
At express quality, images are compressed to 3 megapixels. For example, it’s enough to print a 16.40x10.88-inch image at the industry standard of 300 pixels per inch. According to Consumer Reports’ experts, that’s adequate for most purposes. At high-quality resolution, photos are compressed to 16 megapixels. When you reach the limit, you have to subscribe to a Google One account to back up photos. After that, new photos uploaded with high-quality and express-quality resolutions will count toward the user’s 15GB Google Account storage allotment. Quick take: The unlimited storage space option ends June 1, 2021.
#AMAZON DRIVE DESKTOP APP FREE#
Pros: Free but limited storage, automatic photo uploading, photo printing service.Ĭons: Downsizes photos archived in the unlimited storage. Dropbox’s paid tiers cost $10 per month for 2TB of storage (there’s also a $17 family plan that includes up to six users) or $17 per month for 3TB.

Each time you refer a friend who joins the service, you get 500 megabytes more, maxing out at 16GB. However, you can stretch your free storage a bit. If you want to store lots of photos, you’ll probably need to buy a paid tier. Quick take: Two free GB of storage is pretty meager. Like Amazon’s service, this one offers automatic uploads and a mobile app with photo-editing features, tagging, live photo support, and machine-learning-supported search.Ĭons: Only 2GB of free storage to start, automatic photo uploading requires paid subscription, no in-app photo editing. You need to pay about $1 per month for 50GB, $3 per month for 200GB, or $10 per month for 2TB. Quick take: For those who own Apple products, this service makes backing up your images super-convenient, but the 5GB of free storage doesn’t get you very far. Pros: Free but limited storage, automatic photo uploading.Ĭons: The free storage limit is only 5GB. For instance, you can use search terms such as “tree,” “cat,” or “man” to find the photo you’re looking for. That last feature uses artificial intelligence to recognize objects in your photos, which can help locate items in your collection. Like photo storage services from Apple and Google, Amazon Photos also features a mobile app, Prime Photos, which offers editing features, tagging, support for those “live” motion photos you see on smartphones, and machine-learning-supported search.

For files larger than 2GB, though, you have to use the free Amazon Drive Desktop app instead of the Drive website to upload images. And unlike most free options, Amazon Photos has no size restrictions for images. Quick take: If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you already have access to this free unlimited service. Pros: Unlimited storage, automatic photo uploading, photo printing service.Ĭons: Requires $119 annual subscription to Amazon Prime. Once you have a sense of which plans suit your storage needs and budget, consider the devices you own, how you’d like to access your images, and what you intend to do with them. But most shutterbugs will get along just fine with 100 gigabytes for $20 per year with Google Drive. If you’re looking for a mountain of storage, Dropbox will grant you 2 terabytes’ worth for $120 per year.
#AMAZON DRIVE DESKTOP APP TV#
And they often shrink the size of your image files, which can be a problem if you later want to have those images printed, edited, or displayed on a tablet or TV screen.Įven plans billed as unlimited may shrink image size, so be sure to ask for clarification on that before moving your entire photo library onto the cloud.įor the casual, social photo sharer whose snapshots won’t make it further than the occasional Instagram or Twitter post, downscaling isn’t that big of a problem.īut if you want to print gallery-sized images or store pictures captured with a powerful, dedicated camera, look for services that offer a large storage allotment and won’t lower your image quality.īeing able to save all your images in the original size is what makes the paid options appealing-especially if you’re serious about photography.

Some services may allow you to store photos but not video or other files.

As the chart below shows, most services limit the amount of storage available at no cost. Free sounds great, but you have to be prepared to make a few compromises.
