GuruShots Reviews 78

I agree with many, that the introduction of the Turbo has resulted in negative effects. And unless you invest in coins in order to use swaps, keys, etc. it will take you an eternity to reach Guru status.
At the same time, be aware that Gurushots is a game! Pictures you send in, most likely will not be evaluated by a pro. All is based on the number of people that like your picture, and not even that! Everyone knows that you get the most votes in the last 10 minutes of the competition. This means that people are scrambling to fill their exposure meter, indiscriminate of the quality of the pics they vote for! And I understand the skepticism and frustration, cause I feel it too! At the same time, realize that it's a game!! Nothing more and nothing less. The only frustration I cannot set aside is that I cannot prove that apparently some teams have found a way to cheat on the system. Getting 4-5K votes in the last minutes of the challenge is at least suspicious. This, when I am in a situation set for a Top100 pic, and I get zero votes during 2 minutes in the last 4 minutes of the challenge! Many things just smell fishy......

Quality or skillful photography has little to no bearing on the competitions. People win because they are able to manipulate the timing of their involvement and are willing to commit to financial expenditure in each photo challenge. Case in point is where I saw the end result of challenge involving boats where the top 3 photographs were all out of focus, poorly framed and this of course is subjective; boring. There were hundreds of vastly superior shots but their creators weren’t able to, or chose not to manipulate their scores’. I have no issue with GuruShots deriving an income from this app - good luck to them, but to present it as a game that supposedly rewards photographic skill and creativity is at best a farce, at worst ‘a scam’.

I’ve been part of the GuruShots community for many years now, dipping in and out, joining teams, taking breaks, and returning again when the creative itch strikes. Over that time, I’ve watched the platform evolve—sometimes for the better, sometimes in ways that spark debate—but always in a way that keeps me coming back.

I shoot with a camera that dates back to 2014. It’s not the newest or flashiest piece of kit, but it’s reliable and produces images I’m proud of. I’ve never relied on paid boosts or packs, and I can confidently say I’ve never purchased any of the in‑game power-ups. The only money I’ve spent has been when one of my photographs performed well enough to be selected for display in a real-world exhibition—something I consider a fair exchange and a nice reward for the effort put in.

One thing that has become increasingly noticeable over the years is the sheer volume of mobile phone photography in the challenges. On a mobile device, everything looks reasonably similar—bright, punchy, and compressed. But when you switch to a proper desktop display, the difference becomes stark. Many mobile snapshots really shout at you, and not always in a good way.

This isn’t a criticism of mobile photographers—some produce fantastic work—but the voting experience can feel skewed when high-quality images sit alongside quick point‑and‑shoot uploads that rely heavily on filters or AI enhancements. It’s part of the game, but it does change the dynamic.

Photography is subjective. That’s both the charm and the frustration of GuruShots.

I’ve had images I consider some of my best barely register with voters. I’ve also had photos I thought were “just okay” perform surprisingly well. I’ve misinterpreted briefs, misunderstood themes, and watched perfectly good shots sink without a trace. It happens. It’s part of the learning curve.

The platform rewards persistence, experimentation, and a thick skin. If you expect every image to soar, you’ll be disappointed. If you treat it as a creative playground, it’s far more enjoyable.

I’ve read countless negative reviews over the years. Some raise fair points—especially around the competitiveness, the voting system, or the push toward paid boosts. But many others feel like sour grapes from people who expected instant success or misunderstood how the platform works.

My experience has been largely positive. I’ve never felt forced to pay, and I’ve always been able to progress at my own pace. The game is what you make of it.

GuruShots isn’t perfect. No platform is. But it has kept me engaged for years, pushed me to improve, and given me a space to share my work with a global audience. If you approach it with realistic expectations, a willingness to learn, and an appreciation for the subjective nature of art, it can be a rewarding and motivating experience.

I’ll keep playing, keep learning, and keep enjoying the ride.

Ive played on gs for a few years or more now and have seen my winning photos displayed in galleries and digital as well as magazines...i actually quit contests for a couple years and tried another recently... and wont anymore after this.. and prob bow out completely from the site... why? Because ive noticed these few times thay ive had pics in challenges that have gone high in votes and my ranking very good about in 20s or 30s at times... then it all stops... no votes... contacting gs. They tell that pics getting high votes wil stop as it has reached its level which gives others the chance to get votes which causes your high ranking to go into 3 or 400 place losing your place in line even if you vote for the boost pics... i feel this is very.unfair as if you got in early and votes did well.. it stops your pics from getting views and more votes while somepne may come in a week later joining and pass others in high ranks ... never again will i join.or even come back to this site... if you are looking to play photography games with fair chances of winning some contests
.. dont try here...its a dirty way to do photographers that have gotten in early and in very high lead to get votes stopped so others can catch up!

It is a scam. When you enter a competition, most accounts have the same profile picture and different usernames, in short bot accounts just to get a revenue

dreadful, just a way of getting money off you.

Having been with Gurushots for about 7 years, one thing has become apparant. Either the photographers don't know what a great photograph looks like or it is rigged to make you spend money. Don't get me wrong, there are some great images that win the challenges but there are also a great deal deal of images where I go 'what! how the hell did that get so many votes'. The simple fact is that there is a consistant inconsistancy in the voting. It seems that if you are good at guessing, you can win a Turbo vote or if you dont guess right, you can buy one. It's all a nonsense as the majority of the so-called Guru's don't have the first clue about what composition makes a great photo.

this is a scam, 99% of photos are joke, if you don’t pay you cant win shit.

I have finally deleted my Guru Shots Account..
I have been a Member since 2016, in those early years I met a lot of Great Photographers on the platform, and shared ideas, however, as the "Worlds Greatest Photography Game" was steadily down-graded to become the "Worlds Biggest Scam" those people have since departed. I stayed in only to support the Team I played in.. The final straw came when I won a Challenge only to have the Rewards pulled and my winning Status removed. The TURBO "Mini GAMBLE" is an abomination at best, an insipid money grabbing swindle by the Administrators of this once Great Game.

Gurushots is now nothing more than a joke. The Turbo feature is just a gamble as is duels. It used to be fairly good fun but that has passed. I gave it a one star because there were no lesser options available.

I dont know what game jeff Cooley was playing (review from january) but i made it to guru 5, i see a lot of names here who also made it to guru. This game is not what it used to be and has become a greediest, money grabbing app ive been on. If you do enough research, you will also find they have "paid to play players" which explains why, in a "starts with D - in English only", a sunset photo wins over a picture of a duck. The turbo is nothing but a casino game where the odds are in the house's favour. Why would there even be a turbo feature in a one picture challenge? It was an even playing field to begin with but adding the turbo to that makes it uneven, as their "employees" know the hacks to win the turbo challenge while the rest will pay coins. One just has to look at the internet traffic results of this app and they can see they have lost 75%of their players since turbo was introduced. When j first started playing gurushots, I would have easily given it 5*, but they're lucky they are getting 1* from me today.

All the new Turbo, Flash and Duel features are just a gamble and have nothing to do with photography. Game is fixed for the people who are already on top to place higher. It is impossible to level up or win a challenge.

Everything is extremely buggy.
It looks like nobody testing new features they implement and regression of existing functionality.

I have been a member of the GS site for years and I was sharing my photos as a photographer who was a step ahead of an amateur. Until my grandchildren recreated my photos with artificial intelligence in the portrait category and shared them. They wanted to play a joke on me. But they removed my account without questioning me, without me even having a chance to defend myself. I would never do something like that. Now that I think about it, I have come across sites where voting is done more fairly. GS is now null and void for me.

Like many here, I used to be a GS loyalist. I enjoyed the game even though it always had glitches. Nothing major to raise a complaint. Much more good than bad. Coming back after a few years, I've found its exactly the opposite, mostly HORRIBLE with a sprinkle of good. The newly introduced Turbo is nothing but an aggressive assault on any photographer's intelligence, amateur or professional alike. The "winning", so-called "most voted" photos there almost always have zero artistic merits, often blurry, not matching the theme of the contest, the composition so poor it hurts my eyes, I started documenting this absurdity...making my collection of snapshots. You can't avoid Turbo. Without Turbo though, you may not reach All-Stars status even if all your photos are most-voted or multiple-times GURU picks, so you have to pay, pay, pay... Turbo is obscenely insulting and I like many others, am planning to leave. There are many other bad things routinely happening like stealing and mismanagement of assets (coins, fills etc) but its another conversation and perhaps another complaint. To make a long story short: Stay away if you can, and think, 98% of reviewers here issuing 1 star, can not be wrong.

Many of the one-star reviews come from photographers frustrated that their photos aren't performing well. Personally, I use a 2016 Canon camera and have had great success. If your photo is good, it will resonate and perform well. I've only ever spent money on one competition, and that was a digital one.

If I could give a negative score I would. Who ever owns this game now, has ruined it, all they care about is $$$ and not the photographer's or photography.

I am a professional photographer. Successfully published in print and online media however your "game" is just a scam and a joke.

FIX IT, so we can all enjoy it!!

It acts boldly as a scam. I joined as guest in the app. (And didn't find an interface to do a proper sign in later). And from the first challenge I got 1st place. Really? It was good photo, but still? Also, in the challenge there are 100 pictures, how and why do I get 300+ votes? I see a lot of good gamification, but there is no way I can rely on this as a community feedback.

If I could I would vote 0 stars. Initially really enjoyed this game until my photo was removed as someone reported it as a spam. I wrote to GuruShot and had no clear explanation of why it was removed. It has a stunning composition . The photo was not offensive , it was a photo type documentary, street photography. You can see this type of photos everywhere. Actually winning a competition as some people and me already have noticed has nothing to do with the quality of the photos and good photography.

Money grab I posted a BLANK PIC and won.. after I bought coins to play