Amazon Photos

Unlimited storage with strings attached

Moderate migration

What it is

Amazon Photos offers unlimited full-resolution photo storage for Prime members (5GB free for non-Prime). It includes automatic backup via mobile app, a shared family vault (up to 6 people), and basic editing tools. The catch: it requires Prime, and your photos live on Amazon's servers.

Honest assessment

Amazon Photos is genuinely good — unlimited storage at Prime pricing is hard to beat. But your photos are among your most personal data. They reveal your location history, your relationships, your home. Storing them with Amazon means Amazon can analyze them. iCloud and Google Photos involve the same tradeoff with different companies. Proton Drive and local NAS are the privacy-first alternatives.

What you lose

Unlimited photo storage (drops to 5GB free tier after Prime cancellation)
Automatic photo backup from your phone
Family vault sharing
Amazon's AI-powered photo organization (faces, objects, places)

Data to export first

Amazon Photos app → select all → Download (mobile)
{'Web': 'photos.amazon.com → select all → Download'}
{'Large libraries': "use Amazon's data export at privacy.amazon.com → Request My Data"}
Export before your Prime subscription ends — post-cancellation access drops to 5GB

Alternatives

iCloud Photos Free 5GB; $0.99/month 50GB; $2.99/month 200GB — Apple ecosystem. On-device processing for facial recognition. Better privacy than Amazon or Google.
Google Photos Free 15GB; $2.99/month 100GB — Best AI organization features. Trades Amazon's analysis for Google's. Not a privacy win, but a diversification win.
Proton Drive Free 1GB; from $3.99/month 200GB — End-to-end encrypted. Photos stay private even from Proton. Best privacy option if you trust a cloud service.
Local NAS (Synology/QNAP) — Your photos, on your hardware, in your home. Synology Photos is excellent. One-time hardware cost (~$200–400).
Immich (self-hosted) — Open-source Google Photos alternative. Self-hosted on your own server or NAS. Free. Full privacy.

Migration steps

Go to photos.amazon.com and select all photos → Download (do this while Prime is active)
For large libraries, request your data at privacy.amazon.com (takes 1–7 days to prepare)
Choose your new photo home (iCloud for Apple users, Proton Drive for privacy, Synology for full control)
Install your new photo app and let it back up your library
Verify the backup is complete before canceling Amazon Photos access
After Prime cancellation, storage drops to 5GB — delete Amazon Photos data at that point