Google Photos free unlimited storage ends today: Top alternative apps

Google Photos has spoiled us with free, unlimited photo and video uploads for years, which is why the decision of the company to discontinue unlimited storage for users starting from tomorrow is a bitter pill to swallow. As of June 1, any images and videos that you upload to Photos will begin to fill up your 15GB of free storage on your Google Account.

While Google says that all your previous images and videos will not count towards your account quota, anything uploaded from tomorrow will take up space on your account storage. This could fill up rather quickly, depending on how often you use your camera. Users can head over to their Google Photos settings on their phones, which will offer a ‘guesstimate’ of how much time the company thinks you will take to fill up your account storage, depending on your existing upload frequency.

Also read: Google Photos now lets you save images from Gmail with a single click

What happens when your account has completely filled up? You’ll need to either buy more storage with a Google One plan that starts at ₹130 a month for 100GB of storage, or begin to clear out old uploads to your Google Drive to clear out more space. Google has been adding feature after feature to try and retain users after the free service ends, but if you want to try out an alternative service to replace Google Photos, you can try out these alternative services.

Flickr

Unlike Google’s unlimited plan that allows you to upload images at a maximum resolution of 2048 pixels, Flickr's paid plan allows you to upload unlimited images to its service, while managing to keep the price ($5.99 or ₹580/mo) lower than Google’s most expensive 2TB storage plan, which costs ₹650 a month in India, or $9.99 in the US. If you’re a photographer or just want a place to store your images, Flickr’s social features will also come in very handy.

Microsoft OneDrive

Formerly known as SkyDrive, Microsoft’s OneDrive service offers users 1TB of storage as part of its Microsoft365 subscription. However, if you don’t want to spend above ₹5,000 a year (or $69.99 in the US) on cloud storage, or don’t want the Office features that come with, Microsoft also offers a cheaper plan at ₹140 (or $1.99 a month in the US) which comes with 100 GB of cloud storage, minus the frills.

Adobe Creative Cloud

If you’re a photography enthusiast or professional and already use Adobe’s Creative Cloud, you don’t need to purchase storage on the service, but the company’s cloud storage is one of the most professional alternatives to Google’s option. Not only will you gain access to editing and design tools from Adobe – depending on the plan you select. While the ‘Photography’ plan is a lot more expensive than other plans here at ₹800 for 20GB and ₹1,600 for 1TB (or $179.88 yearly in the US) the service does have its perks – like access to Creative Cloud tools, plus RAW support as well as access to Adobe Behance.