Is SnapVault better than Amazon Photos for backing up phone photos and videos?
Short answer It depends on video. Prime members get unlimited full-resolution photo storage at no extra cost, which is hard to beat, but only 5 GB for video. A 200 GB mixed library on Amazon's 1 TB plan is $83.88 per year, $419.40 over five years; SnapVault plus Backblaze B2 is about $79 in storage over five years, plus the one-time app purchase.
What is the difference between SnapVault and Amazon Photos?
Amazon Photos is Amazon's photo service. Everyone gets 5 GB free; Prime members ($14.99 a month or $139 a year) get unlimited full-resolution photo storage including RAW, plus 5 GB for video, shareable with five people through Family Vault. Extra space for video or non-Prime users costs $1.99 a month for 100 GB, $6.99 for 1 TB and $11.99 for 2 TB, as of August 2026. SnapVault is an iOS app that copies the camera roll, photos and videos alike, to an S3-compatible bucket you rent from Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, AWS S3 or Wasabi, for a one-time purchase, priced in your local App Store, plus per-gigabyte storage billed by the provider. Amazon holds the keys and the unlimited benefit ends when Prime lapses; SnapVault treats a video the same as a photo and leaves everything in your own account. For photo-only libraries on Prime, Amazon is excellent value.
How do Amazon Photos and SnapVault compare feature by feature?
The table reads from the vendors' public pages; SnapVault's column reflects the current App Store release (1.0.3). Android is not shipped yet, so "iOS today" is the honest platform line.
| Feature | Amazon Photos | SnapVault |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 5 GB photos and video (non-Prime); Prime: unlimited photos + 5 GB video | Free tier with a weekly upload cap; bucket providers add 10 GB free (R2, B2) |
| Cheapest paid plan | 100 GB at $1.99/month (about $19.99/year, as listed by third parties) | One-time app purchase, priced per country in the App Store; storage billed by your provider |
| Plan that fits 200 GB | 1 TB at $6.99/month (photos only: included with Prime) | Any bucket; about $1.32/month on Backblaze B2, $2.85 on Cloudflare R2 |
| Plan that fits 2 TB | 2 TB at $11.99/month | Any bucket; about $13.83/month on Backblaze B2, $29.85 on Cloudflare R2 |
| Billing | Monthly confirmed; annual prices not confirmed on 2026-08-19 | One-time app purchase (price shown in your local App Store); provider bills per GB-month |
| Family sharing | Family Vault: Prime member plus up to 5 others | Any number of phones can write to the same bucket with their own keys |
| Original-quality photos and video | Yes, originals including RAW; Live Photos stored as still + video pair | Yes, files are copied byte for byte as stored on the phone |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, web, Windows and macOS desktop apps, Fire TV, Echo Show | iOS today; Android coming soon |
| Who holds the files and keys | Amazon; unlimited photos end when Prime lapses and over-quota content can be deleted | You: files sit in a bucket under your own provider account |
| Getting your files out | Desktop app or web download, album by album | Standard S3 objects; any S3 client, CLI or desktop tool can download them |
Amazon Photos plans and prices
| Plan | Storage | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free (non-Prime) | 5 GB | $0 | n/a |
| Prime member benefit | Unlimited photos + 5 GB video | $14.99 (Prime) | $139 (Prime) |
| 100 GB about | 100 GB | $1.99 | About $19.99 |
| 1 TB about | 1 TB | $6.99 | About $59.99 |
| 2 TB about | 2 TB | $11.99 | About $119.98 |
How much do Amazon Photos and SnapVault cost over five years?
If you already pay for Prime and your library is photos only, Amazon Photos costs nothing extra, and that beats any bucket. Real phone libraries are mostly video, and video counts against 5 GB, so a 200 GB mixed library needs the 1 TB plan at $6.99 per month: $83.88 per year and $419.40 over five years on monthly billing (about $59.99 per year as listed by third parties, which would be about $299.95). SnapVault with Backblaze B2 costs (200 - 10 free) x $0.00695 = $1.32 per month, $79.23 in storage over 60 months, plus the one-time app purchase priced in your local App Store; Cloudflare R2 is $171.00 in storage. At 2 TB, Amazon's 2 TB plan is $11.99 per month, $143.88 per year and $719.40 over five years, while SnapVault on B2 is $829.83 in storage and on R2 $1,791.00, plus the app. Amazon's annual prices could not be confirmed because amazon.com returned errors on 2026-08-19.
5-year cost at 200 GB
| Option | Year 1 | 5 years | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Photos 1 TB (monthly) | $83.88 | $419.40 | $6.99 x 12 = $83.88/year; x 5 = $419.40 (annual billing, if about $59.99/year: about $299.95) |
| SnapVault + Backblaze B2 | $15.85 | $79.23 | (200 - 10 free) GB x $0.00695/GB = $1.32/month; x 60 months = $79.23 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + Cloudflare R2 | $34.20 | $171.00 | (200 - 10 free) GB x $0.015/GB = $2.85/month; x 60 months = $171.00 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + AWS S3 Standard | $55.20 | $276.00 | 200 GB x $0.023/GB = $4.60/month; x 60 months = $276.00 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + Wasabi | $95.88 | $479.40 | 1,000 GB minimum x $0.00799/GB = $7.99/month; x 60 months = $479.40 storage (app purchase not included) |
5-year cost at 2 TB
| Option | Year 1 | 5 years | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Photos 2 TB (monthly) | $143.88 | $719.40 | $11.99 x 12 = $143.88/year; x 5 = $719.40 (annual billing, if about $119.98/year: about $599.90) |
| SnapVault + Backblaze B2 | $165.97 | $829.83 | (2,000 - 10 free) GB x $0.00695/GB = $13.83/month; x 60 months = $829.83 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + Cloudflare R2 | $358.20 | $1,791.00 | (2,000 - 10 free) GB x $0.015/GB = $29.85/month; x 60 months = $1,791.00 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + AWS S3 Standard | $552.00 | $2,760.00 | 2,000 GB x $0.023/GB = $46.00/month; x 60 months = $2,760.00 storage (app purchase not included) |
| SnapVault + Wasabi | $191.76 | $958.80 | 2,000 GB x $0.00799/GB = $15.98/month; x 60 months = $958.80 storage (app purchase not included) |
Method: year 1 is twelve months on the cheapest billing option the vendor offers; five years is year 1 times five with no price changes. Bucket totals use decimal gigabytes, subtract each provider's always-free allowance, and exclude the one-time app purchase, which is priced per country in the App Store. Egress is excluded because a backup is written once and read only on restore; see the bucket cost explainer for egress and request fees.
Who should pick Amazon Photos?
- You already pay for Prime and your library is mostly stills: unlimited full-resolution photos, RAW included, at no extra cost is the best deal in this comparison.
- You want photos on Fire TV, Echo Show and the Amazon apps without any setup.
- You share with family through Family Vault and everyone is fine with Amazon holding the library.
- Your video footprint stays under 5 GB, or you are happy to pay for a separate storage plan just for video.
Who should pick SnapVault?
- Your library is in the 100 GB to 1 TB range, where a per-GB bucket undercuts every subscription tier.
- You want the files in an account you control, in standard formats, reachable from any S3 tool.
- You already run AWS, Cloudflare, Backblaze, Wasabi or a MinIO box and want the phone to write into it.
- You prefer paying once for software and paying wholesale for storage instead of a bundle.
- You shoot a lot of video, which Amazon counts against 5 GB, and you do not want your backup tied to a Prime membership.
Trade-offs to know: SnapVault needs a bucket and access keys before the first backup (a few minutes at Cloudflare R2 or Backblaze B2), it has no web gallery or sharing, and it runs on iOS only today with Android coming soon.
How do I move my photos from Amazon Photos to my own bucket?
- Photos taken on your iPhone are already in the iOS photo library. Anything that lives only in Amazon Photos, such as uploads from a desktop or another phone, can be downloaded with the Amazon Photos desktop app (bulk downloads run album by album), then copied into the bucket with any S3 client.
- Install SnapVault from the App Store, create a bucket at Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, AWS S3 or Wasabi, and paste the endpoint, bucket name and access keys into the app.
- Run the first backup on Wi-Fi while charging. SnapVault skips files already in the bucket, so you can stop and resume safely.
- Check the object count in your provider's console against the photo count on the phone before you downgrade or cancel the old plan.
- Turn off Auto-Save in the Amazon Photos app, or keep it on as a free second copy of your stills if you stay on Prime.
Questions about Amazon Photos and SnapVault
Is Amazon Photos really unlimited for Prime members?
For photos, yes: full-resolution stills including RAW files do not count against any quota while Prime is active. Video is limited to 5 GB, and the unlimited benefit ends when Prime lapses, after which the account falls back to 5 GB and over-quota content can be removed after a grace period.
How much does Amazon Photos cost if I need space for video?
As of 2026-08-19 the monthly plans are 100 GB for $1.99, 1 TB for $6.99 and 2 TB for $11.99. Annual prices are listed by third parties at about $19.99, $59.99 and $119.98 but could not be confirmed on amazon.com that day.
Is SnapVault cheaper than Amazon Photos?
For a Prime member with a photo-only library, no: Amazon is included. For a 200 GB mixed library it is: Amazon's 1 TB plan is $419.40 over five years on monthly billing versus about $79.23 in storage for SnapVault with Backblaze B2, plus the one-time app purchase. At 2 TB Amazon ($719.40) is cheaper than SnapVault on B2 ($829.83 in storage plus the app).
Does SnapVault handle video differently from photos?
No. Videos are uploaded as objects just like photos and cost the same per gigabyte at your provider. You can also choose to back up photos only, videos only, or both.
Try SnapVault with your own bucket
Free tier with a weekly upload cap; SnapVault Pro is a one-time purchase, priced in your local App Store. Your storage provider bills the bucket directly.
Sources and date checked
All vendor pages below were read on 2026-08-19. Bucket prices come from the provider pricing pages listed last.