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Flickr

flickr.com

From $6.83/mo Free plan WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroidAPI
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Spec score 9.3 #3 of 71 in Photo Storage Services

What it is

Flickr is an online photography community for managing, sharing, and discovering photos. Users can store and organize images, make galleries, and explore galleries from photographers they follow. Groups, contests, and a photography blog provide community activities, while daily curation and Creative Commons images support discovery. Privacy settings let users choose default visibility and control who can view, download, or interact with individual photos and videos. The mobile app can upload camera-roll photos and videos automatically, keeping them private until the user chooses to share them. Image recognition can find visually similar images and assist with search and organization. Users may authorize third-party apps to work with their accounts and later revoke access in settings. Flickr offers an API for non-commercial use; commercial use requires prior arrangement. The free plan permits 1,000 public photo and video uploads and displays ads. Flickr Pro costs $8 a month, billed annually, and includes unlimited full-resolution sharing and backup, ad-free browsing, detailed statistics, and enhanced privacy settings.

Spec sheet

What it does
Flickr is an online photo management and sharing community for uploading, organizing, displaying and discussing photographs and videos.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Purpose
Flickr is an online photography community for managing, sharing, and discovering photos.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Intended users
Flickr describes its community as a place for photographers to connect, learn, curate, and grow.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Integrations
Official tools include Lightroom and Aperture upload integrations, a Chrome new-tab extension, and desktop Uploadr applications.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Security
Flickr says it takes physical, technical, and administrative measures to protect information, while stating that it cannot promise information will remain secure.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Support
Flickr directs users to contact its help service for questions, concerns, and customer service inquiries.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Founded
2004Read 23 Sep 2026 · flickr.com
API availability
Flickr's API exposes nearly all site functionality, is free to use, and provides access to data from more than five billion photos.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
API commercial terms
The API is available for non-commercial use; commercial use requires prior arrangement.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
API formats
Documentation covers REST, XML-RPC and SOAP requests, REST/XML/JSON/PHP responses, authentication, uploads, replacement and asynchronous uploading.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
API restrictions
API terms prohibit generic image hosting and replicating Flickr's core user experience, require attribution and require requested user content removal within 24 hours.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Auto-upload
The mobile app can automatically upload camera-roll photos and videos as private until the user chooses to share them.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
AutoUploadr limits
The Mac AutoUploadr is Pro-only, performs one-way private uploads, accepts JPEG/JPG/PNG, excludes video and HEIC, and can monitor folders, Photos Library and Dropbox.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickrhelp.com
Community
Flickr offers groups, contests, and a blog showcasing community photography.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Company facts
LinkedIn lists Flickr as privately held, founded in 2004, headquartered in San Francisco and employing 51–200 people.Read 14 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Company ownership
SmugMug, Inc. owns and operates Flickr and acquired it from Yahoo in 2018.Read 14 Oct 2026 · axios.com
Developer API
Flickr provides an API for non-commercial use, while commercial use is possible by prior arrangement.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Discovery
Flickr describes daily curation and a large collection of Creative Commons images as sources of photography inspiration.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: backup
Pro includes unlimited hands-free AutoUploadr backup and unlimited private photos.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: curation
Flickr provides daily photo curation, contests, events and a large Creative Commons collection.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: display and video
Pro offers 6K photo display options, external links and video uploads up to 10 minutes.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: groups
User-created and user-run groups let members form communities around shared photographic interests.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: organization
Members can arrange photos into albums, galleries and collections, add tags and metadata, and browse by camera or map.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: partner benefits
Pro membership includes stated discounts or credits for SmugMug, Blurb, Adobe Creative Cloud Photography and Priime.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: privacy
Pro users can set privacy controls for each photo, while free accounts are limited to 1,000 uploads and 50 private uploads.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Feature: stats
Pro accounts include statistics on views, referrers and engagement through a dashboard.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Financial rationale
Engadget reported SmugMug's CEO said Flickr was losing money and needed paying subscribers, while an AWS migration improved photo loading.Read 14 Oct 2026 · engadget.com
Image search
Flickr says it uses image recognition to find visually similar images and help organize and search photos.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Licence
Flickr's service and API are proprietary under SmugMug terms; the separate Flickr API Swagger specification repository is MIT licensed.Read 14 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: Android app
Google Play reviewers report missing batch edits, tags and privacy controls, slow performance and album-search bugs in newer versions.Read 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Limit: iOS app functions
App Store reviewers report redesign-related loss of sharing and other core functions, although long-term users praise the archive and community.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Limit: usability and support
Trustpilot reviewers commonly describe the site as outdated, slow and difficult for basic tasks, with login, search, connection and support problems.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
News: 2025 changes
Flickr's December 29, 2025 highlights announced Creative Commons 4.0 licensing, refreshed Events and Groups, a Discover page, Camera Finder improvements and new educational programs.Read 14 Oct 2026 · blog.flickr.net
Organization
Users can store and organize photos, create and share galleries, and view galleries made from photographers they love.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Praise: organization
G2 reviewers repeatedly praise easy image management, album organization and embedding, cataloguing, metadata and access controls.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Pricing criticism
Digital Camera World reported that Flickr capped free accounts at 1,000 items and delayed deletion after complaints about downloads and server responsiveness.Read 14 Oct 2026 · digitalcameraworld.com
Privacy controls
Users control visibility, downloads and interactions per item; EXIF and GPS data can be hidden or exposed according to settings.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Privacy framework
Flickr states that it complies with the EU-U.S., UK Extension, and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks.Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Rating on Apple App Store
4.5 out of 5 from 15,000 ratingsRead 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
Rating on G2
4.1 out of 5 from 332 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Google Play
3.3 out of 5 from 34,100 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
Rating on Trustpilot
1.5 out of 5 from 293 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
SDK support
Flickr lists community API kits for languages including Go, Java, .NET, Node.js, Objective-C, Perl, PHP, Python and Ruby, but says it does not maintain or support them.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Security incident
A February 5, 2026 third-party email-provider vulnerability may have exposed names, emails, usernames, account type, IP/general location and Flickr activity; passwords and payment cards were unaffected.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Security statement
Flickr says it uses physical, technical and administrative safeguards, while acknowledging that no security measure is perfect.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Self-hosting
Flickr publishes hosted web, mobile and desktop services and API documentation but no self-hosted server edition.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Upload requirements
Flickr accepts common photo and video formats, limits photos to 200 MB and videos to 1 GB/1080p, and does not support RAW uploads.Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickrhelp.com

Plans and prices

Flickr Free Free 1,000 public photo and video uploads · shown with ads Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Flickr Pro $8 a month Billed annually Unlimited full-resolution photo sharing and backup · ad-free browsing · detailed stats dashboard · enhanced privacy settings Read 2 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Flickr Pro Monthly $11 a month Billed monthly; auto-renewing and non-refundable Unlimited full-resolution uploads · unlimited private photos · ad-free browsing · stats dashboard · priority support · 10-minute videos Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Flickr Pro Annual $82 a year Billed once a year; auto-renewing and non-refundable Unlimited full-resolution uploads · unlimited private photos · ad-free browsing · stats dashboard · priority support · 10-minute videos Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com
Flickr Pro 2-Year $148, paid once Billed every 2 years; auto-renewing and non-refundable Unlimited full-resolution uploads · unlimited private photos · ad-free browsing · stats dashboard · priority support · 10-minute videos Read 14 Oct 2026 · flickr.com

Every Flickr plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Auto-uploads stay private until the user shares them.
  • Controls govern viewing, downloads, and interaction.
  • Image recognition supports finding similar photos.
  • Pro includes unlimited full-resolution sharing and backup.
  • Non-commercial developer API is available.

Limits

  • Free plan limits uploads to 1,000 public photos and videos.
  • Free plan displays ads.
  • Commercial API use requires prior arrangement.

Who it suits

Flickr suits photographers who want to organize and share images while participating in groups, contests, and a photography community. It also fits users seeking privacy controls and mobile auto-upload with sharing left to their choice.

Verdict

Flickr combines photo organization and sharing with community discovery and account-level privacy controls. The free plan has a public-upload limit and ads, while Pro is priced annually at $8 a month.

Where Specifiction places it

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