Best Services For Storing Your Photos In The Cloud

Introduction
Learn more about services that will help you restore order in the photo collection and not lose anything.
Last Updated
May 11, 2020

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1

platform

Google Drive Cloud


Cost: 15 GB for free, 100 GB for $2 per month. You can read more about pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.


Perhaps the best service for storing photos — no matter how many you have. This is a truly universal solution that is suitable for users of all popular platforms. You can work with any type of file directly in Google Drive. However, it is much more convenient to manage your photos using a separate cross-platform app called Google Photos, which syncs with the cloud.

The principle of the service is simple. You add your photos via "Google Photos", they are grouped by time and place of shooting. Photos from mobile devices are uploaded automatically.

In addition, artificial intelligence recognizes things captured in images and allows you to find them by name. Just type "car" or "cat" in the search bar, and the service will find all the cars that appeared in the lens of your camera or all the cards with cats.

Search is, as it should be, Google's greatest strength.

Another useful feature of the service is unlimited space for photos. Google Drive can store as many photos and videos as you want for free. However, in this case, your photos will be compressed to a resolution of no more than 16 MP, and video-no more than 1,080p. Photos and videos with a lower resolution will remain unchanged. This clarity will still be enough for most users.


2

platform

iCloud - Cloud storage from Apple


Cost: 5 GB for free, 50 GB - $1 per month, 200 GB - $3 per month, 2 TB — $5 per month. You can find out more about pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, macOS, iOS.


If you use Apple devices, iCloud is your choice. This cloud storage is closely integrated with macOS and iOS, and all data from these systems can be synced with it: documents, calendars, contacts, and photos. iCloud works in conjunction with the native Photos app for macOS and iOS.

Windows users can download a free client that will help you upload photos and videos to iCloud storage. You can also upload or view snapshots by opening the iCloud site in your browser.

But the full benefits of storage are only revealed in the "Photos" app. It automatically uploads images from the device to the server and has excellent capabilities for building a library. It allows you to create albums, edit geotags, and metadata.

Artificial intelligence automatically groups photos by date, location, and people captured. "Photo" is really a very convenient thing, and you can only sigh about the fact that it is not available on Windows and Android.


3

platform

Dropbox - Free Cloud Storage


Cost: up to 2 GB for free, 2 TB for $10 per month. You can find out more about pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.


Dropbox was one of the first cloud drives to add photo auto-uploads to their apps. It is great for organizing all types of files, including snapshots.

The main advantage of Dropbox is its convenient applications that are available on all desktop and mobile platforms. The disadvantage is that there is not enough space in the free version. In addition, Dropbox does not have features like search by photo content, which are typical of "Google Photos" and" Photos " from Apple.

In General, if you need a service that just uploads and stores your snapshots and you can do without advanced search and cataloging features, Dropbox will do. Especially if you are going to store other documents in the cloud.

By the way, you can increase your free space by distributing links to friends and installing apps.


4

platform

OneDrive - Microsoft Storage Alternative


Cost: 5 GB for free, 1 TB for $7 per month when you sign up for a personal or family subscription to Office 365, respectively. You can find out more about pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.


In fact, OneDrive does everything the same as Dropbox, but it handles photos much better. When uploading, the service automatically tags the photo: it determines the type of image (portrait, landscape, and so on) and the objects captured on it (person, animal, objects, or nature). This makes sorting, navigation, and search easier.

In addition, OneDrive recognizes geotags, so you can see where the photo was taken on the Places tab. The service also allows you to create albums and folders to sort photos manually.

If you are a Windows 10 user, Microsoft has already installed OneDrive for you.

Snapshots from mobile devices that have the OneDrive app installed are uploaded to the cloud automatically. This is a great service for fans of the Microsoft ecosystem. And if you subscribe to Office 365, you will get all the features of Word, PowerPoint, and other office programs in addition to access to storage.


5

platform

Adobe Creative Cloud


Cost: 2 GB for free, 1 TB + all Adobe Lightroom features for $10 per month. You can find out more about the pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.


But this is a solution either for professional photographers or avid Amateurs. Adobe Creative Cloud is not cheap, but with it, you will get an advanced Adobe Lightroom photo editor that will help you do anything with your photos.

Adobe Lightroom displays photos uploaded to the cloud is a convenient and beautiful gallery that is very easy to navigate. Artificial intelligence groups the photos according to objects and even specific people. The app also supports group libraries, so you can sort and process images together with your friends and colleagues.

Adobe Lightroom in conjunction with Creative Cloud shows detailed metadata of photos, supports files in the popular RAW format among photographers. This tool has a lot of functions, but they are not useful for everyone.


6

platform

Yandex. Disk - Huge FREE Storage Cloud


Cost: 10 GB for free, unlimited for photos from your phone, $1 per month for 100 GB. You can find out more about the pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Android, iOS, Windows, macOS.


The Yandex cloud is primarily interesting for its unlimited capacity for uploading photos from smartphones. The app automatically copies all images from the device's gallery to the server and does not ask for a penny for storing them. This is done by Yandex.Disk is an excellent choice for mobile photography lovers.

However, the free storage space for other files or photos downloaded from other phones is limited to 10 GB. In addition, the service displays ads without a subscription.

You can sort images by date, name, and other parameters, as well as adjust the size of thumbnails. However, searching for objects captured in images is not supported.


7

platform

pCloud - Cheap Cloud Storage


Cost: 10 GB for free, 5 euros per month for 500 GB, or 175 euros for 500 GB forever. You can find out more about the pricing plans here.


Platforms: web, Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux.


pCloud stands out for its unusual approach to monetization. The service not only rents out cloud space but also offers to buy it permanently. Subscription or one-time payment-the the choice is yours.

Another interesting feature of pCloud is the ability to roll back changes made to files over the past 15 days. For users of the paid version, this period is 6 months. This is useful if you accidentally delete important photos or other data.

Mobile versions of pCloud automatically upload images from the gallery to the cloud. To manage the gallery, the service only has basic sorting and search functions.


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