How to Find Your Photos Easily: 5 Best Photo Storage & Backup Services
Need an easy way to find your photos? Need affordable cloud storage to save your precious memories? Nowadays, photo storage services are common, making cloud storage and online backup of photos easier than ever. There are plenty of services to choose from, but which one suits your storage needs and budget?
Navigate below to see a breakdown of the top photo storage and cloud storage solutions.
1. Google Photos (Learn More)
2. Apple iCloud (Learn More)
3. Sync
4. iDrive
5. Dropbox
1. Google Photos
Cost
Google Photos offers a plethora of plans, making sure everyone is satisfied with their specific needs. The free option includes 15GB of storage with two options: high quality or original quality, which we’ll talk about later. The other plans include 100GB for $1.99/month, 1TB for $9.99/month, 2TB for $19.99/month, 10TB for $99.99/month, and 30TB for $299.99/month. Plans can be billed monthly or annually.
Photo Storage Size Allowance
The high quality option allows unlimited free storage, but photos are compressed to save space. So if a photo is larger than 16MP, it will be seized to 16MP. Prints are available at a limited 24-inch by 16-inch size. Videos recorded higher than 1080p will be resized to HD 1080p, while 1080p or less videos will remain the same.
The original quality option is just as it sounds: all images and videos will be uploaded in original quality. While this option is suitable for people taking photos of more than 16MP and recording videos higher than 1080p, the 15GB of free storage will quickly be filled up. This option is great for printing larger items like banners.
Image Hosting Upload Speed
Google hasn’t announced an expected upload speed, but like most Internet related activities, the speed is heavily reliant on your Internet service. Considering Google has some of the best worldwide server coverage, you can expect to see more than fair upload speeds.
Key Cloud Storage Features
Google Photos can be accessed via Android, iOS, or your web browser. It’s a cloud service that can analyze photos and organize them into groups. Objects or scenery like beaches, skylines, or weather can be detected and be made into collages. Three categories exist to separate groups, including People, Places, and Things. Photos can be shared with Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and many more options.
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2. Apple iCloud
Cost
Apple’s iCloud offers similar plans to Google Photos, with 5GB for free, 50GB for $0.99/month, 200GB for $2.99/month, and 2TB for $9.99/month. The cost can change depending on the region you’re purchasing storage for. For example, we saw a $27,900 charge for storage in Colombia. Surely Colombians can find storage from Google at a cheaper rate, but this was being viewed from an American connection.
Photo Storage Size Allowance
The official maximum file size stated by Apple is 15GB. We assume this number was produced as a result of iCloud being a storage option for multiple file types. As far as common knowledge can tell, no device takes a photo of the file size, so you’re good to go.
Image Hosting Upload Speed
Similar to Google and the other cloud storage services below, the upload rate will be highly dependent of your Internet connection. Apple is another company with worldwide server coverage, so the upload speed shouldn’t be an issue.
Key Cloud Storage Features
Apple’s iCloud can be accessed via iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Macs, PC, or your web browser. There’s an app for each device previously mentioned, but it isn’t required. iCloud’s photo storage service is largely known as a Photo Stream. The Photo Stream works a lot like Google Photos, with automatic image grouping and face analyzation.
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3. Sync
Cost
Users of Sync can enjoy a free 5GB of storage for image hosting, while Sync’s PRO Personal users can use up to 2TB of storage and PRO Business users have access to up to 1TB of storage (per user). Both plans are billed annually, with Personal coming out at $8/month and Business $5/month per user.
Photo Storage Size Allowance
According to Sync, there is no file size limit for photos or any other file types. As with iCloud’s 15GB limit, no single photo will exceed 15GB, so Sync has you covered.
Image Hosting Upload Speed
Sync will match the upload speed offered by your ISP. Contact Sync if you ever notice any throttling. Fortunately for Sync users, controlling bandwidth usage is an option, and a wise one at that.
Key Cloud Storage Features
With Sync.com, you can access photos from any Windows or Mac device. Mobile apps for iOS and Android are available, and web browser access is always available. Other features that make Sync shine include offline access, selective sync, shared folders with the ability to send invitations, password protection, and a large focus on security.
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4. iDrive
Cost
iDrive offers a free 5GB of cloud storage to the public, a personal plan at $52.12/year for 2TB of storage, and a business plan for $99.50/year. Personal and business plans can be scaled up for a slight price increase, and business plans start out at 250GB per user.
Photo Storage Size Allowance
The maximum file size limit for image hosting on iDrive is 4GB.
Image Hosting Upload Speed
As other online backup services, iDrive will surely match your ISP’s advertised upload speed.
Key Cloud Storage Features
iDrive customers can share photos from the web, with their desktop or mobile apps, and even have the option for sharing to specific users via email, Facebook, and Twitter.
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5. Dropbox
Cost
Dropbox offers a free plan of 2GB with the option for earned storage from referring users, the Plus plan that includes 1TB, the Professional plan that comes with 1TB and exclusive features. A business plan is also available, but pricing is decided based on the size of the team under this plan.
Photo Storage Size Allowance
The maximum file size a user can upload is 20GB. Of course, to do this you would need a plan that covers 20GB or more.
Image Hosting Upload Speed
Dropbox users reportedly experience some of the best upload speeds for their online backups. You can also set limits for bandwidth usage if desired.
Key Cloud Storage Features
With Dropbox, files and folders can be password protected and shared with individual users or the public. Photos can be send to emails or via social media accounts connected to your Dropbox account.