How to choose an event photo platform

The seven questions

1. How many screens between scanning and a photo? Walk it yourself, on your own phone.
2. Is the gallery period measured from the event or the purchase? Anything measured from purchase can half-expire before your event.
3. Is the photo limit real? Ask what happens when you reach it. “Unlimited” usually has a number behind it.
4. Where is the data stored? For an Australian event, Australian storage keeps it under Australian law.
5. Is face matching opt-in, and can it be deleted? Both answers should be yes, and the deletion route should not depend on the host.
6. Can the host approve before photos appear? It matters more than people expect.
7. Can you run a real event free first? If not, ask why not.

The two things you can safely ignore

• The accuracy percentage. Everyone publishes one, they are measured on curated datasets, and none of them predicts what will happen with your photos.
• Self-reported scale figures. Photos delivered, events hosted, happy customers — unverifiable and universal, which makes them worth nothing as a comparison.

What to do instead

Run a real event on the free tier of whichever platform you are considering and judge it on your own photos and your own guests. It is the only test that tells you anything.

More guides

• The wedding guest photo checklist

  Everything to decide, print, say and check before your wedding so the guest photos actually arrive.

• Guest photo etiquette: asking without nagging

  How to ask guests for their photos in a way people respond to, and the three phrasings that reliably do not work.

• Corporate event photos: the privacy questions to settle first

  What to agree internally before running photo collection or face matching at a work event in Australia.

Last updated 10 August 2026.