Flickr rolled out a bit update today that spiffed up the overall look, expanded the file storage to 1TB and killed the $25 Pro account in favor of a $50/year fee for no ads.
The biggest update for all users is the 1TB of free storage, which includes photos up to 200MB individual file size and 1GB video files at a max of 3 minutes in length. Additionally, all photos are stored at full resolution and original quality.
Flickr also changed the layout so that your landing page at Flickr.com is no longer your own photos, but rather your contacts. And, it’s more akin to social media streams than it was before.
The photos are bigger, bolder and span the full width of your browser when looking through your photostream. Individual images also are much larger and are featured on a black background.
Full screen default view of single images on Flickr after update
If you want to get to the comments section, you actually have to scroll down, which also reveals groups, tags and additional info about the photo.
As noted, if you want to go ad-free, you’ll need to pony up $50 per year; however, you are still at the same 1TB limit and other account features as free users. If you happen to need more than 1TB of storage, you can buy more storage by paying $500 for a Doublr account and a total of 2TB of space.
$ 500.00 a year for 2 terabytes? Who in their right mind is going to pay that?! They REALLY want you to look at those ads. If I want to back up ALL my photos at full resolution I will (and do) use backblaze for ~$60 a year.
I am a current pro user & will now have to pay $500/yr to get 2 TB. I was paying $25/yr for UNLIMITED uploads. This is an improvement? It’s clear Yahoo has just converted the service to a Facebook plan to sell advertising. No one in their right mind is going to pay that much to avoid the ads.
I’ve been a SmugMug Pro for years s and will be there exclusively as soon as my Flickr pro account expires. It gives me unlimited uploads for a fraction of the new Flickr pice, plus the ability to sell directly from the site.
I’m not a big Google + fan, but they also provide unlimited uploads for free. I’m not a big fan of the new layout provided by Flickr either. You now have to scroll down to see any of the image data.
I guess I’m outta there after many years as a user.
As long as you’re a recurring Pro member, you’re going to be able to renew Pro and continue to reap its benefits for your original cost. True, there are things that Free accounts receive that even the legacy Pro level misses out on, but that’s to incentivize us to move down to the Free version and get served the ads. They aren’t pulling the rug entirely out on Pro, just yet…Just not allowing any new entries into that tier.
I still prefer SmugMug.
Oh my, what a horrible mess!
I’ve been a pro member since 2007, and I’ve had a great time sharing photos and meeting great new friends. I really liked the “dated” interface and instant info regarding traffic and such.
BAM!!! Came Yahoo and changed the whole game.
Now the users are loosers, cause there are no photographers anymore.
Only iPhone users shooting their own tongue sticking out in the mirror of a public bathroom.
So the professional ads are now holding flickr up.
Well, good luck with that.
I’ve cancelled my flickr account and moved on. RIP flickr!
Hello alternatives….
Do I really need 2 TB? My images are simply samples of my work – not the whole body of my work. I’m OK with this.