TIME&SPACE vs FotoOwl: Subscription or Per-Event?
TIME&SPACE · Business of Events
FotoOwl and TIME&SPACE both match guests to photographers' photos by face. They price it in different ways: a monthly storage subscription against a flat price per event.
TIME&SPACE vs FotoOwl: Subscription or Per-Event?
In short: FotoOwl and TIME&SPACE do the same core job: a photographer uploads, a guest scans a QR code, and the guest finds the photos they are in. The difference is how you buy it. FotoOwl sells subscription plans measured in storage, with a free plan. We sell one flat price per event, with the event's terms included. If you shoot events all year and want a tool for your own work, a subscription may suit you. If you are an organiser with one event to deliver, a per-event price is simpler.
What FotoOwl Is
FotoOwl is an AI photo gallery and delivery platform for event photographers and organisers, built by an India-based company. Checked on 20 October 2026, their site describes online galleries with themes and share links, AI face search so guests can find photos of themselves, camera-to-cloud uploads (they call it Beam), personalised reels, photo and gallery selling, and branding with your logo and domain. Their how-it-works steps are: create an event and get a QR code, guests scan and register, you upload and publish, guests are notified about their photos.
Where TIME&SPACE Is Stronger
One price per event, and it says what is included. STARTER is 188 EUR for 500 guests and 1,500 photos. ADVANCED is 488 EUR for 2,000 guests and 5,000 photos, with Event Branding. PRO is 888 EUR for up to 15,000 guests and unlimited photos, with Event Branding. You buy the event, you know the cost.
Galleries live 365 days on every plan, with analytics and unlimited team members on every plan. Nothing to unlock by moving up a tier.
Published biometric handling, with explicit consent. Guests tick an unticked box before the selfie. The selfie image is deleted after 30 days and the face index one year after the photo was uploaded. All of it is in our privacy policy, with a fixed period for each.
EU hosting. Our data sits in the EU, and we say so.
No app download for guests. A guest scans a QR code, takes one selfie and sees only their photos.
We can supply the crew. Our agency arm can shoot the event as well as deliver it. Lisbon based, working in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Where FotoOwl Is Stronger
Price for a photographer who works all year. Their pricing page shows plans billed yearly: Skater at "$ 16 Per Month" (about 192 a year), Biker at 24 (about 288) and Pilot at 31 (about 372), in dollars as their page shows them, with no currency code stated. A subscription that covers many events can cost less per event than ours if you have many events. We have no subscription.
A free plan. Their Rider plan is listed as free for lifetime with 1,000 images. We have no free tier and no trial.
A wider feature set around the gallery. Per their site: camera-to-cloud uploads, auto-generated reels per guest, selling photos to guests, selling gallery access, and white-label notifications as an enterprise add-on. We do none of these.
A tool you run yourself, year-round. Their plans are measured in storage (50GB to 1.3TB), which suits a photographer building a library. Ours is built around the event.
Capability Comparison
| | TIME&SPACE | FotoOwl | |---|---|---| | How you buy | Flat price per event | Subscription plans, billed yearly, priced per month | | Published price | 188, 488 or 888 EUR per event | Free plan, then "$ 16" to "$ 31" per month on annual billing | | Free tier | No | Yes, 1,000 images | | Face search for guests | Yes, from one selfie | Yes, listed on every plan | | Face recognition optional | Not stated here | Yes, their FAQ says guests can also browse galleries | | Camera-to-cloud upload | No | Yes (Beam) | | Selling photos to guests | No | Yes | | Guest limit published | Yes, per plan | Their pricing page does not state one | | Gallery duration | 365 days, every plan | Their pricing page does not state one | | Selfie retention published | Yes, 30 days | Their privacy notice gives criteria, not a fixed period | | Where data is stored | EU | Their FAQ says "trusted cloud infrastructure", no region stated | | Photography crews available | Yes, agency arm | Not described |
No comparative performance or accuracy figures for either product. We read their live site on 20 October 2026 (homepage, pricing, FAQ, GDPR and privacy pages). Plans change; check theirs before deciding.
GDPR: What Changes When the Vendor Is Outside the EU
Face matching processes biometric data, which GDPR treats as a special category (Article 9) that normally needs the person's explicit consent. Three things follow for an organiser whose guests are in the EU, and none of them depends on which vendor you pick:
- The rules follow your guests, not the vendor's address. GDPR applies to processing aimed at people in the EU even when the company is based elsewhere (Article 3(2)).
- Moving the data out of the EU needs a legal mechanism such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses (Chapter V). If the vendor will not say where the data sits, you cannot check this.
- You are normally the controller, the vendor is your processor. That means a data processing agreement, a known storage location, a stated retention period and an answer to who handles a deletion request.
What FotoOwl's own documents say, read on 20 October 2026. FotoOwl describes itself as India-based, with a footer address in Pune. Its privacy notice says the guest's scanned selfie is processed on the basis of consent, and that retention is "as long as necessary" with no fixed period. Its infrastructure providers are listed as Amazon Web Services, Backblaze, Vultr and Cloudflare, with no region named. A separate GDPR page exists; the version we read mentions neither biometrics nor retention.
What to ask FotoOwl before you buy: where the face data is stored, for how long, under which transfer mechanism, whether they will sign a data processing agreement, whether they have an EU representative, and how a guest withdraws consent.
On our side: TIME&SPACE is based in Portugal, stores and processes biometric data only in the EU, gets explicit tick-box consent before the selfie, deletes selfie data after 30 days and the face index one year after the photo is uploaded, and provides a data processing agreement. The detail is in our privacy policy. This is general information, not legal advice; your own data protection officer or lawyer should decide.
Which to Choose
FotoOwl if you are a photographer who wants a gallery tool for your own business, shoots often, wants to sell photos, or wants to start free.
TIME&SPACE if you are an organiser or agency with a specific event, want a fixed price that includes 365 days, analytics and your team, and want EU hosting with fixed, published retention periods. It also helps if you would like us to supply the photographers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much does FotoOwl cost?
As of 20 October 2026 their pricing page lists a free plan with 1,000 images, then yearly-billed plans shown as "$ 16", "$ 24" and "$ 31" per month, with storage from 50GB to 1.3TB. No currency code is stated. Ours is 188, 488 and 888 EUR per event.
Q: Does FotoOwl do face recognition?
Yes. Their site lists AI face search on every plan, and their FAQ says face recognition is optional and guests can also browse galleries.
Q: Is there a cheaper alternative to TIME&SPACE?
For a photographer with many events and no need for a per-event service, a subscription may well be cheaper over a year. We are not the lowest price and do not claim to be. We are worth it when you want one event handled, with the terms included.
Q: Where is guest data stored?
On ours, in the EU, with retention periods in our privacy policy. For FotoOwl, their FAQ says data is stored on trusted cloud infrastructure and does not name a region. Ask them directly if location matters to you.
Founder, TIME&SPACE