Cloud Storage for Photos in India
Free cloud storage runs out fast. Google gives up to 15 GB and Apple gives 5 GB, and a few years of family photos, festival videos and WhatsApp forwards can pass that. This guide shows what the free plans give, what the paid plans cost in rupees, and how much space you actually need.
Prices below come from each company's own India page. Where we could not confirm a price, we say so instead of guessing.
Quick answer
For cloud storage for photos in India, the free plans are about 15 GB (Google), 5 GB (Apple) and 2 GB (Dropbox). The lowest paid plan we could verify is Google One Lite 30 GB at ₹59 a month. iCloud+ 50 GB is ₹75 a month and Google One Basic 100 GB is ₹130 a month. About 1,000 photos take roughly 5 GB, so most families need a paid plan once they pass a few thousand photos and videos.
A better way to keep family photos
Storing photos is half the job. Sharing them is the other half.
A cloud plan keeps your photos safe, but your family still cannot easily see them. Memoria is built for the second half: a private Circle where you save the photos that matter and share them with the people you invite. It is free to download, and currently free to use for the memories you choose to keep.
- Private Circles for family, friends or a trip. No public feed, no followers.
- Everyone adds photos, videos and voice notes to the same Event.
- Invite with a link. People you invite join through the app.
Keep your cloud backup for the full library. Use a Circle for the photos you want your family to see. Memoria plans INR-priced plans in future, so check the app for current terms. Learn more about Social Memory.
Best cloud storage for photos in India: what each plan gives
There is no single best cloud storage for photos. The right plan depends on how many photos you have and which phone you use. Here is what we could verify on each company's own website in October 2026.
| Service | Free storage | Paid plans in India |
|---|---|---|
| Google One and Google Photos | Up to 15 GB, shared across Photos, Gmail and Drive | Lite 30 GB ₹59, Basic 100 GB ₹130, Standard 200 GB ₹210, Google AI Plus 400 GB ₹399 and 2 TB ₹650, and Google AI Pro 5 TB ₹1,950 a month. The AI plans include Gemini features. Yearly billing is cheaper, for example Basic is ₹1,300 a year instead of ₹1,560. Google plans page |
| iCloud+ (Apple) | 5 GB | 50 GB ₹75, 200 GB ₹219, 2 TB ₹749, 6 TB ₹2,999, 12 TB ₹5,900 a month, taxes included. Apple price list |
| Dropbox | 2 GB (Basic) | 50 GB and 2,000 GB plans exist. Dropbox's page showed dollar prices only ($0.99 and $9.99 a month), so we cannot quote rupee prices. |
We could not confirm current prices or free tiers from the websites of OneDrive, Amazon Photos, JioCloud, MEGA and DigiBoxx in October 2026, so we do not list numbers for them. Check each service's own page before you choose, and see our Amazon Photos and JioCloud pages for how those two work.
How much cloud storage do you need for photos?
How much cloud storage you need depends on your photo count and your videos. A good rule is about 5 MB per photo. Videos are far bigger, so count them separately. Free cloud storage covers about 3,000 photos at that size. Use this table as a starting point, then check a few files on your phone for your own average.
| Photos | Approximate size | Fits in the free 15 GB? |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 4.9 GB | Yes, if nothing else uses the space |
| 5,000 | 24 GB | No |
| 10,000 | 49 GB | No |
| 25,000 | 122 GB | No |
Want exact numbers? Try the Google Photos storage calculator or, for a wedding, the wedding photo storage calculator.
What cloud storage for photos costs over five years
A small monthly price adds up. This table multiplies the monthly price by 60 months for the plans we could verify. It does not include discounts or price changes.
| Plan | Storage | Per month | Over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google One Lite | 30 GB | ₹59 | ₹3,540 |
| Google One Basic | 100 GB | ₹130 | ₹7,800 |
| Google One Standard | 200 GB | ₹210 | ₹12,600 |
| Google AI Plus 2 TB | 2 TB | ₹650 | ₹39,000 |
| iCloud+ 50 GB | 50 GB | ₹75 | ₹4,500 |
| iCloud+ 200 GB | 200 GB | ₹219 | ₹13,140 |
| iCloud+ 2 TB | 2 TB | ₹749 | ₹44,940 |
The best cloud storage for photos is usually the smallest plan that fits your library with room to grow, and paying for space you do not use is the common mistake. If you only need to keep a few thousand family photos safe, a small plan is usually enough. Save the large plans for big video libraries.
How to choose in five steps
- Check how much your phone and cloud account use today. Look at Photos and Videos separately.
- Pick the service that fits your phone. iPhone users get iCloud built in. Android users get Google Photos.
- Start with the smallest plan that covers your photos plus about a year of growth.
- Keep one extra copy of photos you cannot replace, such as weddings and baby photos, on a drive at home.
- Put the photos your family should see into a shared space, so you are not sharing your whole account.
Share the photos that matter with your family
Free to download on Android and iPhone. Create a Circle, add an Event and invite family with a link.
On a computer? Scan with your phone camera
Memoria is currently free · No credit card · Built in India
Frequently asked questions
How much free cloud storage do I get for photos?
Google gives up to 15 GB, shared across Google Photos, Gmail and Drive. Apple gives 5 GB of iCloud storage when you sign in on an iPhone, iPad or Mac. Dropbox Basic gives 2 GB. A phone with thousands of photos and videos will usually outgrow these free amounts.
How much cloud storage do I need for 10,000 photos?
At an average of 5 MB per photo, 10,000 photos take about 49 GB, so a 100 GB plan leaves room to grow. Count videos separately because they are much larger. Check a few files on your phone for your own average size.
How many photos fit in 15 GB?
At an average of 5 MB per photo, 15 GB holds about 3,000 photos, and less if Gmail and Drive files share the same space. Videos use much more. Your own photos may be bigger or smaller than 5 MB, so check a few files on your phone.
What is the cheapest cloud storage plan for photos in India?
Among the plans we could verify on the providers' own India pages in October 2026, Google One Lite 30 GB at ₹59 a month is the lowest. For more space, iCloud+ 50 GB is ₹75 a month, Google One Basic 100 GB is ₹130 a month, and Google One Standard 200 GB is ₹210 a month. Google often shows introductory discounts, so check the price shown to your account.
Is cloud storage the same as a backup?
Not always. Many photo apps sync your library, so a photo deleted on one device can disappear from the others. A real backup keeps a separate copy. For photos you cannot replace, keep one copy in the cloud and one on a drive at home.
Can I share my whole cloud library with family?
You can share albums or links, but family usually needs an account or a link for each album, and photos you share get mixed in with the rest of your library. A shared space made for family photos is easier to manage than sharing a whole storage account.
Is Memoria free to store and share family photos?
Memoria is free to download on Android and iPhone and is currently free to use for the memories you choose to keep. You can share them with the people you invite to a private Circle, and they join through the app. Memoria has said it plans INR-priced plans in future, so check the app for current terms.