PixelUnion vs Google Photos
PixelUnion is a European alternative to Google Photos: same cloud & hosting use case, headquartered in Netherlands and governed by EU GDPR, while Google Photos (Google) is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Securely store your photos in Europe with private facial recognition and AI search. Back up instantly from iPhone & Android. Your memories, safe and accessible.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- Primary privacy law
- EU GDPR
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- No
Google Photos backs up photos and videos from your phone and makes them searchable by face, place and object, which is still the feature people miss most when they leave. Storage counts against the 15 GB shared free with your Google account, with Google One subscriptions above that. Images are analysed on Google's US infrastructure.
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
PixelUnion vs Google Photos at a glance
| PixelUnion | Google Photos | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Netherlands | United States |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | United States |
| Primary privacy law | EU GDPR | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that need cloud & hosting built for European data-protection requirements | Teams already invested in the Google ecosystem |
Choose PixelUnion if…
- You want a provider governed by a European privacy regime
- GDPR or public-sector data-protection requirements apply to you
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Google Photos if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Google ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
About PixelUnion
PixelUnion offers managed photo and video storage for people who want a European home for their library without maintaining a server. Automatic phone backups, facial recognition, and object search cover familiar Google Photos tasks. The practical distinction is that the service runs the infrastructure, while the interface and mobile workflow are built around Immich.
The platform uses a fork of Immich, with support for its iPhone and Android apps. Photos can be browsed, searched, mapped, and shared, with additional users available for friends or family. Managed hosting removes the installation and upkeep that normally accompany running a photo server, although storage capacity still depends on the chosen plan.
Key features:
- Phone backups copy photos from compatible iPhone and Android apps automatically
- Facial recognition helps find pictures of familiar people within the library
- Object search locates images through recognised subjects rather than filenames alone
- Photo sharing lets users share selected memories with the people they choose
- Map view offers another way to browse photos through their recorded locations
- Immich foundation brings an established photo-management interface to a hosted service
The operator is PixelUnion V.O.F., based in Alkmaar, Netherlands, founded in early 2025. It states that photos are stored in the European Union with EU companies and that servers use renewable energy. The open source Immich foundation is distinct from a claim that every part of the managed service is publicly licensed.
A permanent free plan includes 16 GB. Paid monthly storage starts at EUR 2.95 for 150 GB, with larger plans and annual discounts. It suits a growing personal library, but testing mobile backup and search with a small collection first helps establish whether the workflow fits.
Why choose PixelUnion over Google Photos?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Google Photos is headquartered in the United States, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
PixelUnion removes that overhead. As a Netherlands-based provider, it operates under EU GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.