MediaValet vs PhotoShelter

Which DAM delivers more?

If you’ve been using PhotoShelter, or exploring it, you’ve probably seen its strengths for photography-heavy, media-rich teams. But as your organization grows, you might start running into walls: limited scalability, slow onboarding, or AI that doesn’t quite keep up. 

That’s where MediaValet shines. Built for enterprise, loved by creatives, and powered by AI, MediaValet offers a more powerful, scalable, and supportive DAM experience. 

Photoshelter VS MediaValet Hero

Why do customers choose MediaValet over PhotoShelter? 

MediaValet delivers more: more power, more support, more results. See for yourself: 

Smart Image Search Feature 1

Seriously faster time to value

MediaValet customers report achieving ROI in just 11 months — nearly twice as fast as PhotoShelter users, who see returns in 22 months. 

Why the speed difference? Because MediaValet removes friction: 

  • Intuitive onboarding and higher ease-of-use scores across the board 
  • AI-powered features that reduce manual tagging, searching, and admin tasks 
  • Stronger integrations with creative and marketing tools 
  • Dedicated support that accelerates adoption 

AI capabilities that do the real heavy lifting

MediaValet is built with AI at its core, helping you save time and uncover more value. 

MediaValet’s AI highlights: 

  • Face Recognition that auto-tags people across photos & videos 
  • Auto-tagging with rich, consistent metadata 
  • Duplicate detection and surfacing top-performing content 
  • Usage rights monitoring with expiry alerts 
  • Audio/video transcription and translation 
Face Recognition Feature 2
Quality Support Feature 3

Support that actually shows up

MediaValet doesn’t just offer unlimited support; it’s a partnership. MediaValet offers unlimited onboarding and training for all users, global support with lightning-fast response times, enterprise deployment programs with a human touch.

And the results? 

  • Likelihood to Recommend: MediaValet 91% vs. PhotoShelter 86%
  • Quality of Support: MediaValet 94% vs. PhotoShelter 90%
  • Product Direction (positive): MediaValet 94% vs. PhotoShelter 88%

A seamlessly, simpler platform 

MediaValet is a much easier to use platform than PhotoShelter – and that’s not just our opinion. The numbers don’t lie: 

  • Ease of Use: MediaValet 88% vs. PhotoShelter 84% 
  • Ease of Setup: MediaValet 85% vs. PhotoShelter 81% 
  • Ease of Admin: MediaValet 88% vs. PhotoShelter 83% 
Product Image Feature 4

The 2025 G2 DAM Vendor Report

See how MediaValet compares with other digital asset management platforms like Brandfolder, Bynder, and Canto. 

Feature Comparison

MediaValet Leads in Critical Areas 

If you’re a creative or marketing team managing diverse media assets, MediaValet gives you stronger tools to centralize, organize, and deliver your content. 

MediaValet versus Photoshelter image

Hear from Our Customers 

Jannette Whippy

I LOVE Branded Portals! I can just quickly throw together a portal and share some amazing content.

Jannette Whippy

Creative Services Manager, United Way of King County

Kortnay Woods

I love AI and I’m really excited about it . . . the facial recognition was a godsend!

Kortnay Woods

Digital Asset Manager, The Chosen

Frequently asked questions

While both MediaValet and PhotoShelter offer digital asset management (DAM) solutions, they cater to different needs and organizational scales. MediaValet is built for enterprises and global teams that need scalability, advanced features, and deep integrations — including AI-powered metadata tagging, built-in brand portals, and WCAG-compliant interfaces. 
 
PhotoShelter, on the other hand, is more focused on creative teams and media-rich organizations, particularly those in photography and publishing. 

In short; MediaValet’s enterprise-grade security goes beyond PhotoShelter’s proprietary setup.  

MediaValet is built on Microsoft Azure—the most secure, scalable, and globally trusted cloud infrastructure available. 

While PhotoShelter does provide solid security — including asset redundancy, encryption, and role-based access — MediaValet takes it further with: 

  • SOC 2 Type II compliance, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, and FERPA readiness 
  • Full encryption at rest and in transit using AES-256 and TLS 1.2+ 
  • Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO), SCIM provisioning, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and granular permissions across users and roles 
  • Audit logs, custom retention policies, and full compliance toolkits for regulated industries like government, healthcare, and finance 

For organizations where data integrity, access control, and compliance aren’t just nice-to-haves — they’re non-negotiable — MediaValet provides peace of mind at scale. 

Based on G2 reviews, MediaValet scores satisfaction score for analytics, compared to 6.9 for PhotoShelter.  
For metadata management, MediaValet edges ahead as well, scoring 8.9 vs. PhotoShelter’s 8.8 — and while the numbers are close, the difference lies in scalability and depth. 

With MediaValet, you can: 

  • Use AI-powered tagging and auto-classification to eliminate manual data entry 
  • Track asset performance across channels and campaigns with built-in usage analytics 
  • Generate insights on asset ROI, reuse frequency, and user engagement to drive strategic decisions 

PhotoShelter offers more basic tagging and reporting tools suited to smaller libraries, but if you need rich metadata governance and actionable analytics at scale, MediaValet is the clear winner. 

MediaValet is purpose-built to support and streamline creative workflows at scale — and the numbers back it up. On G2, MediaValet scores 8.0 for creative software integrations and 8.1 for marketing software integrations, outperforming PhotoShelter’s 7.8 in both categories. While that may seem close on paper, the difference in day-to-day usability is significant for creative and marketing teams managing high asset volumes. 

MediaValet offers: 

  • Native integrations with Adobe Creative Cloud (including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator), so designers can browse, edit, and save directly to the DAM — without ever leaving their creative tools 
  • API and webhook access to build custom automations between MediaValet and your project management, PIM, CMS, or brand tools 
  • Pre-built integrations with leading platforms like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, WordPress, and Wrike to support seamless collaboration across departments 
  • Creative templating integrations (like Marq and Canva) to democratize design work and reduce bottlenecks for in-house designers 

Integration Comparison

MediaValet vs PhotoShelter

MediaValet 

PhotoShelter for Brands 

Integration Capability

Integration with Creative Software (e.g., Adobe Creative Cloud) 

80% satisfaction 

78% satisfaction 

Integration with Marketing Software (e.g., CMS, marketing automation) 

81% satisfaction 

78% satisfaction 

Import/Export Tools

89% satisfaction 

86% satisfaction 

CDN or Headless Delivery Options

Native CDN integrations 

Limited (manual or third-party workarounds) 

SSO & Identity Management

Azure AD, SAML, SCIM 

SSO available 

API Access for Custom Workflows

Full developer portal and API suite 

API access limited or requires customization 

SharePoint/ Teams Integrations

Native integrations

Not supported 

PIM/ERP System Compatibility

Custom integrations supported

Limited availability 

Video Platform Integrations

Vimeo, Brightcove, Kaltura, etc. 

Limited to basic video playback 

Ready to explore a better PhotoShelter alternative? 

Choosing MediaValet is about more than storage. It’s about transforming how your teams work. If you’re finding PhotoShelter can’t keep up with your growing needs, MediaValet is ready to help. Book a demo today and see how we can help you: 

  • Launch campaigns faster 
  • Strengthen brand consistency 
  • Eliminate content chaos