Comparison
Google Photos or Medley for your event photos?
Choosing between Google Photos and Medley to collect your guests’ photos? This comparison covers how each works and the terms recorded in the sources below.
We look at guest access, storage use and downloading the album.
Related reading : Wedding photo sharing
What to compare
- Quality depends on each person's setting
In Storage saver, Google's help states that a photo above 16 MP is resized to 16 MP and that a video above 1080p is brought down to 1080p. You will never go round setting up forty guests' phones, and you will never know which ones needed it.
- Everything lands on one Google account's storage
Original quality counts against the storage of the account doing the backing up, of which 15 GB comes free. An evening filmed by a dozen people reaches that quickly, and then it is a subscription to pay or a switch to reduced quality.
- Hosting and privacy
Read the service’s privacy policy, access controls and deletion options. Medley states that files are hosted in France with OVH. The storage location alone does not describe every safeguard a service provides.
- Built for a library, not for a party
No page in the name of your event, no sign to put on the tables, and nothing to gather words: a comment under a photo is not a guest book, where each guest leaves a written note, their voice or a short video.
How they compare
Photo and video quality
- Google Photos
- Down to each person's setting: in Storage saver, photos are resized to 16 MP and videos to 1080p
- Medley
- Original quality, always, whatever the phone
Storage
- Google Photos
- Counted against the Google account doing the backing up (15 GB included)
- Medley
- Nothing to manage: the storage comes with the album
Accounts
- Google Photos
- A Google account to create and manage the shared album
- Medley
- An account for the organiser; a first name for the guests
QR code
- Google Photos
- Yes, Show QR Code from album sharing (screenshot it if you want to print it)
- Medley
- QR code and a print-ready sign, generated along with the album
On the day
- Google Photos
- A library album, with no event dressing around it
- Medley
- A page in the name of the party, and a live slideshow on the screen
Guest book (written, voice, video)
- Google Photos
- None: commenting under a photo is not leaving a message for the hosts
- Medley
- A written note, a voice message or a short video, behind the same QR code as the photos
Hosting and business model
- Google Photos
- Check file locations with the service
- Medley
- Hosted in the European Union (France, OVH), GDPR, zero advertising
| Feature | Google Photos | Medley |
|---|---|---|
| Photo and video quality | Down to each person's setting: in Storage saver, photos are resized to 16 MP and videos to 1080p | Original quality, always, whatever the phone |
| Storage | Counted against the Google account doing the backing up (15 GB included) | Nothing to manage: the storage comes with the album |
| Accounts | A Google account to create and manage the shared album | An account for the organiser; a first name for the guests |
| QR code | Yes, Show QR Code from album sharing (screenshot it if you want to print it) | QR code and a print-ready sign, generated along with the album |
| On the day | A library album, with no event dressing around it | A page in the name of the party, and a live slideshow on the screen |
| Guest book (written, voice, video) | None: commenting under a photo is not leaving a message for the hosts | A written note, a voice message or a short video, behind the same QR code as the photos |
| Hosting and business model | Check file locations with the service | Hosted in the European Union (France, OVH), GDPR, zero advertising |
When Google Photos is still the right choice
For a personal library (automatic backup, search that finds a face in a decade of pictures, memories resurfacing on their own), Google Photos is remarkable, and nothing here is an argument for leaving it. If your guests all have a Google account and the app on their phone, a shared album is perfectly fine for a small gathering. Medley takes over when the guests are many, when half of them are not in that ecosystem, and when you want original quality without depending on anybody's settings.
Frequently asked questions
How can guests contribute to a shared Google Photos album?
Does Google Photos compress photos?
Do the photos in a shared album count against Google storage?
Why does it matter where event photos are hosted?
Read on
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