Calculators
Photo Storage Cost Calculator
Estimate how much storage photo and video archives need over time, with backups, and the monthly cloud cost.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
The tool
Enter your numbers below. Results update as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
Everything you enter stays on your own machine. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, which you can confirm in your browser network tab.
What people use it for
- Planning storage for a photography business
- Choosing a cloud backup plan
- Budgeting drive purchases
- Setting retention policies
About this tool
What the Photo Storage Cost Calculator does
Photographers and studios accumulate data quickly: each shoot produces hundreds of large raw files, and a sound backup strategy keeps multiple copies. This calculator projects the archive size over your retention period and the cost of storing it in the cloud.
Formula
- Monthly data = shoots × files × file size + video
- Archive = monthly data × 12 × years
- Cloud cost = archive × cloud copies × price per TB
Worked example
Using the starting values in the calculator above:
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Shoots per month | 8 |
| Files kept per shoot | 600 |
| Average file size | 35 MB |
| Video per month | 200 GB |
| Retention period | 3 years |
| Copies kept (including original) | 3 |
| Copies stored in the cloud | 1 |
| Cloud price per TB per month | $6.00 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Archive size after retention period | 13.25 |
| Cloud cost per month at full size | $79.49 |
| Total storage including copies | 39.74 |
| New data per month | 0.368 |
How to read the result
The 3-2-1 rule is a common backup standard: three copies, on two types of media, with one off site.
Culling rejected frames before archiving can cut storage needs dramatically.
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Questions
Questions about this tool
The things clients actually want to know — costs, timelines, ownership and what happens after launch.
Several terabytes a year is common for busy professionals shooting raw.
Keep three copies of data, on two different media, with one copy off site.
Many photographers keep finals for several years and state the period in contracts.
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