Google Photos has been one of Google‘s most popular services since its launch in 2015, offering unlimited free storage of so-called “high quality” photos. However, as announced in November, that is coming to an end. Today, June 1, Google Photos will charge for uploading files and for any storage over 15 GB.
In other words, regardless of the quality of the photos and videos you upload to Google Photos, they will be counted in your Google One storage plan, and if you exceed 15 GB, you will have to pay to continue uploading. To be clear, photos and videos uploaded before June 1 won’t count toward the 15GB limit – only those uploaded after. That way, you won’t be faced with suddenly having to pay for Google Photos, and you’ll have time to decide whether you want to pay for Google One at all if you haven’t already done so.
However, if you use Google Photos often, it’s probably worth paying for at least some of the Google One storage. Google Photos is a great service, and it makes sense that it can’t be completely free.
Perhaps many users won’t have to pay at all, at least not for the foreseeable future. According to Google, 80 percent of Photos users won’t reach 15 GB of volume in three years. And that’s not to mention that 15 GB is three times as much as Apple‘s iCloud, which only offers 5 GB of free cloud storage.
Google Photos is linked to the rest of the Google One cloud storage ecosystem, which includes Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos. Google One also offers a free VPN service for Android if you sign up for 2TB or more of Google One storage.
For the price, Google One storage is about on par with the rest of the industry. You’ll spend $2 a month for 100GB of storage, $3 a month for 200GB, $10 a month for 2TB or up to $150 a month for 30TB.
Consider yourself warned – Google Photos may start costing you a little more. But, again, if you use this service often, you should spend the money – it’s a terrific service that’s worth the money.
