Google has been offering unlimited cloud backup service for its users under Google Photos, however the company will soon update its policy to charge users for the service.

Google is renowned for killing many of its products and there is even a website where you can see the list of all services and products that Google has shut down. However, the company has also changed several products rather than killing them, and Google Photos is the latest one changing.

The company introduced Google Photos in May 2015, and the platform offered its users unlimited and free storage for photos up to 16 megapixels and for videos up to 1080p. It soon became popular due to additional features such as viewing, editing, sharing, and managing the media right on the cloud. Today, Google announced that it will no longer provide free and unlimited storage, instead they will reduce the free storage to 15 GB, and charge a monthly fee for any use over that limit. With the new changes, Google Photos will operate similarly to how Google Drive does.

The changes will commence on June 2021 and Google will also delete the media of the users who have been inactive for the last two years. Luckily, photos uploaded before June 2021 will be exempt from the new changes. Pixel owners on the other hand, will still be able to upload unlimited high-quality copies of their photos after June 1st.

The main cloud subscription service of Google was introduced in 2018 as “Google One” and it offered free 15 GB of storage that is shared across Gmail and Google Drive. Adding the new Google Photos policy in the equation, all services will be controlled under the main Google One account. Google One offers three plans starting from $1.99 per month for users who need more than 15 GB.