Google Photos alternatives: 11 photo gallery tools compared
People look for a Google Photos alternative for two different reasons. Some want a personal library that does not sit inside Google's shared 15 GB account storage, either on their own server or with a company that sells only photo storage. Others started using shared albums for work, then found that sending photos to clients needs branding, proofing or a store that a family album does not have.
Short answer: The closest replacements for Google Photos in our photo gallery software ranking are PhotoPrism, Piwigo and SmugMug. Choose PhotoPrism if you want a private AI-searchable library on your own hardware. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Photo Gallery and Sharing Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Google Photos.
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Pricing: Free with 15 GB shared across Google services; paid storage through Google One
Established in: United States
Built for: Families and friends who want to pool photos from a trip or event
Not for: Photographers who need proofing, watermarks, branding or print sales
01
Why buyers look past Google Photos
01
Storage is shared with the rest of the Google account
Google's help pages say each Google Account comes with up to 15 GB of storage, counted across Photos, Drive and Gmail, and that more is bought through Google One. The Google One page lists a 100 GB plan at €1.99 a month. A photo library that fills the allowance also takes mail and documents with it, which is the usual trigger for looking elsewhere.
02
Inactive content can be deleted
Google's help page states that if you are inactive in Google Photos for 2 years or more, your content may be deleted. For an archive that someone opens rarely, that is a rule to plan around, and it is a reason some people prefer a library they host themselves or a service that exists only to keep photos.
03
Sharing is built for friends, not clients
Google's sharing page says that when you share an album by link, anyone with the link can view the photos and add to the album. That suits a family trip. The help pages we read describe sharing and albums, not client proofing, watermarking or selling prints, so photographers who delivered work this way tend to move to a gallery product.
Quoted per organisation; five tiers, no trial listed
Asset library for brands and teams, sold in five seat-based tiers
a team or brand needs a managed library with many reviewers and is happy to talk to sales
#9
03
What each one does differently
1
PhotoPrism
Germany · Open source community edition; paid memberships, published
PhotoPrism is a photo library you run yourself, with face recognition and automatic classification, which is the nearest thing here to what Google Photos does for a personal archive. The community edition is open source under the AGPL; Essentials is shown at €2 a month and Plus from €6. The company says it is self-funded and independent, and it is a library, not a client-delivery product.
Switch from Google Photos if you want a private AI-searchable library on your own hardware.
France · Per month per plan, published; open source self-hosted edition; 30-day trial
Piwigo is an open source photo library and DAM that you can install on your own server or rent hosted from the company behind it. The hosted plans are priced by storage and administrators, with the entry plan shown at €32 a month excluding VAT billed annually, 10 GB and one administrator. The company says it returns all files and data free of charge if you leave. It has no print store.
Switch from Google Photos if you want an open source gallery with the option of paying someone to host it.
United States · Per month per plan, published; 14-day trial
SmugMug sells photo storage as the product: its Direct plan, shown at $20 a month billed annually, is described as unlimited storage, and its plan list adds selling prints and downloads from Portfolio ($23.50) and multiple pricelists from Pro ($37). It is paid from the start, and SmugMug, Inc. also owns Flickr.
Switch from Google Photos if you want to pay for unlimited photo storage and not share a Google quota.
United States · Pro subscription billed monthly, yearly or every two years
Flickr is a photo community, built around public sharing and discovery, where Google Photos is a private backup first. The Pro subscription adds full-resolution uploads with no monthly cap, ad-free browsing and statistics. It auto-renews and is non-refundable according to its page, and Flickr, Inc. is owned by SmugMug, Inc.
Switch from Google Photos if you want to show photographs to a public audience and be part of a community.
Pixieset bundles client galleries, a website and a store under one login. Its free plan holds 3 GB and takes a 15% commission on store sales, while paid plans sell commission-free, from Basic at $8 a month billed annually (10 GB) up to Ultimate at $40 with unlimited storage. It is built for photographers delivering to clients, not for a family archive.
Switch from Google Photos if you deliver photos to paying clients and want branding and a store.
Pic-Time pairs client galleries with a print store that charges commission only on the photographer's markup, and says no commission applies to self-collected payments on the Professional and Advanced plans. The free plan holds 10 GB, reduced to 3 GB after 3 months, so it works as a trial. Paid plans run from $7 to $42 a month billed annually.
Switch from Google Photos if you sell prints from client galleries and want to keep control of the margin.
Germany · Free plan; per month per plan, published; 14-day trial
Picdrop does two jobs, proofing and delivery, and prices them by storage. The free plan holds 1 GB and 3 galleries; the Pro plan, shown at €14.99 monthly or €8.39 per month paid annually, gives 500 GB and unlimited galleries with a collaboration mode for proofing. The company is PicDrop GmbH of Berlin. It lists no website builder or print store.
Switch from Google Photos if clients need to select and comment on photos and you want a fixed cost for storage.
United States · Free plan; per month per plan, published; 14-day trial
ShootProof offers a free plan with 3 GB of photo storage and unlimited client galleries, then Starter at $9.99 monthly, up to Premium at $60 monthly, and says it charges no commission on sales. The terms limit ShootProof Pay, its payment service, to US residents, which restricts the checkout for photographers elsewhere.
Switch from Google Photos if you are a US photographer who wants contracts, invoicing and galleries in one tool.
United States · Per month per plan, published; trial without a card
Zenfolio sells a photographer website with client galleries, in tiers shown at €20 and €36 a month on the page we read, with storage of 15 GB, 150 GB and unlimited JPEG plus 150 GB of video. It starts with a free trial. It is a website-and-selling product, so a personal archive is more than it needs.
Switch from Google Photos if you want a photography website with galleries and sales on one subscription.
India · Per month per plan, published; 15-day trial
Pixpa is a website builder first, with client galleries, proofing and a store attached, and its pricing page says there are no commissions. Storage for original files is small next to the gallery-only tools: 3 GB on Basic, 5 GB on Creator, 25 GB on Professional and 100 GB on Advanced. Web images on the site do not count. It offers a 15-day free trial.
Switch from Google Photos if you want a portfolio website with galleries and a store, and your originals are modest in size.
United States · Quoted per organisation; five tiers, no trial listed
PhotoShelter is an asset library for organisations with many photographers and reviewers. Its Starter tier lists 2 library seats and 1 TB of storage with unlimited invited users, and the page asks you to request pricing instead of showing amounts. It is the wrong size for one person backing up a phone.
Switch from Google Photos if a team or brand needs a managed library with many reviewers and is happy to talk to sales.
Google Photos stays the right choice when the job is backing up a phone and sharing albums with family and friends. Search, automatic backup and shared albums need no setup, and 15 GB is free. If your library fits within the allowance, or you already pay for Google One for other reasons, a separate service adds a bill without adding anything you use. The two-year inactivity rule is the main thing to keep in mind, and logging in now and then avoids it.
05
What moving off Google Photos involves
01
Take your library out before you cancel anything
Download or export your photos and videos from your Google Account before you reduce storage or delete anything, and check that dates and album structure survive the import into the new product. Self-hosted libraries such as PhotoPrism and Piwigo read folders, so keep the originals organised rather than relying on the album names.
02
Decide what happens to existing share links
Anyone you have sent a shared-album link to will lose it when the album goes. Tell family and clients where the new gallery lives, and keep the old albums up until the new ones are confirmed.
03
Match the replacement to the job
A client gallery tool such as Pixieset or Picdrop is built for delivery and selling, with small free plans, while PhotoPrism and Piwigo are built for keeping a library. One product rarely does both well, so a photographer may end up with a Google library for personal photos and a gallery service for clients.
06
Questions about replacing Google Photos
5 answers
What is the best self-hosted alternative to Google Photos?
PhotoPrism and Piwigo are the two self-hosted options in this ranking. PhotoPrism adds face recognition and automatic classification and is aimed at a personal library.
Piwigo is more of a gallery and DAM, with a hosted service if you do not want to run a server. Both have an open source edition.
Is there a free alternative with more storage than 15 GB?
Among the vendors we checked, the free plans are small: Pixieset 3 GB, ShootProof 3 GB, Picdrop 1 GB. PhotoPrism's community edition is free software, so the limit is your own disk. Unlimited storage on the paid side is described by SmugMug's Direct plan.
Which alternative is best for sending photos to clients?
Pixieset, Pic-Time, Picdrop and ShootProof are built around client galleries. Pic-Time and Pixieset add stores, Picdrop concentrates on proofing, and ShootProof bundles contracts and invoicing. Google Photos' own album sharing does not include proofing or a store.
Will Google delete my photos if I stop using it?
Google's help page says that if you are inactive in Google Photos for 2 years or more, your content may be deleted. Check the current policy on Google's page before leaving the account idle.
Are SmugMug and Flickr the same company?
Flickr's terms say that Flickr, Inc. is owned by SmugMug, Inc. They are sold as separate products, SmugMug for selling and storing, Flickr for community and public sharing.
