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Where should I host images?
Image Host Comparisons
You'll notice a few of them are ones I have a very low opinion of, but I decided to add those in as well so I can explain why I wouldn't use those options. If you have any others you think are good enough to add to this list, or any services you want to warn each other of, comment them below! And, of course, let me know if you have any questions. 💖
This site's paid feature is for domain names, not increased space (more on that below). Their paid plan is roughly $1.75/mo though, so if you want a custom domain name without paying for hosting? Here's your sign. Offsite, a domain name is usually $10-$20/yr on its own, and you pay for your hosting on top of that, I think this is a great option for people who want control of their content and image URLs. For free options, Altervista is #1 for me, no question.
One thing to keep in mind is that when you register, you do not automatically get an account; instead, there's an approval period that can take up to 48 hours (it took less than 24 hours for me), which is likely because they're one of the very few actually free webhosts, and registering with bot accounts would be all too easy, uploading who knows what lmfao.
I've actually already made my choice and I've picked Altervista. I'm using it right now, even! The preview image for this post and the icons used within the list are both being hosted on my new subdomain.
Filesize Limit. Any size up to your storage space availability. What this site offers that no one else here does is one time payments for storage expansions, and at a very low cost. Each extra GB of space is $5.44 USD, flat fee; not monthly. I'm going to do a more detailed rundown on this host specifically soon to coincide with a project I have releasing on Gumroad soon.
Alright, I'll be helpful I guess. I used Discord for my image uploads for a while because I was always on there anyway and it was easy to just drag images over while I was doing things without having to do much extra. I don't use them anymore for file uploads of any kind if I can help it.
I just don't trust them or how they potentially use our data in relation to their AI learning model. I love AI, but I love knowledgeable consent more. On an internet with little privacy left anymore, I know this might not sound like a big deal, but it's where I draw my line. I feel like they did a bad job of alerting users to the opt out feature (check your privacy settings on Discord, btw) and an even worse job explaining (and then backpedaling on) what they were doing.
Whether or not you use them is totally up to you, but I personally wouldn't funnel any more money into a company that wanted to get into crypto, tried to jump on the NFT craze before user pushback made them walk it back, and then made weird policy changes that made it unclear whether or not our content is being fed into an AI learning model, regardless of any backpedaling. What a bunch of fucking dorks.
I'll give Discord one very important thing in the spirit of fairness: They allow adult content. And when fewer and fewer places do, I am fully ready to admit that it's a very important aspect for some of us. Just be aware of the fact that Discord's founder is a weird crypto bro who loves user data. [1] [2] [3]
Don't boo me, I'm right.
Filesize Limit. 25MB free; 500MB with Nitro
https://www.dropbox.com/s/abc123/filename.png?dl=0 would need to become https://dl.dropbox.com/s/abc123/filename.png?dl=0 in order to be used in codes/layouts.If the extra step doesn't bother you, then Dropbox is a really good way to go if your main need is storage space. The biggest downside is that you have to click to generate the link rather than have it ready to copy. It's just one click and it automatically copies it for you though, so it's not that much of an inconvenience. Truthfully, I wouldn't use them for image hosting, but I still say they're a good option. It just doesn't appeal to me specifically is all.
Their prices are also pretty steep, unless you need exactly what they're offering, which is 2TB of storage and file transfers of up to 2GB for $10/mo. If that's the kind of thing you'd regularly use then this is definitely what you want, since you'd be paying a lot more for webhosting that could handle 2TB storage and 2GB files available for download.
You might notice that Dropbox has also updated their TOS recently, but at a glance it seems like it's pretty normal. I'd urge you to read the TOS changes yourself though if it's a concern, because I honestly did just skim it lmao.
Filesize Limit. Like webhosting, this is dependent on your storage limit.
They're free, but their pricing options are very good, especially if you're interested in budgeting to pay for three years at once to get hosting for unlimited space at $4/mo. While it's not as good a deal as Altervista, it's still really affordable and worth noting.
It keeps file URL names, you can set it up to automatically wrap the image in HTML, so it's great for iconmakers, and something else I think is really neat (even if most people won't need it) is you can set the image links to automatically expire. The dashboard looks good too. Multiple-select, captions, and album sorting! Despite the Trustpilot ratings, this one is close to the top for me personally since I was able to get an opinion from a longtime user. Just remember that this probably isn't where you want to go if you routinely need to upload large files.
Filesize Limit. 32MB free; 64MB paid
.jpg, .gif, and .png, which shouldn't be a problem for most people (just keep it in mind for .webp files, which you'll need to convert before you can upload them). These things combined might make it sound like I wouldn't recommend them, and you'd be right if it wasn't for one VERY important thing I found while digging through the site.Imgbox explicitly allows adult content; you just need to mark it as such when you upload it. They even say, "User must be eighteen 18 years of age or older to use or access this web site," which I thought was super interesting since it insinuates (in my opinion) that they're aware that allowing explicit content means they'll have a higher amount of it since so few image hosts allow it, and that this was a conscious decision.
Their TOS is concise and very easy to read, which is great because I can say with absolute certainty that there's nothing in there that prohibits nudity, pornography, or other forms of legal explicit content—nor is there any vague garbage that boils down to, "if we don't catch you it's fine, wink wink," that can be pulled out from under you at any time depending on what kind of money the platform is being offered. Which can change regardless, I know, but they're so firmly in the "allows it" category that it's not nearly as likely.
Anyway, this is probably where you want to go to upload your porn gifs if you use them.
Filesize Limit. 10MB
Unfortunately, Imgur is also the reason for this post, so fuck 'em. The two very important things you need to keep in mind about Imgur are: They're cracking down on adult content, and any images uploaded into the void are now at high risk of being deleted, and since they weren't uploaded to an account... good luck and godspeed tracking them down.
While 12 years of content tied to my account is perfectly safe, there's a ton that isn't.
Filesize Limit. 20MB static images( except .png files; over 5MB will be converted to .jpg) 200MB animated images (I don't know why this is all so nitpicky; pick a lane)
Clarification: Neocities is free, but to use it for image hosting it costs $5/mo or $60/yr, and this post is about image hosting, I decided to mark it as being paid only. This is a very small webhost, which means (like IJ) they rely on their users to help support the site and keep it going, and they just can't afford to make image hosting accounts free. Their focus is to grow sustainably so that they don't go under and leave users with nowhere to go.
I love this option because, for half the price of Nitro, I can get image and web hosting with a more ethical service provider. As often as realistically possible, I'd rather my money go to small businesses and independent creators, because it makes a huge difference. I should know, lol!! You guys are amazing and 100% the reason I can do what I do.
Filesize Limit. Any size up to your storage space availability.
If you are interested in a paid image host, pass this one by. Their prices are ridiculous and their business practices are trash. If you're going to pay $60+ a year on a service, I strongly encourage you to go to Neocities instead.
Filesize Limit. 200MB
How many images can I upload in general?
As many as you like! We do not impose strict limits on our users (except restrictions mentioned in our Terms of Service). Some users store and share tens of thousands of images, and we are cool with that. However, disk space and bandwidth are not cheap, so if you use REALLY much of either, and your usage pattern does not allow us to recover our costs (e.g. you do not publish your images embedded into links leading back to our site, thus stripping us of any potential advertising income from them), we reserve the right to contact you and discuss possible ways to satisfy your needs while allowing our project to make ends meet.
See some user input in the comments!
Filesize Limit. 24MB free; 48MB paid
Updated June 23, 2024. Edited to reflect changes in options.