Google Photos is where your pictures live. Link in Seconds is for the moment you hand a set of them to someone else, including people who never use Google. Here is an honest comparison of the two.
Drop your file here
Drop several at once and they become one album link
Files up to 250 MB free
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.
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.
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.
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 qualityEvery 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.
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.
| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Keep reading
Pick a control to see it applied to a real link. Every one is free, on every plan.
Custom link nameFREE
Name the link yourself instead of a random code. linkinseconds.com/p/your-name reads clean in an email, on a slide, or under a QR code.
Password protectFREE
Add a password and the file stays sealed until someone types it. The link can be forwarded anywhere and still only opens for people who have the word.
Expiry & view limitFREE
Set an end date or a view cap and the link stops on its own. Send a quote that expires Friday, or a preview that closes after five opens, without remembering to delete it.
Free QR codeFREE
Every link gets a crisp QR code, free on any plan. Put it on a menu, a flyer, a wall label or a product box, and it opens the same link a tap would.
View trackingFREE
See how many people opened the link and when, plus the full picture: referrers, devices, countries, and QR-vs-direct opens. Free on every plan.
Send proof galleries clients can view, with view-only mode on any plan and the original files untouched.
Wedding and trip albums, one link anyone can open on any phone, even relatives who never use Google.
Send listing photos with a floor-plan PDF in one album, and see when the link was opened.
Hand over finished shots at full resolution as one clean link, no marketplace or chat compression.
What people say
“The admin interface is incredibly intuitive and set up exactly how a user actually thinks. My students all said it was easy to use and worked perfectly.”
“The app is genuinely nice and easy to handle. I keep all my different app links in one place, my App Store and Play Store screenshots, and I organise my images and PDFs into albums with tags. The big storage means everything just lives here.”
“I handle contracts, invoices and legal files for several different organisations, so almost everything I send is password protected. Link in Seconds makes that simple, and I run my portfolio on a custom domain. It is easy to use and genuinely affordable.”
free forever
20 links · 500 MB total · every link feature
billed $9 every month
Unlimited links · 15 GB · 500 MB per file
one payment, no renewals
Unlimited links · 30 GB · pay once, keep it
billed $49/yr
Unlimited links · 15 GB · billed once a year
Coming from WeTransfer, DocSend or tiiny.host? See the comparisons →
Upload a set of photos, plus the PDF or video that goes with them, and share one link anyone can open. No Google account needed to view, and your links never expire.