The European alternative to Google Photos
Google Photos is easy: you take a photo and it ends up in the cloud by itself. Ohhi does that too, but your photos stay in Europe and are never used to train AI. And Ohhi is made for sharing: grandma, grandpa and the rest of the family follow along for free.
Free account with 1 GB to share · more storage from €6 a year · no credit card required
Your photo library holds your children's first years, your holidays and sometimes the last photos of someone who is no longer here. At Ohhi those photos are kept on servers in the EU, at a Dutch company that earns its money from subscriptions, not from your data. So nothing needs to happen to your photos except what you want: keeping them, and sharing them with the people you care about.
Where you notice the difference
| What matters | Ohhi | Google Photos |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic phone backup | Yes, to a private archive only you can see | Yes, to your Google account |
| Where your photos are kept | On servers in the EU, at a Dutch company, under European law | At Google, an American company that is subject to the US CLOUD Act, among other laws |
| What happens to your photos | Only what helps you search: tags, and faces if you turn that on. Never AI training. | Google analyses them for search, grouping and suggestions |
| Sharing with family | With your own circle: albums, a shared timeline and reactions, for the people you invite | Per album or via a link; your library can be shared with one person |
| What you get to see | What your family shares, in order, with no algorithm choosing for you | Your own library, with memories that Google puts together automatically |
| Quality | With 'Keep originals' your originals are kept, and always in your archive | In Storage saver mode, photos and videos are compressed |
| Switching | You put that export in your private archive, capture dates included | You export your library with Google Takeout |
Why people switch
Usually there isn't one big reason. The free 15 GB fills up, and if you are going to pay anyway, you also want to know where your photos are kept and what happens to them. Or you realise that your children's photos sit in a library that Google analyses, however handy that search is.
And often it comes down to family. Grandma and grandpa want to see photos of the grandchildren, and that has to be as easy for them as it is for you. On Ohhi they create a free account and see everything you share with them in one place, newest first, with room for a reaction.
How to take your photos with you
Your photos aren't locked in at Google. With Google Takeout you request an export, and on Ohhi's import page you put it in your private archive, with the capture dates from Google's files. If you do it again later, only what was still missing is added. After that, new photos come in by themselves with the phone backup in the app. What you want to share with family, you post whenever it suits you; it doesn't all have to happen on the first evening.
Share with people, not with algorithms
We didn't rebuild Google Photos, and that is a deliberate choice. There is no algorithm deciding what you see, there are no ads and we don't train AI on your photos. What you do get are albums you share with the people you invite, reactions from your own circle, a map of your trips and a private archive for everything you aren't sharing yet. One subscription can be shared with up to six accounts, grandparents included.
Also read: why we never train AI on your photos
How it works: back up your phone's photos automatically
Frequently asked questions
Is Ohhi a full alternative to Google Photos?
For storing, organising and sharing family photos and videos: yes. The iPhone and Android apps automatically back up your phone to a private archive, and you bring in your Google Photos library with Google Takeout. You also get albums to share with family, a map view of your trips and, with a Pro or Max subscription, optional face clustering for your own photos. What we deliberately don't rebuild is the rest of the Google ecosystem.
Does Ohhi back up my phone automatically?
Yes. In the iPhone and Android app you turn on the phone backup in the archive. New photos and videos then go to your private archive on their own, on Wi-Fi only if you like. Nobody else sees them; you choose what to share with family. What the backup brought in once and you then delete on Ohhi, it doesn't put back.
How do I get my photos out of Google Photos?
Request an export of Google Photos in Google Takeout, unzip the zip files into one folder and pick that folder on Ohhi's import page, in the browser on a computer. By default everything goes privately into your archive, with the capture dates from Google's files; whatever was in the trash stays behind. A location stored in the photo itself comes along; places and names that Google added do not.
Does Ohhi analyse my photos?
Only for you. Ohhi adds tags itself, such as beach or snow, so you can find your photos again; that computing happens on our own servers. Face clustering is off by default, can be switched on with a Pro or Max subscription and then works exclusively within your own account. Your photos are never used to train AI models and never shared with third parties.
What does Ohhi cost?
An account is free and comes with 1 GB of storage to share your own photos and videos. Text posts are always free, even when your storage is full. More storage starts at €6 per year, and one subscription can be shared with up to six accounts.
Can my family watch for free?
Yes. An account costs nothing and lets them watch, react and share 1 GB of their own. So you don't have to convince anyone to pay before they can see your album.
Google Photos, Google One and Google Takeout are trademarks of Google LLC. Ohhi is not affiliated with Google. The comparison above is based on public information about both services and was last checked in October 2026.