Google Photos vs PhotoStructure
Google Photos
google.com
PhotoStructure
photostructure.comSide by side
| Figure | Google Photos | PhotoStructure |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 3 |
| Spec score · Photo Storage Services | 9.3 (#4) | 8.2 (#24) |
| Spec score · Photo Management Software | 9.3 (#3) | 8.2 (#13) |
| Integrations | Google Photos lists camera and digitization partners including Canon and Photomyne, print partners including Walgreens and Shutterfly, and TV platforms including Google TV and Samsung. | It can import metadata from Apple Photos libraries, and its guide describes reading metadata sidecars and Google Takeout JSON files. |
| Privacy controls | Google states that users control sharing, can delete or export their content, and that Photos does not sell photos or use them for advertising. | The maker says Lite has no tracking or analytics, and its privacy policy says in-app update checks, detailed identification, and application error reporting can be disabled. |
| Product | Google Photos provides tools to edit, organize, search, back up, and share photos and videos. | PhotoStructure describes itself as a personal digital asset manager for organizing, browsing, and sharing photos and videos. |
Plans
Google Photos
- FreeFree
- Basic$1.99 a month
- Google AI Plus$9.99 a month
- Google AI Pro$19.99 a month
- FreeFree
- Basic$1.99 a month
- Google AI Plus$9.99 a month
- Google One Basic (100 GB)¥290 a month
- Google AI Plus (2 TB)¥1,450 a month
- Google AI Pro (5 TB)¥2,900 a month
In their own words
Google Photos
Google Photos is a service for editing, organizing, searching, backing up, and sharing photos and videos. It runs on Android, iOS, and the web. A Google Account includes 15 GB shared among Photos, Gmail, and Drive at no cost; Original quality backups use that storage. Users can back up media automatically or manually, and share photos, videos, and albums with people who do not use Google Photos. The app lists AI editing tools including Magic Eraser and Photo Unblur. It supports full-resolution RAW image backup and cloud storage for 4K video. Google lists paid monthly plans including Basic at $1.99 a month for 100 GB, Google AI Plus at $9.99 a month for 2 TB, and Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month for 5 TB; each allows up to five additional people. The natural-language search example is limited to eligible US users aged 18 or older who meet specified language and settings requirements. Google says data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and users can delete or export their content.
PhotoStructure
PhotoStructure is a personal digital asset manager for organizing, browsing and sharing photos and videos, with desktop and self-hosted editions. It scans drives, sorts files into a folder structure you choose and watches for new arrivals. Duplicate copies, edits, resized versions and related burst photos can be grouped into a single library entry. Browsing pages surface random samples and provide facets for dates, locations, camera details, folders and people tags. The software supports several hundred photo and video formats and creates web-friendly previews. Tags, captions, corrected dates and locations can be saved in files or XMP sidecars; metadata can also be imported from Apple Photos libraries and read from sidecars or Google Takeout JSON files. Installers are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, while server editions support Docker or Node.js on a home server, NAS or VPS. The maker says the application does not upload photo or video libraries, though optional error reports may include system information, paths, logs and error details. Lite is free; Plus is $5 a month and includes a 15-day trial.