The Guest, The Knot's event photo-sharing app, has been retired. If you loved the idea — every guest's photos gathered in one private place — the-boom carries it forward without the two things that held The Guest back: a mandatory app download, and memories locked inside a product that could shut down. the-boom runs in the browser, is free for up to 10 participants, and keeps your event's photos, music and messages for life.
No app to install — guests join with a link
The Guest (theguest.app) started life as "Veri", a wedding photo-sharing app acquired by XO Group — The Knot's parent company — in September 2017. It was sold for around $100, then made free to every couple on October 3, 2018. Its pitch was genuinely strong: guests downloaded the app, joined the couple's event, and their photos uploaded automatically from their phone camera — no hashtags, no manual uploads.
Then it wound down. According to multiple independent sources, The Knot announced that from October 12, 2022, no new events could be created because the app was retiring — citing an overall decline in usage and recent App Store restrictions — and photos from past events remained downloadable only through June 2024. One comparison page also reports (via AppBrain) that the Android app was removed from Google Play on December 20, 2023. As of July 2026, the theguest.app domain resolves but serves no working website — it had already been showing a domain-parking page as far back as December 2021, per the Wayback Machine.
A word of caution while you research: some comparison articles still list The Guest as an active product with current pricing and ratings, without mentioning the shutdown. Those listings are out of date — always check dated sources.
The comparison below is based on public sources about The Guest, verified in July 2026. Since the product is closed, its column describes how it worked while it operated.
| the-boom | The Guest (while it operated) | |
|---|---|---|
| Current status | Active | Retired — no new events could be created after October 12, 2022, and past photos were downloadable only through June 2024 (verified in July 2026) |
| What guests need | A link or QR code — it's a web app (PWA), nothing to install | A mandatory app download (iOS and Android) for every guest |
| Photo & video collection | Private wall for photos, videos and messages, with reactions | Automatic upload from each guest's phone camera — no hashtags, no manual steps |
| Music | Collaborative playlist with votes and dedications (iTunes search), exportable to Spotify, YouTube or CSV | Not part of the product — The Guest focused on photo sharing |
| After the event | Dormant mode keeps everything, anniversary reminders, automatic reunions, a keepsake poster with QR code, letters to the future | Photo downloads ended in June 2024 following the retirement |
| Pricing | Free up to 10 participants per boom; Pro is €29 as a one-time payment per boom — unlimited participants, for life | Sold at ~$100 as "Veri by The Knot", made free in October 2018; in-app add-ons of $99.99 (1 event) and $169.99 (3 events) were documented at one point |
| Languages | 7 languages (French, English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese) | Not documented in the sources we reviewed |
| Privacy | GDPR-compliant | Not documented in the sources we reviewed |
Prices and features change — always double-check on a provider's official website. The Guest's official site was unreachable when we checked in July 2026, so its details here come from third-party sources and archives.
An honest comparison should say it plainly: The Guest's automatic camera-roll upload was excellent. Guests didn't have to remember to share anything — photos flowed to the couple's album on their own. The Knot claimed an average of 870 photos and videos collected per wedding, versus 22 via an Instagram hashtag (their own marketing figure, but it speaks to how well the automation worked). the-boom takes a different approach: guests post to the wall themselves, choosing what they share. That's more deliberate and more private — but if fully automatic collection is what you're after, that specific feature isn't something we replicate.
Where the-boom goes further is everything around the photos: a collaborative playlist your guests build and vote on together (searchable via iTunes, exportable to Spotify, YouTube or CSV), letters to the future that reopen later like a time capsule, a keepsake poster with a QR code, six visual moods to match the vibe of your event — and above all, a memory that doesn't expire. After the event, your boom goes dormant instead of disappearing, sends anniversary reminders, and can suggest a reunion when the group shows signs of wanting one.
Free for up to 10 participants per boom, with every feature included. For bigger events, the Pro plan is €29 as a one-time payment per boom — unlimited participants, kept for life. No subscription, no recurring fees, no surprises a year later.
Create a boom, pick one of the six visual moods, and share the link or QR code with your guests — in the group chat, on the invitation, or on a poster at the venue. Everyone joins from their browser in seconds, in any of 7 languages. No accounts to force on your guests, no downloads to nag them about, and your data is handled in compliance with the GDPR.
No. According to multiple independent sources, The Knot announced that from October 12, 2022 no new events could be created because The Guest app was retiring, and photos from past events remained downloadable only through June 2024. As of July 2026, the theguest.app domain does not serve a working website. If you are planning an event now, you need an alternative.
the-boom is a free, web-based alternative: guests open a link and join — nothing to install. Everyone shares photos, videos and messages on a private wall, builds a collaborative playlist together, and the memories stay accessible after the event. It's free for up to 10 participants per boom.
No. the-boom is a progressive web app (PWA): guests tap the link or scan the QR code and they're in. This was the biggest friction point with The Guest, which required every guest to download the app on iOS or Android before joining an event.
the-boom is free for up to 10 participants per boom, with every feature included. The Pro plan is €29 as a one-time payment per boom — not a subscription — and unlocks unlimited participants for life. The Guest's pricing changed several times during its lifetime (roughly $100, then free in 2018, with documented in-app add-ons at $99.99 and $169.99), and the product is now closed.
They stay. After the party, your boom goes into dormant mode and keeps the wall, the playlist and the letters to the future. Each year, an anniversary reminder brings the memory back, and the-boom can even suggest a reunion when the group shows signs of wanting one. One lesson from The Guest's shutdown: when photos live inside a closed app, they can disappear with it.
Free up to 10 participants — Pro is a one-time €29 per boom