Flickr Alternatives for Your Digital Photography
Flickr was founded in Canada back in 2004 as one of the earliest photo sharing platforms, connecting aspiring, amateur, and pro photographers back then via its high-resolution photo storage and organized photo galleries called “Photostreams.” Famed White House photographer Pete Souza even used Flickr to showcase photos back in 2009.
Since its launch and its early days, though, Flickr has changed a lot. It still allows photogs of all skill levels to upload, share, and showcase their photos to a global audience. But 20 years later, the platform has evolved in other ways, and some photographers are seeking alternatives for a variety of reasons.
Why Look for a Flickr Alternative?
Privacy Concerns
Flickr allows users to share photos with a wide audience, but its basic privacy settings might not meet the specific needs of all photographers, unless you want to purchase Flickr Pro, which has more privacy options. For those who are more particular about protecting their photography work, platforms like 500px offer more control over who views or shares your images.
Limited Selling Opportunities
One major drawback of Flickr is its limited ability to monetize photos. While the platform does offer Flickr Pro accounts with additional storage and features (for around $10 per month) - and those Pro users can add in some sales related links - there’s little else in terms of integrated selling opportunities, so you’ll have to go off-site to an ecommerce site like Etsy or Fourthwall if you want to actually earn revenue from your photography work.
Content and Copyright Control
Another reason why some photographers seek Flickr alternatives is due to concerns over copyright. Although Flickr provides basic permissions settings (all photos are "All Rights Reserved” by default; you can leave that setting as-is, or license them for use under Creative Commons), it doesn't offer photographers much more detailed control over their content. You’ll also have to adjust search settings carefully to prevent your images from showing up on other websites.
User Experience
Flickr's interface, while functional, isn’t the most intuitive or user-friendly. It can take time to find what you’re looking for, and its “Organizr” feature, meant to help you organize your images, can be complex and unwieldy to use. Flickr also allows risque photography (although there are settings to shut off those types of images being returned in searches), which some may not find suitable for their photo hosting platform of choice.
Platform Saturation
As one of the oldest global photo sharing platforms, Flickr is also one of the biggest, with a massive user base. While this broad audience can offer exposure, it can also make it harder for individual photographers or photos to stand out, as you’ll be fighting against a large amount of other aspiring creators in a very large photography pool.
Top 10 Best Flickr Alternatives for Photographers
500px
500 px is a premier platform for professional photographers that was actually designed by photographers. It allows photogs to upload and showcase their work, participate in photo challenges, and even license and sell their images. 500px offers a strong community of photographers and features, including their “Pulse” algorithm that surfaces new and popular images so viewers always get to see fresh photography.
SmugMug
SmugMug (which now technically owns Flickr) is known for its robust customization options and integrated selling features. Photographers can easily create a personalized portfolio for themselves or for their photography business, and set up an online store to sell prints and digital images, with features like automated organizing and shipping. SmugMug is a solid platform for photographers who want to sell their work with a high level of control.
Shutterfly
Shutterfly is a popular platform for photographers who want to turn their photos into products like prints, photo books, and calendars. You can’t sell those products directly from Shutterfly, but you can store your photos on the Shutterfly site (Shutterfly offers unlimited photo storage for customers who make at least one purchase every 18 months), share your photos online, order photo prints and products, and then make those products available for purchase on an external site like Etsy.
DeviantArt
DeviantArt is one of the largest online communities for artists, including photographers, and offers free accounts. It allows photographers to showcase their work in personal galleries, where other DeviantArt members can view and comment on their work. DeviantArt also lets photogs engage with other creators, sell prints directly to their followers, and offer subscriptions for exclusive content.
Instagram is probably the best known platform for photographers looking to showcase their work on social media. With its huge user base and free accounts, photographers can reach a global audience and use features like Instagram Shopping to sell prints directly to followers. While Instagram is mainly for sharing beautiful photography and other imagery, it can still be an effective way to monetize your work through your Insta on-site shop.
Imgur
Imgur is a user-friendly platform with free accounts known for quick image sharing of photos and gifs, and can work well as an alternative to Flickr for photographers who simply want to share their work with a large audience. Imgur does lacks monetization features, but is good for casual photographers or those looking to share images in a fast, simple way.
Google Photos
If you’re primarily looking to store your photos, Google Photos is a cloud-based service that offers unlimited free storage for photos and videos at a slightly reduced quality. While it doesn't offer direct selling options, it's a good, reliable storage tool for all levels of photographers looking to store, organize, and share their work easily across devices.
You might not know that, in addition to its social reach, Facebook is also a tool for photographers looking to share their images, primarily with friends, family, and followers. While Facebook doesn't offer any built-in selling tools, photographers can use their Facebook to put together albums that they can use to market their work; this is probably better for beginners or wedding photographers.
Photobucket
Photobucket is a photo sharing platform that offers both free and paid accounts with varying levels of storage. It used to be a major player in the photo sharing market, but these days Photobucket is coming across a little dated, and has fallen behind in terms of features. It can still be a good starter option for beginner photogs who need storage and the ability to share their images.
Dropbox
Dropbox is also primarily known as a cloud storage service, but it offers easy photo sharing capabilities as well. Photographers can upload their images, organize them into folders, and then share links with clients or collaborators. It has no monetization features, but is efficient for photographers looking for another simple way to store and share photos.
Sell Your Digital Photography on Fourthwall!
For photographers who want to take their business to the next level, Fourthwall offers a platform that allows them to not only showcase their work but also directly monetize it. Setting up your Fourthwall site and shop is simple, and you can easily customize your store to match your photography style, whether you’re an aspiring photographer or a professional one.
On Fourthwall, photographers can sell their digital artwork and physical prints/posters without any need to go off site or bring in outside apps. Fourthwall allows you to retain full control over your artwork, copyrights, sales, and the pricing of your images, ensuring that you can directly connect with your fans to offer them your photography work.
Promoting your photography is also easy with Fourthwall! The platform allows you to integrate your store with social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, so you can share your work and drive sales. Finally, one of the best features of Fourthwall is that it charges no fees on your physical photography sales, and just 3% on your digital sales; that means that you, as the photographer, keep more of your earnings, making Fourthwall a highly profitable platform for selling digital photography and prints of your work. Get started today!