It isn't a question of gigabytes.It's a question of years.
«Storage almost full» isn't solved by buying another fifty gigs: it's solved by deciding where those photos will be in ten years, and who's paying to keep them there.
The message isn't about gigabytes
«Storage almost full» looks like a question of quantity, which is why the instinct is to buy a bit more. But the message isn't asking you for fifty gigs: it's asking you to start an subscription that from then on doesn't end.
The real question is a more uncomfortable one: where will those photos be in ten years, and who is paying for them that day? Because the implicit answer from almost every archive is «you, every month, for as long as you live».
The message on your phone isn't asking for gigabytes: it's asking you to start paying, every month, forever.
What happens when you stop paying
It's the question no pricing page puts front and centre, and the only one that matters when the subject is keeping things. In most services the photos don't vanish immediately, but you stop being able to add any, and sooner or later you have to choose what to delete — with the archive held hostage by the renewal.
To be straight about our side: you start with 5 GB free, and the Creator plan takes it to 100 GB. The difference is that the beta programme's 100 GB have no expiry — they aren't twelve months of trial that then renew, and there's no date sitting somewhere waiting.
It's the one thing a personal archive can't do, however large you buy it.
You can't build the archive of one day on your own
Here's the thing a bigger disk doesn't fix, however many terabytes you buy: the photos of a day that mattered aren't yours. They belong to the people who were there, scattered across phones that get emptied, broken and replaced.
A personal drive is designed to be filled by one person. This is designed to be filled by twenty: you send an address, and whoever was there adds what they have without signing up for anything. What you end up with is the whole archive, not your half of it.
Whole, because an archive of thumbnails isn't an archive
Most of the photos people keep today have already been through a chat, and arrived shrunk so they could travel. On a phone screen the difference doesn't show, which is why nobody notices until it's late.
It shows the day one of those images has to be printed, enlarged or cut into a video: the chat's copy doesn't hold up and the original is nowhere any more. What goes into a box goes in at the size it was shot at, which is the only version worth keeping for ten years.
What we aren't: a backup
It needs saying plainly, because in this category everyone promises eternity: this doesn't replace a copy of your files. If the phone goes in the water and you hadn't uploaded those photos, there's nothing here to recover — we aren't watching your device for you.
What we do is narrower: being the place where the photos of a moment end up, complete, whole, and without a renewal holding them hostage. For everything else you still need a backup, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something.
Whoever sends you their photos doesn't sign up for anything: they open the link and put them where yours are.
Frequently asked questions
- How much space do I get for free?
- You start with 5 GB. The Creator plan goes to 100 GB, and anyone in the beta programme has them with no expiry: the plans are listed on their own page.
- Does «forever» really mean forever?
- It means the plan has no end date and there's no renewal to remember: it isn't twelve months of trial. The offer changed on 6 August precisely to remove that expiry.
- What happens if I go over my storage?
- Photos already uploaded stay where they are; adding more needs space, and that's the moment to look at a different plan. Nothing gets deleted because you reached the limit.
- Are images compressed?
- No, they go in at the size they were shot at. That's the difference between an archive and a set of previews, and it only shows the day a photo has to be printed.
- Can I download everything and keep it elsewhere too?
- Yes, a box downloads whole whenever you want. In fact you should: this isn't a backup and doesn't replace a copy of your own files.
- Who sees what I archive?
- Only the people you invite, if the box stays private. There's no public page and it isn't found by searching your name.
- Does someone need an account to add their photos to my archive?
- No, and for a shared archive that's the difference between working and not working: whoever was there opens the link and adds what they have, without signing up.
100 GB, forever, if you join the beta
The beta programme gives you the Creator plan's storage with no expiry, and a direct line into what we build next. Places are limited and we do the calls ourselves, one at a time.