Groovebook is gone. Shutterfly, which bought the service after its famous Shark Tank deal, shut it down in April 2022 with barely any notice. If you were a Groovebook subscriber and still miss that little perfect-bound book arriving in the mail every month, you're not the only one still looking for a replacement.

The good news: the photo book space has changed a lot since 2022. There are services that are faster, some that are cheaper, and some that give you a much nicer book than Groovebook ever did. We tested seven of the best options available in 2026 and compared them on price, photo sources, ease of use, and what you actually get in the mail.

What to look for in a Groovebook alternative

Groovebook had a specific appeal: cheap, automatic, and subscription-based. If you're looking for the same feeling, here's what to check:

• Automation -- Groovebook pulled from your camera roll and sent a book without you lifting a finger. How hands-off is the alternative? Some services auto-generate a book from social media. Others make you upload and arrange everything yourself.
• Photo sources -- If your photos live on Instagram or Facebook (not just your camera roll), you'll want a service that can pull from there directly. Most can't.
• Book format -- Groovebook was a small, soft 4.5 x 4.5 inch booklet. Do you want the same compact format, or would you rather have a proper photo book you'd put on a shelf?
• Subscription vs. one-off -- Subscriptions keep you printing regularly, but they can also pile up. A single yearbook once a year is often better value.
• Print quality -- Groovebook was cheap, and it showed. If you want something that doesn't feel disposable, the price goes up, but not as much as you'd think.

7 best Groovebook alternatives in 2026

1. My Social Book

Best for: turning your social media into a proper photo book without any effort

My Social Book is the closest thing to the "set it and forget it" feeling of Groovebook, just applied to a much nicer book. You connect your Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox account, and the service automatically generates a full photo book from your content. The whole thing takes under three minutes. Your photos are organized chronologically with their original dates, captions, likes, and locations preserved, so you end up with an actual timeline of your life instead of a random pile of prints.

Where Groovebook sent you 4.5-inch booklets, My Social Book gives you a real 21 x 25 cm book -- the kind you keep on a coffee table or give as a gift. You can preview every page, add or remove posts, and customize the cover before ordering. With a 4.7 Trustpilot rating, 12 years in business, and over 700,000 books printed, it's been around a lot longer than Groovebook was.

Pros:

• Automatic book creation from Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox
• Preserves dates, captions, likes, and locations
• No uploading, no layout work
• Finished book preview in under 3 minutes

Cons:

• Not a subscription -- one book at a time
• Works best with social media content rather than camera roll

Try My Social Book free -- see your book in minutes

2. Chatbooks

Best for: the most direct Groovebook replacement

If what you miss about Groovebook is the monthly book arriving in the mail, Chatbooks is the closest thing on the market. You connect your Instagram or camera roll, and Chatbooks automatically sends you a small softcover book when you hit a certain number of photos. Books start around $10 to $15, so the price is in the same zone as Groovebook was.

The trade-offs are the same ones Groovebook had. The books are small, customization is minimal, and print quality is decent but not premium. If you liked Groovebook because it was cheap and automatic, Chatbooks will feel familiar.

Pros:

• Subscription model similar to Groovebook
• Very affordable
• Pulls from Instagram or camera roll automatically

Cons:

• Small format, limited customization
• Books can pile up if you forget to cancel

3. Shutterfly

Best for: a one-off alternative from the company that owns the Groovebook shutdown

There's some irony in listing Shutterfly here, since they're the ones who killed Groovebook. But they're still one of the biggest photo book services, and they do offer small, affordable books in formats Groovebook subscribers might recognize. Their "Make My Book" option lets you upload photos and have the service auto-arrange a layout for you, which cuts down on the manual work.

Shutterfly runs constant sales, so the sticker price is almost never what you'll pay. That said, the editor is aggressive with upsells, and many users find it frustrating. You won't get Groovebook's hands-off subscription, but you will get a lot of format and size options.

Pros:

• Wide range of sizes and formats
• Frequent deep discounts
• Auto-layout option available

Cons:

• Heavy upselling in the editor
• Pricing is hard to read with constant sales
• No social media photo import

4. Snapfish

Best for: the cheapest standalone photo books

Snapfish sits at the budget end of the market. Their 8x8 softcover starts around $20, and with their frequent promos you can sometimes get a book in the single digits. The editor is basic but works. Print quality is about what you'd expect for the price: fine for casual books, not great for something you want to keep for decades.

If price was the main thing you liked about Groovebook, Snapfish is worth a look. You lose the subscription convenience, but you can order one book a year for not much more than you used to spend monthly.

Pros:

• Very low starting prices with frequent sales
• Many size and cover options
• Simple editor

Cons:

• Editing experience feels dated
• Print quality is average
• No automatic or social media import

5. Mixbook

Best for: the exact opposite of Groovebook -- full creative control

Mixbook is a very different beast from Groovebook. Instead of a hands-off subscription, you get one of the best drag-and-drop editors in the photo book space. You can move, resize, and layer photos exactly where you want. Templates are modern and well-designed. The result is a book that looks designed, not just assembled.

The cost is time. Building a Mixbook takes hours if you have hundreds of photos. If that sounds fun, Mixbook is worth it. If it sounds like work, stick with something more automatic.

Pros:

• Best-in-class drag-and-drop editor
• High-quality paper and print
• Modern, well-designed templates

Cons:

• Manual upload only -- no social media import
• Time-consuming for large books
• Not cheap for a thick book

6. Artifact Uprising

Best for: premium quality if you want to upgrade from Groovebook's feel

If Groovebook's cheap feel bothered you, Artifact Uprising is the upgrade. Their books use thick, matte paper with a distinctly premium finish. Design is clean and minimalist with lots of white space. These are books you give as wedding gifts or keep on a shelf forever.

The price is steep. Artifact Uprising costs several times more than Groovebook did, and there's no subscription option. This is for one-off special occasions, not a monthly habit.

Pros:

• Exceptional paper and print quality
• Beautiful minimalist templates
• Lay-flat binding available

Cons:

• Significantly more expensive than Groovebook ever was
• Manual upload only
• Fewer templates than bigger services

7. Blurb

Best for: serious projects beyond a simple photo book

Blurb is overkill for a Groovebook replacement, but it deserves a mention because it opens doors most other services don't. Their BookWright desktop software gives you professional-grade layout control, and they print formats you can't get elsewhere: trade books, magazines, even ebooks. You can also sell your book through Blurb's marketplace or Amazon.

For anyone wanting to turn their photos into something more ambitious -- a travel book, a family history, a coffee table book -- Blurb is the right tool. For quick monthly prints, it's not.

Pros:

• Professional-grade layout software
• Unique formats (trade books, magazines, ebooks)
• Sell your book through Blurb or Amazon

Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• Overkill for simple photo books
• More expensive for standard formats

Groovebook alternatives comparison table

Frequently asked questions

Why did Groovebook shut down?

Shutterfly, which acquired Groovebook in 2014 after its Shark Tank appearance, announced the shutdown in early 2022. All Groovebook services ended on April 8, 2022. Shutterfly didn't give a detailed reason, but Groovebook had been losing momentum for years as free photo storage and better editing apps made its subscription model feel limited.

What's the closest thing to Groovebook still operating?

Chatbooks is the most direct replacement. It's a subscription service that sends you a small softcover book when you hit a photo threshold, with pricing in the same range Groovebook used to have. If you liked Groovebook because it was cheap and automatic, Chatbooks will feel familiar.

Can I make a photo book from my Facebook or Instagram photos?

Yes. My Social Book connects directly to Facebook and Instagram (via a Professional Account) and automatically pulls your photos, dates, captions, likes, and locations into a chronological book. Most other services on this list require you to download photos from social media first and upload them manually.

Is there a subscription option like Groovebook had?

Chatbooks is the main subscription option in 2026. It's not identical to Groovebook -- the books are a bit larger and the photo sources are different -- but the model is similar. Most other services on this list are one-off purchases, which actually works out cheaper if you only want a book once a year.

What's the cheapest Groovebook alternative?

Chatbooks and Snapfish both start around $10, making them the cheapest options. But cheap doesn't always mean good value. A $10 book is small and thin. If you care about having something to keep, a larger book from My Social Book or Mixbook for $30 or so lasts longer and looks a lot better on a shelf.

Ready to turn your photos into a proper book instead of a stack of prints? Create your free preview with My Social Book and see how your photos look in print -- it takes less than 3 minutes.