OurPlace vs Google Photos: Why Families Need More Than Cloud Storage

Google Photos is one of the most popular photo storage services in the world, and for good reason. It offers excellent search, generous (though no longer unlimited) storage, and seamless integration with the Android ecosystem. But when it comes to private family photo sharing, Google Photos falls short in ways that matter.

The core issue is this: Google Photos is a general-purpose cloud storage and backup tool. It was designed for individuals to store, organise, and search their personal photo libraries. Family sharing is an afterthought — a bolt-on feature, not the foundation.

OurPlace is different. It was built from day one as a private family photo sharing app. Every feature, every design decision, and every privacy choice was made with families in mind. Here's how they compare.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Privacy and Data: The Fundamental Difference

Google's business model is built on data. While Google has stated that it does not scan Google Photos content for advertising, it does use interaction data — your searches, sharing patterns, and usage behaviour — to improve services and refine ad targeting across its ecosystem. Your family photos live on the same infrastructure and under the same terms of service as every other Google product.

Google also uses machine learning to scan and categorise your photos: identifying faces, objects, locations, and activities. While this powers the excellent search feature, it means Google's AI is continuously analysing your family's most personal moments. For some families, that's a fair trade. For others, it's uncomfortable.

OurPlace doesn't scan, analyse, or categorise your photos. There is no facial recognition, no object detection, and no AI training on your family's images. Your photos are encrypted at rest and in transit, visible only to the members of your space. The business model is simple: you pay for more storage capacity if you need it. That's it.

When you're sharing photos of your children — bath time, first day of school, family holidays — the privacy question isn't theoretical. It's deeply personal. OurPlace exists because families deserve a photo sharing experience that respects that.

Purpose-Built vs General-Purpose

Google Photos is a tool for individuals. Its sharing features — shared albums, partner sharing, shared libraries — were added over time to an app that was fundamentally designed for personal use. This shows in the experience: shared albums feel like an extension of your personal library, not like a dedicated family space.

There's no concept of a "family" in Google Photos. There's no way to set roles, no way to control who can upload, no way to review photos before they're visible to everyone. If Aunt Janet adds a blurry photo to the shared album, it's there for everyone immediately. If a toddler gets hold of a phone and uploads 47 screenshots, they're all in the album.

OurPlace is a family app first. Each space feels like a shared family album, not a shared folder. You can set who can upload, who can manage, and who can just view. Upload approval means the space host can curate what goes in. It's the difference between a shared Dropbox folder and a lovingly maintained family photo album.

Family Features: Roles, Spaces, and Control

OurPlace provides four distinct roles — Owner, Co-host, Contributor, and Viewer — that let you set up your family space exactly the way you want. Give grandparents view-only access so they can enjoy photos without accidentally deleting anything. Make your partner a co-host so they can manage the space alongside you. Let trusted family members contribute while you maintain approval over what gets shared.

OurPlace also lets you create multiple separate spaces. One for your immediate family. One shared with your parents. One for your partner's side of the family. One for close friends. Each space has its own members, its own roles, and its own timeline. In Google Photos, you'd need to manage multiple shared albums with no real separation between them — and anyone in a shared album can see every photo added to it, with no way to gate access by role.

These aren't power-user features. They're everyday necessities for how modern families actually share photos. Not every family member should have the same level of access, and not every photo should go to every person.

Pricing: Storage vs Sharing

Google Photos offers 15 GB of free storage shared across all Google services (Gmail, Drive, and Photos). Beyond that, Google One plans start at around $2/month for 100 GB. The storage is excellent value if what you need is backup — but you're paying for cloud storage, not for family features.

OurPlace's free Starter plan gives you 3 spaces with 100 photos each. Plus ($4.99/month) expands to 10 spaces with 2,000 photos each. Family+ removes all limits. Every plan includes the same family-focused features: roles, upload approval, ad-free experience, and complete privacy.

Many families find the best setup is to use Google Photos (or iCloud) as their personal backup, and OurPlace as their dedicated family sharing space. They serve different purposes and complement each other well.

Who Should Choose Which?

Choose Google Photos if: you primarily need personal cloud backup with powerful AI search. Google Photos is excellent for storing and organising your own photo library, especially on Android. If sharing with family is secondary to your needs, Google Photos is a strong choice.

Choose OurPlace if: your main goal is sharing photos privately with family. If you want control over who sees what, who can upload, and how your family's memories are organised, OurPlace is purpose-built for exactly that. Its family roles, upload approval, and multiple spaces give you a level of control that Google Photos simply doesn't offer.

Use both if: you want the best of both worlds. Many families use Google Photos (or iCloud) as their personal backup and OurPlace as their family's private sharing space. Photos you want to keep for yourself go to Google. Photos you want to share with family go to OurPlace. It's a simple, effective setup.

What About Google Family Groups?

Google does offer Family Groups and partner sharing features, but these are limited. Partner sharing automatically shares photos with one person based on face recognition. Family Groups enable a shared Google One storage plan but don't create a dedicated family photo space.

Neither feature provides what families actually need: a dedicated, private photo album with roles, approval controls, and a shared timeline that everyone in the family can enjoy together. Google's family features are utilities, not experiences. OurPlace is the experience.

It's also worth noting that Google's family features require everyone to have a Google account. OurPlace works with any email address, making it more accessible for family members who don't use Google services or who prefer to keep their family sharing separate from their Google ecosystem.

The Verdict

Google Photos is an outstanding personal photo storage and search tool. If you need cloud backup with AI-powered organisation, it's hard to beat. But storage is not sharing, and Google Photos was never designed to be a private family photo album.

OurPlace fills that gap. It gives your family a calm, private, purpose-built space to share and preserve memories together — with roles, approval controls, multiple spaces, and zero data mining. If you've been using Google Photos shared albums and feeling like something is missing, OurPlace is what you've been looking for.

The best part? You don't have to choose one or the other. Keep Google Photos for your personal backup. Use OurPlace for the photos your family shares together. It's the best of both worlds, and your memories will be better for it.

Frequently Asked Questions