Frameo is a free app that runs inside frames from dozens of makers; Aura builds its own frame, app and cloud. Both put new family photos on a screen in another home, and they part ways on how pictures travel, where they are kept and how many sizes there are.
Family picks refreshed September 2026Pick a Frameo frame if Grandma should swipe through photos on a touch screen, if you want a card slot, a size from 8 to 32 inches or a lower price per screen. Pick the Aura Carver if the family's photos already live in iCloud or Google Photos and the senders want free unlimited cloud storage and 30-second videos with sound.
Frameo and Aura answer the same wish, new photos of the family appearing on a screen in Grandma's lounge, from opposite directions. Frameo is software from a Danish company, licensed to frame makers such as MaxAngel, Akimart, Pastigio and BIGASUO, and every frame they build pairs with the same free Frameo app. Aura makes the whole thing itself, frame, app and cloud storage, and sells it under its own name.
That split shapes nearly everything else. A Frameo frame comes in whatever size, finish and price its maker chooses, from an 8-inch nightstand frame to a 32-inch wall screen. The Aura Carver is one design, a 10-inch HD frame in gift-ready packaging, so the choice is a colour rather than a maker.
For a grandparent, the difference shows on the first evening. A Frameo frame has a touch screen they can swipe back through, pause and tap to send a heart to whoever sent the picture. The Carver is run mostly from the family's phones, with a touch bar along its top edge for skipping forward or back.
Price follows the same pattern, with the Carver costing about twice a typical 10.1-inch Frameo frame. The bands for every size are in Frameo frame prices by size.
| Frameo frames | Aura Carver | |
|---|---|---|
| App for senders | Free Frameo app, iPhone and Android | Free Aura app |
| Other ways in | micro SD or SD card; USB drive or computer on some models | Email, text, iCloud, Google Photos |
| Where photos live | In the frame's 16GB, 32GB or 64GB memory | Free unlimited cloud storage |
| Video | 15 seconds from the free app; longer from a card | Up to 30 seconds with sound |
| Screen | 8 to 32 inches, touch screen, 1280x800 to 1920x1080 | 10-inch HD, 1280x800 |
| On the frame itself | Swipe, pause, hide, react, albums | Touch bar along the top edge |
| Extras | Calendar, weather, collage on many models | Auto brightness, portrait pairing, Live Photos, mirroring from a Windows PC |
| Paid tier | Frameo+, optional | No subscription fee |
Frameo details from the frame makers' specifications; Aura details for the Carver as Aura describes it.
On the Frameo side, the frame's owner adds each sender with a short code or QR code shown on the screen. That person then sends from the free Frameo app on either an iPhone or an Android, up to 10 photos at a time plus clips of up to 15 seconds, and they land within seconds.
Aura opens more doors for the senders. Photos can come from the Aura app, by email or text, or straight from iCloud and Google Photos, and videos run to 30 seconds with sound. For a family whose pictures already sit in a shared Google Photos album, that saves a step every time.
Frameo keeps sharing personal in a way many families like. Only invited friends can send, photos go to the frame rather than onto a public feed, and the owner removes anyone from the frame itself. Each picture is one someone chose and sent on purpose, which suits grandparents who enjoy knowing who thought of them.
A Frameo frame stores every photo in its own memory, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB depending on the model, and makers quote tens of thousands of pictures for 32GB. Photos already on the frame keep playing when the Wi-Fi drops, and most frames add a card slot for imports and backups.
Aura keeps the library in its cloud instead and charges no subscription for unlimited storage. The frame shows what the cloud sends it, so the album never outgrows the device and nothing needs tidying on the frame.
For a grandparent in a house with patchy broadband, local storage is the calmer choice. The frame goes on showing last week's pictures however the router behaves.
How much a Frameo frame holds, and how to back it up for free, is set out in micro SD cards for Frameo frames.
A 15.6-inch Full HD Frameo screen with 64GB inside and a speaker for videos with sound. It reads clearly across a living room where a 10-inch frame gets lost.
See this frameThe Aura Carver has a 10-inch HD display at 1280x800, calibrated for colour and adjusting its brightness to the room's light. A 10.1-inch Frameo frame such as the MaxAngel or Akimart also uses a 1280x800 IPS touch screen, so at this size the sharpness is a match.
Beyond 10 inches the choice opens up on the Frameo side. Aura makes other models too, while Frameo frames run from 8 inches to 32, with Full HD 1920x1080 screens on every 15.6, 21.5 and 32-inch frame.
| Size | Frameo frames | Aura Carver |
|---|---|---|
| 8-inch | Arktronic, 1280x800 | No |
| 10 to 10.1-inch | MaxAngel, Akimart, Pastigio and many more, 1280x800 | Yes, 1280x800 |
| 15.6-inch | BIGASUO, Pastigio and others, 1920x1080 | No |
| 21.5-inch | BIGASUO, Moonka, Akimart, 1920x1080 | No |
| 32-inch | BIGASUO, MaxAngel, 1920x1080 | No |
A room decides this more than any spec. On a bedside table the Arktronic 8-inch fits where a 10-inch frame crowds the lamp, and across a living room a 15.6-inch picture has more than twice the area of a 10-inch one. Real dimensions for each size are in Frameo frame sizes compared.
|
MaxAngel 10.1-inch Frameo Frame |
Aura Carver 10-inch Frame |
Akimart 10.1-inch Frameo Frame |
BIGASUO 15.6-inch Frameo Frame |
Skylight 10-inch Frame |
AEEZO 10.1-inch Wi-Fi Frame (AiMOR app) | |
| Screen | 10.1" | 10" | 10.1" | 15.6" | 10" | 10.1" |
| Resolution | 1280×800 | 1280×800 | 1280×800 | 1920×1080 | 1280×800 | 1280×800 |
| Storage | 32GB | — | 32GB | 64GB | — | 32GB |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi |
| Auto-rotate | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| See this frame | See this frame | See this frame | See this frame | See this frame | See this frame |
Frameo and Aura are not the only ways to put photos on a frame. Plenty of Frameo digital photo frame alternatives look much like Frameo models yet run a different app, and they cannot pair with the Frameo app at all.
The app matters more than the badge on the bezel. When the family already sends to one Frameo frame, a second Frameo frame from any maker slots into the same app, while an AiMOR or VPhoto frame means another app on every sender's phone.
For most families giving a first frame, Frameo is the easier start: lower cost, a touch screen the owner can use alone and a size for every room. Aura earns its place when the photos already live in a cloud library and the senders want to do nothing extra. The strengths and limits of Frameo on its own are weighed up in is Frameo a good digital frame.
Neither wins outright. Aura suits families whose photos live in iCloud or Google Photos and who want unlimited cloud storage; Frameo suits owners who like a touch screen, a card slot and a wider choice of sizes at a lower cost.
Neither does for everyday use. The Frameo app is free, with an optional Frameo+ tier, and Aura charges no subscription for its unlimited storage.
No. Aura frames take photos from the Aura app and its other routes, and Frameo frames from the Frameo app; each only pairs with its own frames.
The Aura app sends clips of up to 30 seconds with sound. The free Frameo app stops at 15 seconds, though Frameo frames play longer videos copied in from a card or USB drive.
No. Uhale is a separate frame app, so a Uhale frame will not pair with the Frameo app. Look for Frameo in the frame's name.
These frames do not run Frameo: Aura, Skylight and the AiMOR and VPhoto apps each have their own way of sending photos. Worth a look if the family already uses one of them.
