Photo storage calculator: how much space does your library need?
Enter how many photos and minutes of video you have, how much you add each year, and the format your phone or camera shoots. You get the space you need today and later, which part is video, and the smallest plan that fits, with a lifetime-versus-yearly verdict.
Want your real number? iPhone: Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Photos. Android: Files or Google Photos > Settings > Backup.
Storage you need
Video takes most of the space: shooting 1080p instead of 4K for everyday clips cuts it by about two thirds.
Smallest plan that fits
- pCloud Premium 500 GB: €49.99 per year, or €219.00 once for life. The lifetime plan pays for itself after 4.4 years. Over 5 years you would pass the 4.4-year break-even: on pCloud, the lifetime plan costs less than renewing.
- Proton Drive Plus (200 GB): $4.99 per month on monthly billing, so $299.40 over 5 years. End-to-end encrypted by default.
Free tiers for reference: Google gives 15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos; iCloud 5 GB; Proton Drive 5 GB; pCloud up to 10 GB.
Proton prices are the monthly-billing list prices in USD shown on proton.me on 18 Oct 2026; yearly billing is cheaper. pCloud prices are in EUR from pcloud.com, same day.
See Proton Drive plans
End-to-end encrypted by default · Swiss company · 5 GB free
View offerQuick answer: how much storage for 3,000 photos?
About 7.5 GB in smartphone HEIF (3,000 × 2.5 MB), 12 GB in JPEG, and 90 GB in 24 MP camera RAW. Ten minutes of 4K video at 30 fps adds 1.7 GB. That is why a phone library usually outgrows the free tiers through video, not photos.
How the calculation works
- Space = (photos today + photos per year × years) × MB per photo, plus the same for minutes of video × MB per minute. Results use decimal units (1 GB = 1,000 MB), the way providers sell their plans.
- Video sizes are the per-minute figures iOS displays in Settings > Camera > Record Video for the High Efficiency (HEVC) format: about 60 MB for 1080p at 30 fps, 170 MB for 4K at 30 fps, 400 MB for 4K at 60 fps. Android phones are in the same range but vary by model.
- Photo sizes are typical values, not constants: a 12 MP HEIF photo is often 1.5 to 3 MB depending on the scene, a JPEG of the same photo larger, and Apple puts a 48 MP ProRAW file at about 75 MB. If you know your own average, type it in the MB field.
- Prices were read on pcloud.com (EUR) and proton.me (USD, monthly billing) on 18 October 2026. The lifetime break-even is the lifetime price divided by the yearly price of the same pCloud tier.
Questions
How many GB do I need for photo storage?
Multiply your number of photos by their average size and add your video. A typical phone library of 5,000 HEIF photos (about 12.5 GB) plus one hour of 4K video (about 10 GB) needs roughly 23 GB today. Add what you shoot each year: at 2,000 photos and one hour of video a year, the same library reaches about 100 GB in five years, so a 200 GB plan is a comfortable floor.
Why does video take so much more space than photos?
One minute of 4K video at 30 fps is about 170 MB on an iPhone, the size of roughly 70 HEIF photos. A few minutes a week adds more than all your photos combined. Recording everyday clips in 1080p instead of 4K cuts that space by about two thirds.
Is a lifetime plan worth it for photos?
Only if you keep the library long enough. On pCloud the lifetime price equals about 4.4 years of the yearly price for 500 GB and 5 years for 2 TB. Photo archives tend to be kept for decades, which favours lifetime, but you are betting on the company being around: keep a second copy elsewhere either way.
Which is more private for photos, pCloud or Proton Drive?
Proton Drive encrypts everything end to end by default, so Proton cannot see your pictures. Standard pCloud storage is encrypted in transit and at rest but pCloud holds the keys; zero-knowledge encryption requires the paid pCloud Crypto add-on. Our comparison of private photo storage covers the trade-offs.
2026-10-18