Google Photos used to feel free. From May 2015 to June 1, 2021 you could back up an unlimited number of photos in “high quality” without touching your account storage. That promise is gone. Today every upload counts against the 15 GB pool that Gmail, Drive, and Photos share, and Google’s own help page confirms that an account inactive in Photos for two years can have its photos deleted. If your library is in the tens of thousands of photos, you are paying Google forever or moving.
This guide covers the five Google Photos alternatives worth evaluating in 2026: Ente for end-to-end encrypted cloud, Immich for self-hosted control, Proton Drive for a privacy-respecting general cloud, OneDrive for the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, and iCloud for Apple-first households. Each one solves the storage cap problem in a different way, and each comes with trade-offs that we name plainly below.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Paid entry point | Encryption | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Photos | AI editing and zero setup | 15 GB shared with Gmail and Drive | Google One 100 GB at $1.99/mo | TLS in transit, at rest with Google keys | No |
| Ente | Encrypted cloud with mainstream apps | 10 GB photos only | $2.99/mo for 50 GB ($2.49/mo annual) | End-to-end, zero-knowledge | Yes (AGPL) |
| Immich | Owning the server and the data | Unlimited (your hardware) | $0 software, hardware cost only | At rest depending on disk setup | Yes (AGPL) |
| Proton Drive | Privacy plus a general-purpose cloud | 5 GB total | Drive Plus 200 GB at $3.99/mo annual | End-to-end, zero-access | Yes (clients) |
| OneDrive | Households already on Microsoft 365 | 5 GB total | $1.99/mo for 100 GB | TLS in transit, at rest with Microsoft keys | No |
| iCloud (iCloud+) | Apple households with Advanced Data Protection on | 5 GB total | $0.99/mo for 50 GB | End-to-end (with ADP enabled) | No |
Pricing checked against Google One (one.google.com/about/plans), Ente (ente.com/pricing), Proton Drive (proton.me/drive/pricing), Microsoft 365 (microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products), and iCloud+ (support.apple.com/en-us/108047) on April 26, 2026.
Why people are leaving Google Photos
The complaints we see across Google’s own support threads and review write-ups land on four points.
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The 15 GB pool is shared. Photos compete with Gmail attachments and Drive files for the same 15 GB. Hit the cap and Gmail eventually stops accepting incoming mail until you free space or pay.
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Free unlimited uploads ended. Google announced the policy change in November 2020 and turned it off on June 1, 2021. Photos uploaded before that date were grandfathered, but every new upload counts against your storage. Pixel 1 to Pixel 5 owners kept the original deal on those specific devices; everyone else pays.
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Two years of inactivity in Photos can wipe the library. Google sends a warning email at least three months ahead, but the policy puts the burden of remembering on you. Workspace accounts are the only exception.
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You do not hold the keys. Photos are encrypted in transit and on Google’s disks, but Google holds the keys. The privacy policy lets Google scan content for safety and product features, and there is no end-to-end encryption option for the consumer product.
If any of those points push you to move, here are the five apps that actually replace Google Photos in 2026.
Which app should you pick?
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Ente if you want a Google Photos-like experience with real end-to-end encryption and you do not want to run a server. The mobile and desktop apps are polished, family sharing is included, and 50 GB starts at $2.99/month.
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Immich if you have a home server, a NAS, or a Raspberry Pi and want unlimited storage at hardware cost only. The v2.0 stable release in October 2025 made it production-ready, and v2.5 added device cleanup and clearer sync icons.
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Proton Drive if you want one encrypted cloud for photos plus documents and you are already in (or considering) the Proton ecosystem. Photo backup on Android and iOS uploads in original quality and the 200 GB Drive Plus tier is $3.99/month on annual billing.
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OneDrive if you already pay for Microsoft 365 or use Office daily. Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99/month bundles 1 TB with the full Office suite, and the Family plan stretches 6 TB across six people for $12.99/month.
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iCloud if everyone in your household uses iPhones and iPads. With Advanced Data Protection enabled, iCloud Photos is end-to-end encrypted, and 200 GB at $2.99/month is the same price as Google One with native deep integration in Photos, Messages, and Mail.
Stay on Google Photos if you depend on Magic Eraser, Best Take, or Google Lens for daily editing, and you are not bothered by Google holding the keys. The AI editing in Google Photos is genuinely two or three years ahead of every alternative on this list.
1. Ente — best end-to-end encrypted cloud replacement
Ente is the closest like-for-like replacement for Google Photos that exists today. It is a hosted cloud service like Google’s, but every photo and every piece of metadata is encrypted on your device with keys only you hold. Ente stores three encrypted copies in different regions, including one on a B2 cold-storage bucket, so a single data center failure cannot lose your library.
The apps cover Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, and the web, and a Google Photos importer is built into the desktop app. The free tier is 10 GB. Paid plans start at $2.99/month for 50 GB ($2.49/month on annual billing) and go up to $23.99/month for 2 TB ($19.99/month annual), with intermediate 200 GB and 1 TB tiers. Every paid plan includes family sharing for up to five people without duplicating storage, per Ente’s pricing page.
On-device machine learning handles facial recognition and natural-language search (“dog on the beach”, “birthday cake”). The catch is that on-device ML is slower than Google’s server-side model and the categories are hit-or-miss. Android Authority’s hands-on review flagged that selfies and screenshots get sorted into the wrong buckets, and the editor is intentionally basic: crop, rotate, and brightness. There is no Magic Eraser equivalent.
Where it falls short: No Magic Eraser, no Best Take, no portrait depth retouch. The on-device search is good but not Google-good. Storage is photos and videos only, so a 50 GB plan does not also cover Drive-style document backup.
Pricing: Free 10 GB. Paid: $2.99/mo for 50 GB, $5.99/mo for 200 GB, $9.99/mo for 1 TB, $23.99/mo for 2 TB (Pro+). Annual billing knocks roughly 15% to 20% off. Family sharing is free on every paid plan.
Migrating from Google Photos: Use Google Takeout to export, then drop the archive into the Ente desktop app, which preserves album structure and EXIF metadata. For a library in the 100–200 GB range, expect overnight upload on a typical home connection, and budget for the encryption step (Ente encrypts each file before upload, which adds CPU overhead).
Bottom line: Pick Ente if you want the closest swap-in for Google Photos with real privacy and you are willing to accept slightly weaker AI in exchange for end-to-end encryption.
2. Immich — best for self-hosted unlimited storage
Immich is the open-source photo server most people land on after deciding self-hosting is worth the effort. It runs as a stack of Docker containers (web UI, API, machine learning, Postgres, Redis) on your own hardware: an old desktop, a Synology or QNAP NAS, a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, or a VPS. The mobile apps auto-upload from Android and iOS, the web UI is the most polished of any self-hosted photo project, and the on-server ML container handles facial recognition, object detection, and CLIP-based semantic search.
The team shipped v2.0 stable in October 2025, removing the long-standing “expect breaking changes” warning. Releases now follow semantic versioning, breaking changes are scoped to major versions, and the v2.5 line added intelligent on-device cleanup, clearer sync icons, and non-destructive in-browser editing (crop, brightness, contrast, saturation, all stored as metadata). The current stable as of late April 2026 is v2.5.6.
Immich vs Google Photos comes down to one question: are you willing to manage a server? Storage is unlimited but bound by whatever disks you bought, and backups are entirely on you. The team is explicit in its documentation that Immich is not your only copy of your photos. Plan for two local copies plus one offsite, follow the standard 3-2-1 rule, and budget hardware-failure replacement.
Where it falls short: Setup requires Docker comfort, port forwarding (or a VPN like Tailscale), and a separate backup plan. Editing is minimal: crop, basic adjustments, no Magic Eraser. ML is good but not Google good. If your home internet drops, your photos drop with it.
Pricing: Free, AGPL-licensed, no subscription. Real cost is hardware: a Raspberry Pi 5 with a 4 TB external SSD covers most family libraries for under $250 one-time, plus electricity (about $5 to $10 a month).
Migrating from Google Photos: Export with Google Takeout, then run the immich-go command-line tool, which is the community-recommended path. It parses the Takeout JSON sidecars, restores album structure, and preserves original timestamps. A 200 GB Takeout typically imports in 8 to 24 hours depending on the host.
Bottom line: Pick Immich if you already self-host or want to learn, and the storage cap fight is what you are running away from. It is the cheapest long-term answer once you stop counting your own time.
3. Proton Drive — best privacy cloud for photos and documents together
Proton Drive is the cloud storage product from the team behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN. The Photos tab on Android (added June 2024) and iOS (rolled out shortly after on iPhone and iPad) auto-uploads from your camera roll to an end-to-end encrypted folder. Files, file names, and metadata are encrypted client-side; Proton’s zero-access architecture means the company itself cannot read what you store, which is verifiable because the apps are open source.
The free tier is 5 GB. That is the smallest free allowance on this list, and it covers documents and photos together because Drive is general-purpose storage, not photos-only. The standalone Drive Plus plan is 200 GB at $3.99/month on annual billing ($4.99/month monthly), which lines up almost exactly with Google One’s 200 GB tier at $2.99/month, with the encryption being the meaningful difference. If you want the wider ecosystem, Proton Unlimited bundles 500 GB of Drive plus Mail, VPN, and Pass for $9.99/month annual, and Proton Family stretches 3 TB across six users for $23.99/month annual.
Proton Drive vs Google Photos is a clean trade. You give up Google’s image AI (no semantic search, no Magic Eraser, no Best Take) and get end-to-end encryption, version history on files, and a single bill that covers your photos and the rest of your cloud life. The Photos tab itself is functional rather than feature-rich: a date-grouped grid, basic preview for panoramas and timelapses, and shareable links with passwords and expiry. Albums and on-device categorization are on the public roadmap, per Proton’s product update post.
Where it falls short: No facial recognition, no smart albums, no semantic search yet. The 5 GB free tier is small. Photos and documents share the same quota, so a heavy email user on Proton Mail eats into their photo space. The desktop app has had occasional sync hiccups that the team is still ironing out.
Pricing: Free 5 GB. Drive Plus 200 GB at $3.99/mo (annual). Proton Unlimited 500 GB plus VPN, Mail, and Pass at $9.99/mo (annual). Proton Duo 2 TB for two users at $14.99/mo (annual). Proton Family 3 TB for six users at $23.99/mo (annual).
Migrating from Google Photos: Export from Google Takeout, then drag the archive into the Proton Drive web client or desktop app. Proton does not yet have a one-click Google importer, so structure (album names, descriptions) does not always survive the round trip. Photos themselves transfer with EXIF intact.
Bottom line: Pick Proton Drive if your photo collection is part of a wider cloud life and you want one bill, one identity, and one set of keys covering all of it.
4. OneDrive — best if you already pay for Microsoft 365
Microsoft OneDrive is the closest mainstream cloud-storage competitor to Google Drive, and OneDrive vs Google Photos is mostly a question of whether you live in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. The mobile apps include a Camera Upload toggle that auto-backs up photos and short videos to a dedicated Camera Roll folder, and the Photos tab in the OneDrive app surfaces a date-grouped grid with face grouping (called People), tags, and content-based search (“beach”, “dog”, “receipt”).
The free tier is 5 GB. The standalone OneDrive 100 GB plan is $1.99/month, which lines up with Google One. The plan most people end up on is Microsoft 365 Personal: 1 TB of OneDrive plus the full Office desktop apps, Outlook, and Defender, at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Microsoft 365 Family raises that to 6 TB shared across six people (1 TB each) for $12.99/month or $129.99/year, which is the cheapest 1-TB-per-user deal of any service in this guide.
OneDrive vs Google Photos on encryption is a draw for the consumer tier: both encrypt in transit and at rest with vendor-held keys, neither offers end-to-end encryption on the consumer plan, and both will respond to legal process. Microsoft does scan for known illegal content. If end-to-end encryption is your reason for leaving Google, OneDrive is not the upgrade.
Where it falls short: No end-to-end encryption on consumer plans (the E2EE “Personal Vault” is limited to 3 free files or unlimited inside Microsoft 365). Photo AI features are weaker than Google’s: no Magic Eraser, basic edits only. The mobile photo-grouping UI feels like an afterthought next to the Office product. Microsoft has retired some standalone OneDrive plans in 2026, so check current availability before signing up.
Pricing: Free 5 GB. OneDrive Standalone 100 GB at $1.99/month. Microsoft 365 Personal: 1 TB plus Office at $9.99/month ($99.99/year). Microsoft 365 Family: 6 TB shared across six users plus Office at $12.99/month ($129.99/year).
Migrating from Google Photos: Google Takeout supports OneDrive as a built-in destination: choose Google Photos in Takeout, then under Destination pick “Add to OneDrive” and Google pushes the archive directly into your OneDrive account. For 1-TB libraries, expect 24 to 48 hours on a typical connection. Album structure transfers as folder structure, but Photos-specific metadata (face tags, locations) does not survive the round trip.
Bottom line: Pick OneDrive if you are already paying for Microsoft 365, or if a 6-TB family plan plus Office for $12.99/month genuinely covers what you need. It will not satisfy you on privacy.
5. iCloud (iCloud+) — best for households fully on Apple devices
iCloud+ is the photo answer for anyone whose household is entirely iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The Photos app on iOS and macOS already does most of what Google Photos does: face recognition, Memories, smart albums, search by content, optimised storage that keeps thumbnails on-device while originals live in the cloud. With Advanced Data Protection enabled, iCloud Photos becomes end-to-end encrypted, joining iCloud Backup, Notes, and Reminders as one of the 23 categories Apple cannot read on your account.
iCloud pricing in 2026 starts at 5 GB free, then jumps to 50 GB at $0.99/month, 200 GB at $2.99/month, and 2 TB at $9.99/month, with 6 TB at $29.99/month and 12 TB at $59.99/month for users who shoot ProRes or RAW. Family Sharing lets you split a single iCloud+ tier across up to five family members at no extra cost. There is no annual billing discount; iCloud+ is monthly only.
The iCloud vs Google Photos trade-off depends almost entirely on your devices. On Apple hardware the integration is unbeatable: photos sync instantly to every device, the editing tools are good (not Magic Eraser, but solid), and Advanced Data Protection turns the cloud into a zero-knowledge store. Off Apple hardware the experience cliffs hard. There is no Android app for iCloud Photos. Web access at iCloud.com works in any browser but is slow and missing edit features. Windows users get a dedicated iCloud for Windows app that is functional but glitchy on libraries above roughly 50,000 photos.
Where it falls short: No Android app for Photos, only a web interface. Windows app struggles with large libraries. Advanced Data Protection is opt-in and requires you to set up a recovery contact or recovery key first. Annual billing is not offered. AI editing trails Google by a margin.
Pricing: Free 5 GB. iCloud+ 50 GB at $0.99/month. 200 GB at $2.99/month. 2 TB at $9.99/month. 6 TB at $29.99/month. 12 TB at $59.99/month. All paid tiers shareable with up to five family members.
Migrating from Google Photos: Apple’s Google Photos to iCloud Photos transfer service is the cleanest path: sign in to privacy.apple.com, choose “Transfer a copy of your data”, and Apple pulls directly from your Google account over the wire. The transfer takes between three and seven days for typical libraries and preserves album names and creation dates. EXIF and most metadata survive; face tags do not.
Bottom line: Pick iCloud+ if everyone in your household is on Apple, you turn on Advanced Data Protection, and you do not need to read photos from Android. Off the Apple ecosystem, look elsewhere.
Full comparison table
| Feature | Google Photos | Ente | Immich | Proton Drive | OneDrive | iCloud+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free storage | 15 GB shared | 10 GB photos only | Unlimited (your hardware) | 5 GB shared | 5 GB shared | 5 GB shared |
| Entry paid tier | 100 GB at $1.99/mo | 50 GB at $2.99/mo ($2.49/mo annual) | None | 200 GB at $3.99/mo (annual) | 100 GB at $1.99/mo | 50 GB at $0.99/mo |
| 1 TB price | $9.99/mo (Google One 2 TB; no 1 TB tier) | $9.99/mo ($8.49/mo annual) | $0 software, hardware cost | Included in Unlimited at $9.99/mo (500 GB) | $9.99/mo (Microsoft 365 Personal, includes Office) | $9.99/mo (gets you 2 TB; no 1 TB tier) |
| 2 TB price | $9.99/mo | $23.99/mo ($19.99/mo annual) | $0 software, hardware cost | Duo 2 TB at $14.99/mo annual | No single-user 2 TB tier; Family at $12.99/mo gives 1 TB per user across 6 users (6 TB total) | $9.99/mo |
| End-to-end encryption | No | Yes | Server-controlled (you own it) | Yes (zero-access) | No | Yes (with Advanced Data Protection on) |
| Open source | No | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (clients) | No | No |
| Facial recognition | Yes (server, strong) | Yes (on-device) | Yes (server, on your machine) | Not yet | Yes (server) | Yes (on-device) |
| Semantic search (“dog at beach”) | Yes (Google Lens) | Yes (on-device CLIP) | Yes (server CLIP) | No | Yes (basic) | Yes (on-device) |
| AI editing (Magic Eraser, Best Take) | Yes | No | No | No | No | Clean Up tool only |
| Family sharing | Up to 5 (Google One) | Up to 5 (free on paid plans) | Multi-user built in | Up to 6 (Family plan) | Up to 6 (Microsoft 365 Family) | Up to 5 (Family Sharing) |
| Mobile auto-upload | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (iOS only) |
| Native apps | Android, iOS, web | Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, web | Android, iOS, web (server self-hosted) | Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web | Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web | iOS, macOS, Windows; web only on Android |
| Google Photos importer | n/a | Built into desktop app | immich-go CLI | Manual (Takeout drag-and-drop) | Mover tool / Takeout upload | Apple’s privacy.apple.com transfer service |
| Inactivity deletion | After 2 years (with 3-month warning) | None | n/a | None | After 2 years inactivity | After 1 year if account fully inactive |
Pricing checked April 26, 2026.
How to choose
The decision tree is shorter than the marketing makes it look.
Pick Ente if you want a Google Photos-shaped product without a server, and end-to-end encryption is the feature that pushed you to switch. The 50 GB tier at $2.99/month covers most casual users, and the family plan stretches that across five people for free.
Pick Immich if you have hardware sitting around (or are willing to buy a Pi), the storage cap is what is making you angry, and you do not mind running Docker. The cost-per-terabyte over five years beats every cloud option here, but it costs you weekends.
Pick Proton Drive if you are paying for, or considering, Proton Mail or Proton VPN. Proton Unlimited at $9.99/month bundles 500 GB of Drive with the rest of the suite, which is the same price as Google One 2 TB and replaces five products at once.
Pick OneDrive if you already pay for Microsoft 365, or if your photo library plus Office applications plus 1 TB per user for a family of six lands within $12.99/month. It is the cheapest 6 TB family plan in this guide. Skip it if you switched away from Google because of privacy.
Pick iCloud+ if everyone in your household uses Apple devices, and you are willing to turn on Advanced Data Protection to get end-to-end encryption. iCloud at 200 GB for $2.99/month matches Google One pricing exactly while giving you E2EE that Google does not offer at any price. Skip it if anyone needs to read photos from an Android phone.
Stay on Google Photos if you actively use Magic Eraser, Best Take, Google Lens, or Photo Memories, and you do not believe Google’s key custody is a problem for you. The AI is genuinely the best on this list and that gap will not close in 2026.
A practical hybrid that we have seen work well: use Immich at home as your primary archive, and run Ente or iCloud+ as the offsite encrypted backup. The two together cost less than Google One 2 TB and survive a house fire.
FAQ
Is Ente actually as private as it claims?
Yes, with one caveat. Ente’s clients and server are open source, every file and every piece of metadata is encrypted on the device before upload, and the keys never leave you. The caveat is that you are still trusting Ente’s hosted infrastructure to be available. If you want to remove that trust entirely, run Immich on your own hardware.
Can I import my Google Photos library to these apps?
Yes, in all three cases. The starting point is always Google Takeout, which exports a ZIP archive of your library plus JSON sidecars with metadata. Ente has a built-in importer in the desktop app, Immich has the community immich-go tool, and Proton Drive accepts the Takeout archive via drag-and-drop on the web or desktop client.
What is the cheapest Google Photos alternative?
Immich, if you already own the hardware. The software is free and the only ongoing cost is electricity. Ente at $2.49/month annual for 50 GB is the cheapest hosted option that still includes apps, family sharing, and end-to-end encryption.
Will Google delete my photos if I stop using Google Photos?
Yes, eventually. Google’s inactive account policy deletes Photos content after two years of inactivity in the Photos product specifically. You get at least three months of email warnings before deletion, and once deleted the photos sit in trash for 60 days before going for good.
Do any of these have AI editing like Magic Eraser?
No. Ente, Immich, and Proton Drive all skip server-side AI editing on purpose, because doing it requires either uploading unencrypted images or doing the work on-device with weaker models. If Magic Eraser is the reason you opened Google Photos this morning, none of these will replace that workflow yet.
Is Proton Drive’s free 5 GB enough for photos?
Not for most people. 5 GB holds roughly 1,500 to 2,000 photos shot on a modern phone in default quality, and significantly fewer if you shoot in HEIC or RAW. The 5 GB also has to share space with anything else you put in Drive. If you are committing to Proton, plan to be on Drive Plus or Unlimited within a month.
Is Immich production-ready in 2026?
Yes. The team marked v2.0 stable in October 2025, removed the long-running data-loss warning, and committed to semantic versioning so breaking changes only ship in major releases. The current v2.5 line is what most users run today. The team is still explicit that you must maintain your own backups.
Is OneDrive end-to-end encrypted?
No, not for photos on a consumer plan. OneDrive encrypts files in transit (TLS) and at rest, but Microsoft holds the keys. The Personal Vault folder offers stronger protection (BitLocker plus identity verification) but it is limited to 3 free files outside Microsoft 365 and is designed for documents, not photo libraries. If end-to-end encryption is a hard requirement, look at Ente, Proton Drive, or iCloud+ with Advanced Data Protection on.
Can I use iCloud Photos on Android?
Not as a native app. Apple has not released an Android client, and iCloud Photos on Android is limited to the iCloud.com web interface, which lets you scroll, view, and download photos in any mobile browser. There is no auto-upload from an Android camera roll to iCloud Photos. If your household has even one Android phone that needs auto-backup, iCloud is not the right choice.
What is the cheapest cloud option for a family of six?
Microsoft 365 Family at $12.99/month, which gives each member 1 TB (6 TB total) plus the full Office suite. The next-cheapest is Proton Family at $23.99/month for 3 TB shared across six people, plus VPN, Mail, and Pass. Apple iCloud+ Family Sharing splits a single tier across five members, so a 2 TB plan at $9.99/month works out to roughly $2 per person but caps the total at 2 TB rather than per-user.
Sources
- Google’s storage policy update (November 2020)
- Google Photos activity and storage help
- Google inactive account policy
- Google One plans and pricing
- Ente pricing page and comparison page
- Android Authority Ente Photos hands-on
- Immich stable release announcement (October 2025)
- Immich GitHub repository and v2.5.0 release notes
- Proton Drive pricing page and Android photo backup announcement
- Microsoft 365 plans comparison and OneDrive pricing page
- The Register on Microsoft retiring standalone OneDrive plans (February 2026)
- Apple iCloud+ plans and pricing and Advanced Data Protection setup guide
- Apple iCloud for Windows guide and data privacy transfer service
