A Google Photos and WhatsApp alternative for event photo collection

If it's a small dinner and everyone is already in one chat, posting photos there is quick and costs nothing. If every guest has a Google account and doesn't mind using it, a shared Google Photos album keeps things tidier than a chat.

There's no point paying for a tool for an event that size. The problems start as the guest list grows and mixes people who don't share an app, an account or a group.

A chat is built for conversation, not for collecting. Photos arrive between messages, WhatsApp compresses images, videos get buried, and anyone who isn't in the group never contributes. Afterwards someone still has to scroll back, save files one at a time and ask the people who forgot.

With an upload album, the chat can stay the chat. Share the link there by all means; the photos themselves go somewhere built to keep them.

Adding photos to a shared Google Photos album or a Drive folder usually means signing in with a Google account. At a real event some guests are signed into the wrong account, some don't have one, and some give up when it starts to feel like admin.

JoinAlbum has no account step for guests: they scan, type their name and choose files. The host doesn't invite anyone, approve access requests or explain permissions.

One QR code for signs and table cards, designed in the built-in studio. A private album by default, which you can open to guests or protect with a password later. A co-host who manages it with you, a live slideshow for a screen at the party, and a 30-day upload window after the event so late photos still arrive.

It's free with up to 10 photos or videos. Unlimited uploads for one event is a single €49 payment. Whether that's worth it depends on the size of the event, which is the honest answer to most of this page.