Updated Oct 6, 2026

## Should you share photos with Google Photos or with a link?

Keep Google Photos as your library and backup: nothing here replaces automatic phone backup, search or face grouping. Use Link in Seconds when you want to send a set of photos, plus the PDF or video that belongs with them, as one link that opens in any browser, keeps the files you uploaded, shows a view count and does not use your Google storage.

### Share with people outside Google

A Link in Seconds album is read-only for visitors: they can open, scroll and download, but nothing they do changes what you sent. A Google Photos shared album, by contrast, lets anyone with the link add photos unless you switch Collaborate off, which is awkward when you send a curated set to a client, a landlord or a school.

### Photos plus everything with them

Real sharing jobs often come with paperwork attached: a trip itinerary as a PDF, a floor plan, a menu, a price list. On Link in Seconds one album can hold photos, video and PDFs side by side. Photos open full size, PDFs render in a real viewer instead of downloading, and video streams with seeking, so the recipient gets the whole story from a single address.

### The file you uploaded is the file they get

Google Photos' Storage saver keeps photos and videos at slightly reduced quality, photos above 16 MP are resized to 16 MP and video above 1080p is reduced to 1080p. Link in Seconds serves the file you uploaded, up to 250 MB free and 500 MB on Pro. The only change we make is converting iPhone HEIC photos to JPEG in your browser so every device can open them.

[Send photos without losing quality](https://linkinseconds.com/blog/send-photos-without-losing-quality)

### Know it was opened

Every link here, album or single file, comes with a view counter and a downloadable QR code. Every plan also includes device and country breakdowns, a notification when someone opens the link, a password, an expiry date and a view limit; turning downloads off works on any plan. That makes it useful for photos you send for a reason, like listing photos to an agent or proofs to a client.

### What Link in Seconds will not do for you here

No phone backup. Nothing syncs from your camera roll, you choose what to upload, every time.

No search, faces or editing. An album is a page of files in the order you uploaded them, not a searchable library.

Visitors cannot add photos. There is no guest upload. If everyone needs to contribute to one pool, a Google Photos shared album is the better fit.

Less storage than a Google Account. Every Google Account starts with 15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos.

## Link in Seconds vs Google Photos at a glance

Link in Seconds compared with Google Photos

| Feature | Link in Seconds | Google Photos |

| Free storage | 500 MB for links, 15 GB on Pro | 15 GB, shared with Gmail & Drive |

| Largest single upload | 250 MB free, 500 MB on Pro | Limited by your account storage |

| Link lifetime | Never expires on its own | Until you turn link sharing off |

| Viewer needs an account | No, never | To view, no; to save or add, yes |

| View-only, downloads off | Link in Seconds, View-only, downloads off: yes | Google Photos, View-only, downloads off: no |

| Password protection | Link in Seconds, Password protection: yes | Google Photos, Password protection: no |

| QR code for the link | Link in Seconds, QR code for the link: yes | Google Photos, QR code for the link: no |

| Update it, keep the same link | Replace the file, free | Edit the album in place |

| Cheapest paid plan | Pro, $9/month or $49/year | Google One storage tiers, priced by region |

| Phone backup, search & editing | Link in Seconds, Phone backup, search & editing: no | Google Photos, Phone backup, search & editing: yes |

Competitor facts checked on 6 Oct 2026 on one.google.com/about/plans and support.google.com/photos. Our numbers come from our plan page. Plans change, so confirm current pricing before you decide.

## How it works

- 1 ### Download the photos you want to send Select the set in Google Photos and download it, or save the pictures from your phone's camera roll. Only the ones you pick leave your library; everything else stays exactly where it is.

- 2 ### Upload them together as one album Drop the files on the upload card in one go and they become one album link, with each photo also getting its own link inside it. iPhone HEIC photos are converted to JPEG in your browser before upload.

- 3 ### Send the link, or print its QR Paste the link into WhatsApp, email or a text, or download the QR code for a card or a slide. Your dashboard shows how many times it has been opened.

## What Google Photos does better, and why you should keep it

Google Photos is a library. It backs up your phone automatically, lets you search your pictures by what is in them, groups faces, edits, and resurfaces old memories. Every Google Account also comes with 15 GB of storage shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos. Link in Seconds does none of that library work: there is no phone backup, no search, no face grouping. It is a sharing tool, and it is not trying to be where your photos live.

## Sharing with people outside Google

Google Photos can share an album by link, and according to Google's own help pages anyone with that link can view the album, and while link sharing is on they can also add photos to it unless the owner switches off the Collaborate setting. That is handy between friends who all want to contribute, and awkward when you are sending a curated set to a client, a landlord or a school. A Link in Seconds album is read-only for visitors: they can open, scroll and download, but nothing they do changes what you sent.

- ·Both let you pull a link back. In Google Photos you turn link sharing off, which also resets the link. Here you disable the link from your dashboard and it stops working at once.

## Photos plus everything that goes with them

Google Photos is built around photos and videos. Real sharing jobs often come with paperwork attached: a trip itinerary as a PDF, a floor plan, a menu, a price list. On Link in Seconds one album can hold photos, video and PDFs side by side. Photos open full size, PDFs render in a real viewer instead of downloading, and video streams with seeking, so the recipient gets the whole story from a single address.

## Quality: the file you uploaded is the file they get

Google Photos offers two backup qualities. Google's help explains that Storage saver keeps photos and videos at slightly reduced quality: photos above 16 MP are resized to 16 MP and video above 1080p is reduced to 1080p, and it still counts toward your storage. If you backed up that way, what you share is the reduced copy. Link in Seconds serves the file you uploaded. The only change we make is converting iPhone HEIC photos to JPEG in your browser so every device can open them.

## Knowing it was opened

Every link here, album or single file, comes with a view counter and a downloadable QR code. Every plan also includes device and country breakdowns, a notification when someone opens the link, a password, an expiry date and a view limit; turning downloads off works on any plan. That makes it useful for photos you send for a reason, like listing photos to an agent or a set of proofs to a client, where knowing it landed matters.

## Which one should you pick?

Most people should use both. Keep Google Photos for backup, search and the albums you build with other Google users. Reach for Link in Seconds when the recipient is outside your Google circle, when the set includes PDFs or video, when you want the original files to arrive untouched, or when you want to know the link was opened. A link is just a URL, so there is nothing to migrate and nothing to lock you in.

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2,600+

people sharing files

5,100+

links shared

17,500+

times opened

Keep reading

[Share a photo album with one link](https://linkinseconds.com/blog/share-a-photo-album-with-one-link)[Share photos with family](https://linkinseconds.com/share-photos-with-family)[Trip photo album](https://linkinseconds.com/trip-photo-album)[Compare to Google Drive](https://linkinseconds.com/google-drive-alternative)[Compare to Pixieset](https://linkinseconds.com/pixieset-alternative)[Pixieset vs Google Photos](https://linkinseconds.com/pixieset-vs-google-photos)

Source: https://linkinseconds.com/google-photos-alternative