AI powered media galleries have taken the world of photo sharing by storm. Among the various cloud based photo and media sharing solutions, AI powered galleries with the use of facial recognition to easily find your photos by uploading a selfie, has made it super easy to share photos in an event with lots of people without compromising security.
While Google Photos is a generic media sharing platform, platforms like Smugmug, Pixieset, Shootproof, Zenfolios etc, are aimed at professional photographers. While these media storage platforms provide a host of services these galleries are not able to meet the privacy and auto tagging features needed for events. Enter the new age AI galleries like Samaro, Algo Premagic and Kiwicpic which have revolutionised media sharing in events by storm. The host doesn't want all the guests to see all the photos as there are many photos which are sensitive in nature for eg. in a wedding the host will not be interested in giving all guests access to their couple photos, crazy and embarrassing cocktail photos and photos of womenfolk and children in their family. However the guests and relatives still look forward to receiving their photos and videos. This is where auto filtering photos with people’s specific photos featuring their face by taking a selfie from the user and identifying their photos solves this big problem for need of privacy and manual effort is sorting images by faces. From school and college events like Convocations, Batch Snaps, Sports festivals etc to Weddings, Corporate and Cultural events facial recognition based media galleries are becoming increasingly popular. It has even reached large events of National importance like G20, Ram temple inauguration and even political campaigns. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often seen talking about his Namo App which has facial recognition to give people photos clicked with Mr Modi.
Two notable contenders in this arena are Samaro and Algo. Let us see how the two compare.
UI-UX and Gallery Design
Responsive & Device support: Samaro boasts a modern, responsive design built on progressive web app technology. This ensures compatibility across all devices, from mobile phones to desktops. The user interface for both admin and client is intuitive, responsive and visually appealing. On the other hand the admin interface of Algo isn't responsive on high resolution screens and doesn't utilise the full width of the screen for eg. on retina, 2K and 4K screens. Furthermore, the admin interface is not responsive for mobile screens which make it difficult to configure the galleries on the move.
Gallery themes and customisation: While both Samaro and Algo offer multiple gallery display options for eg. justified grids, vertical and horizontal arrangements, and different grid sizes Samaro has more options for customizing the look of the gallery with color themes and font options with 9 color themes and 15 font combinations while algomage offers white and black color themes and no opton to change fonts.
Native App experience: Samaro can be used like a native application by installing it on your device home screen of your mobile, tablet or even desktop. Once installed the App icon appears on your device and it opens full screen without any browser navigation for an immersive experience. Algo also provides dedicated mobile applications that photographers can whitelist and use to distribute to their clients. As of publishing of this article a mobile app for admins is not yet available on play store or App store.
TV support:
Through Samaro its very easy to create stunning experiences for your clients by allowing them to view the media on Smart TV. Clients and other users can just type Samaro.ai on TV browser and use the Whatsapp login option to see media. This is faster than installing a dedicated app for TV which first needs to be downloaded, then installed and then logged in. Creating such unique viewing experience on large screens is a great USP of Samaro. In comparison Algo would require typing the whole url which is not convenient on TV.
2. Video and AI Photo Sharing:
Native Video support: Samaro supports native 4K video sharing, allowing for high-quality video uploads up to 5GB. Algo lacks native video support, relying on YouTube and Vimeo embedding.
File size limits: No plan based limits on media sharing in Samaro. Samaro supports 30 MB/photo and 5GB/video on all plans. Algo has plan based limits on photos size uploads.
Support for different file formats:
Samaro supports a wider variety of file types like jpg, png, heif, webp whereas Algo supports only jpg and jpeg.
Samaro supports gif in cover images which makes the galleries come alive and creates compelling presentation. We didn't find any gif support in Algo.
Guest media collection:
Samaro’s WhatsApp bot makes media sharing very convenient where even guest can share media simply by sharing with Samaro Whatsapp Bot or upload directly to Samaro App. On the contrary with no support for heif and heic file Guests cannot upload media in these file formats, as most phone cameras today save images in heic and heif format. Also no native support for video will require guest to share videos via other ways which defeats the purpose of media collection via guests.
Media Downloads:
Along with downloads in original quality Samaro also provides image file downloads in webp format that are highly optimised for size without compromising on quality. Photographers who blog their work can take advantage of webp files to make their files faster. Why use WEBP?
Algo provides image downloads in web size and orginal file size but no webp downloads. Both provide functionality to turn off downloads to prevent delay in payments from clients.
3. User Roles and Collaboration
Samaro: Samaro offers a highly collaborative environment where photographers, event planners, and hosts can all participate actively. Different user roles such as Owner, Co-host, and Guest provide varied levels of access and control. This collaboration extends to guests, who can share photos via WhatsApp without needing to log in. The users are also prompted with event reminders and nudges to share media on Whatsapp which increases media sharing and brings active engagement to the event.Even guests can control the privacy of media on Samaro where they feature. Samaro also provides Team collaboration where you can give members of your team access to your Samaro business account with their own email id instead of sharing the same login credential. This is great for security and auditing.
Algo: Algo provides co-admin at event level to give clients admin access to event. Guests however cannot control the privacy of any photos that they upload to the platform and the photos have to be approved by the photographer. Algo doesn't provide Team collaboration at account level. Same login credentials have to be shared with everyone.
4. Pricing and Cost of Ownership
Samaro offers 5 plans : 100GB, 500GB, 1 TB, 2TB and 8TB storage that are more versatile compared to Algo three plans. Samaro turns out to be cheaper for 100GB, 500GB and 8TB plan compared to Algo. Moreover the cost of ownership is lower compared to Algo with following features.
Event Transfer: Once the event is done a business can transfer the event to the personal account of the client, which frees up storage in the business account by downgrading the Business to Co-host and upgrading the client to owner. The client then pays Rs 20/GB/year for the event. This allows everyone to have access the event and the business (photographer/event planner) doesn't need to delete the event to save storage.
Common QR Codes: Save costs by using a single QR code for multiple events. Along with event specific QR codes, Samaro also offers a common QR code that can be used for all events. This results into huge cost savings by avoiding the need to print different QR code posters for every event.
Algo pricing is not publicly available and the above data is gathered based on information conveyed by their sales team and purchases made by Algo users.
5. Prints Store and Gallery monetisation Algo offers print store on every photo and users can order prints directly from the gallery. On the other hand Samaro plans to provide monetisation on photo downloads where if Photographers like they can charge for photo downloads with a payment wall. For latest feature updates you can follow Samaro instagram @samaroai
6. Post sales support Both Samaro and Algo provide active support. The support team is available both on calls and emails. This kind of support is not even provided by many other photo sharing companies like Pixieset, Smugmug and one is limited to contact them only on email and support forums.
Additional Features
Samaro:
Digital Invites: Allows event planners to send out invites with RSVP options and manage guest lists.
Smart WhatsApp Bot: Facilitates guest engagement and media sharing without requiring login.
Instant Engagement: Guests can share media in real-time, fostering conversations and engagement.
Transfer Events: Transfer event data to clients post-event to save storage.
Algo:
Facial Recognition: Helps guests find their photos by uploading a selfie.
Client Proofing: Allows clients to select favourite images.
While both Samaro and Algo have their strengths, one should choose the platform that best fit their requirements. Disclaimer: All the facts mentioned in this article are gathered based on analysis done as of date Aug 12, 2020. Features are subject to be updated. Kindly check with respective platforms for the latest features. When choosing a platform, best way is to create trial account and put them to your own test and go with the one which gives best experience.
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