Mixbook is one of the best photo book editors out there. That's not up for debate. Their drag-and-drop designer, their templates, their print quality — it's all genuinely excellent. So why are you looking for an alternative?

For most people, the answer comes down to time. Mixbook gives you complete design control, but that control comes at a cost. You have to upload every photo from your device, choose a template, arrange each page, tweak the layouts, and fine-tune everything before you order. If you're making a single special occasion book, that's worth it. If you want to turn years of social media memories into print? You're looking at hours of work per book.

There's also the upload problem. If your best photos live on Facebook or Instagram, you first have to download them to your device, then re-upload them to Mixbook. That's hundreds or thousands of photos, and you lose all the context along the way — the dates, the captions, the likes, the location tags that made those posts meaningful in the first place.

My Social Book as a Mixbook alternative

My Social Book takes the opposite approach. Instead of handing you a blank canvas and a pile of design tools, it connects directly to your Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox account and builds your photo book automatically. You don't upload anything. You don't arrange anything. The system pulls your posts, organizes them chronologically, and generates a finished book you can preview in under three minutes.

The key difference is what gets preserved. My Social Book doesn't just grab your photos. It keeps the dates, captions, likes, and locations from your original posts. Your book reads like a journal of your life, not just a photo album. That's something no traditional photo book editor can do, including Mixbook, because they don't connect to your social media accounts at all.

How the two compare

Photo sources

Mixbook works with photos stored on your device. You upload images from your phone, computer, or cloud storage manually. My Social Book connects directly to Facebook, Instagram, and Dropbox. Your photos come in with all their original metadata intact — no downloading and re-uploading required.

If your photo library lives mainly on your phone's camera roll or a hard drive, Mixbook's upload system works fine. But if your best memories are scattered across social media accounts built up over the past decade, My Social Book saves you from the tedious job of extracting them one by one.

Book creation process

Mixbook's editor is powerful. You pick a theme, drag photos into place, resize them, add text, swap backgrounds, and control every detail on every page. It's the right tool when you want a specific creative vision.

My Social Book's process is fully automatic. Connect your account, choose the date range, and preview your book. The system handles layout, design, and chronological ordering. You can still remove posts you don't want and edit the cover before ordering. The tradeoff is clear: less design control, but the book is ready in minutes instead of hours.

Customization

This is where Mixbook wins, and there's no point pretending otherwise. If you want to control fonts, backgrounds, page layouts, photo sizes, and text placement, Mixbook is the better tool. It's built for people who enjoy the design process.

My Social Book gives you a different kind of customization. You choose the date range, remove unwanted posts, and edit the cover. The layout is generated automatically. For people who want a finished book without the design work, that's a feature, not a limitation.

Pricing approach

Mixbook's pricing starts around $30 for a small book and scales up with page count and format. They run frequent sales, especially around holidays. My Social Book starts at $33 for a 25-page softcover. Most customers purchase with discounts of 40% or more. Both services charge shipping separately.

The real cost difference isn't just the sticker price — it's your time. A Mixbook photo book might take several evenings to design. A My Social Book is ready to order in minutes. Depending on how you value your time, that changes the math significantly.

Who should switch (and who shouldn't)

Switch to My Social Book if: Your photos are on Facebook or Instagram. You don't want to spend hours designing pages. You care about preserving the social context (dates, captions, likes, locations) alongside your photos. You want to create books covering multiple years of memories without the workload scaling up.

Stay with Mixbook if: You want full creative control over every page. Your photos are already on your device and well-organized. You enjoy the design process and want a specific aesthetic. You're making a one-off gift book where every detail matters.

Neither option is objectively better. They serve different needs. Mixbook is a design tool. My Social Book is an automatic photo journal. The right choice depends on where your photos live and how much time you want to spend.

How to switch

Moving from Mixbook to My Social Book takes about three minutes. There's nothing to migrate because the two services work with completely different photo sources.

Step 1: Connect your social account. Go to My Social Book's creation page and connect your Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox account. The system scans your content and calculates how many pages your book will be.

Step 2: Preview your book. Browse through the automatically generated pages. Remove any posts you don't want included. Edit the cover if you'd like. Everything is laid out chronologically with your original captions, dates, likes, and locations.

Step 3: Order. Choose your format (hardcover or softcover, 25 to 450 pages) and place your order. That's it. No hours of layout work.

Feature comparison: My Social Book vs Mixbook

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my own photos with My Social Book, or only social media?

My Social Book works with Facebook, Instagram, and Dropbox. If your photos are stored in Dropbox, you can use that as your source. For photos only on your device with no social media connection, Mixbook or another traditional editor would be a better fit.

Will my Mixbook projects transfer to My Social Book?

No, the two services are completely separate. My Social Book creates books from your social media content, so there's nothing to transfer. You'll create a new book by connecting your social account.

How does My Social Book handle years of Facebook posts?

The system scans your entire Facebook history and organizes everything chronologically. You can create books covering any date range, from a single year to your entire time on the platform. Books can go up to 450 pages, and you can always split long timelines into multiple volumes.

Is My Social Book cheaper than Mixbook?

Base prices are comparable. My Social Book starts at $33 for a 25-page softcover, and most customers get discounts of 40% or more. Mixbook starts around $30 with frequent sales. The bigger savings with My Social Book come from the time you don't spend designing — there's no layout work involved at all.

Can I remove posts I don't want in my book?

Yes. After My Social Book generates your preview, you can go through and remove any posts before ordering. You can also edit the cover. The book is yours to review before you commit.

Ready to see how your social media looks in print? Create your book now and preview it for free. It takes less than three minutes, and there's no obligation to buy. If your photos are on Facebook or Instagram, you might be surprised how good the finished book looks without any design work at all. Check out our full comparison of photo book alternatives for more options.