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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteOn June 8, 2017, Amazon ended its unlimited Amazon Drive storage plan for individual customers and replaced it with metered tiers. At the time, Prime members retained unlimited photo storage—but that was a photo benefit, not unlimited storage for every file. Amazon Drive was later retired, so the 2017 plans are historical, not options to buy today.
What Amazon changed in 2017
Amazon Drive was the company’s consumer file-storage service. Its $60-a-year unlimited individual plan covered photos, videos, files, documents, movies and music. On June 8, 2017, Amazon replaced that offer with capacity-based plans, according to contemporary coverage of the change.
| Amazon Drive plan in 2017 | Price reported at the time |
|---|---|
| Free allowance | 5 GB for Amazon customers |
| 100 GB | $20 per year |
| 1 TB | $60 per year |
| Each additional 1 TB | $60 per year |
| Unlimited photo-only plan | $12 per year |
These are the prices and plan details reported in 2017; they should not be read as current Amazon offers. The change ended unlimited general-purpose Amazon Drive storage for individuals, not every form of unlimited storage across Amazon products.
What happened to existing unlimited subscribers?
Existing subscribers could keep unlimited access through the end of their current paid subscription term. The contemporary report said they would move to a 1-TB plan after that term unless they disabled auto-renewal. It did not establish a universal immediate deletion of files when someone canceled.
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- Easily store and access 2TB to content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
Before a subscription expires
- Review your storage use. Sign in to Amazon and check the storage-management page to see how much data you have and what kinds of files are stored.
- Choose an exit or paid-plan route. Decide whether to continue with a metered plan, turn off auto-renewal, download your files, or migrate them to another provider. The reported 2017 transition terms do not establish what happens under any later account-specific policy.
- Export and verify your files before relying on a new service. Check that downloads open, compare file counts and total size, and keep a second copy before deleting the original or ending a paid plan.
Prime’s photo benefit was not general-purpose unlimited storage
In its 2017 account, the report said Prime members retained unlimited photo storage. That did not mean Prime customers could store unlimited videos, documents, music or other files. The report also listed an unlimited photo-only plan for $12 per year at that time.
Amazon Photos is distinct from the discontinued Amazon Drive service. Amazon’s current destination is Amazon Photos, but the historical Prime benefit alone does not establish current storage limits, eligible file types, video treatment or account rules. Check the current terms for your account before moving an archive.
Rank #2
- Easily store and access 5TB of content on the go with the Seagate portable drive, a USB external hard Drive
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
Why the change mattered
The shift replaced a flat price for unlimited capacity with charges tied to storage size. For someone with a large mixed-file archive, that made the cost of keeping data on Amazon Drive rise with capacity. It also removed one of the market’s more aggressive consumer-storage offers. Contemporary coverage compared Amazon with services including OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud, but those comparisons—and Amazon’s 2017 prices—are not a current price comparison.
The practical lesson is broader than the old price list: cloud subscriptions can change limits, prices or availability. A cloud folder also is not automatically a complete backup. If deletions or ransomware damage files and synchronization carries those changes to the cloud, a separate copy may be needed to recover.
Rank #3
- Easily store and access 1TB to content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive.Specific uses: Personal
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop. Reformatting may be required for Mac
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
Amazon Drive’s timeline: a plan change, then retirement
- March 2015: Amazon introduced unlimited individual cloud-storage plans, according to the historical timeline reported in the 2017 coverage.
- June 8, 2017: Amazon ended the unlimited individual plan and introduced metered storage tiers.
- July 29, 2022: Later coverage reported Amazon’s plan to retire Amazon Drive. The timeline is covered in Thurrott’s Amazon Cloud Drive coverage.
The 2017 event was a pricing and plan change, not the service’s immediate shutdown. By 2026, Amazon Drive should be treated as a historical service, not a general-purpose consumer drive to sign up for.
Choose a replacement based on what you store
Start by identifying whether you need photo backup, everyday file synchronization, collaboration, or long-term archiving. Those jobs have different requirements; a photo library service is not necessarily a drop-in replacement for a drive that held every type of file.
Rank #4
- Easily store and access 4TB of content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive.Specific uses: Personal
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
| Your main need | Direction to consider | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly photos, already a Prime member | Check Amazon Photos first | Current Prime eligibility, storage limits, video and RAW support, and account rules on Amazon Photos. |
| Windows or Office household | OneDrive, especially if Microsoft 365 apps are useful | Current plan terms and price on Microsoft’s OneDrive page. |
| Android, Gmail or Google Photos household | Google One and Google Photos | Current storage, sharing and plan details on Google One’s plans page. |
| iPhone, iPad and Mac household | iCloud+ | Current storage and family-sharing terms on Apple’s iCloud+ page. |
| Cross-platform sync and sharing are priorities | Compare Dropbox with the services above | Current plan capacity, link controls, collaboration features and price on Dropbox’s plans page. |
| Very large archive | Consider local storage or a NAS paired with a separate off-site copy | Hardware upkeep, restore testing, and protection against theft, fire and device failure. |
| Automated or technical archive | Consider object storage such as Amazon S3 | Storage, requests, retrieval and data-transfer charges on Amazon S3; it is not a simple consumer sync-folder substitute. |
For a current price anchor, Microsoft’s OneDrive page listed 5 GB free, 100 GB for $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month, Microsoft 365 Personal with 1 TB for $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month, and Microsoft 365 Family with up to 6 TB total—1 TB per person for up to six people—for $129.99 a year. Those figures were observed August 16–18, 2026, and can change; confirm the live terms before choosing a plan. Prices for Google One, iCloud+ and Dropbox should likewise be checked on their current official pages.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Migrate without losing files or access
- Inventory the archive. Note its total size, file count, file types, folder structure and any shared folders. Decide whether you need originals, metadata, version history or just accessible copies.
- Download originals to a device with enough space. Allow for temporary working space as well as the archive itself. Large transfers can take time, and unsupported filenames or high file counts may interrupt a migration.
- Verify the export. Compare file counts and sizes, open a sample from each important folder, and check that photos retain the quality and metadata you need.
- Make a second copy. Keep an independent local or off-site copy while importing to the new provider. A single synchronized cloud copy does not protect against every deletion, account compromise or service failure.
- Import and test the new setup. Confirm that files sync across the devices you use, sharing works as expected, and camera or desktop backup settings match your needs.
- Review links and permissions. Shared links from an old service may not carry over. Recreate essential sharing and check who can access it.
- End the old subscription only after verification. Confirm the new copy and the second backup are complete before relying on cancellation or removing files from the old account.
What the 2017 prices are useful for—and what they are not
The $20-per-year 100-GB tier and $60-per-year 1-TB tier explain why the 2017 announcement mattered to customers weighing Amazon Drive at that time. They are not a basis for budgeting a 2026 replacement. Compare current total cost, useful storage, bundled services, sharing features, export options and the cost of maintaining a separate backup—not capacity price alone.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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- 【What You Get】 - 1 x Portable Hard Drive, 1 x USB 3.0 Cable, 1 x User Manual, Gift-type shell packaging ,Three-year manufacturer's warranty and free technical support services.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
