Top Image Hosting Websites in 2022 And Beyond

“There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.” — Robert Frank.

Image Hosting Websites:-At the beginning of the social media bubble, it was a big deal to share images on the internet. Today, it is just a mainstream thing that comes along with being a social animal of society. The most significant difference from then to now is how we upload and share images on the net.  

Initially, social media platforms had ample resources to store and host images from users since the functionality itself was limited. However, today, image hosting is a world of its own. A hosting website can store, host, and even serve as a backup for your images on the internet, and all of that for free or a marginal fee. 

Photobucket started the trend of image hosting for free and then started charging a small fee eventually, which was affordable for most. Fast forward to the present day, and $400 a year to hotlink images is just too steep for comfort. So what are the other options for hosting and hotlinking images? Read on.

Top Image Hosting Websites in 2021 And Beyond

The world of image hosting now allows you to choose what you want your hosting platform to do. Whether you just want an online repository or want a whole suite of tools to work on the images, there is a hosting website for it. So, here are the top 12 websites that you can use for varying purposes:

Wix

Often confused as just a website tool because of the plenty of YouTube ads they run, Wix is also a pretty successful image hosting platform. If you build a Wix website, you get the image hosting tool for free, and you can sell, host, or share unlimited photos without any charges. However, to avail of it, you will need to build a small website.

Google Photos

When Google acquired Android, just like Apple, it started to build its ecosystem. And one of the things that came out of that was Google Photos. It is automatically synced to your Gmail and Drive, and hence, all the photos are collated and available for use automatically. And as you upload, the algorithm will learn more about you and collate them even better as per your preference.

The collation of photos can be via categories, albums, people, locations, dates, or even timelines as per your preference. Furthermore, you get 15 GB of space available, which is generous enough for most first-time users and still ample for experienced users. It also comes with a host of image editing tools and a collage maker tool that helps you channel your creative side. 

Imgur

Besides being an image hosting website, Imgur is also a social media platform in its regard. Thousands of users share relatable images that can take up a shot by storm. Imgur is the go-to spot for relatable memes, funny pics, or anything that people can find shareable on social media. They can vote on it and also use it forward. 

The most extensive user base for Imgur comes from Reddit, where it is often regarded as the primary image hosting platform.

Once posted, it is stored there forever, and you can even share it via URL by clicking the “share to community” button—all of that for free. And if lady luck is with you, you might become a sensation as well.

Flickr

If you consider yourself a photographer, then Flickr is the place to be. The platform has millions of photos shared every day by thousands of users in thousands of groups depending on the combined user interest and varying topics. The added benefit of Flickr is using it as a social media platform or as a personal portfolio platform. 

If shared at the right time in the right place, you can end up becoming the phenomenon that you wanted to be. For example, award-winning photographer Alan Schaller started with Flickr before his illustrious career took off.

So, you can easily host images on the platform and then use them pretty much anywhere else on the internet where you want to. 

500px

A hidden gem of a website for photographers, 500px is the place to be if you want a fellow collaborator on anything related to photography. Whether it is a fellow photo buddy or a new partner for a photography-related business, 500px has got it, thanks to 12 million photographers that are housed on the platform. 

Furthermore, the platform is also home to tons of beautiful images that are searched on by magazine editors, graphic designers, and a whole lot of other people who would want to buy or collaborate with you. So, if you want a website that can be a marketplace while being a hosting address, this is the one to be at.

ImgBox

ImgBox is a simple plug-n-play image hosting website that does not offer anything besides hosting images. You don’t need anything besides the picture itself and a stable internet connection to host any image.

You don’t need to register for an account either. Simply click upload, and you will get the shareable URL and BB code for that image to use wherever you want. 

Dropbox

It started as Samsung’s alternative to Google Drive or Apple iCloud, but now it is a standalone product on its own. Dropbox can be imagined as a virtual box on the cloud in which you can store images for use at a later stage as and when you want to. 

You can create a folder to share with someone and even grant the collaborator to upload it into the drive. If you use it on your mobile, you can directly sync your saved images to be uploaded on the cloud.

Additionally, you can also hook it up to your camera to store pictures onto the cloud directly.

FreeImageHosting

Like ImgBox, FreeImageHosting is also a straightforward platform that you can use to host images online. There is no requirement of signing up for an account, and you can simply just upload the image and get the shareable link and BB codes for the pictures. 

However, if you are in the United States of America and want monetary benefits from that image, you can also list it on the Commercial Photographers directory of the website. This can help you list in a city, town, or a specific location to help grow your business. 

PostImage

PostImage is yet another easy-to-use image hosting favorite in the photography community. Besides offering provisions for upload, you can even set a timeline for destroying the photo from their server. This makes it easy for the server to optimize the space usage on their server for other users. 

Additionally, you can also choose from several predetermined sizes for usage as an avatar (100×75), message boards (648×480), 15-inch monitor (800×600), and 21-inch monitor (1600×1200). And all of the images can have unique expiration dates, ranging from a day to an year.

ImageShack

ImageShack used to be one of the top tools in the market for hosting images. However, post-2015, they discontinued their free services. That being said, all of their services are still available for a 1-month trial for every registered user. 

You can get features like image links, image stats, mobile app, sharing tools, private albums, bulk image management, and more for as low as $4 a month which is not a bad deal at all. However, if you do not fancy those features, then ImageShack would not be the best option.

Photoblog

If Instagram were a blogging website besides being what it is already, Photoblog would be it. Upload the image on the platform, and you will see the photos being published in a blog format.

While Instagram allows adding extended captions for adding context, Photoblog concentrates more on the picture itself. And the best part is that you can then share the images anywhere else as well.

Smugmug

Keeping it simple like two others on this list, Smugmug is also an easy to use and plug-n-play kind of platform. You can simply register for an account and get access to upload unlimited photos and videos for hosting them on other websites.

It can be adapted to different devices easily, and you also get SEO and XML-friendly meta tags that can help build traction around the image when you embed it anywhere else. Furthermore, there are various platforms to share your photographs to find more collaborators for future projects.

Conclusion – Is Image Hosting Beneficial?

While many social media platforms have incubated their image hosting capabilities for their users, image hosting still serves as a viable means of sharing images. Whether on your website or a lesser-known forum for a specific niche, image hosting is the perfect solution and is beneficial.