Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

With smartphone cameras constantly improving, it'south piece of cake to capture and save cherished memories. But if your telephone storage is filling up from photos of your last family unit holiday—or merely photos of your cat—it might exist fourth dimension to move your photos to the cloud.

Amazon Photos and Google Photos are two of the best cloud storage options available, made all the more pop by the fact that many people already have Amazon and Google accounts.

In this commodity, we'll compare Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos, looking at their features, performance, support, and pricing to determine which is the best deject storage for photos.

Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos: Features

Google Photos is a subset of Google'southward broader deject storage choice, Google One (for consumers) or Google Workspace (for businesses). A separate app specifically for Google Photos enables you to view and manage the photos stored on your Google Bulldoze. Google Photos is available as an app for smartphones and tablets then you lot can sync photos directly from your devices. There's as well an app for desktops to sync photos from your computer, although Google Photos tin can also be accessed through a browser.

Similar Google Photos with Google Bulldoze, Amazon Photos is a subset of Amazon Drive. In that location's also an Amazon Photos app for smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

Both apps enable yous to sync your photos automatically, and both have the option to plough off automatic sync when not connected to Wi-Fi—a crucial feature if you are on a limited cellular data plan.

An important capability in photo deject storage is photograph arrangement. With Google Photos, it's easy to put photos into albums. You can fifty-fifty create an car-updating anthology: when new photos of a selected person or pet are synced, they will automatically be added to that album, saving you fourth dimension. Google Photos besides has an archive feature, where photos volition remain stored on the drive merely hidden from the primary grid.

Amazon Photos also enables you to create your own albums, besides as auto-generating albums for people and places.

Both services enable you to hands share albums by text bulletin, email, or with other users of the app. However, Amazon Photos also has a messenger-style feature, whereby you can create sharing groups with other Amazon Photos users. In add-on to sending photos back and along, you tin send comments and reactions.

With many of united states of america having thousands of photos on our devices, finding the verbal photo we're looking for can be a pain. Both Amazon Photos and Google Photos use photo recognition to enable yous to search photos by person/pet, location, or things in the photo (like "bicycle" or "train").

Google Photos besides has a few built-in extras, similar the ability to create a photo collage right from the app. Simply overall, Amazon Photos and Google Photos are comparable on features, both offer the essentials as well as a few extras.

Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos: Performance

When it comes to cloud storage for photos, the most important question is "How many pictures can I store?" For Amazon Photos, the answer is elementary: if you're a member of Amazon Prime, you lot can store unlimited photos at any resolution. Amazon Prime members can likewise store upward to 5 GB of video. Non-Prime number members accept up to 5 GB of free storage for photos and videos combined.

Google One offers all Google account users 15 GB of free storage across all of Google, including Google Docs and Gmail as well every bit Google Photos. Google Photos currently allows unlimited storage of compressed quality photos; still, this will terminate on June 21, 2021. From then, all newly uploaded photos will count towards a Google account user'south gratis fifteen GB. (Photos uploaded before June 21, 2021 volition be grandfathered in.)

Nosotros tested the upload speeds of Amazon photo storage vs. Google Photos and found that Amazon Photos was slightly faster. The Google Photos app likewise unexpectedly quit multiple times while backing upwards, which is frustrating because the app must exist open to upload photos to the deject.

Both apps were easy to set and become started syncing. Because Google Photos lacks the messaging feature of Amazon Photos, it has a slightly cleaner interface—but both are straightforward to navigate.

If you lot are already an Amazon Prime number member for other benefits, Amazon Photos easily beats Google Photos for the capability to upload equally many full-quality images as yous want.

Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos: Support

Google Photos has an easy-to-locate back up choice correct in the app, suggesting popular troubleshooting pages. You can besides ask the Google community for aid. Google Photos support is similar on the web, with the added benefit of being able to see other posts in the Google customs, like to a bulletin board.

Amazon Photos likewise offers support both directly from the app and on the web, only with ane crucial component that Google Photos is missing: the ability to contact Amazon support by phone or email. This piece of cake integration means Amazon Photos offers greater support to its users.

Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos: Pricing and plans

Amazon Photos offers unlimited photo storage to Prime members, but of course Prime membership isn't complimentary. An Amazon Prime membership costs $12.99 per month, or $119 annually.

All Amazon members—even non-Prime members—take up to five GB of free cloud storage. If y'all need more storage without a Prime membership, you tin can purchase 100 GB for $19.99 annually (or $ane.99 monthly) or 1 TB for $59.99 annually (or $six.99 monthly). After that, pricing becomes comparable with a Prime membership, so if you only plan on storing photos—not videos or other documents—it's worth it to become a Prime membership for the unlimited storage selection.

Google offers 15 GB of gratis storage to anybody with a free Google account. If you demand more than that to store your photos to the deject, which you likely will in one case the unlimited storage for compressed photos ends on June 21, 2021, you lot'll have to upgrade to a paid Google One plan.

Google One plans offset at $19.99 annually (or $1.99 a month) for 100 GB of storage. There'south also a 200 GB selection for $29.99 annually (or $2.99 a calendar month), or a premium 2 TB selection for $99.99 annually (or $nine.99 a month).

Amazon photo storage vs Google Photos: Verdict

If you are already an Amazon Prime number member, Amazon photo storage is the clear winner. The app is easy to use and navigate, and unlimited storage of total-quality photos tin can't be beaten.

However, if you're not an Amazon Prime member already, Google Photos offers a comparable product at an equal or meliorate price. Overall, Amazon Photos is a dandy benefit for Prime members, but Google Photos is a better option for other users.

Our guide to the all-time cloud storage for photos
How to Use Google Photos
Google Photos archive: the what, why, and how

Sarah James is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. She has written about inventiveness, culture, and technology for brands similar TechRadar, Submittable Content For Creatives, The Billfold, Pittsburgh City Paper, The Toast, and more.