Photo storage without getting locked in
Photos are a decades-long commitment
A photo library is one of the few digital things people genuinely keep for life, which changes how you should choose where it lives. The convenience features that sell a service — face grouping, search, automatic albums — matter far less over twenty years than one unglamorous question: can you take every original out, at full resolution, without a fight?
Watch specifically for services that store a compressed copy and quietly discard your originals, or that only export in bulk through awkward tools. A downgrade you do not notice today becomes irreversible once the originals are gone.
Sharing and family without surprises
Most people want to share with a partner or family, so check how that actually works: shared libraries with clear permissions beat a scatter of public links you will never clean up. Consider what happens to a shared library if one person stops paying — whose account owns the photos matters.
A durable setup often pairs a convenient service for day-to-day browsing with your own periodic full-quality export kept in your backup. That way the service's features are a convenience you enjoy, not a cage you cannot leave.