The best cloud storage for photos makes it simple to securely back up your treasured memories and easily manage your entire photo library from anywhere. With photos and videos taking up increasing amounts of space, it makes sense to store your collection in the cloud, freeing up space on your devices.
We prefer photo cloud storage that make uploading and organizing images effortless, provide ample storage space, and don't cost a fortune. The best options have intuitive apps and useful features like automatic backups and facial recognition, too.
Read on for our full list of the best cloud storage services for photos.
The quick list
In a rush for the best cloud storage for your photos? Here’s a quick rundown of top cloud storage options. Take a look at the reviews below for a detailed analysis.
IDrive offers rapid uploads and automatic image detection. The facial recognition feature works great for photo organization.
Google Drive integrates with Google Workspace for enhanced productivity. While it lacks some photography-specific features, using it alongside Google Photos offers an all-round solution.
Dropbox offers easy photo uploads and an intuitive folder system. Its useful features, like a 30-day file version history, make it a top pick.
OneDrive offers a familiar interface for Windows users and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 apps. While it’s not solely focused on photography, it provides useful photo management tools.
Flickr is a blend of cloud photo storage and photo-sharing social network. It offers a generous 1000 photo limit for free accounts, and its Pro account provides unlimited storage.
Adobe’s cloud storage integrates with its renowned photo editing tools. It offers plans that include apps like Lightroom and Photoshop, making it ideal for pros.
The best cloud storage for photos: exclusive Tom's Guide deals
The best cloud storage for photos of 2025 in full
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
The best cloud storage for photos overall
IDrive ranked top of our rundown of the best cloud storage services, and it's a fantastic option for storing photos. You can connect your account to multiple devices, perfect for any photographer who shoots on more than one camera.
IDrive has an Auto Camera setting that will automatically upload any new photos or videos that appear on the device. Another useful feature is automatic facial recognition, which automatically sorts photos by the people in them, and can be shared across any devices added to your IDrive account.
IDrive allows you to create custom folders, making it easy to categorize your photos by event, date, or location. Files or entire folders can be shared via email or a direct link, with the option to set view or edit permissions. IDrive uses 256-bit AES encryption, with the option for a private key.
The IDrive Personal plan has options ranging from 100 GB to 100 TB. The entry level plan offers 100 GB for $2.95 for the first year.
Read our IDrive cloud storage review.
The best value cloud storage for photos
Google Drive is a well-rounded cloud platform that connects to Google Workspace. You can store your photos and sync changes from your desktop using Windows and macOS applications. However, using Google Drive alongside the connected Google Photos service provides a better solution for photo storage.
Google Photos offers features like automatic photo organization based on the people, places, and things in your images. Sharing photos or albums is simple, thanks to links generated by Google Drive. You can also set permissions for who can view, comment on, or edit your photos.
A 200GB subscription costs $1.99 a month, and there are plans up to $9.99 a month for 2TB a month.
Read our full Google Drive review.
The best budget cloud storage for photos
Dropbox is one of the largest file storage platforms with around 400 million users. Dropbox simplifies the process of uploading photos, and if you install the app on a phone or tablet, you can activate the automatic transfer of new images.
A helpful folder system organizes photos, and modifications made with photo editing software are automatically detected and synced. Dropbox has unique features like a 30-day file version history viewer, and a restore feature to protect you from accidental deletions.
Dropbox works well with third-party apps, and integration with Adobe Creative Cloud allows you to edit images directly in Photoshop or Illustrator.
You can get 2GB free. For a more reasonable capacity, Dropbox Plus offers 2TB for $9.99 a month, and there are additional business plans.
Read our Dropbox cloud storage review.
The simplest cloud storage for photos
If you’re looking for a straightforward personal cloud storage platform where you can store your photos without having to figure your way around new and unfamiliar interfaces, OneDrive is available as part of Microsoft 365.
OneDrive is a general-purpose cloud storage platform, and its chief selling point is integration with applications like Word and Excel. OneDrive supports tagging, photo search, and album creation.
Its automatic photo tagging feature uses AI to categorize images based on content. Sharing albums or individual photos can be done via a link, email, or social media platforms. OneDrive provides the option to share with view-only access or allow others to edit.
Pricing is pretty affordable too. It matches Google Drive’s budget plan, with 100GB costing $1.99 a month. For $9.99 a month, you get 1TB and desktop versions of Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
Read our Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage review.
The best free cloud storage for photos
Flickr is part-cloud photo storage, part-photo-sharing social network. It’s one of the original photography sites, and has an estimated 87 million registered members.
Flickr lets you upload up to 1,000 photos and videos free of charge. The Flickr Pro account costs $5.54 per month. Pro users can see advanced statistics, and are freed from storage limits.
Because Flickr's a photo network, other users will be able to respond to your shots unless you make them private. You can tag your photos with keywords, add them to albums, and place them on a map. This makes finding and sorting through your photos later much easier. Additionally, Flickr's interface is user-friendly, making it simple to upload photos, either individually or in batches.
However, the upload process can be slow at times, especially if you're dealing with a large number of high-resolution images.
Read our Flickr review.
The best cloud storage for photo editing
As a photographer, you’re probably already familiar with Adobe's suite of photo manipulation tools, but did you know it now also offers cloud photo storage?
Adobe Creative Cloud has a few plans that include cloud storage. The Lightroom plan ($11.99 per month) gets you 1TB of storage alongside the popular Lightroom photo management app. The Photography plan ($19.99 per month) gets you 20GB of storage and adds Photoshop, the leading photo editor to the mix. Or, you could choose a plan like the Creative Cloud All Apps plan ($59.99 per month), which includes over 20 Adobe apps and 100GB of cloud storage.
Managing photos in Creative Cloud is a pleasant experience too, thanks to classy image galleries where you can explore your work or share shots with others.
At the same time, direct integration with Lightroom, Photoshop, and Elements means you can always quickly make adjustments to images. As such, this is a suitable platform for professional photographers who don’t want to lose quality when storing images.
Read our Adobe Creative Cloud review focusing on its cloud storage.
The best cloud storage for photos, compared
Cloud storage | Free plan? | Starting price | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
✔ | $2.95 per year | From 100GB | |
✔ | $1.99 per month | From 100GB | |
✔ | $9.99 per month | From 2TB | |
✔ | $1.99 per month | From 100GB | |
✔ | $5.54 per month | Unlimited | |
✔ | $11.99 per month | From 1TB |
Cloud storage for photos FAQs
What is cloud storage for photos and pictures?
Cloud storage utilizes physical servers to save files on the internet, via internet-connected data centers. These servers are owned, maintained, and run by cloud storage providers, and offer storage for all manner of files.
When it comes to cloud storage for photos, many of the best cloud storage services are also providers of the best cloud storage for photos. You can upload, save, download, and securely backup important image files, and can access them wherever you are, as long as you're connected to the internet.
How to choose the best cloud storage for photos
There are plenty of great photo storage services out there, but how do you work out which is right for you? Take into account key factors such as ease of access from mobile and desktop, gallery sharing features to promote your work, the size of your photo library and the number of images you'd like to store online, and much more.
The majority are “freemium”: although they offer some free storage, extra capacity can only be unlocked by signing up for monthly or annual subscriptions. Price per GB can differ dramatically, so it’s worth shopping around and keeping an eye on the capacity you'll require.
The average 16MP JPEG requires 4.8MB, so if you have 500 to upload, you’ll need a plan with at least 2.5GB. Fortunately, most services won’t charge for that amount of space,
If you want to preserve original image information via RAW files, almost any service will allow uploads of compressed JPEGs, PNGs, or GIFs: the same can’t be said for uncompressed RAWs or TIFFs. Check if they’re supported, and how many you'll need to save: 500 RAW 16MP photos will take up approximately 2.5TB, so you’ll need a monthly subscription.
Upload and download times will depend on the speed of your own connection. You’ll be better off investing in a physical storage medium if you don’t have a swift ISP.
Look for services that offer Android and iOS apps if this is something you want to take advantage of. Some go above and beyond by letting you create stunning sites and profiles, like Flickr. Finally, a major benefit is that you can access, edit, and share photos even when you’re away from your workstation.
How we review the best cloud storage for photos
When we come to review cloud storage services, first of all, we test the upload and download times for file transfers, because these are integral to the performance of platforms and usage. In turn, we examine how a given service's security tools and features work and how comprehensive they are, to ensure your files are kept safe from hacking or accidental loss.
Next, we test the responsiveness and knowledge of customer service and support teams, as when there's an issue you want to be sure your provider will quickly get back to you and will know how to fix the problem. In a market vertical with varying levels of free and paid plans, we explore and explain pricing in-depth, while we also test out and discuss any additional tools or features offered by the service.
Across our comprehensive reviews of each cloud storage platform, we also compare each service to its competitors, specifically in terms of pricing and key features. We undertake all of this during testing so that you, the consumer, can benefit from as much information about each service as possible before you choose.
Read more on our testing methodology.
Next steps with cloud storage
Follow our cloud storage checklist when looking for a provider of online storage, and learn top tips for data backup and recovery.
If you're looking for storage beyond just photos, or have a tighter budget, take a look at our other buying guides that evaluate the best free cloud storage, the best personal cloud storage, and the best cloud storage for business.
