MyPics vs Others
A fair look at ownership, costs, and effort.
Your bucket. Choose any S3 provider and keep control.
No ownership
Locked to Google; switching means export.
No ownership
Tied to iCloud; hard to move later.
No ownership
Bound to iDrive plans and tooling.
Your server. Full control, but you manage infra.
Yes. Your bucket stays yours.
Partial
Possible, but requires a full manual export.
Partial
Possible, but manual and time-consuming.
Partial
Possible, but tooling is limited.
Yes. Data stays on your box.
Yes. Point MyPics at a new bucket.
No
No storage choice.
No
No storage choice.
No
Storage is fixed.
Yes (manual). Migrate your server data.
Fixed viewer fee + storage. Viewer fee stays the same at any storage size.
Hard to predict
Pricing depends on storage tiers and plan changes.
Hard to predict
Pricing depends on iCloud tiers and plan changes.
Hard to predict
Pricing depends on plan tiers and policy changes.
Hard to predict
Costs vary with hardware, maintenance, and time.
Low. Connect your bucket once.
None. Sign in and upload.
None. Built into iCloud.
None. Use iDrive app.
High
Install and maintain stack.
No ads, no mining. You control storage and access.
Ad-based business
Data fuels ecosystem.
Ecosystem lock-in
Tied to Apple services.
Ecosystem lock-in
Closed platform.
Depends on you
You own security.
Storage ownership
MyPics
Your bucket. Choose any S3 provider and keep control.
Google Photos
Locked to Google; switching means export.
Apple Photos
Tied to iCloud; hard to move later.
iDrive Photos
Bound to iDrive plans and tooling.
Self-hosted
Your server. Full control, but you manage infra.
Cancel without losing data
MyPics
Yes. Your bucket stays yours.
Google Photos
Possible, but requires a full manual export.
Apple Photos
Possible, but manual and time-consuming.
iDrive Photos
Possible, but tooling is limited.
Self-hosted
Yes. Data stays on your box.
Switch storage later
MyPics
Yes. Point MyPics at a new bucket.
Google Photos
No storage choice.
Apple Photos
No storage choice.
iDrive Photos
Storage is fixed.
Self-hosted
Yes (manual). Migrate your server data.
Predictable cost
MyPics
Fixed viewer fee + storage. Viewer fee stays the same at any storage size.
Google Photos
Pricing depends on storage tiers and plan changes.
Apple Photos
Pricing depends on iCloud tiers and plan changes.
iDrive Photos
Pricing depends on plan tiers and policy changes.
Self-hosted
Costs vary with hardware, maintenance, and time.
Setup effort
MyPics
Low. Connect your bucket once.
Google Photos
None. Sign in and upload.
Apple Photos
None. Built into iCloud.
iDrive Photos
None. Use iDrive app.
Self-hosted
Install and maintain stack.
Privacy model
MyPics
No ads, no mining. You control storage and access.
Google Photos
Data fuels ecosystem.
Apple Photos
Tied to Apple services.
iDrive Photos
Closed platform.
Self-hosted
You own security.
* Google and Apple have more mature ecosystems today. MyPics focuses on ownership, predictable cost, and flexibility as it improves over time.
Example pricing: MyPics + Wasabi vs others
Rough estimates to compare MyPics + Wasabi against mainstream photo services.
100 GB
MyPics + Wasabi
~$1.70/mo
Google Photos
~$1.99/mo
iCloud Photos
~$2.99/mo
OneDrive
~$1.99/mo
500 GB
MyPics + Wasabi
~$4.50/mo
Google Photos
~$9.99/mo
iCloud Photos
~$9.99/mo
OneDrive
~$6.99/mo
Estimates based on public pricing tiers. Taxes, requests, egress, and promotions are not included.