Google Photos is a gallery built around a Google Account: with backup on, your photos go to Google's storage, 15 GB shared with Gmail and Drive, and the app edits and searches them with Google AI. Piktures is a gallery built around the phone: your photos stay where they are, it opens the clouds and servers you already have, OneDrive, Dropbox, Nextcloud or a NAS, and it needs no account. Facts checked on 15 October 2026; tell us if an app changed.
What is the difference between Piktures and Google Photos?
Where the photos live. Google Photos "is the home for all your photos and videos": with backup on, "any photos you take from a device with backup turned on are saved to your Google Account", and the listing promotes removing backed-up photos from the phone to free space. Piktures has no cloud of its own and no Piktures server: it opens your photos where they are, on the phone, on an SD card, on a USB drive, and on the clouds or network drives you connect. Nothing leaves the phone unless you share it or copy, move or back it up to a place you chose.
Both apps show the photos on your phone. Google's help says the app "displays all photos and videos stored directly on your device, regardless of which Google Account you're signed in to"; Piktures shows them without any account at all.
Where do your photos go?
| Piktures | Google Photos | |
|---|---|---|
| By default | They stay on the phone | With backup on, they are saved to your Google Account |
| Storage | Your phone, your SD card, your own clouds and drives | Up to 15 GB per Google Account, shared with Gmail and Drive; more with Google One |
| Quality | Files are copied as they are | Original quality, or Storage saver (16 MP, 1080p) or Express (3 MP, 480p); all count toward the storage |
| When the space is full | Your phone's or your cloud's limit | New photos can't be saved; after 2 years out of storage, photos might be deleted |
Sources: Google's pages on backup, backup quality and storage; Piktures' product principles and How to add a cloud.
Which clouds and servers does each app open?
Piktures connects to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Koofr, Yandex Disk, Nextcloud, any WebDAV server over HTTPS, and SMB network drives such as a NAS, and shows their folders as albums next to the phone's. The first access is free; more need Premium or Prime. See the guides on OneDrive, Nextcloud and WebDAV and a NAS.
Google Photos shows the photos on the device and those backed up to your Google Account. Backup goes "to only one Google Account at a time". Its listing says that, with backup on, "you can easily transfer your photos from other apps, galleries and devices, so all of your content is in one place": the other services are a source to import from, into Google's storage.
How does each app hide private photos?
Google Photos has a Locked Folder, "protected by your device screen lock". Locked items "won't appear in the Photos grid, memories, search or albums" and "won't be available to other apps". Backing them up is optional: items you don't back up "will only be stored on that device", and you lose them if you uninstall the app.
Piktures has the Secret Space, behind a 4-digit PIN of its own, or the phone's biometric unlock. Files are renamed and scrambled so other apps can't open them: deliberately light protection, not encryption. It is stored only on the phone, never backed up online, and erased when the app is uninstalled; you export it to a PikBackup folder to keep a copy. See Hide photos behind a PIN.
What does each app cost?
Both apps are free to install. Google Photos is published by Google LLC, and its Play listing carried no "Contains ads" label when we checked; the storage beyond 15 GB is sold through Google One, "100 GB of storage for $1.99 per month" in the US. Piktures is free with a few Google ads in its Basic plan, and sells three plans through Google Play: No ads, a one-time purchase that only removes the ads; Premium, a one-time purchase; and Prime, a monthly subscription. Premium and Prime unlock more than one cloud or drive, automatic backup to your own cloud or NAS, USB drives, and the Secret Space's extra options. See In-app purchases.
Piktures vs Google Photos: the facts
| Piktures | Google Photos | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Diune | Google LLC | Play listing |
| Account | None | A Google Account for backup; device photos show without one | Backup |
| Where photos are stored | On the phone, and on the clouds and drives you connect | On the device, and in your Google Account with backup on | Backup |
| Included cloud storage | None of its own | Up to 15 GB, shared with Gmail and Drive | Storage |
| Other clouds and servers | Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Koofr, Yandex Disk, Nextcloud, WebDAV, SMB | Sources to import from, with backup on | Play listing |
| Private photos | Secret Space: own PIN, scrambled, phone only, export to back up | Locked Folder: device screen lock, optional cloud backup | Locked Folder |
| Editing | Crop, straighten, filters, adjustments, drawing and text; a video editor | AI tools: Magic Eraser, Unblur, Portrait Light | Play listing |
| Search | By text, album, type, year, month, place, camera and tag | Natural-language search with Google AI | Play listing |
| Price | Free with a few ads; No ads, Premium (one-time), Prime (monthly) | Free; more storage through Google One | Storage |
| What the app sends | Usage statistics and crash reports (Firebase); ads in the free plan | The listing's data safety section: data collected, none shared with third parties | Play listing |
| Android | 11 or later | Not stated on the pages we read | |
| Listing last updated | 14 October 2026 | Play listing |
Piktures' facts come from its help center: Welcome to Piktures, Our product principles, The Secret Space, Photo editor, Search and filters, In-app purchases.
Which should you choose?
Choose Google Photos if you want your photos backed up to Google automatically, searched and edited with Google AI, and you are fine with a Google Account and its storage limits. Choose Piktures if you want your photos to stay on the phone, you already keep them on OneDrive, Dropbox, Nextcloud or a NAS and want one gallery for all of them, or you want a PIN-protected space that no account holds. Many people run both: Google Photos for the backup, Piktures for the phone, the clouds and the Secret Space.
Questions
Can I use Piktures and Google Photos on the same phone?
Yes. Both read the photos stored on the phone, and neither removes the other's access to them. Google Photos' backup keeps working with Piktures installed.
Does Piktures back up my photos like Google Photos?
Not to a Piktures cloud, since there is none. With Premium or Prime, Piktures backs up your phone albums automatically to a cloud or a network drive you connect: your own OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud or NAS. See Back up and restore your photos.
Does Google Photos show my OneDrive or Nextcloud photos?
Google's help describes two sources for the app: the photos on the device, and the photos backed up to your Google Account. Its listing presents other apps and galleries as places to transfer photos from, with backup on. To browse OneDrive, Dropbox, Nextcloud or a NAS as albums without moving the photos, Piktures is built for that.
Is Piktures free like Google Photos?
Yes, with a few ads in the free plan, which the one-time No ads purchase removes. Google Photos' Play listing shows no ads label; its paid side is the storage, through Google One.
Sources
All read on 15 October 2026.
- Backup: Back up photos & videos, Google Photos Help. Photos saved to the Google Account with backup on; one account at a time; the app displays all device photos regardless of account; storage shared across Google products.
- Backup quality: Choose the backup quality of your photos & videos. Original quality; Storage saver resizes above 16 MP and 1080p; Express above 3 MP and 480p; all count toward the storage.
- Storage: About your Google Photos activity & storage. Up to 15 GB per Google Account for Gmail, Drive and Photos; no new photos when full; possible deletion after 2 years out of storage; Google One, 100 GB for $1.99 a month in the US.
- Locked Folder: Hide sensitive photos & videos in Locked Folders. Protected by the device screen lock; hidden from the grid and other apps; backup optional; items not backed up are lost on uninstall.
- Play listing: Google Photos on Google Play. Google LLC; updated 14 October 2026; "15 GB of cloud storage", "AI-powered editing tools", "all your memories in one place", "free up space"; no "Contains ads" label; data safety section.