If you already pay for Amazon Prime, Amazon Photos is the cheapest option. Prime includes unlimited full-resolution photo storage plus 5 GB for video (Amazon). It's available in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan (Amazon).
Without Prime, the cheapest paid plans are the small tiers. You can get 50 GB of iCloud+ for $0.99 a month, or 100 GB for $1.99 a month from Google One, Amazon Photos or Microsoft 365 Basic (US prices, checked 3 Nov 2026).
The lowest price isn't always the best value, though. Below is what each service charges, what it's built for, and what to check before you pick one.
Price comparison
| Service | Free tier | Small plan | ~1-2 TB plan | Family sharing | End-to-end encrypted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Photos | 5 GB; with Prime, unlimited photos + 5 GB video (Amazon) | 100 GB for $1.99/mo (Amazon) | — | Prime members can share with up to 5 family members (Amazon) | — |
| Google One (Google Photos) | 15 GB, shared with Gmail and Drive (Google One) | 100 GB for $1.99/mo (Google One) | 2 TB for $9.99/mo, as Google AI Plus (Google One) | — | — |
| iCloud+ | — | 50 GB for $0.99/mo; 200 GB for $2.99/mo (Apple) | 2 TB for $9.99/mo (Apple) | — | Only with Advanced Data Protection on (Apple) |
| Microsoft OneDrive | — | 100 GB for $1.99/mo or $19.99/yr, Microsoft 365 Basic (Microsoft) | 1 TB for $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr, Microsoft 365 Personal (Microsoft) | Microsoft 365 Family: up to 6 people, $12.99/mo or $129.99/yr (Microsoft) | — |
| Proton Drive | 5 GB (Proton) | 200 GB for $4.99/mo (Proton) | 2 TB for $19.99/mo for up to 2 users, Proton Duo (Proton) | Proton Family: 3 TB for up to 6 users, $29.99/mo (Proton) | Yes (Proton) |
| pCloud | — | 500 GB lifetime, $219 one-time (on sale from $279) (pCloud) | 2 TB lifetime, $499 one-time (on sale from $709) (pCloud) | — | — |
| Ente | 10 GB (Ente) | 50 GB for $2.49/mo; 200 GB for $4.99/mo (Ente) | 1 TB for $9.99/mo; 2 TB for $19.99/mo, or $239.88/yr (Ente) | Up to 5 extra people at no extra cost (Ente) | Yes (Ente) |
US prices, checked 3 Nov 2026. A dash means the company's own pricing pages didn't say. Prices change and vary by country.
These services are built for different jobs. Amazon Photos, Google Photos, iCloud Photos and Ente are photo apps. OneDrive, Proton Drive and pCloud are cloud drives for all kinds of files, with a photo gallery.
How to compare plans fairly
Compare the price for the amount of storage you'll actually need, not the lowest price on the page. Ask four questions:
- How much storage do you need? Check how much space your current library takes up, then add a year or two of growth.
- Are videos included? Some "unlimited" photo plans cap video separately.
- Can you share the plan with family? One family plan is often cheaper than two single plans.
- Can the company see your photos? Most big services encrypt your photos but keep the keys, so they can open them. End-to-end encrypted services don't hold the keys, so they can't.
What to watch for
- Prime-only deals end when Prime ends. If you cancel Prime, you drop to 5 GB. If you're over that, you can still view and download your photos, but you can't upload new ones until you get back under the limit (Amazon).
- Free storage is often shared. Google's 15 GB also covers Gmail and Drive.
- Lifetime plans only pay off if the company lasts. They look cheap over ten years, but only if the company is still around in ten years.
- Storage saver modes compress your photos. That's fine for phone snaps, but not for anything you'd want to print.
Where Ente fits
Ente costs more per TB than some services on this list. At 2 TB it's $19.99 a month, compared with $9.99 for iCloud+ or Google One. For that price, your photos and all their metadata are end-to-end encrypted, face and object search runs on your own device, and you can share your plan with up to 5 other people at no extra cost.
A few details also help on price:
- Ente counts storage in binary units (1 GB = 1024³ bytes), so the same library takes up a little less space than on services that use 1000³ (Ente).
- A photo you add to several albums is only counted once (Ente).
- Students get 30% off once they verify their student status (Ente).
You can try Ente on the free 10 GB plan. Get Ente on your phone or your computer.
Which should you pick?
- You have Prime and mostly take photos: Amazon Photos.
- You use Google's apps for everything and want the lowest price: Google One's small tier.
- Everyone in your household uses Apple devices: iCloud+, ideally with Advanced Data Protection turned on.
- You want the cheapest private option: compare Ente and Proton Drive at the size you need.