Photobucket announces changes to free accounts

Pioneering photo sharing site Photobucket announced changes  to free plan storage limits:

Effective January 15, 2019, all existing free accounts will be limited to 2.5GB regardless of prior storage limits. This means that If your account is over its available space, you will need to purchase one of our affordable premium plans or download images so that your account meets the new 2.5GB limit.

To add value to premium accounts – which include enhanced image hosting, privacy controls and no ads – Photobucket is promising increased storage limits, enhanced security, zero-upload image compression, improved hosting and the return of video storage (coming early this year).

The company says the changes were necessary due to the many changes to various Photobucket plans over the past 15 years:

It’s difficult to have a vibrant community when experiences and expectations of Photobucket are so different. Re-aligning our plan structure is key to bringing us together as the Photobucket community. These changes are a vital step in becoming a better partner to all of our users. We also understand that change can be difficult even when it’s beneficial.