Stop paying for iCloud storage: keep photos on your own computer

iCloud gives every Apple Account 5 GB for free. After that, iCloud+ costs $0.99 a month for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB and $9.99 for 2 TB (US prices on 25 September 2026). As the family’s photos grow, so does the bill. If you have a computer at home, you can keep the photos there instead. The important part is to do it in the right order, so no photo is lost.

Step 1: Check where your originals are

Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud and Photos. If Optimize iPhone Storage is on, your iPhone keeps small versions and the full-size originals are only in iCloud. Do not switch anything off yet.

Step 2: Download everything to your computer

On a Mac: open Photos, go to Settings, then iCloud, and choose Download Originals to this Mac. Wait until the download finishes; a big library can take a day or more.
On Windows: install iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store, switch on Photos, and let it download the library.
Any computer: you can also ask Apple for a copy of your data at privacy.apple.com. It takes a few days.

Step 3: Check the copy

Count the photos and videos, and open some old ones and some videos. Check that the folder is on a drive with room to grow.

Step 4: Keep a second copy

Your computer now holds the only full copy outside the phone. Copy it to a USB drive, and keep it up to date. This is the step most people forget.

Step 5: Change the iCloud plan

Only now change or cancel iCloud+ in Settings, your name, iCloud. Read Apple’s message carefully before you confirm.

Keep new photos coming home

From now on, new photos need a way to reach the computer. You can plug the iPhone in now and then, or use an app that backs up over home Wi-Fi by itself.

Where PhotoAlbumsMesh fits

PhotoAlbumsMesh keeps new photos coming home for the whole family, iPhone and Android, with no storage plan to pay for. It can use a USB drive as a free second copy. Importing an existing library you downloaded from iCloud is planned for a later version.

PhotoAlbumsMesh is not released yet. Join early access.