
A shared Google Photos album works on one condition: every guest has a Google account and is willing to sign in on the day. If that is true for your group it is free, and it lasts forever. If it is not, you lose the photos of everyone who could not be bothered, and at a wedding that is most of the room. LensPool trades permanent storage for a QR code anyone can use in ten seconds.
Side by side
| Google Photos | LensPool | |
|---|---|---|
| No account needed | No | Yes |
| QR code | No | Yes |
| Printable poster | No | Yes |
| Original quality | Yes | Yes |
| Live photo wall | No | Yes |
| One-file download | Yes | Yes |
| Photo approval | Partlydelete only, no approval step | Yes |
| Face search | Partlyyour library, not your guests | Yes |
| Built for events | No | Yes |
Some features are included from a paid plan. See what each plan includes
Capabilities checked on 2026-08-18. We compare only what each tool can and cannot do, never prices or storage limits, because those change without notice. Check the other tool's current terms before you decide.
Where Google Photos is the better choice
- Storage is permanent. The album is still there in ten years with no plan to renew.
- It is already installed on most phones, so there is nothing new to download.
- It backs up the guest's own library at the same time, which some people want anyway.
Where LensPool is the better choice
- Guests scan a QR code and upload. No account, no app, no sign in, so nobody drops out at the door.
- You get a printable poster for the tables and a live photo wall for the screen, which is what actually makes guests upload.
- Everything lands in one album you control, and you can approve photos before anyone else sees them.
Which one to pick
- Pick Google Photos if:
- your guests are a small group who all use Google, and keeping the album forever matters more to you than how many people upload.
- Pick LensPool if:
- you are collecting from a room you cannot walk through one guest at a time, and you want the photos to arrive without anyone creating an account.
Questions, answered
Do guests need a Google account to add photos to a shared album?
Yes. Google requires a Google account to contribute to a shared album. Viewing a link can work without one, but adding a photo does not. With a LensPool album, guests scan the QR code and upload straight away, with no account at any step.
Does a shared Google Photos album use my storage or the guest's?
Photos each person adds count against that person's own Google storage, not yours. That is fine when everyone has room to spare, and it is a problem when a guest's account is already full and their upload fails on the day.
Can I move a Google Photos album to LensPool?
There is no import, and you rarely need one. Most people use LensPool for the live collection on the day, download the finished album afterwards, and keep that download in Google Photos for the long term. The two work fine side by side.
Every photo from your event, in one shared album.
Guests scan one QR code and add their photos and videos to your album.
Create your free album