App facts
Keepr Circle
Link-based sharing with metered storage
No app or account to view, no ads, no AI training — and storage sold by the gigabyte, with photos stored as 1920-pixel copies unless you pay for 500 GB, and encrypted in transit and at rest but not end to end.
Just the safety question? Is Keepr Circle safe? →
Where Keepr Circle ranks
Its place on each "best for…" page — the same fifteen criteria, weighted for one situation at a time. Green is the top third of that page's ranking, red the bottom third.
Keepr Circle is a web-first family album built around links: you post, send a link, and relatives open it with nothing to install and nothing to sign up for. It makes the same no-ads, no-AI-training, no-data-selling promises as the other privacy-led apps here, and it sells storage rather than a flat subscription.
Every criterion
- Price
- Free 5 GB; storage tiers from $4.99/mo (100 GB)Free: 5 GB personal plus 10 GB shared for up to three people. Paid storage tiers: $4.99 a month for 100 GB, $7.99 for 250 GB, $12.99 for 500 GB; annual billing is two months free.[1][2]
- Do relatives have to pay?
- No — 'your whole family joins free'No — "Your whole family joins free — you only pay for the storage you share."[1]
- Storage limit
- 5 GB free; 100, 250 or 500 GB tiers; uploads pause at the capMetered. 5 GB free, then 100, 250 or 500 GB tiers. At the limit "new uploads simply pause until you free up some space or choose a larger plan".[1]
- Photos kept at full quality?
- Partly — 1920-pixel copies and 720p video on every plan; originals kept for photos only from the 500 GB tierPartly. Keepr's help centre says photos are stored "optimised for browsing — up to 1920 pixels on the long edge — and video at 720p, on every plan"; on plans of 500 GB and above ($12.99 a month) "the untouched original file your camera produced is kept alongside the browsable copy, for photos rather than videos", and only for the photos you choose. Its comparison page says "Original quality, always. No compression on any plan"; the help centre is the fine print.[3][4][5]
- Video limits
- No length limit; stored at 720p on every plan, originals not keptNo limit on length: "a five-second clip and a forty-minute school concert are both fine; the long one simply uses more of your storage". Every video is "converted to 720p, on every plan" and "video originals aren't kept on any plan".[6][3][7]
- AI or face recognition run on your photos?
- Yes — own image models index photos for search by default; switchable; no face recognitionYes. Keepr "runs its own image models on its own servers for search and duplicate detection", on by default. No face recognition, never a third-party service, nothing used to train a model, and you can switch indexing off in Profile → Privacy and delete the index.[8]
- Can the company open your photos?
- Yes — 'in transit and at rest', not end to endYes. "Encrypted in transit and at rest" — not end to end. Media "is stored in object storage and delivered through controlled access paths", and Keepr's own servers index it for search.[1][8]
- Can family look without installing an app?
- Yes — a link; 'no app or account needed just to view'Yes — "No app or account needed just to view." A shared link opens in the browser.[2]
- Do viewers need an account?
- No — to view; a free account to add photosNo, to view. Relatives who want to add their own photos "can make a free account later".[2]
- Can family add their own photos?
- Yes — per-circle controls for who adds; contributors need a free accountYes — "Per-circle controls for who views, adds and downloads"; contributors need a free account.[2]
- Can you leave with everything?
- Partly — download any time; the 1920-pixel copy unless the plan is 500 GB or morePartly. "Download your photos whenever you want, and delete the account in one click", with a 30-day grace period — but what comes back is the browsable copy unless the album is on a plan of 500 GB or more that kept the original, and video originals are never kept.[2][3][4]
- Platforms
- Web first; Android app; no App Store link on the site when checkedWeb first, with an Android app on Google Play — "No app for your family. One for you, if you want it." No App Store link was on the site when we checked.[2]
- App Store label: data used to track you
- No App Store label to read; the site says 'No ad tracking'Not stated in a label: no iPhone app was on the site when we checked, so there is no App Store label to read. The site says "No ad tracking".[2]
- How it makes money
- Storage subscriptions only — "Keepr is paid for by subscriptions, which is the whole of it."[2]
What stands out
Viewing needs nothing. “No app or account needed just to view” is the clearest version of the grandparent path among the fourteen apps. Adding photos needs a free account, and a per-circle setting decides who may add and download.
Storage is the product. 5 GB free, then 100, 250 or 500 GB tiers. When you reach the limit “new uploads simply pause until you free up some space or choose a larger plan”. Families with a lot of video will meet the tiers sooner than families with photos.
Photos are 1920-pixel copies unless you pay for 500 GB. The help centre is plain about it: photos are stored “optimised for browsing — up to 1920 pixels on the long edge — and video at 720p, on every plan”. On plans of 500 GB and above ($12.99 a month) the untouched original can be kept alongside, for the photos you choose and never for video. The comparison page’s “Original quality, always. No compression on any plan” does not match, and the help centre is the fine print.
Encrypted, but not end to end — and Keepr says so. The pricing page says “encrypted in transit and at rest”, and the security page is unusually candid: no formal certification, no published penetration test, and Keepr’s own image models run on its servers for search and duplicate detection. There is no face recognition, nothing is used to train a model, and indexing can be switched off — but the servers can read the photos, which is the definition of not end to end.
Any length of video, at 720p. No limit on length — “a forty-minute school concert” is fine — but every video is converted to 720p and the original video file is not kept.
Web first, Android second, no iPhone app found. The site links to an Android app on Google Play; no App Store link was on the site when we checked; the web app works everywhere, including, Keepr says, on a TV.
Who it suits
Families whose relatives will not install anything, who want no ads and no AI training, and who would rather pay for storage than a flat fee. Families who want the company itself to be unable to open the photos should read the encryption row and compare it with Kin Album, the one album here that holds no key.
Where next
Sources
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle — Pricing, checked 2026-09-12
Start free. Your whole family joins free — you only pay for the storage you share. Free Vault 5 GB storage · Photo Vault $4.99/month 100 GB storage · Pro Vault $7.99/month 250 GB storage · Life Archive $12.99/month 500 GB storage, print-ready file archival · Annual: 2 months free … New uploads simply pause until you free up some space or choose a larger plan … Private by design · Encrypted in transit and at rest · No ads, no AI training on your photos.
- Keepr Circle — keeprcircle.com home page, checked 2026-09-12
Private by default · No ads · No ad tracking · Never used to train AI … They open the photos straight away. They can make a free account later if they want to add their own … No download needed to view … Per-circle controls for who views, adds and downloads … Comments, reactions and full-length videos, on every plan … 5 GB personal, plus 10 GB shared for up to three people. No credit card … Take everything with you: Download your photos whenever you want, and delete the account in one click … Encrypted in transit and at rest · One-click account deletion with a 30-day grace period … Keepr is paid for by subscriptions, which is the whole of it … No app for your family. One for you, if you want it.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle Help: Photo and video quality, checked 2026-09-13
Keepr stores photos optimised for browsing — up to 1920 pixels on the long edge — and video at 720p, on every plan. On plans of 500 GB and above, the untouched original file your camera produced is kept alongside the browsable copy, for photos rather than videos … Videos are converted to 720p, on every plan … Video originals aren't kept on any plan.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle Help: Print-ready originals (last reviewed 17 Aug 2026), checked 2026-09-13
On Keepr plans of 500 GB and above, the untouched original file your camera produced can be stored alongside the browsable copy … You choose which photos keep an original … Photos, not videos … Video is stored at 720p on every plan and the original video file isn't retained.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle — FamilyAlbum vs Tinybeans comparison page (last checked 25 Jul 2026), checked 2026-09-12
What Keepr does differently: Original quality, always — No compression on any plan. The photo you upload is the photo you get back — ready for large prints or archiving … No upload limits … Zero ads, ever … No app install needed … 5 GB free to start.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle Help: Adding photos and videos, checked 2026-09-13
There's no cap on how many you can add at once and no limit on how long a video can be — a longer video simply uses more of your storage … A five-second clip and a forty-minute school concert are both fine; the long one simply uses more of your storage … Photos are optimised for browsing at up to 1920px, video at 720p.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle Help: Limits at a glance (last reviewed 29 Jul 2026), checked 2026-09-13
Keepr has no limit on video length, no cap on how many photos you can upload at once, and no limit on albums, circles or photos per album — storage is the only real ceiling.
- Keepr Circle — Keepr Circle — Security & Trust (reviewed 9 Sep 2026), checked 2026-09-12
Keepr Circle runs its own image models on its own servers for search and duplicate detection — never a third-party AI service, and nothing is used to train any model. There is no face recognition. You can switch indexing off in Profile → Privacy and delete the index it built … Media is stored in object storage and delivered through controlled access paths … Keepr Circle does not currently claim a formal security certification or a published independent penetration test.
Questions people ask
Is Keepr Circle free?
There is a free tier: 5 GB personal storage plus 10 GB shared for up to three people, no credit card. Paid tiers are storage: $4.99 a month for 100 GB, $7.99 for 250 GB, $12.99 for 500 GB, with annual billing two months cheaper. Relatives never pay — ‘you only pay for the storage you share’.
Do grandparents need an account for Keepr Circle?
No. Keepr’s home page says ‘No app or account needed just to view’ — a shared link opens in the browser. Relatives who want to add their own photos make a free account.
Is Keepr Circle end-to-end encrypted?
No. Keepr states ‘Encrypted in transit and at rest’. Its security page explains that media ‘is stored in object storage and delivered through controlled access paths’, and that Keepr runs its own image models on its own servers to index photos for search — which requires the servers to read them. Indexing can be switched off in Profile → Privacy.
Does Keepr Circle keep the original photo?
Only on plans of 500 GB and above, and only for photos. Keepr’s help centre says photos are stored ‘optimised for browsing — up to 1920 pixels on the long edge — and video at 720p, on every plan’; on 500 GB and up the untouched original can be kept alongside, for the photos you choose, never for video. Its comparison page’s ‘Original quality, always’ is not what the help centre says.
Does Keepr Circle have an iPhone app?
Not one we could find. The site says ‘No app for your family. One for you, if you want it’ and links to an Android app on Google Play; no App Store link was on the site when we checked. The web app works in any browser.