Tinybeans alternatives in 2026: 7 private family apps compared

By Zara, co-founder of Dear Moment. Prices and policies checked on 24 September 2026.

We make Dear Moment, so we're not neutral. Every fact about another app links to a source, usually the app's own pages, and we say where each app beats ours. If something is out of date, email hello@dearmoment.app and we'll fix it.

Why families are leaving Tinybeans

• The price nearly doubled. In 2023 Tinybeans+ went from $39.99 to $74.99 a year, and from $4.99 to $7.99 a month (Tinybeans FY24 results). Its CEO later described being "a bit horrified" by the size of the rise, and explained that ad revenue had become too uncertain to rely on (Mi-3 interview).
• The free plan is small. It allows 20 uploads a month and 5GB of storage, and it shows ads around your journal (Tinybeans help).
• Paying doesn't remove every ad. Tinybeans+ removes ads in the app, but Tinybeans' own articles and marketing emails continue (Tinybeans help).

To be fair to Tinybeans, it still does some things well: a milestone tracker with over 300 milestones, daily or weekly email updates for family, voice notes on Tinybeans+, and a long track record. If those matter most to you, staying may be the right call.

At a glance

"Not advertised" and "Not stated" mean we could not find it on the app's own pages. It does not prove the feature is missing. Sources for every row are listed at the end.

The 7 alternatives

Dear Moment: best for a private family diary with voice notes

Dear Moment is a diary more than a photo feed. You save the moments worth keeping as photos, videos (up to 3 minutes), written notes or voice notes, and voice notes are transcribed for you. Family members each get a private link, need no app or account, and can get an email digest every week, every two weeks or every month.

• Price: $5.99/month or $39.99/year; £5.99 or £39.99; €6.99 or €39.99. 14-day free trial.
• Good: no ads on any plan, data stored in the EU, never used to train AI, and a lower yearly price than the paid plans of Tinybeans, FamilyAlbum, TinyNest and Keepr Circle.
• Watch out for: no free plan after the trial; photo books are still coming; no milestone tracker; export is by request to our support team. It is a newer app than the others.

FamilyAlbum: best free replacement if you accept ads

FamilyAlbum is the most popular free choice. It stores unlimited photos and videos on its free plan and makes short recap movies. Family can view and comment in a browser without installing the app.

• Price: Premium Family $5.99/month or $59/year; Premium Family Pro $10.99/month or $109/year (UK £54.99 and £104.99 a year; euro €54.99 and €104.99).
• Good: generous free plan, milestones and journals on paid plans, and prints.
• Watch out for: third-party ads on the free plan; bulk download needs Premium Family Pro; its privacy policy lists data transfers to the US, Japan and China.

Google Photos: best if your family already uses Google

A shared album in Google Photos is free, and anyone with the link can view it. It is a photo library rather than a family journal, with no milestones or email digests.

• Price: 15GB free per account; Google One 100GB costs $19.99/year (£15.99, €19.99).
• Good: cheap, fast, and search works well. Google says it doesn't use your Photos content for ads.
• Watch out for: your family photos sit alongside screenshots and everything else. Google says it doesn't train generative AI models outside Google Photos with your Photos data, but features inside Photos do use it.

Apple Shared Albums: best if everyone has an iPhone

Shared Albums are built into Photos on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Family can also join and view on the web without an Apple Account.

• Price: albums are free; iCloud+ storage is sold monthly from $0.99.
• Good: nothing to install for Apple users; Apple says private personal data is not used to train its foundation models.
• Watch out for: since 14 September 2026, shared albums you own on iOS 27 or later count towards your iCloud storage. Albums on iOS 26 or earlier don't count towards storage but hold at most 5,000 items.

TinyNest: best free plan for photos with no ads

TinyNest is a newer app focused on babies and young children. It sorts photos by your child's age and can block screenshots.

• Price: free for unlimited photos; paid "Family Unlimited Access" is $79.99 (£79.99, €89.99), and it is needed for videos.
• Good: no ads; says it never sells or licenses your content for AI training.
• Watch out for: family must download the app to view; the highest paid price here; its privacy policy doesn't say where data is stored.

Keepr Circle: best for EU storage on a budget

Keepr Circle is a private photo vault with share links that open with no account. It stores data in Amsterdam by default.

• Price: 5GB free; paid plans from $4.16/month billed yearly, charged in US dollars everywhere.
• Good: no ads on any plan, says it never uses your photos to train AI, free export on every plan.
• Watch out for: it's a storage vault more than a family journal; voice notes are not advertised.

23snaps: a long-standing ad-free option

23snaps is a private family album from a London company, with daily or weekly email summaries for family and milestone features.

• Price: monthly subscriptions are available, but prices are not shown on its App Store listing.
• Good: "ad-free forever"; you can export photos and videos at any time.
• Watch out for: its privacy policy dates from 2012 and does not mention AI.

Privacy: who uses your photos, and where they are stored

Prices in the UK and Europe

From the UK and Irish App Stores. Euro prices can differ slightly between countries.

How to leave Tinybeans without losing anything

1. Export before you cancel. Bulk export needs Tinybeans+. On the free plan you can only save items one at a time, so if you're still subscribed, export first.
2. Use the Tinybeans website. Log in at tinybeans.com, open your name, then Journal details, and find the export option at the bottom of the page. Only the journal owner or a follower with Full Access can export.
3. Ask for 3 years or less at a time. Tinybeans recommends this. Pick a date range and repeat for older years.
4. Watch your inbox. Tinybeans emails the download links, one per month of photos. They expire after 5 days, can land in spam or Promotions, and may not work with an ad blocker on.
5. Save the captions you care about. Tinybeans' help page doesn't say whether captions and comments are included in the export, so copy or screenshot the ones that matter.
6. Consider downgrading instead of deleting. If you drop to the free plan, your newest photos within the 5GB limit stay visible, and Tinybeans archives the older ones.
7. Start fresh in your new app. Keep the export as your archive, and add the moments you care most about to your new app.

Steps from Tinybeans' export guide and downgrade guide, checked 24 September 2026.

Which one should you choose?

• You want an ad-free private diary with voice notes, for about half the price of Tinybeans+: Dear Moment.
• You want free and don't mind ads: FamilyAlbum.
• You want free and everyone uses the same phone system: Google Photos or Apple Shared Albums.
• Grandparents won't install anything: Dear Moment, FamilyAlbum, Google Photos, Apple Shared Albums or Keepr Circle. All work from a link.
• You want your data in the EU and never used for AI: Dear Moment or Keepr Circle.
• You rely on the milestone tracker: stay with Tinybeans, or use FamilyAlbum's paid Personal Pages.

Questions

Why did Tinybeans raise its prices?

In 2023 Tinybeans raised Tinybeans+ from $4.99 to $7.99 a month and from $39.99 to $74.99 a year. Its CEO later explained that advertising revenue, which had paid for the free app, had become too unreliable to depend on.

Is there a free Tinybeans alternative?

Yes. FamilyAlbum's free plan has unlimited photo and video storage, with ads. Google Photos gives every Google account 15GB free, and Apple iCloud Shared Albums are free to create. TinyNest's free plan covers photos with no ads. Dear Moment has a 14-day free trial but no free plan after it.

How do I export my photos from Tinybeans?

Export needs a Tinybeans+ subscription and the Tinybeans website. Go to your name, then Journal details, then the export option at the bottom of the page. Ask for no more than 3 years at a time. Tinybeans emails download links, which expire after 5 days. On the free plan you can only save items one at a time.

Which Tinybeans alternative is best for grandparents?

Choose an app that grandparents can open from a link, with no app to install and no account. Dear Moment, FamilyAlbum, Google Photos, Apple Shared Albums and Keepr Circle all allow this. Dear Moment, Tinybeans and 23snaps also send email updates, so grandparents don't have to go looking for new photos.

Which family photo apps don't use your photos to train AI?

Dear Moment and Keepr Circle say they never use your photos to train AI models. Apple says private personal data is not used to train its foundation models. Google says it doesn't train generative AI models outside Google Photos with your Photos data. Tinybeans, FamilyAlbum, TinyNest and 23snaps do not give a clear answer in their privacy policies.

Is there a Tinybeans alternative for families in the UK or Europe?

Dear Moment and Keepr Circle store data in the EU. Dear Moment costs £39.99 or €39.99 a year, compared with £69.99 or €79.99 for Tinybeans+. FamilyAlbum, Google Photos, Apple and TinyNest are available in the UK and EU, but their privacy policies describe storing or transferring data outside Europe.

Sources

• Tinybeans: Tinybeans+ price and features, free plan limits, ads on Tinybeans+, privacy policy, email updates, App Store (UK, Ireland)
• FamilyAlbum: plans, privacy policy, browser viewing, bulk download, App Store (UK, Ireland)
• Google Photos: Google One plans, AI and your Photos data, ads, sharing by link, UK and Irish prices
• Apple: iCloud+ prices, Shared Albums storage change, viewing on the web, privacy policy
• TinyNest: home page, terms, privacy policy, App Store
• Keepr Circle: home page, pricing, privacy policy
• 23snaps: privacy and security, privacy policy, export, getting started, App Store
• Tinybeans price rise: FY24 results, Mi-3 interview with the CEO
• Dear Moment: pricing and FAQ, privacy policy, full comparison with Tinybeans, FamilyAlbum and TinyNest