It´s over.
We have been uploading and storing photos and videos for free on Google Photos for years. This app has allowed us to save our memories in an unlimited way (as long as we use the High Quality mode which compresses the image a little without losing much image resolution) and for free. But this will be over in a few months. Google has announced that by June 2021 the application will become a paid service.
I recognise that Google Photos is a great app for being free, but I don’t think it’s worth paying for it. Why? Because it’s not an application that stands out for having high security or for ensuring our privacy, so I think that if you have to pay, it’s better to use that money on a platform that guarantees everything.
Down below I will offer you some alternatives to Google Photos:
INTERNXT PHOTOS:
Internxt will launch Internxt Photos at the beginning of 2021, so you will have time to transfer all your documents and files to their platform before Google Photos starts to be a paid app.
Internxt Photos is a platform where you can upload your videos and photos to its Decentralized Cloud, this means that all the photos and videos you upload will be stored in a super secure and private way. Internxt has taken advantage of its Decentralized Cloud architecture to offer us products over the next two years such as Internxt Send or Internxt Photos. Thanks to the use of Blockchain technology all files will be client-side encrypted, they will be divided and the resulting parts of this division will be distributed among thousands of nodes around the world, that means all the information will never be stored in one place as centralized companies usually do. As a result, nobody can access to your data, not even Internxt. You will be the sole owner of your images and videos.
With regard to the price, we already know that it will include a free plan (within the 2GB free plan that already includes Internxt Drive). The prices will be very affordable and you will be able to choose from different plans in order to select the one that best suits your needs. To give you an idea: a 2TB storage plan will only cost you £8.99/month and will include both Internxt Drive and Internxt Photos. As you can see, security and privacy are not at odds with your pocket. In fact, the price is less than Google’s (9.99€ per month) and with Google neither your security nor your privacy are guaranteed.
The project is not out yet but based on the company’s background I’m sure it will be a minimalist and easy-to-use platform.
DROPBOX:
The famous platform is a good alternative to Google Photos and I’m sure it will gain much more strength in the coming months.
This application allows you to save your photos in folders, change the names and have your videos organized.
There are different plans you can subscribe to (personal, family or business of different sizes) in addition to the free plans available. The higher the price of the plan the higher the quality of it. All good so far, but what problem do I see here? That DropBox is a Centralized Cloud Storage and that means that the files (photos and videos) that we upload to that platform are alterable, available to the company and can also be hacked. Therefore, it is an alternative to Google Photos, because it offers a free plan, but I don’t think it’s worth paying for this service (even if the functionalities are increased) as the security remains the same: not secure.
DropBox price is quite similar to Internxt, although a little more expensive. A 2TB storage plan will cost you 9.99€ per month.
AMAZON PHOTOS:
Amazon is already a giant and little by little it is taking over everything. How could it not also enter into cloud storage?
Well, same pattern although a little better (better than DropBox and OneDrive, but not than Internxt Photos).
Amazon Photos has something positive: it is included in Amazon Prime so you will only have to pay the price of Amazon Prime (4.99€/month) to be able to enjoy this platform and the storage is unlimited, but only for photos! If you need more storage to upload videos or any other file you will have to pay 16.67€ /month.
I admit that although it is a very easy to use platform and its free plan is quite good I wouldn’t use it because I find it is a bit overpriced and its security is far from admirable.
As I said it is also an easy to use platform so if you decide to transfer your photos to this platform it won’t be a difficult job.
In my opinion, I think they are following the same strategy as Google Photos. They offer free storage to attract users, they keep us happy for a few years and then, when we all use their service, they will make us pay. And then we will have to read a post called “Alternatives to Amazon Photos 2024” again.
ONE DRIVE:
My opinion is practically the same as with DropBox. I think the free plan is a good option. The paid plan for One Drive, however, is less affordable. A 2TB storage plan will cost you €14/month, which is a lot more than the previous ones. It should be noted that like the previous options it is also an easy platform to use. I consider that One Drive can serve as an alternative if you are not very concerned about your security or privacy as it is another centralized platform and as we have seen before the security of this kind of platforms is not their strength.
I recommend you that before choosing any option you inform yourself beforehand and know really well what are the determining variables that an option has to meet in order to be chosen.
I value security/privacy, price and ease of use very much, so I’m staying with Internxt.
