Two philosophies ofthe same right idea.
Glint and WedUploader agree on the thing most photo-sharing apps get wrong: your guests' photos belong in your own Google Drive, not on someone's platform. Both deliver files there, with no app and no login for guests. The difference is what surrounds that upload. WedUploader's pricing page sells its shared gallery and live slideshow in one $49 premium package and no longer shows a free tier, though its blog still describes free collection. Every Glint plan, the free one included, takes photos and videos at original quality and comes with the live dashboard and upload engineering built for venue wifi. One flat $29 Event Pass adds unlimited uploads, 12 months of access, the shared guest gallery, the full-screen slideshow for the event screen and the full QR designer, for less than WedUploader's package. This page compares the two honestly, because either way you keep your photos.
By Hashim Salem, founder of Glint · Updated
Let us say it plainly, because this page's honesty depends on it: WedUploader also sends guest files to the couple's own Google Drive, so nothing it collects expires. That is not a competitor being adequate. That is a competitor getting the architecture right, the same architecture we built Glint on, and couples who choose them will own their photos too.
Their guests upload without an app or a login, and their pricing is refreshingly simple: one package, which they call The Limitless WedUploader Experience, at $49 one-time for all your albums. It holds the shared gallery, the live slideshow, a guestbook, guest voicemails and moderation, and lists unlimited photo and video uploads to your Google Drive in original quality; a seating chart for $19 is the one add-on, and it requires the package. One caveat we owe you: that pricing page no longer shows a free tier at all, although their blog and feature pages still describe free collection, and none of those pages states a free cap, so ask them before you count on it.
So the choice between Glint and WedUploader is not the usual platform-versus-ownership decision. It is a choice between two philosophies of the same right idea: one $49 premium package that wraps wedding extras around the album, or one product engineered for the reception itself, free to start, with everything in one $29 Event Pass.
| What matters | Glint | WedUploader |
|---|---|---|
| Where your files land | Your own Google Drive, in a folder for each event, each file named by the date and time it arrived, with the guest’s name when they give one, at original quality on every plan, the free one included; Glint stores none of the photos or videos | Your own Google Drive; original quality is listed with its $49 premium package |
| Guest experience | Scan a QR code or open the link in the phone's own browser; no app, no account, no Google account; iPhone HEIC photos upload as untouched originals; on Android, one tap out of Instagram's or Facebook's in-app browser | Upload with no app or login |
| Free tier | Up to 50 photo and video uploads over 30 days, at original quality and kept in your own Drive for good, with the live dashboard included | None on its pricing page; its blog and feature pages still describe free collection, cap not stated |
| Price | A one-time $29 Event Pass per event, with unlimited uploads and 12 months of access, flat at any guest count; or the Event Bundle, 3 events for $45, with slots that never expire | One-time $49 premium package, which unlocks its premium features for all your albums; a $19 seating chart add-on requires it |
| Guest video | Every plan, the free one included: MP4, MOV and WebM through the same page and QR code as photos, 500 MB per file by default, up to 1.5 GB if you raise it for your event | In its $49 premium package |
| Live host dashboard | Included on every event: realtime dashboard and feed as uploads arrive, grouped by guest with their names and messages, with upload stats and a Drive storage meter | Its album gallery, which its pricing page says displays everyone's photos and videos in real time, comes in the $49 premium package; a separate host dashboard is not verified |
| A gallery guests can browse | With the $29 Event Pass: its own link, streamed from your Drive rather than a copy we keep, with view-and-upload or view-only access once you open it, an optional 4 to 6 digit access code, hearts and full-quality downloads | In the $49 premium package |
| Live slideshow | Included in the $29 Event Pass: runs in any browser on a TV or projector, shows a new upload about twenty seconds after a guest sends it while photos are flowing (up to a minute or so in a lull), and you set 5, 8 or 12 seconds a photo, can show photos only or play videos in full, and can show guests' names, messages and the QR code | In the $49 premium package |
| QR styling | Every event: a print-ready QR code as PNG and SVG, in the Elegant style on the free plan; the $29 Event Pass adds the full designer (four presets, four dot shapes, three corner styles, custom colors and a center logo); plus the free QR sign maker for a print-ready 5 x 7 or 4 x 6 inch sign at 300 dpi, no account needed | QR code and sign templates and a premium QR template library, all in its $49 premium package |
| Upload engineering | Files over 4 MB sent in 4 MB resumable pieces, each retried up to four times and resumed from the last byte Google Drive confirmed; progress saved on the phone across a reload; the screen kept awake while uploads run; 500 MB per file by default, up to 1.5 GB if you raise it for your event | No resumable-upload detail or per-file limit published on its pricing page |
| Extras | On every plan, the free one included: guest names with messages of up to 500 characters, a cover image and custom link, and hiding or deleting any upload. The $29 Event Pass adds custom colors for the guest page and gallery and no Glint branding on the guest upload page; a hidden upload stays off the Pass's shared gallery and live slideshow | In its $49 premium package: a private digital guestbook for guest captions and messages, guest voicemails, a choice of which photos to display or keep private, custom album colors and a personalized album link; a $19 seating chart add-on requires that package |
Competitor details come from WedUploader's own pricing page, the price feed that page loads, its feature pages and its blog, read in our re-check and in follow-up reads since, except where a cell or sentence says otherwise. Plans change - always confirm on their site.
WedUploader now sells one premium package, with a seating chart priced separately on top. Glint's difference is where the work goes: into the upload itself and the day it happens. These are the differences that decide which philosophy fits you.
The live dashboard is the product, not an add-on
Every Glint event includes a realtime dashboard and feed: photos and videos appear the moment guests upload them, grouped by guest with their names and messages, during the reception and in the quiet days after. That is your view as the host, and it is separate from the shared gallery your guests browse, which sits on a link of its own and, like the live slideshow for a screen at the event, comes with the one-time $29 Event Pass. WedUploader puts its shared gallery and live slideshow in its $49 premium package. Glint simply considers watching your own photos arrive to be the point, not an upgrade.
Upload engineering built for venue wifi
Weddings happen in stone barns, basements, and gardens at the edge of coverage. On every event, Glint sends each file over 4 MB in 4 MB resumable pieces, retries each piece automatically up to four times, and restarts a piece that stalls, so a dropped connection resumes from the last byte Google Drive confirmed instead of starting over. It accepts files up to 500 MB by default, a limit the host can raise per event to 1.5 GB. Progress is saved on the phone, so a page that reloads mid-upload carries on with every file the phone can still hand back and asks the guest to add again any file it has let go of, and the page asks the phone to keep its screen on while uploads run. The guest experience is that uploads simply finish.
QR styling designed to be framed
Every Glint event gets a print-ready QR code as a PNG or SVG, in the Elegant style on the free plan, and the one-time $29 Event Pass opens the full designer: four presets, four dot shapes, three corner styles, your own colors and a center logo such as your monogram, exported as a print-ready PNG or a scalable SVG for your stationer. For the sign itself, Glint's free QR sign maker, with no account needed, lays your link out as a print-ready 5 x 7 or 4 x 6 inch sign at 300 dpi. WedUploader's $49 premium package includes QR code and sign templates and a premium QR template library.
One price, everything in it
Glint's free plan collects up to 50 photo and video uploads over 30 days and already includes the live dashboard, original quality and delivery to your own Google Drive. A single one-time $29 Event Pass unlocks the rest for one event, with no per-feature checkout: unlimited uploads and 12 months of access, the shared gallery, the live slideshow, the full QR designer, custom colors on the guest page and gallery, and no Glint branding on the guest upload page, flat at any guest count. A host with several events can take the Event Bundle instead: 3 events for $45, with slots that never expire. WedUploader's pricing page sells one $49 premium package, paid once, with a $19 seating chart add-on that requires it, so for one event the Pass costs less.
The same respect for your ownership
On the deepest point, the two products agree. Your files go to your own Google Drive rather than onto a platform's servers, and every file arrives at original quality. Glint stores none of the photos or videos, keeps only the details needed to run your event, and connects with Google's drive.file permission, one of the most limited permissions Google offers, so it sees only the files and folders it creates. If you choose WedUploader over Glint, you have still chosen the right architecture, and we mean that.
If you are still mapping the whole landscape, from shared albums to hashtags, start with our guide on how to collect wedding photos. And because video is where uploads most often fail, the guide to collecting wedding videos explains what the resumable engineering is actually for.
You want to pay nothing at all. WedUploader's pricing page no longer shows a free tier, but its blog and feature pages still describe free collection. Because WedUploader delivers into your own Google Drive, nothing it collects expires. None of those pages states a free cap, so ask them before you count on it, and weigh whatever they answer against Glint's free plan: up to 50 photo and video uploads over 30 days, every file at original quality in your own Drive, where the files never expire.
You want the wedding extras. Guest voicemails, a guestbook, event managers who can help run the album, a way to choose which photos to display or keep private, and a seating chart. WedUploader's $49 premium package holds all of them but the seating chart, which is a $19 add-on that requires the package. Glint has no voicemails, event managers or seating chart. What every Glint event has is a note guests can add to their uploads: their name and a message of up to 500 characters, a field that is on by default and that you can switch off. Names and messages appear beside their photos on your live dashboard, and with the $29 Event Pass in the shared gallery and as full-screen quote cards on the live slideshow. You can hide any upload from the gallery and the slideshow after it arrives.
You are collecting for many events. WedUploader's one-time $49 package unlocks its premium features for all your albums, and its pricing page offers unlimited albums, so an engagement party, a shower and the wedding itself can share one purchase. Glint prices per event: a $29 Event Pass covers one for less than their package, and the Event Bundle covers 3 for $45, still under their single purchase, with slots that never expire.
Choose Glint when the reception itself is the risk you care about: a room full of phones on struggling wifi, videos worth keeping, and a live feed you want to watch as it happens. The resumable uploads, original-quality video and live dashboard that answer all three come on every Glint plan, the free one included, and a one-time $29 Event Pass adds the shared gallery, the live slideshow and the full QR designer, for less than WedUploader's $49 package.
Trying Glint costs nothing and commits you to nothing, so the honest advice is to set up both, upload a few photos from your own phone, and keep whichever feels right in the hand.
Create your event
Sign in and set up your wedding in a couple of minutes. Glint builds the private upload page your guests will use, with its own cover photo and custom link on every event, and creates a folder for the event in your own Google Drive where everything will land.
Style your QR code
Every event comes with a print-ready QR code as a PNG or a crisp SVG, in the Elegant style on the free plan. The one-time $29 Event Pass opens the full designer: four presets, your own colors, four dot shapes, three corner styles and a center logo such as your monogram.
Print it where guests will look
A welcome sign, the table cards, the back of the menu. Glint's free QR sign maker, with no account needed, lays your event link out as a print-ready 5 x 7 inch welcome sign or 4 x 6 inch table card at 300 dpi. Wherever the code goes, print the short link underneath so anyone whose camera will not scan can type it in instead.
Watch everything arrive
Guests scan, tap, and upload from their camera roll, no app and no login. Files land in your Drive at original quality and appear on your live dashboard at the same moment.
Start on the free plan: one event, up to 50 photo and video uploads and 30 days of access. If your guests will send more, a one-time $29 Event Pass upgrades that same event in place, keeping its link and QR code, with unlimited uploads, 12 months of access from the day you create the event, the shared gallery, the live slideshow and the full QR designer, and no subscription. Hosting several events? The Event Bundle is 3 events for $45, and its slots never expire. The pricing page has the current details.
Is Glint a good alternative to WedUploader?
Yes, if you want the same ownership, with the shared gallery and live slideshow for less than WedUploader's package. Glint (glint.pics) and WedUploader share the architecture that matters most: guest photos and videos are delivered into your own Google Drive, with no app and no login for guests, so the files never expire with either. Glint's free plan takes up to 50 photo and video uploads over 30 days, every file at original quality, with the live dashboard included, and a one-time $29 Event Pass, flat at any guest count, unlocks unlimited uploads, 12 months of access, the shared gallery, the live slideshow and the full QR designer. A host with several events can take the Event Bundle, 3 events for $45, still under WedUploader's one package, with slots that never expire. WedUploader's pricing page sells one $49 premium package, paid once for all your albums, that holds its shared gallery, live slideshow, guestbook, guest voicemails and moderation, plus a seating chart for $19 more that requires the package first. On every Glint event, guests can add their name and a message of up to 500 characters to their uploads, shown to you on the live dashboard, and you can hide or delete any upload. Glint's uploads are also engineered for venue wifi: large files travel in resumable pieces that pick up where a dropped connection left off. If guest voicemails or a seating chart matter most to you, WedUploader sells both.
Do both Glint and WedUploader really send photos to my own Google Drive?
Yes. Glint and WedUploader both deliver guest uploads into the host's own Google Drive rather than hosting them, which we think is the correct architecture for wedding photos, and WedUploader deserves real credit for building on it. Glint connects with Google's drive.file permission, one of the most limited permissions Google offers, so it can see only the files and folders it creates, never the rest of your Drive, and Glint itself stores none of your guests' photos or videos. The comparison between the two is not about where your photos end up. It is about what surrounds the upload: what is included, how the upload itself is engineered, and how each product is priced.
Is WedUploader free?
Not on its pricing page any more. That page sells one premium package, which WedUploader calls The Limitless WedUploader Experience, at $49 one-time for all your albums: it holds the shared gallery, the live slideshow, a guestbook, guest voicemails and moderation, and lists unlimited photo and video uploads to your Google Drive in original quality, with a seating chart for $19 more that requires the package first. The page no longer shows a free tier at all, although WedUploader's blog and feature pages still describe free collection, and none of those pages states a free cap, so ask them before you plan a whole wedding around it. Because WedUploader delivers into your own Google Drive, nothing it collects expires, and guests upload without an app or a login. Glint (glint.pics) delivers into your own Google Drive with no app or login for guests too, and its free plan is on its pricing page with the limits stated: up to 50 photo and video uploads over 30 days, every file at original quality in your own Drive. We read these WedUploader details on WedUploader's own pricing page, the price feed that page loads, its feature pages and its blog, in our October 13, 2026 re-check and in follow-up reads since; plans change, so always confirm on their site.
Is Glint free?
Glint's free plan covers one event with up to 50 photo and video uploads and 30 days of access from the day you create it, and it already includes the live dashboard, original quality, video and HEIC, a print-ready QR code as PNG or SVG, a cover image and custom link, and hiding and deleting uploads. The one-time $29 Event Pass covers one event with unlimited uploads and 12 months of access from the day you create it, plus the shared guest gallery, the full-screen slideshow for your event screen, the full QR designer, custom colors on the guest page and gallery and no Glint branding on the guest upload page, paid once with no subscription, no per-feature checkout and the same price at any guest count. A free event upgrades to the Pass in place, keeping its link and QR code. The Event Bundle is 3 Event Passes for $45, $15 an event, and its slots never expire. Because every file lands in your own Google Drive, there is never a separate storage bill from us, and the files never expire. Current details are on the pricing page.
What does Glint include that WedUploader charges for?
The live realtime dashboard and feed, where you watch photos and videos arrive as guests upload them, grouped by guest with their names and messages, is part of every Glint event, the free plan included. WedUploader's pricing page shows no free tier and puts its shared gallery and live slideshow in its $49 premium package, paid once for all your albums. On Glint those are two surfaces of their own, separate from the host dashboard and from each other: the shared gallery your guests browse on their own phones, and the full-screen live slideshow for a TV or projector at the event. Both arrive with the one-time $29 Event Pass, along with unlimited uploads, the full QR designer and your own colors on the guest page and gallery, for less than WedUploader's package. WedUploader's package also includes a guestbook, guest voicemails and moderation. Glint takes no voice messages, but on every plan guests can add their name and a message to what they upload, and you can hide any upload after it arrives, which keeps it off the gallery and the slideshow once you have them.
What happens on weak venue wifi?
This is where Glint has invested most, and it works the same on every event. Uploads are built for weddings on venue wifi: anything over 4 MB travels in 4 MB resumable pieces, each retried automatically up to four times, and a piece that stalls is restarted rather than left hanging, so a large file cut off when a guest walks out of coverage resumes from the last byte Google Drive confirmed instead of starting over. Progress is saved on the phone, so after a reload Glint carries on with every file the phone can still hand back and asks the guest to add again any file the phone has let go of, and the page asks the phone to keep its screen on while uploads run. Files up to 500 MB each are accepted by default, a limit the host can raise per event to 1.5 GB.
Can guests upload videos too?
Yes, with both, on different terms. Glint (glint.pics) takes guest videos on every plan, the free one included, through the same page and QR code as photos, up to 500 MB per file by default and 1.5 GB if you raise it for your event, which covers full toasts and long dance-floor clips, and every video lands in your own Google Drive at original quality. WedUploader lists unlimited photo and video uploads to your Google Drive in its $49 premium package, and its pricing page shows no free tier. Because large files are exactly where connections fail, Glint's resumable engineering matters most here. Our guide to collecting wedding videos goes deeper on why video is the hardest media to gather.
See how every option stacks up in the honest 2026 comparison of wedding photo apps, or read the GuestPix comparison next.
