Guide
iCloud+ or a
bigger iPhone?
If photos and videos fill your iPhone, iCloud+ is almost always cheaper than buying a bigger phone. Three years of 200 GB costs $107.64. Upgrading an iPhone 13 to an iPhone 17 costs $724 after trade-in.
Updated 9 November 2026 · US prices, before sales tax
iCloud+ prices
| Plan | Per month | Per year | 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 GB | $0.99 | $11.88 | $35.64 |
| 200 GB | $2.99 | $35.88 | $107.64 |
| 2 TB | $9.99 | $119.88 | $359.64 |
Apple's US prices. US prices did not change in Apple's July 2026 iCloud+ increases, which affected other countries.
How it frees space
Turn on iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage. Your full-size photos and videos live in iCloud, and the phone keeps small versions, downloading originals when you open them. On a phone where the camera roll is the problem, this can free most of the storage.
Which plan to start with
- 64 GB iPhone: 50 GB is often enough.
- 128 GB or 256 GB iPhone: start with 200 GB.
- 512 GB iPhone, or a big family library: 2 TB.
Start small. You can move up a plan at any time in Settings.
When a bigger iPhone is the answer
iCloud can't hold apps and games. If those fill your phone, more built-in storage is the real fix. Note that a new iPhone 16 still starts at 128 GB, while the iPhone 17 and 17e start at 256 GB.
One more thing: even after upgrading, many people still pay for iCloud+ for backups and shared photos, so the subscription isn't always an extra cost.
Tick “Storage full” alerts in the calculator to compare iCloud+ with upgrading for your phone.
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