15 Best Free Image Hosting Sites: Best Photo Hosting Of 2023

This tutorial explores top Image Hosting Sites with features and other factors. Select a free or paid Photo Hosting Site for your requirements:

Image Hosting Site is the service provided by the companies to upload the image on the server so that it can be displayed online. It will let you save your photos and memories on the cloud.

You will be able to share and enjoy your images anywhere at any time with the help of these services. It helps the marketers to upload their product images on the Internet. Photographers can showcase their skills with the help of image hosting sites.

In this article, we will learn about image hosting, its top services, how it works, its benefits, and a few more details.

Image Hosting Site Overview

How do Image Hosting sites work?

Typically, these websites have an upload interface where you can upload an image from your local computer. After selecting the file and pressing the “Submit” button, the Photo Hosting Site will upload that file to its server. This makes the images file available on the web.

Some websites allow uploaders to specify inline links to the hosted image so that it can be embedded on other websites. Example: Linking through HTML code, BBcode, etc. Most of the photo-sharing sites have limitations on the image upload size.

Cost: Some image hosting sites are free. Some don’t even require registration. Photo hosting sites that have paid services are available in the range of $3 to $17 per month. Some services like Google Photos offer enough storage for free, but one can buy more storage at an additional cost. Services like Amazon Prime Photos provide storage of 100 GB for $1.99 per month.

Benefits: Images Hosting sites save hard drive space as well as time. Some offer secure storage, sharing facility, and collaboration features that help remote teams to collaborate and work together.

Few Image Hosting sites give exposure to new photographers. Image sharing sites engage photographers through the programs and quests so that more and more photographers can participate and win prizes. It helps the photographers to gain global exposure.

Further reading =>> How to open and save .webp images.

Few more advantages of photo hosting sites are free storage space, backups, quick uploading, editing, and ease of sharing on social media.

List of Top Image Hosting Sites

Here is a list of the most popular Photo Hosting Sites:

1. Internxt
2. SmugMug
3. Sync.com
4. MEGA
5. Icedrive
6. Photobucket.com
7. Flickr
8. Google Photos
9. ImgBB.com
10. 500px
11. Amazon Prime Photos
12. Apple iCloud
13. Imgur
14. imgBox
15. Dropbox
16. Wix.com
17. ImageShack
18. Zenfolio.com
19. Free Image Hosting

Comparison of Best Photo Hosting Sites

Review of the Photo hosting sites:

#1) Internxt

Best for overall privacy and security.

Open-source and built on blockchain, Internxt is a cloud storage service designed to protect users’ right to privacy. Their photo service, Internxt Photos, is an easy-to-use and ethical alternative to similar Big Tech photo storage services.

Ensuring no first or third-party access to photos ever, Internxt is perfect for those who work with confidential or sensitive images. The service is tailor-made for anyone who worries about unauthorized access to personal information and data breaches.

Features:

• Zero unauthorized access to your images and files.
• All uploaded, stored, and shared data is end-to-end encrypted via the AES-256 encryption protocol.
• Internxt services are 100% open-source and verifiable on GitHub.
• All plans (including the free plan) have all features enabled and grant access to all Internxt services: Drive, Photos, and Send.
• Share photos directly to social media and messengers.
• Access and view the gallery without downloading.
• Sync photos automatically across all devices: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and web.

Verdict: Internxt’s use of zero-knowledge technologies and its serious commitment to putting users’ right to privacy above all else. Internxt also gives you 10GB of free online storage with access to all its premium features and primary services.

Price: Internxt offers a free 10GB plan, and personal Internxt plans start at 20GB for only $1.15/month. Annual and business plans are also available.

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#2) SmugMug

Best for Secure photo storage and sharing.

SmugMug is an all-in-one solution that can be used just for unlimited storage and for protecting, sharing, and selling photos. It has functionalities to access and store photos plus features for businesses.

The product can be tried for free for 14 days. Its mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices. SmugMug is the platform for Money Makers, Enthusiasts, and Professionals.

Features:

• Unlimited, Full Resolution Storage
• RAW management
• High Customization
• Custom photo privacy and sharing
• Auto-Upload photos from mobile device or computer.

Verdict: SmugMug is a platform designed to cater to the unique needs of professional photographers. It provides users with tools that allow them to securely store, share, and sell their prints for profit.

Price: SmugMug offers three plans. The Power plan will cost you $15/month. The Portfolio and Pro plans will cost you $33 and $50/month respectively.

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#3) Sync.com

Best for Secure Cloud Storage and Team Collaboration.

Sync is a cloud storage platform that allows you to securely store not only images but other types of imperative files as well. The files you store with Sync can be accessed anywhere, at any time, from any mobile or computer device.

The platform also affords you the privilege of creating centralized folders, which can easily be accessed by both your internal and external teams.

You can also set permission rules to make sure only authorized individuals have access to your images. It is also one of those rare platforms that lets you share and receive documents professionally via a custom-branded client portal complete with your brand’s logo. Furthermore, all of your images stored with Sync are backed up in real time.

Features:

• Client File Portal
• Cloud File Storage and Sharing
• Team Collaboration
• Set Custom Permission Rules
• Unlimited Storage

Verdict: If you are a professional photographer or own a business that dabbles in dozens of image data on a daily basis, then Sync is the cloud-based file-sharing and storage solution for you.

Price:

• Forever Free Plan
• Solo Basic: $8 per month
• Solo Professional: $20 per month

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#4) MEGA

Best for Agile File Transfers.

MEGA is another image hosting platform that is ideal for business and professional photographers who need help managing their image files. The platform facilitates the reliable storage and sharing of image files via the cloud.

All files that are stored and managed via MEGA are encrypted by keys that can only be used by you. Not only will you be able to share your image files securely but also exchange messages with team members, and engage in video and audio calls with the help of MEGA end-to-end encrypted chat.

Features:

• Cloud Based File Storage
• Cloud-Based File sharing
• End-to-End encryption
• Image Backup
• Secure Chat

Verdict: MEGA makes it to our list because of the end-to-end encryption and agile file transfer it facilitates. Packed to the brim with useful features, you’ll find this image hosting solution to your liking if you are professional photographer or own a photo studio.

Price:

• Pro 1: $10.86/month
• Pro II: $21.74/month
• Pro III: $32.61/month

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#5) Icedrive

Best for Free 10 GB cloud storage.

Storing images on cloud has never been as simple as with Icedrive. Icedrive’s cloud storage space gives you easy and instant access to all files you store in it. Once images make their way to Icedrive’s cloud-based database, you have the freedom to manage and update it from anywhere, using any computer or mobile device.

You can also edit, delete, and open images in these storage space just like you would in a physical hard drive. All your uploaded files are instantly cached. Icedrive also comes with a built-in media player, which allows you to stream and view all types of video and image files.

Features:

• Native OS Feel
• Intelligent Caching System
• No Sync required
• Built-in Media Player
• Edit using native applications

Verdict: Icedrive is a full-featured, portable image hosting platform that you can use to upload, download, manage, update, and edit your media files. You can get started for free with 10 GB of cloud storage space.

Price:

• Lite: $1.67/month
• Pro: $4.17/month
• Pro+: $15/month

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#6) Photobucket.com

Best for photo hosting, and photo sharing.

Photobucket is the photo hosting and photo-sharing platform. It will let you host and share images everywhere. It has intuitive privacy settings that will let you control who can see your images. Photobucket can store non-compressed photos. It will keep your original photos in top quality.

Features:

• Photobucket has a best-in-class photo editor.
• It will let you securely share a private album.
• It provides the feature of embed and share that will make it easier to upload the same pic on multiple forums, websites, blogs, or online marketplaces. You just have to use an easy to copy embed link to share photos.
• Photobucket’s online image editor will let you add filters, stickers, cropping, and annotations to the photos.

Verdict: Photobucket will keep your photos safe from accidents, natural disasters, or hardware failure. It has 90 million members worldwide.

Price: Photobucket offers three pricing plans, Beginner ($5.99 per month), Intermediate ($7.99 per month), and Expert ($12.99 per month). A Beginner plan doesn’t include hosting. It is for lifetime storage and social sharing. Intermediate and Expert plan offers unlimited image hosting. Its free tire will let you store 250 images.

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#7) Flickr

Best for overall image hosting.

Flickr is the online photo management and sharing application. It provides the functionalities to upload photos and share them securely. Members will be able to supplement their photos with license information, tags, geolocation, etc. It can be used on the web, mobile, and desktop.

Its API program will help the developers to collaborate on the top of Flickr’s API and build creative experiences of photos.

Features:

• Flickr has features to help you securely and privately share photos with others.
• It will let you keep the blog of moments captured on the camera.
• You will be able to share your photos with the world.
• Flickr provides the facility that will let you allow your contacts to organize your friends.
• It will let you control who can see the photos.

Verdict: Flickr has a simple to use interface and provides a large amount of storage. As per reviews, it provides a great platform to share the photographs.

Price: You can start for free with Flickr. Flickr Pro subscription will cost you Monthly Retail Price (USD 6.99 + tax), Annual retail price (USD 459.99 + tax), and 2-year Retail price (USD 117.99 + tax).

Website: Flickr

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#8) Google Photos

Best for free and secure photos storage and sharing facility.

Google Photos is the storage provided to securely back up your photos and videos. These photos and videos are accessible from any device. You can upload high-quality photos here. Google offers the facility of automatic backup. It supports PNG, JPG, GIF, etc. file formats. It cannot upload images larger than 75MB or 100 MP and videos larger than 10 GB.

Features:

• Google Photos automatically organizes your photos.
• Your photos will be searchable.
• It will let you share photos and albums with friends and family.
• It has editing tools and smart filters.

Verdict: To access Google Photos you should have the Internet and an account with Google. It is a widely used service for sharing images, documents, videos, etc. Its features are available for the photos shot in portrait mode or equivalent. It offers printing facilities for limited countries.

Price: Google Drive offers 15 GB of free storage space. Additional space is available at a price.

Websites: Google Photos

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#9) ImgBB.com

Best for its Plugin for image uploading.

ImgBB is the platform to upload and share your images. To upload the image, you just have to drag and drop the image. It has a limitation of 32 MB to upload the image.

It doesn’t upload the copyrighted images. ImgBB staff checks the uploaded images to verify if these are not copyrighted images and neither illegal according to the USA and EU countries.

Features:

• Using ImgBB’s plugin, you can add image uploading functionality to your website, blog, or forum. Through a plugin, image uploading can be provided to any website. A button will be placed for the users to directly upload images.
• The codes that are required for the image insertion will be automatically handled.
• You will not require any extra customization as the plugin will place an upload button matching with the target editor toolbar.
• Plugin upload will provide all the features like drag-and-drop, remote upload, image resizing, etc.

Verdict: ImgBB is easy to use, you just have to copy & paste the plugin code into your website HTML code. You can upload images without having an account, and so it doesn’t require any email address.

Price: ImgBB is a free image hosting service.

Website: ImgBB.com

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#10) 500px

Best for Photographers to showcase their skills and get hired.

500px is a worldwide online photography network where you can discover and share the photos. Its Pulse algorithm gives immediate exposure to new photographers. It will surface new photographs & photographers so that these new photographs will be seen by the community.

This platform will help you to present yourself as a professional.

Features:

• You can display your services, create a directory listing, showcase the workshops, and create Galleries. You can get hired by highlighting your service this way.
• It provides valuable insights through Statistics and Pulse that will tell how your photos are performing and your rank in comparison to other photographers in the community.
• 500px Licensing provides you the facility to get paid.
• With Quests, you can win prizes and gain global exposure.

Verdict: 15 million creative users discover and share the best photos here. Its mobile app is available for Android and iOS devices. Photographers can test their skills through creative challenges, get recognized for their work, and with the prizes.

Price: 500px offers 40% off on the first membership. The first-membership will be available for $3.99 per month. Pro membership is $5.99 per month.

Website: 500px

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#11) Amazon Prime Photos

Best for sharing photos.

Amazon Photos is unlimited and full-resolution photo storage. It offers a 5 GB photo and video storage to all customers. Prime members will get an additional 5GB for video storage. You will be able to securely store, print, and share your favorite photos through the Amazon Photos App. Your photos will be backed up to the cloud.

Features:

• Amazon Prime Photos provides top-notch Amazon security.
• It provides 24*7 customer support.
• It has features that will let you create custom prints and holiday cards using your favorite photos.
• You will be able to see a slideshow of your favorite photos on the biggest screen in your house.

Verdict: You will be able to view your photos on Fire TV, Echo Show, and Amazon Fire Tablets.

Price: Amazon Photos offers 100 GB storage for $1.99 per month.

Website: Amazon Photos

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#12) Apple iCloud

Best for small to large businesses and freelancers.

Apple iCloud can be used for photos, videos, documents, notes, contacts, etc. It can be accessed by using Apple ID and for that, you should have Apple devices. This is the service of cloud storage and cloud computing. It stores the data on remote servers. iOS devices will be backed up wirelessly. You can share photos, music, and games through AirDrop wireless.

Features:

• You can store images, heterogeneous music, applications, backups, bookmarks, notes, etc.
• iCloud API helps third party iOS and Mac OS developers to implement iCloud functionality in their apps.
• It provides the feature of Find My Friends to share the current location with friends.

Verdict: iCloud has seamless integration with Apple products. You should have Apple devices to use this service.

Price: Apple offers free storage of 5GB with each account. More storage space is available at an additional price.

Website: Apple iCloud

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#13) Imgur

Best for providing entertaining content.

Imgur is a community-powered entertainment destination. It has funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining GIFs, etc. It is the platform for sharing entertaining files. You can share inspiring images, GIFs, memes, informative images, funny images, etc. It can be used on Desktop, Android, and iOS devices. You can edit the content in your public posts.

Features:

• Imgur provides the feature of View Marking that saves viewed posts in the navigation bar with gray color.
• It has introduced a new look for its Homepage.
• Imgur will automatically size the video content to the browser height.
• Provides the options on the top to make it easier to report, embed, and download the post.
• It will allow you to mute some users so that you will not see their comments displayed on the posts.

Verdict: Imgur is the platform for hosting the entertaining images. You will find the awesome content here.

Price: Imgur API can be used for free for non-commercial use. As per reviews, its Pro features were available for $3 per month previously. But now these features are available for free.

Website: Imgur

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#14) ImgBox

Best for sharing images for free. Anyone above 18 years of age can use this service.

ImgBox is a fast and simple image hosting platform. It will let you upload, host, and share all the images. You can host JPG, GIF, and PNG images. There is a limitation of 10 MB for each file to upload an image. To upload an image you can directly drag and drop an image on the website. We can use it for free. It also provides a facility to upload and share videos.

Features:

• Hotlinking
• Super blazing fast service.
• Simple interface and hence easy to use.
• It offers unlimited storage space and time.

Verdict: ImgBox has been running for 7 years. It will allow you to upload JPG, GIF, and PNG images of size 10 MB for each file.

Price: Free

Website: ImgBox

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#15) Dropbox

Best for teams & businesses of any size, solo workers, and freelancers.

Dropbox is a smart workspace for file hosting. It will help you become organized, stay focused, and get in sync with your team. You can organize traditional files, cloud content, Dropbox Paper docs, and web shortcuts together in one place with the help of Dropbox. It provides personalized suggestions that will help you search for files.

Features:

• Individuals can store Photos, personal files, and even Google Docs.
• Dropbox has features to automatically save and sync photos or images, videos, etc.
• It has built-in tools for simple and secure file sharing.
• It automatically backs up everything with Smart Sync.

Verdict: Dropbox will let you coordinate with your team. The files stored on the Dropbox are accessible from a computer, phone, or tablet. All the changes that are made will be synced across your account. You can create and edit your work in Dropbox, including cloud content and Microsoft Office.

Price: Dropbox offers pricing plans for individuals as well as the workplace. Its Basic plan is free to use for personal use. The Personal Plus plan is available at $9.99 per month and the Professional plan is for $16.58 per month.

Website: Dropbox

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Additional Image Hosting Sites

#16) Wix.com

Wix is a free website builder that contains powerful features. You can use these features to design and manage your website online. Also use its feature of Wix Photography to display your images, autoplay videos, and text in over 30+ galleries.

One can set the quality and sharpness of your photos sitewide. It provides the features of a watermark and password to secure your images.

Website: Wix.com

#17) ImageShack

ImageShack provides unlimited space to host images. It is an easy-to-use image-uploader. It provides the features of albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on the web and mobile. To access all the features, you will need a subscription. It offers a free trial of 30 days.

Website: ImageShack

#18) Zenfolio.com

Zenfolio is an all in one website that will let you showcase, share, sell your photography. It provides the features of “online pre-order for clients” that will let you enable clients to order and pay for bookings, packages, and products before each shoot.

This website has a built-in shopping cart. Also provides templates that are pre-loaded with search engine-friendly pages and required by photographers.

Website: Zenfolio.com

#19) Free Image Hosting

Free Image Hosting.net is a website to host your auction photos, share images with your family, create photo galleries, etc. It supports GIF, JPG, BMP, and PNG images.

There is a file size limit of 3 MB. It will let you upload the image from your computer and then you will get codes that you can copy and paste on your blog, email, or Facebook. This service is available for free.

Website: Free Image Hosting.net

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Conclusion

There cannot be one best image hosting solution for all. Everyone has to find the right solution that best suits personally or professionally. You can consider factors like shareability, storage space, image quality, price, etc. while choosing the solution.

Flickr is the online photo management and sharing service. It will let you share photos with the world and share photos with the control over who can see them. Google Photos is the secure storage to back up your photos and videos. Photobucket provides a feature of ‘Embed and Share’ to make it easier to share the same pic on multiple forums.

Further reading =>> Photo Viewer Software for Windows and Mac

500px is a worldwide online photography network where you can discover and share images.

If we compare all the above services for the pricing then Flickr and Dropbox offer a free plan, but their paid plans are more expensive than others. ImgBB and ImgBox are completely free image hosting services. Google Photos and Apple offer some storage space for free.

We hope these detailed reviews and comparisons of image hosting sites will help you find the right solution.

Research Process:

• Time taken to research this article: 28 Hours
• Total tools researched: 22
• Top tools shortlisted: 15