If you use the internet a lot and have a lot of data to store, you may take advantage of cloud computing. Cloud storage offers limited or unlimited space for your data, some of the data being photos, as this is our today’s topic. Now, there are tons of websites where you can upload photos, and the selection of the best will not be that easy. But, if you stick with me, I will make my best effort in order to bring you the 10 top cloud storage services for storing your favorite photos. So, if you are in a need of such service, this article would definitely help you.
What is cloud photo storage?
Cloud photo storage is the process of storing your photos in the cloud. In the past years, we used to depend on local storage for storing photos. With the popularity of the cloud storage services that automatically syncs your photos on the cloud and makes them available on all the connected devices, things drastically changed. Now, whenever you take a photo from your Android, iOS, or any other smartphones, the photos will be immediately stored in the cloud (given that you turned on sync) and will be accessible anywhere, anytime, from any device.
How to choose the best cloud photo storage?
Choosing the best photo storage on the cloud could be a difficult task. Especially if the service costs money, you should be extremely careful before going for it. There are many free services you could give a try without spending a penny. If the service is free, you can simply sign up for the service and try things out. This is how you can choose the best cloud photo storage –
- Choose the service that provides value for your money.
- Always make sure the photo storage service includes all the necessary features.
- Only choose known companies that other users trust.
- If you are a photographer, no matter which photography type, be sure to avoid services that compress photos.
- Prefer simplicity to unnecessary features.
List of the best cloud storage for photos
While there are several cloud storage services available on the internet. Specifically, hosting photos might need a set of features that are suitable. For example, image compression, photo editing tools, conversion to different formats, etc. are some of the features that will be useful. While there are no advanced features like those are present in this list, we will list 11 of the best cloud storage service for photo storage –
1. Flickr
When it comes to sharing photos, Flickr is unmatched. I mean, there are other cloud services, and yes, many of them are better in some factors, however, Flickr is my number one for sharing photos. Why? Well, because it’s great for photographers, as it offers 1TB of space for FREE, with ads on the website. For just around fifty bucks, you can get an ad-free experience, which is a very cheap price for this luxury. On top of that, Flickr is very simple to use, so you’ll enjoy time-saving drag-and-drop workflow. For me, Flickr is a bread and butter of cloud storage for photos.
2. Photobucket
Photobucket isn’t that efficient as Flickr, but still, there are 2GB of free space for the newcomers. Surely, you can’t store that many photos here, and that’s why there are few premium options. There are three levels of premium, but I’ll mention that one with 520GB of storage for $5.99 a month, which has the best price to value ratio. Furthermore, Photobucket is also simple to use and offers many editing tools that you can apply to your photos and then save them and organize them how you want. Photobucket will be your cloud storage and your editor at the same time.
3. Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of features for editing, managing, and storing photos. You can use their services to store your images directly in the cloud and access them from applications such as Adobe Photoshop. If you frequently use Adobe products for photo editing purposes, it is probably a good idea to sign up for an Adobe CC subscription. With the subscription, you will also get access to a ton of addition features apart from just photo storage.
3. IDrive
IDrive might not be specialized for photos, but this all-rounder will blow you away with its performance. It’s fast, simple and reliable, and I might say with confidence that it’s the best Cloud storage I’ve ever used! Here, you can get 2TB a MONTH for just $52 a year! Sounds great? Wait till you hear this! IDrive offers tons of possibilities for securing your files, so even if you lose your data, they will ship a physical hard drive to your address, allowing for smooth restoration of backed up files.
4. iCloud
If you ever used iOS or Mac devices, you probably know what is iCloud. This cloud service is integrated on such devices and allows 5GB of free space for your multimedia, such as photos, audio, and video. While iCloud is a very reliable storage, offering some features for tagging, creating cards, photo books, and calendars, it’s also not that secure, and that’s the main concern here. Price-wise, iCloud offers 10GB of space for $20 a year, which is pretty odd, when you think better. Nevertheless, iCloud is a reliable companion, and if it wasn’t for security problems, I might have placed it on the higher spot on the list.
5. Google Photos
When Google Photos was first released, it was mainly for backing up the photos taken on smartphones. Thankfully, Google Photos is now a full-fledged sharing and editing service. Yes, you can easily edit your photos by cropping them, tweaking some colors and similar. It doesn’t offer advanced features, but most of them are there. As for the price, Google Photos offers unlimited space, but with a small catch. Photos can be stored only at a maximum of 16MP, or videos at 1080p. For higher resolution, Google will charge you $1.99 a month for 100GB; fair enough!
6. Dropbox
With over five million users, Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud services at the moment. And if you didn’t know, Dropbox also includes some features like slideshows or sharing the files directly with the other users. Printing and tagging, however, aren’t available, although I would like them to be there, having in mind the price. Dropbox offers 2GB of space for free users, and there are 2TB plans costing up to $15.99 a month, which is on the more expensive side.
7. OneDrive
OneDrive also isn’t a bad option for photos. It’s integrated into your Windows 10 explorer, so no download needed, which is good. OneDrive can take advantage of Microsft’s Photos app in order to sync your photos with the other devices and have in mind that there is an Android and iOS version of OneDrive, the versatility of this app is pretty good. I’m not that satisfied with the price, as you can get 50GB of space for $1.99, compared to Google Photos
which offers double the amount of space at the same price! If you decide to go free, then you’ll have to satisfy your needs with 5GB of space.
8. Amazon Drive
Amazon Drive isn’t the most reliable cloud service I’ve used, but they are cheap and efficient enough. Amazon Drive is here if you have lots of data, particularly high-res videos and photos, which basically makes it good for photographers. Amazon Drive offers 10TB of space for just $50, which sounds really, really great for me.
9. SmugMug
SmugMug is primarily a great tool for designing various templates for your photos, but it’s also a great cloud service. The one thing I noticed here is that there isn’t a free version, which is kinda odd. But, SmugMug offers their services at the cost of $5.99 a month for the cheapest variant. Don’t be fooled by the price; you get a lot for your money. SmugMug provides the users with unlimited storage and 1080p, as well as powerful editing tools that are simple to use. Of course, this isn’t Photoshop, but it’s still a great tool for editing and managing your photos.
10. SpiderOak ONE
SpiderOak ONE is a very reliable cloud storage. By using this cloud service, you can connect an unlimited number of PCs per account, sync your photos and don’t have to worry about security, which is pretty tight here. However, SpiderOak ONE isn’t that simple to use, so you’ll have some tough time until you find out where is what. On top of that, SpiderOak costs a little more. Compared to IDrive, this one offer 1TB for $12 a month, which comes at around $144 a year. On the other side, IDrive offers double the amount of space for just $52 a year. Not the cheapest cloud service, but if the security is top notch, I’ll gladly pay more money if needed.
Things to remember after subscribing to a cloud photo storage service
After choosing a cloud storage service for your photos and satisfied with the results, you should make sure that you get the most out of it. These are the things to keep an eye on –
- Always check additional charges every month to avoid extra costs.
- Use one of the best photo editing software to edit photos from your PC to retain the quality of the photos before uploading.
- Make your photos private unless you want to share them with someone.
- Compress the images to save space if you are not a photographer.