Pictures and videos are the most important thing that connects us to the present and the future.
We each have beautiful memories, and the best way to retrieve these memories is to save them as pictures or videos to remember.
However, you have a lot of memories, and they may be out of control in terms of space and no internal or external storage is sufficient to store them, so you have no choice but to store them on a cloud storage platform.
There are many Cloud Storage For Photos And Video platforms on the Internet, all of which support the ability to store photos, videos, and all types of files, but each of them has its own advantages.
This article delves into the ever-expanding world of cloud storage to bring you our top five picks for storing your photos securely and conveniently in 2024.
The importance of choosing the right cloud storage for storage of your photo and video
In a world where memories are mostly digital, it cannot be overstated when we say that it is important to choose a suitable solution to store our photos and videos on a cloud storage provider.
Whether you're a professional photographer, an amateur, or someone who captures the essence of everyday life, protecting your photos is crucial.
The ideal cloud storage service should provide a seamless blend of security, accessibility, and easy-to-use features.
What Is The Best Cloud Storage For Photos
1. pCloud
One of the most important features that pCloud Cloud Storage supports is the ability to play video clips or view images from the program without having to download them.
- Built-in video player
- Video streaming
- Integrated audio player with playlists
- Unlimited upload size and speed
In addition, pCloud supports the ability to upload and store files up to 5 TB, so if the size of your video is not very large, there is no problem, as you have enough space to upload any number of videos that you have.
If we are talking about uploading photos and videos to pCloud, it is important to look at the upload speed, so when tried uploading a 4 GB video clip, it was noted that it took 24 minutes and 20 seconds for the video to finish uploading to pCloud Storage.
The upload speed may vary from one place to another and depending on your internet speed, but it is useful to know the average upload speed to determine and compare between other platforms.
Once you upload your file to the cloud (video or photos), you can access all the sharing features of pCloud, where you can share videos through direct links or email.
In addition to the ability to set an expiration date for the file you want to share, which means that the videos, photos, or even files you share will not be available on the Internet forever.
pCloud and Protection
Nothing is useful if you do not get security and protection for your files, and as for protection in pCloud, it gets the gold mark in terms of protection, as it uses AES-256 encryption to encrypt and protect users’ data.
pCloud claims that they firmly believe that the client-side encryption software they have created is unhackable.
pCloud says that participants from 523 different companies including the University of California at Berkeley, one of the best institutions in the world, have thoroughly tested pCloud's encryption method, and no one has been able to effectively penetrate their security system so far.
pCloud is offering a reward of $100,000 (or the equivalent in Bitcoin) and waiting for the person who can crack the encryption in this ongoing challenge!
- Multi-layer encryption
- Secure files using passwords
- Protection with zero knowledge evidence
- Client-side encryption (extra cost)
- TLS/SSL channel protection
- AES 256-bit encryption
- 5 copies of files on different servers
pCloud User Interface
pCloud is beautiful and easy to use, and it supports various platforms such as windows, macOS, and smartphones.
pCloud provides access via a dedicated link to your account from the browser, or via the application on smartphones, in addition to a virtual hard disk that you can install as an add-on on your device’s desktop.
pCloud Plan Price
pCloud provides many plans that you can access, as their plans are divided into two parts, annual plans and lifetime plans.
pCloud offers the possibility of refunding money within 10 days of registration, in addition to providing several methods of payment, including bank card or via PayPal.
2. IceDrive
Even if the platform is attacked or hacked, something that has never happened to IceDrive, your files will not be at risk.
When it comes to files, IceDrive does not have any limits on the size of files you can upload to their cloud, and hence it is better than pCloud in terms of cloud storage.
As for the speed of uploading files to IceDrive, well-tried uploading a 4 GB file to the platform’s cloud storage, and it was noted that it took about 24 minutes and 6 seconds. This is not far from the upload speed of pCloud.
IceDrive provides many features such as:
- Automatic sync and virtual drive
- Edit and modify files
- Restore files to old versions
- Share files with direct link or email
IceDrive and Protection
Like most services that aim to protect users and their data, IceDrive also follows this approach, as IceDrive protects and encrypts users data using the Twofish encryption protocol.
The reason that IceDrive uses a completely new encryption type unlike other companies that use AES-256 encryption is that the company believes that it is a completely new encryption protocol type and not as well-known or common as AES-256.
In addition to encryption, IceDrive protects user data with zero knowledge, which means that not even the company itself can access user data, and only the customer is allowed to access their data.
In addition, all data is encrypted before uploading it to the IceDrive cloud to prevent any possible leak or interception of the data or an attempt to decrypt it upon uploading.
- Splitting files by the client
- Create a security key using 256bit encryption using the password
- Possibility of temporary decryption
- IceDrive do not retain user data without appropriate authorization
With all that we mentioned, the company's headquarters is located in the United Kingdom, and as it is known, Britain is a privacy-friendly country, and companies must adhere to the privacy laws applied in that country.
IceDrive User Interface
IceDrive offers a nice, clean user interface that is easy to navigate, in addition to that, IceDrive offers a drag and drop feature to upload or download from the cloud.
IceDrive supports various platforms and systems such as Windows, macOS, and smartphones, in addition to browser extensions, in addition to the availability of a virtual disk that you can install as an add-on on the surface of your computer.
IceDrive supports the ability to easily share files by creating public links to folders or files and sharing them via email or a direct link, in addition to the ability to specify the expiration period of the link.
IceDrive Plan Price
In addition to the free plan offered by IceDrive (10 GB), there are many types of plans that you can access and subscribe to, in addition to that you can consider IceDrive as one of the cheapest cloud storage.
LITE
$1.99 / month
150 GB
PRO
$4.99 / month
1 TB
PRO +
$17.99 / month
5 TB
IceDrive supports the possibility of purchasing via MasterCard, visa, or strip, and guarantees you the ability to get your money back in full within 14 days of purchasing one of the plans if you do not like their services.
3. Sync.com
To be fair, sync.com does not have many features compared to its competitors, but when it comes to uploading videos and photos to sync.com, it offers you everything you want.
- It allows each sync.com to revert to unsupported versions of files, in addition to not counting the space of these files as part of the main storage space.
- Subscribers to paid plans can keep their deleted files for a full year before final deletion.
- The feature of sharing files or folders, in addition to setting their expiration dates.
- The ability to download photos and videos directly from the phone.
| Sync core features: | ||||
| Solo Basic | Solo Professional | Teams Standard | Teams+ Unlimited | |
| Storage | 2 TB | 6 TB | 1 TB | Unlimited New |
| Users | 1 | 1 | 3+ | 3+ |
| Data transfer | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Sharing and collaboration | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Realtime backup and sync | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | |
| Access from anywhere | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Security & privacy protection: | ||||
| End-to-end encryption | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| SOC 2 Type 1 | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| No third-party tracking | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| HIPAA compliance | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| GDPR compliance | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| PIPEDA compliance | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Data stored in Canada | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Data protection: | ||||
| File history and recovery | 180-day history | 365-day history | 180-day history | 365-day history |
| Account rewind | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Advanced share controls | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Restrict downloads | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Password protected sharing | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Granular permissions | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Remote share wipe | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Remote device lockout | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Two-factor auth (2FA) | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Transfer account ownership | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Productivity features: | ||||
| Link sharing | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Team shared folders | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Custom branding | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| File requests | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| File comments | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Document previews | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Office 365 supported | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Sync Vault | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Sync CloudFiles Beta | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Desktop apps and integration | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Mobile apps | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Auto camera upload | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Offline access | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Notifications | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Selective sync | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Administration tools for teams: | ||||
| Activity logs | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Multi-user admin console | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Adminstrator account | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Centralized billing | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Manage user passwords | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Transfer in accounts | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Role-based access controls (Sync RBAC) | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | |
| Admin role delegation | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | |
| 2FA enforcement policy | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | |
| File sharing data governance | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | |
| Group-level share folder management | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| Support: | ||||
| 99.9% uptime | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Help guides | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Priority email support | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| VIP response time | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| On-demand business hour phone support | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔︎ |
Sync.com and Protection
Sync.com is considered one of the strongest cloud storage companies in terms of security and privacy, as it uses the best protection standards and preserves the privacy of its users.
Sync.com provides full data encryption, where data is encrypted at the local level and not at the company server level, so, only the user can decrypt their files and access them.
sync.com supported zero-knowledge feature, so no party has the right to access your files and even the company can't.
- One of the reasons the service is secure is that it complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the US, EU, and UK.
- Sync.com does not collect any data with any third parties, and does not support ownership of your data.
- Real-time backup and easy recovery of deleted data.
- Replicate data across reliable, SOC-2 certified data centres.
- Two-factor authentication, request user permissions, custom passwords, remote wipe, and more.
Sync.com User Interface
The user interface in sync.com is good, but it needs a major update to its browser interface.
Sync.com supports operation on various systems such as Windows and macOS, in addition to providing applications for smartphones such as Android and iOS.
Sync.com Plan Price
sync.com offers a free 5 GB plan, in addition to two separate plans, the first for individuals, and the second for businesses.
The plan directed to individuals contains:
- The free plan costs $0 and offers 5 GB of space
- The Solo Basic plan starts at $8 and offers 2 TB of space
- The free plan starts at $20 and offers 6 TB of space
The plan for companies:
- The Teams Stranded plan starts at $6 and offers 1 TB of storage
- The Teams+ Unlimited plan starts at $15 and offers unlimited cloud storage
- Enterprise plan, which is a customized plan
| For individuals | For teams | ||
|
Solo Basic $8 / month |
Solo Professional $20 / month |
Teams Standard $6 / user / month |
Teams+ Unlimited $15 / user / month |
sync.com enables you to get your money back within 30 days if you do not like their services, and it supports payment via Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and bitcoin.
4. DropBox
One of the features that comes with Dropbox is integration with other platforms like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, where you can sync Dropbox with Google Work Space or Microsoft Office with ease.
In addition to the advantage of creating and editing documents directly from the cloud, the advantage of direct collaboration with other people, and the advantage of editing by people who have access to the files.
- Edit and comment on PDF files
- Edit and search images with ease
- Video Editor/Video Apps/Video Comments
- Screen recording via Dropbox capture feature
The platform contains the Dropbox App Center feature, where you can connect with a wide range of other applications such as (Slack, Trello), or other platforms such as Canva and Procreate.
DropBox and Protection
Well, let's be honest, over the course of Dropbox's life, it has been exposed to many security breaches, the last of which was in 2018, but the company seeks to achieve absolute protection for its users and releases periodic updates to its platform.
In addition to that, its privacy policy is also not immune from criticism, as it collects some user data, but we do not accuse it of selling it to third parties, but this may be stressful for some people.
Regarding how to save and protect data, Dropbox uses many protection methods, such as:
- Two-factor authentication during login and entry using a password without knowledge
- Data encryption via 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS
- Protect passwords and set expiration dates for files
- Many ways to recover old files and folders
- Dropbox is GDPR-compliant and supports HIPAA compliance in Teams
- Alerts about suspicious activities
DropBox User Interface
Dropbox provides a streamlined, user-friendly interface, promoting easy navigation and efficient file management, and ensuring compatibility across different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and mobile devices.
The drag and drop feature simplifies the uploading and downloading process, enhancing the overall user experience.
In addition to platform-specific collaboration tools, such as real-time document editing and commenting, Dropbox is an excellent choice for individuals and teams seeking seamless file sharing and project collaboration.
DropBox Plan Price
Dropbox offers a range of pricing plans that meet the needs of individual and business users.
Although a free plan with limited storage space is available, paid plans offer expanded storage options and additional features.
- Dropbox Plus plan starts at $9.99 and offers 2 TB of cloud storage
- Dropbox Essentials plan starts at $18 and offers 3 TB of cloud storage
- Dropbox Business plan starts at $20 and offers 9 TB of cloud storage
- Dropbox Business plus plan starts at $26 and offers 15 TB of cloud storage
We did not find any talk about the possibility of refunding money in the platform’s plans.
5. iCloud (Apple).
Apple places a strong emphasis on user privacy and data protection, which is reflected in iCloud's security measures.
iCloud file size limits are designed to meet the needs of Apple device users, ensuring seamless storage of photos, videos, and documents.
iCloud upload speeds contribute to an efficient user experience. The platform's integration with Apple's ecosystem enhances its appeal, providing a seamless experience across Apple devices.
iCloud and Protection
Security is a top priority for iCloud, as Apple uses strong encryption measures to protect user data.
End-to-end encryption of certain types of data ensures that only authorized recipients can access it.
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security, preventing unauthorized access to iCloud accounts.
iCloud follows a zero-knowledge policy, ensuring that only the account owner has access to their data.
iCloud Keychain securely manages passwords, contributing to overall account security, and files are encrypted in transit and remain safe on Apple's servers.
More about security in Apple iCloud: iCloud data security overview
iCloud User Interface
iCloud provides an intuitive and intuitive user interface, tightly integrated with the Apple ecosystem and all apps integrated with Apple services.
The platform supports many Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, and even Windows PCs.
Syncing files and data across devices makes iCloud a suitable choice for users who are deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem.
The user interface is designed in a simple way, allowing users to manage and share files easily.
iCloud Drive, the file storage component of iCloud, supports drag-and-drop functionality and provides a straightforward experience for uploading, organizing, and accessing files.
iCloud Plan Price
iCloud offers users a free 5 GB storage tier, and additional storage space can be purchased through various paid plans.
The pricing structure is consistent with Apple's commitment to offering competitive and flexible options for users with different storage needs.
iCloud is a trusted cloud storage solution for individuals within the Apple ecosystem, with a focus on seamless integration and strong security.
iCloud offers different pricing plans depending on each region and country, so you can access the pricing chart from here.
Conclusion
Unquestionably, interesting and promising developments in cloud picture storage are ahead of us, and they will continue to revolutionize how we share and preserve our priceless memories.
The secret is to know what you need—unlimited storage, easy sync, or collaborative capabilities, for example—and pick the solution that best fits your digital lifestyle.
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