If you have 10 years of phone photos and videos, how much will you pay to store them over the next 20 years. And is there a smarter option? The question sounds simple but the answer surprises most people. iCloud 200GB at AU$4.49/month is AU$53.88 a year. Over 20 years, that's AU$1,077. Before you need to upgrade to a larger tier as your library grows. This article puts real numbers on all the options so you can make an informed decision.
In short: Cloud storage (iCloud, Google Photos) is convenient but costs more over time than it appears. A home NAS has a higher upfront cost but zero ongoing fees. And over 5-10 years it's typically cheaper for anyone with a large photo library. The right answer depends on how much storage you need and how comfortable you are with a one-time hardware investment.
Why Photo Storage Costs More for Australians
Both iCloud and Google One are priced in US dollars and converted to AUD. That conversion isn't fixed. It fluctuates with the exchange rate. A weaker Australian dollar means your storage costs more, with no change to the service. US users pay US$2.99/month for 200GB iCloud; Australians pay AU$4.49/month for the same tier. That gap widens whenever the AUD falls.
There's also a growth problem. Modern smartphones produce photos at 12-48 megapixels and 4K video at gigabytes per recording. The storage tier that was fine two years ago is often full today. Most people find they need to upgrade storage tiers every 2-3 years as their library grows. Each upgrade adds to the total long-term cost.
Google Photos changed the equation significantly in 2021 when it ended free unlimited storage. Millions of Australian users who assumed their photos were free forever found themselves needing to pay. The free tier (15GB shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos) fills quickly for anyone with more than a few years of phone photos.
The Real Cost of Each Option
iCloud. AU Pricing (2026)
Apple's iCloud storage tiers in Australia:
- 50GB: AU$1.29/month (AU$15.48/year)
- 200GB: AU$4.49/month (AU$53.88/year)
- 2TB: AU$14.99/month (AU$179.88/year)
At the 200GB tier over 10 years: AU$538.80. At the 2TB tier over 10 years: AU$1,798.80. These figures assume the price stays constant. In practice, Apple has raised prices as the AUD has weakened.
The other consideration: if you cancel iCloud and don't download your photos first, they become inaccessible once your storage overfills. iCloud isn't permanent storage. It's a subscription.
Google One. AU Pricing (2026)
Google One storage in Australia:
- 100GB: AU$3.49/month (AU$41.88/year)
- 200GB: AU$8.99/month (AU$107.88/year)
- 2TB: AU$24.99/month (AU$299.88/year)
At the 200GB tier over 10 years: AU$1,078.80. Also USD-priced. Google has increased prices in Australia since the service launched.
External Hard Drive
A 4TB external hard drive in Australia costs roughly AU$120-180. No monthly fee. Works offline.
The catch: a single external drive isn't a backup. It's just storage. If the drive dies or is lost in a flood, burglary, or fire, your photos go with it. Drive failure rates increase significantly after 3-5 years. To store photos safely on external drives, you need at least two copies in separate locations, which means buying two drives and remembering to copy to both.
Over 10 years with two drives replaced once: roughly AU$500-700 in hardware, plus the discipline to maintain the copies manually.
A NAS. One-Time Cost, No Monthly Fee
A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a small always-on box connected to your home router. Load it with hard drives, and it automatically backs up photos from every device in your household. IPhone, Android, Windows, Mac. With no per-month charge.
Entry-level 2-bay NAS units in Australia start around AU$350-450. Add two NAS-rated hard drives (2TB each: ~AU$90-110 each) and you have a 2TB mirrored setup for around AU$550-670 all up. With RAID 1 (mirroring), you have two simultaneous copies. If one drive fails, your photos are still safe on the other.
Over 10 years with no monthly fees: roughly AU$600-700 total (assuming one drive replacement cycle). That's less than 4 years of iCloud 2TB, or less than 3 years of Google One 2TB.
A NAS is also accessible from anywhere via app. You can view your photo library on your phone while travelling, just as you would with iCloud. What a NAS is and how it works is explained here, including whether it's the right fit for your situation.
The 'Forever' Problem. Why Cloud Isn't Actually Forever
The word "forever" is worth examining. Cloud storage doesn't store your photos forever. It stores them as long as you keep paying. Cancel iCloud and your photos become inaccessible (not immediately deleted, but locked behind a paywall). If the provider shuts down a service, changes pricing, or gets acquired, your photos are at the mercy of a business decision you have no control over.
"Forever" actually means owning a copy of your photos on hardware you control. That's either an external drive (simple but fragile) or a NAS (automated, redundant, accessible). For families building a photo library they want to pass on, the ownership question matters more than the monthly cost comparison.
If you're currently storing photos in iCloud and want to take control of them, replacing iCloud Photos with a NAS explains the process step by step.
Use our free Cloud vs NAS Cost Calculator to compare cloud storage against owning a NAS.
How many photos will 200GB of storage hold?
It depends heavily on phone camera quality and video. As a rough guide: iPhone 15 photos average 4-6MB each, so 200GB holds roughly 33,000-50,000 photos. But 4K video eats storage fast. One minute of iPhone 4K footage is about 400MB, meaning 200GB holds only about 8 hours of video. Most people with 3-5 years of phone usage (including video) will exceed 200GB.
What happens to my iCloud photos if I stop paying?
If your iCloud storage is over the free 5GB limit and you stop paying, you lose the ability to sync new photos and upload to iCloud. Existing photos remain accessible for a grace period (typically 30 days), after which they may become inaccessible until you resubscribe or have downloaded them. Apple does not delete iCloud data immediately upon cancellation, but access is suspended. Download everything locally before cancelling.
Is a NAS cheaper than iCloud in the long run?
Yes, for most people with a large photo library. An entry-level 2-bay NAS with drives costs AU$550-700 upfront with no ongoing fee. At iCloud 2TB rates (AU$14.99/month), that's recovered in under 4 years. At iCloud 200GB rates (AU$4.49/month), it's recovered in about 10-12 years. The more storage you need and the longer you plan to keep photos, the more a NAS saves versus cloud.
What's the safest way to store photos forever in Australia?
The safest approach follows the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of your photos, on 2 different types of media, with 1 copy offsite. In practice for home users: photos on your phone (1), on a NAS at home with RAID mirroring (2, with redundancy built in), and synced to a cloud backup service (3, offsite). This way, a house fire, a hardware failure, or a ransomware attack can't destroy everything at once.
Do I need fast internet to use a NAS for photo storage?
No. A NAS on your home network is accessed over Wi-Fi or a network cable, so backup and browsing within your home is fast regardless of your NBN plan. You only need your NBN upload speed when accessing photos remotely (from work or while travelling). For viewing photos and downloading individual files remotely, a standard NBN 50 or 100 plan is adequate. Uploading large amounts of data remotely (bulk photo uploads from outside home) is where faster upload speeds help.
Ready to compare NAS options for photo storage? The Best NAS Australia guide covers every major option with honest Australian pricing.
See Best NAS Australia →