Starter
$44.99USD / event
- Up to 100 guests
- 2,000 photo and video uploads
- 25 GB storage
- Up to 250 MB per file
- 3 months upload and download access
PartyLab vs Marco Polo
Marco Polo is a video walkie-talkie for close friends. PartyLab is a private event gallery \u2014 every guest\u2019s photos collected via one QR code, with no app, no account, original quality, and a TV slideshow on the night.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | PartyLab | Marco Polo |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose-built for photo collection | Yes | No |
| One QR code for all guests to upload | Yes | No |
| Guests upload without installing an app | Yes | No |
| Guests upload without creating an account | Yes | No |
| Live photo gallery during the event | Yes | No |
| Built-in slideshow for venue TVs / screens | Yes | No |
| Original photo quality preserved | Yes | No |
| Photos collected centrally (not buried in video chats) | Yes | No |
| ZIP download of all photos | Yes | No |
| Digital guestbook captions | Yes | No |
| No phone number required from guests | Yes | No |
| One-time pricing — no subscription | Yes | No |
Why Marco Polo isn’t enough for event photo collection
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Marco Polo is video messaging, not a photo gallery
Marco Polo’s entire product is asynchronous video messages between small groups of close friends — you record a video, it lands in someone’s feed, they reply when they have time. There is no photo gallery, no event mode, no live feed for venue TVs, no ZIP export, and no way to browse 200 candid photos chronologically. Trying to use Marco Polo for an actual event’s photo collection leaves the host with hundreds of disconnected video clips and a near-empty photo album.
📱
Every guest must download the app and verify a phone number
Marco Polo requires every contributor to install the app from the App Store or Play Store, accept push notification permissions, and verify their phone number via SMS. At a wedding or 50th-birthday party with 80–300 guests of mixed ages, asking everyone to install a new app mid-event kills participation. Older guests opt out, and even tech-comfortable guests grumble about ‘another app’. PartyLab uses the camera app every guest already has — scan QR, upload, done.
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Photos and videos vanish into private group threads
Marco Polo content lives inside individual group conversations — there is no central event view, no way for the host to compile everything afterwards, no slideshow mode, and no original-quality export. Premium subscribers get a small archive feature, but it is not designed for an event organizer to download every guest’s contribution as a ZIP. PartyLab collects everything in one private gallery and exports the originals as a single download whenever you want.
Hosts who tried Marco Polo \u2014 then switched to PartyLab
“Our family already uses Marco Polo daily — so we figured we’d use it for my mom’s 70th. Total disaster: 6 videos from my siblings, 3 of which were them complaining about the venue Wi-Fi. Switched to PartyLab the next year for my dad’s 75th. 320 photos from 90 guests, all in one gallery.”
Hannah B.
Family birthday host, 90 guests
“I’m the family group-chat queen on Marco Polo so I assumed it’d work for our wedding. Half the bridesmaids weren’t in the family thread. The other half couldn’t figure out how to send photos in the app — only videos. PartyLab’s QR code on the table cards solved it instantly.”
Sarah R.
Bride, 140-guest wedding
“We tried using Marco Polo for our team’s offsite photo collection because everyone had it for daily standups. Got zero photos and 14 videos of someone’s dog. PartyLab was the right tool — 380 candid photos from a 60-person retreat in a private gallery.”
Marcus L.
Engineering team lead, 60-person offsite
One-time packages for your event
Create an event draft, then choose Starter, Plus, or Max before sharing with guests. Guest uploads require a paid package.
Plus
$89.99USD / event
- Up to 500 guests
- 10,000 photo and video uploads
- 100 GB storage
- Up to 500 MB per file
- 1 year upload and download access
Max
$179.99USD / event
- No guest cap
- 50,000 photo and video uploads
- 1 TB storage
- Up to 1 GB per file
- 1 year upload and download access
Every paid event package includes photo and video uploads, a QR code and event link, a live gallery, a live slideshow, photo captions, reactions, original-quality ZIP export, and guest email CSV export.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Marco Polo to collect event photos?
You can technically post still images in a Marco Polo group chat, but the app is designed for asynchronous video messages — not for collecting hundreds of candid photos at a live event. There is no live photo gallery, no TV slideshow, no chronological event feed, no ZIP export, and every guest must install the app and verify a phone number. For a wedding, birthday, or company offsite, the participation rate is dramatically lower than a purpose-built tool.
Can I use Marco Polo and PartyLab together?
Yes — they solve different problems. Use Marco Polo for the ongoing close-friend or family video conversations you already have. Use PartyLab for the discrete event itself — one QR code on table cards or the bar, every guest scans, every photo lands in a private live gallery with TV slideshow and ZIP export at the end.
Do my guests need a Marco Polo account or a PartyLab account to upload?
Neither. PartyLab is account-free for guests by design: they scan the QR code in their phone’s camera app and upload immediately from any mobile browser. No Marco Polo install, no PartyLab account, no app download, no phone verification. Just scan and upload — grandparents included.
How much does PartyLab cost per event?
PartyLab offers Starter at $44.99 USD, Plus at $89.99 USD, Max at $179.99 USD per event. Each package is a one-time payment. There is no free upload tier or recurring event subscription. Starter: up to 100 guests, 2,000 uploads, and 25 GB storage. Plus: up to 500 guests, 10,000 uploads, and 100 GB storage. Max: no guest cap, 50,000 uploads, and 1 TB storage. Starter includes 3 months of upload and download access. Plus includes 1 year of upload and download access. Max includes 1 year of upload and download access. Download your files before access ends; downloaded copies are yours to keep.
Marco Polo for the family thread. PartyLab for the event.
One-time event packages from $44.99 USD.