What is Flickr used for?

Flickr is a photo sharing and hosting community where photographers upload, organize and discuss images, with free accounts and a paid Pro tier. It is a good fit for sharing a photography portfolio with a community, and backing up and organizing a large photo library.

Is Flickr open source?

No. Flickr is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Flickr include Photoview, Piwigo and Lychee.

What are some alternatives to Flickr?

Flickr competes with SmugMug, Google Photos and Amazon Photos. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Flickr alternatives.

Flickr: features, pricing and alternatives

About Flickr

Flickr is a photo sharing and hosting community aimed at photographers of all levels. Members upload images, organize them, join groups and events and follow other photographers, and the service has long been a place to find inspiration and feedback from a creative community.

A free account lets people join and share, while Flickr Pro is the paid tier that offers unlimited storage, ad-free browsing, advanced statistics and exclusive discounts. The site also covers mobile and desktop apps, a blog, community groups and events, and company pages for sustainability, media and advertising, along with the Flickr Foundation and the MODE Festival.

Flickr is a proprietary, hosted service with no self-hosted edition, and it runs through the web and its apps. Plans and pricing for Pro are shown inside the account and on its upgrade pages, so check the vendor for current costs.

Key features

Photo upload and hosting
Community groups and events
Unlimited storage with Flickr Pro
Ad-free browsing for Pro members
Advanced photo statistics
Mobile and desktop apps

Good fit for

→Sharing a photography portfolio with a community
→Backing up and organizing a large photo library

Tags: photo-sharing; photography; community; image-hosting; storage; pro-plan

Flickr: questions and answers

What is Flickr used for?: Flickr is a photo sharing and hosting community where photographers upload, organize and discuss images, with free accounts and a paid Pro tier. It is a good fit for sharing a photography portfolio with a community, and backing up and organizing a large photo library.
Is Flickr free?: Yes. Flickr has a free plan.
Is Flickr open source?: No. Flickr is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Flickr include Photoview, Piwigo and Lychee.
What are some alternatives to Flickr?: Flickr competes with SmugMug, Google Photos and Amazon Photos. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Flickr alternatives.