Cheap cloud storage for photos: the smallest paid plans in US dollars

Cheap cloud storage for photos, smallest plan first

For a small photo library, iCloud+ 50 GB is the cheapest paid plan here at $0.99 a month, billed monthly, as read on 6 October 2026. Google One Basic and Microsoft 365 Basic give 100 GB, and pCloud's smallest paid plan, Premium 500 GB, is $4.99 a month billed monthly, as listed on 3 October 2026.

Price per month against storage you get

On monthly billing, iCloud+ 200 GB is $2.99, Proton Drive Plus 200 GB is $4.99, and pCloud Premium 500 GB is $4.99 as well. Google One Basic and Microsoft 365 Basic are both $1.99 for 100 GB. Google One Basic can share its storage with up to 5 others. Apple adds that residents of some U.S. states pay tax on top of the monthly payment.

On yearly billing, Google One Basic and Microsoft 365 Basic are $19.99 a year for 100 GB, Proton Drive Plus is $47.88 billed every 12 months for 200 GB, and pCloud Premium 500 GB is $49.99 a year. iCloud+ lists monthly billing only, so it has no yearly figure to set beside these. How much space a library needs is a separate question: how many GB do I need for photo storage walks through measuring it.

Free storage before you pay anything

Each Google account includes up to 15 GB free, shared by Gmail, Drive and Photos. iCloud gives 5 GB with an Apple Account, Proton Drive's free plan is 5 GB, Icedrive's is 10 GB and Dropbox Basic is 2 GB. Proton estimates that its free 5 GB holds more than 1,000 high-resolution photos; that is Proton's estimate for its own storage, not a measurement.

pCloud's smallest paid plan is 500 GB; for less, its free Basic account gives 2 GB at sign-up and up to 10 GB after a tutorial and invitations, and the phone app's Automatic upload is one of the tutorial steps. A free pCloud account inactive for 12 months is deleted with its files, so it is no place for your only copy. pCloud free plan covers what the free account holds.

What happens when a small plan fills up

Phone photos arrive as originals. Apple says photos and videos are stored on your device in their original, high-resolution version by default, and Google counts photos backed up in Original quality against the account's storage, so a small plan fills with them.

Leave headroom. Google says it might delete content across Gmail, Drive and Photos if an account stays over its quota for 2 years. pCloud says it informs you when usage passes the quota and, if that is not corrected, may move files to Trash on a random basis without further notice.

When a one-time plan is the cheaper route

pCloud Premium 500 GB at $219 one-time equals about 4.4 years of its $49.99 yearly price, a figure worked out from the listed prices. pCloud's one-time plan is called Lifetime, and pCloud's terms set its length at the account owner's lifetime or 99 years, whichever is shorter. Lifetime cloud storage plans compares it with Icedrive's.

• iCloud+ for a small library: 50 GB at $0.99 a month.
• Google One Basic for 100 GB billed yearly at $19.99.
• pCloud Premium 500 GB when 500 GB is needed, monthly, yearly or once.

pCloud's one-time plans carry the same 14-day refund window as its subscriptions, and pCloud pricing lists every plan.