Kin Album

Where Kin Album 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.

Kin Album is made by Cobblestone, LLC, the company that owns this site. It appears here because it belongs in the comparison, and it is held to exactly the criteria applied to the other thirteen apps — the methodology and the disclosure explain how. Its facts come from its own home page, security page and help page, quoted below.

Every criterion

Price

Free for 3 GB; $9.99/mo or $89.99/yr for unlimitedFree for 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own, with no time limit. A subscription is $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year for unlimited space, one subscription for everyone invited. No free trial.^[1][2]

Do relatives have to pay?

No — "Relatives never have to pay on either plan." Anyone in an album may choose to subscribe or give gift time, but no one has to.^[2]

Storage limit

Free: 3 GB shared; subscription: unlimitedThe free plan holds 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own without a subscription; a subscription is unlimited. On either plan an album can add up to 20 GB in a day; past that, uploads wait until the next day.^[1][2]

Photos kept at full quality?

Yes — originalsYes. Export "saves a zip of the original files right on your device"; what's stored is the encrypted original. Videos over the size limit are saved smaller (see video).^[2][3]

Video limits

About 9 min on a subscription, 3 min free; over 400 MB saved smallerWith a subscription, a video can be "up to about 9 minutes"; the iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as recorded and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. On the free plan, up to about 3 minutes and 130 MB. Videos post from inside the app, not the share sheet.^[2]

Ads?

No — "There are no ads in Kin Album"; subscriptions are the whole business.^[1]

AI or face recognition run on your photos?

No — can't; photos encrypted before uploadNo — "No AI on your photos. Ever." Photos are encrypted before upload, so the servers can't process them, and the preview copies made for photo emails are never used for AI either. Captions and comments are readable.^[1][3]

Can the company open your photos?

No — end to end, with disclosed exceptionsNo. End-to-end encrypted: "Our servers store ciphertext and wrapped keys. We cannot decrypt your photos or videos." Disclosed exceptions: captions, comments and names are stored readably; while anyone in an album gets photos by email, a preview-size copy of every photo posted is made outside the encryption and deleted about 30 days later; and an invitation emailed from the iPhone app carries a secret that, until the invitation ends, could in principle let the company recover the album key. A photo or video attached to a support message isn't end-to-end encrypted.^[3]

Can family look without installing an app?

Yes — any browser, or by emailYes. The album opens in any browser, and an "email recipient" gets the photos by email with no account at all.^[1]

Do viewers need an account?

Partly Members sign in; email recipients don'tMembers sign in — the album's key is sealed to their account. Email recipients need no account but can't comment.^[1]

Can family add their own photos?

Partly — admins postPartly. Anyone made an admin can post — "make someone else an admin and their photos land in the same album"; other relatives view, comment and react but don't post.^[1]

Can you leave with everything?

Yes — originals, from the phone or the website (admins)Yes. An album admin can save a copy any time, with no fee: Settings → Export in the iPhone app, or Settings → Save a copy of your album on kinalbum.com. The phone or the browser unlocks the photos and saves a zip of the originals; anyone else asks an admin. Stop paying and the albums move to the free plan: everyone can still look and comment, and new photos can be added while the albums you own fit in 3 GB. Nothing is deleted for two years. After that, an album is deleted if the owner's unpaid albums hold more than 3 GB, or if no one has opened it in two years — always after 90 days' notice and a free export first.^[2][1]

Platforms

iPhone app (not in the App Store yet when checked) + any browser; no Android appAn iPhone app — "Albums are created in the iPhone app" — which kinalbum.com says "isn't in the App Store yet", plus any browser. Invited family on an iPhone or iPad get the app; on a computer or an Android phone they join in a browser, or receive photos by email. Posting needs an iPhone.^[1][2]

App Store label: data used to track you

Label not yet published when checkedThe App Store privacy label is read from the listing, and Kin Album's listing had not been published when these facts were checked. The site states no ads and nothing tracking you; the label will be quoted here as soon as it exists.^[1]

How it makes money

Subscription only — "Subscriptions are the entire business. They pay for the free plan too."^[2]

What stands out

The encryption is the property no other album here has. Photos and videos are encrypted on the phone; the servers hold ciphertext and wrapped keys — “We cannot decrypt your photos or videos”, in its security page’s words. Kin Album’s security page also lists the exceptions plainly: captions, comments and names are stored readably; while anyone in an album gets photos by email, a preview-size copy of every photo posted is made outside the encryption and deleted about 30 days later; and an invitation emailed from the iPhone app carries a secret in its link, so until the invitation ends the company could in principle recover the album key. A photo or video attached to a support message isn’t end-to-end encrypted either. Those exceptions are exactly the kind of detail a privacy-minded reader should want stated, and they are.

A free plan, then one price for everyone. The free plan holds 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own, with email updates daily, weekly or monthly. A subscription — $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year — makes storage unlimited, allows videos of about 9 minutes and adds Instant email updates. One subscription covers everyone invited, and there is no free trial. The free plan is smaller than Google Photos’ 15 GB or iCloud’s shared albums, which don’t count against storage at all.

What happens if you stop paying. The albums move to the free plan. Everyone can still look and comment, and new photos can be added while the albums you own fit in 3 GB; above that, new uploads wait. Relatives on Instant emails get a daily one instead. Nothing is deleted for two years, and never without 90 days’ notice and a free export.

Leaving with everything. An album admin can save a copy of the whole album any time, with no fee: Settings → Export in the iPhone app, or Settings → Save a copy of your album on kinalbum.com. The phone or browser unlocks the photos and saves a zip of the originals; anyone else asks an admin. There is no import tool — because of the encryption, older photos have to come in through the phone, up to ten at a time.

No Android app. Android relatives view in a browser as members or receive photos by email. Members on an iPhone or iPad get the app. Posting needs an iPhone, and the iPhone app isn’t in the App Store yet.

Video: about 9 minutes on a subscription. The iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as recorded and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. The free plan allows about 3 minutes and 130 MB. FamilyAlbum Premium allows 10 minutes; Tinybeans+ 5.

Relatives mostly don’t post. Anyone made an admin — a partner, a grandparent — can post; other relatives view, comment and react.

Other people can pay. Anyone in an album can subscribe or give gift time of 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, bought in the iPhone app; the family doesn’t see who gave. “Pay for a family’s album” in the iPhone app lets a grandparent, say, subscribe and send the parents a link, so they never see a price.

The smaller details. Invites go by text from the iPhone, by email, as photos-only email with no app or account, or as one link in a group chat with an admin approving each person; Kin Album gets only the contacts you pick. Admins choose per album whether screenshots are allowed and whether they are told about them, and anyone can report or block. The encryption key is backed up through iCloud Keychain, with an optional recovery password or written phrase. Deleting an account or album starts a 30-day countdown you can cancel. If Kin Album shuts down, it promises at least 90 days’ notice with the album open, a free export, charges stopped and refunds requested — and any company that takes it over has to keep those promises.

Who it suits

Parents who want the strongest privacy guarantee on this list — a company that can’t open the photos — and who fit in 3 GB or will pay a flat fee for more. Families who need a larger free plan, an Android app, or relatives who upload their own photos should compare FamilyAlbum.

Where next

Is the Kin Album app safe and private? → Your own mix: set the sliders → Kin Album app vs FamilyAlbum Premium → Kin Album app vs Tinybeans+ →

Where Kin Album ranks ↑ Back to the top ↑

Sources

1. Kin Album — kinalbum.com home page, checked 2026-10-14

   Kin Album is a private family photo album for the people you invite and no one else. Photos and videos are end-to-end encrypted, so Kin Album can't look at them … Free for 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own · unlimited for $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year · relatives never have to pay … You are not the only one who can post — make someone else an admin and their photos land in the same album … There are no ads in Kin Album. It is paid for by subscriptions, and that is the whole business … No AI on your photos. Ever. … Stop paying and the album moves to the free plan; nothing is deleted for two years, and never without 90 days’ notice and a free export … Family can look in the app on an iPhone or iPad, or in any browser on a computer. Or just email them the photos, with no app and no account at all … If you invite her as a member, she signs in once. If you add her as an email recipient, the photos just arrive in her email. She needs no account … Albums are created in the iPhone app. Invited family on a computer or an Android phone join right here. On an iPhone or iPad, their invite link gets them the app. The app isn't in the App Store yet.

2. Kin Album — Kin Album — Help (updated 12 Oct 2026), checked 2026-10-14

   An album without a subscription is on the free plan. It holds 3 GB of photos and videos, about 1,000 photos … A subscription costs $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year … Relatives never have to pay on either plan … Your albums move to the free plan. Everyone can still look and comment. You can still export everything, so you can take it all with you whenever you like. New photos and videos can still be added while the albums you own fit in the free plan’s 3 GB … Relatives who get Instant emails get a daily one until you subscribe again. Nothing is deleted for two years, and never without 90 days’ notice and a free export first … With a subscription, a video can be up to about 9 minutes. The iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as you recorded it, and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. On the free plan, a video can be up to about 3 minutes … If you're an album admin, you can save a copy of your whole album any time. There is no fee and no waiting period. In the iPhone app, go to Settings → Export. On kinalbum.com, go to Settings → Save a copy of your album. Your phone or your web browser unlocks the photos. Then it saves a zip of the original files right on your device … Every album you own without a subscription shares that space. Videos can be up to about 3 minutes each, and up to 130 MB … You get email updates daily, weekly or monthly … You also get Instant email updates. Any album, on either plan, can add up to 20 GB of photos and videos in a day … After that, an album without a subscription is deleted in two cases. The first is if its owner's albums without one hold more than the free plan's 3 GB. The second is if no member has opened it for two years, in the app or on the web … Gift time is 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, bought once in the Kin Album app on iPhone … The family never sees who gave or how much … A parent who starts their album from the link never sees a price … Kin Album never gets your contact list … Your encryption key is backed up automatically through iCloud Keychain … There is no import tool, and the encryption is the reason … You can post up to ten photos or videos at a time … Either one starts a 30-day countdown … You'd hear from us at least 90 days ahead … And if another company ever takes over Kin Album, it has to keep these promises … Subscriptions are the entire business. They pay for the free plan too … The share sheet is photos-only for now. Videos post from inside the app.

3. Kin Album — Kin Album — Security (updated 6 Oct 2026), checked 2026-10-14

   Photos and videos are end-to-end encrypted for everyone who uses Kin Album, in the app or on the website. They are encrypted on your iPhone before they are uploaded … Our servers store ciphertext and wrapped keys. We cannot decrypt your photos or videos … Captions, comments, and names are stored readably … While anyone in an album gets photos in their emails, a preview-size copy of every photo posted to that album, by every member, is made outside the encryption and stored with us, beside the encrypted originals, so the emails can show the photos. Each preview copy is deleted about 30 days after its photo was posted … An invitation emailed from the iPhone app carries, in its link, a secret made for that invitation, which unlocks a copy of the album key we store for it … So until the invitation ends, we could in principle recover the album key. The link stops working 14 days after it is sent … Push notifications never contain a photo, a caption, or the text of a comment … a photo or video you choose to attach when you use Contact us in the iPhone app goes to our support team as it is — it isn’t end-to-end encrypted

Questions people ask

Can Kin Album see your photos?

Kin Album says no. Its security page states that photos and videos are encrypted on the iPhone before upload, that ‘Our servers store ciphertext and wrapped keys’, and ‘We cannot decrypt your photos or videos’. It also lists what sits outside the encryption: captions, comments and names; preview-size copies of the photos while anyone in the album gets photos by email; and an invitation emailed from the iPhone app, whose link carries a secret that could in principle let the company recover the album key until the invitation ends.

How much does Kin Album cost?

Kin Album has a free plan: 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own, with no time limit. A subscription is $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year for unlimited space, and one subscription covers everyone you invite. There is no free trial. Relatives never have to pay.

Do relatives need an account for Kin Album?

Members sign in — the album’s key is sealed to their account — and can view in the app on an iPhone or iPad, or in any browser. An ‘email recipient’ gets the photos by email with no account at all, but can’t comment or react.

Is Kin Album available on Android?

There is no Android app. Relatives on Android can view as members in a browser or receive photos by email. Posting needs an iPhone.

How long can a video be on Kin Album?

With a subscription, up to about 9 minutes; the iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as recorded and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. On the free plan, up to about 3 minutes and 130 MB.

Every question on the site, on one page →