MakeAlbum
Start my album

MakeAlbum vs Journi, on their own numbers.

Journi is the closest service to MakeAlbum: its AI selects the photos and sorts them into a timeline, and it prints a 30 × 30 cm layflat book. The difference is what happens after the selection: MakeAlbum's AI also builds chapters, writes the titles and captions from your brief, includes shipping in the price, and can hand the whole book to human editors.

Journi’s cells quote its own site as read on 17 September 2026; the product compared is its Layflat Photo Book, 30 × 30 cm.

 MakeAlbumJourniLayflat Photo Book, 30 × 30 cm
Who picks the photographsMakeAlbum's own AI: you upload the whole set, it drops blur, bursts and duplicates and picks the frames to fill the book. You heart a few must-haves and can swap anything.“AI automatically selects your photos in seconds” and “sorts your pictures into a perfect timeline”.
Who writes the titles and captionsThe AI, from a two-line brief with names, places and dates; you rewrite or re-roll any of them.Adds “maps and dates” automatically; titles and captions are yours to add.
Square layflat hardcover, about 30 × 30 cmYes, the only format: 300 × 300 mm square, layflat, acrylic front, leatherette spine.Yes: “12 x 12 inches / 30 x 30 cm (hardcover and layflat only)”.
Pages26–80, any even number.From 25; layflat up to 103.
Price of the smallest square book€199 for 26 pages in Europe, about $295 in the United States. Linear per page.30 × 30 layflat €89.99 / £79.99 for 25 pages.
ShippingIncluded in the price, tracked. Express is an optional extra.“Calculated at checkout.”
Production timeTypically 4–6 working days after you approve; the AI draft itself takes minutes.“Printed within 3–5 days.”
Delivers to25 EU countries, the United States and the United Kingdom today; Canada and Latin America next.US, UK, Australia and New Zealand hubs; other destinations from the EU hub.
Someone does it for youDone-for-you: MakeAlbum’s editors build the whole book from your brief; you approve an emailed preview.No; the AI draft, then you adjust.

Journi’s prices are as its site quotes them, in the currency shown, before shipping. MakeAlbum’s include shipping. Checked 17 September 2026.

When Journi or another service is the better buy

  • You want to design every page yourself, from a blank spread. MakeAlbum's editor moves, swaps and re-rolls what the AI laid out; it is not a page designer with free placement. Blurb's BookWright and Saal's desktop software are.
  • You want a small or cheap book. There is no softcover, no 20 × 20 and no €40 option here; one 300 × 300 mm layflat hardcover from €199. Mixbook and Journi start much lower with smaller formats.
  • You need it printed tomorrow. Saal and Mixbook quote one to three days of production; MakeAlbum's book typically takes four to six working days after approval, plus delivery.
  • You live outside the EU, the US and the UK. Until the next markets open, Blurb and Mixbook reach further.

Questions

How is MakeAlbum different from Journi if both use AI?

Journi's AI selects the photos and adds maps and dates; the titles and captions are yours to write. MakeAlbum's AI selects, groups the set into chapters by place and day, writes the titles and captions from a two-line brief, and lays out spreads with faces clear of the fold. You review and re-roll anything before it prints.

Which is cheaper, Journi or MakeAlbum?

Journi's 30 × 30 layflat is €89.99 / £79.99 for 25 pages with shipping calculated at checkout. MakeAlbum's is €199 for 26 pages with tracked shipping included and the curation and writing done for you. On the sticker, Journi; on a delivered, finished book the gap narrows.

Does either service finish the book for me?

Journi gives you the AI draft to adjust yourself. MakeAlbum offers done-for-you: its editors build the whole book from your brief and you approve an emailed preview before anything prints.

Sources

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Also compared

All four side by side · vs Mixbook · vs Saal Digital · vs Blurb