Tech

Bummed about new Google Photos storage limits? Amazon Photos says “hi”

Amazon Photos offers a desktop PC app, seen here, as well as mobile and browser-based apps.

Enlarge / Amazon Photos offers a desktop PC app, seen here, as well as mobile and browser-based apps. (credit: Jim Salter)

In November 2020, Google killed off its long-standing offer of free, unlimited high-resolution photo storage to anyone with a Gmail account. The new restrictions on Google Photos make a lesser-known competitor, Amazon Photos, suddenly of greater interest.

Amazon Photos is free for anyone with an Amazon account, but without Amazon Prime membership, you’re limited to 5GiB. But if you are a Prime member, you get unlimited, original-resolution photo storage at no additional cost. (Videos still have a 5GiB cap.)

There’s also one gotcha on how the service can be used—according to the TOS, Amazon Photos is for non-commercial, personal use only. You can take photos, you can share them with your friends and family, and so forth—but you can’t run a photography business on the service without violating its terms.

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