If you’re a photographer hunting for a replacement after losing ShootProof’s archive feature, most of the obvious options are either overkill, underbuilt, or priced for enterprise budgets. Here’s a plain-language breakdown of what actually makes sense for working photographers.
BEST OVERALL: IDRIVE
This is probably the closest thing to the old ShootProof archive feeling while still being an actual backup system.
Photographers like it because it backs up external hard drives, keeps your folder structures intact, and lets you browse and download files later without a headache. It supports RAW files and Lightroom catalogs, handles multiple devices under one account, and costs significantly less than most pro gallery archival systems.
Most photographers seem to land on the 5TB or 10TB plans. A lot of people prefer it over Backblaze specifically because it gives you more control — Backblaze tends to be more “set it and forget it but hard to manage.” The interface isn’t perfect, and you’ll find Reddit threads complaining about it, but the underlying functionality is solid.
BEST FOR SIMPLE DRAG-AND-DROP ARCHIVE STORAGE: PCLOUD
pCloud feels more like a giant online hard drive than a backup app — and that’s exactly what makes it appealing for certain photographers.
It’s worth considering if you want easy folder access from any device (phone, iPad, laptop), prefer uploading galleries manually rather than running background syncs, want a cleaner interface than Backblaze, or are interested in lifetime storage options instead of monthly fees.
A lot of creatives use pCloud as an “archive vault” for finished work rather than for continuous backup. If your galleries are already organized, you don’t need full-system backup, and you mainly want an offsite safety net with easy retrieval — this is probably the one to go with.
BEST BUDGET ARCHIVAL STORAGE: WASABI HOT CLOUD STORAGE
Wasabi is more “pro storage infrastructure” than it is a user-friendly app. It’s not for everyone, but if your archive is massive (10TB or more), it’s hard to beat on price.
What it has going for it: very low cost per TB, no download fees, and it’s extremely popular for media storage. It integrates well with Synology NAS setups.
The tradeoff is that it’s not beginner-friendly. Wasabi is almost always paired with a separate app — Arq and Cyberduck are the most common — to actually manage your files. If you’re comfortable with that kind of setup, it’s excellent. If you want something you can just log into and click around, look elsewhere.
ONE OPTION PHOTOGRAPHERS OVERLOOK: SMUGMUG
SmugMug isn’t technically backup software, but it offers unlimited full-resolution photo storage, solid client access, and it can function as a long-term vault for delivered work.
If most of your archive is finished JPEG galleries rather than RAWs, this can work really well. It’s worth considering if you want your archive to also serve as a client-facing portal rather than something sitting invisible on a server somewhere.
WHICH SETUP IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
Option 1 — Simplest:
- 2 physical hard drives
- pCloud for cloud archive
Option 2 — Most complete:
- 2 physical hard drives
- IDrive for automatic cloud backup
Option 3 — Large-volume pro setup:
- 2 drives
- NAS (added later as volume grows)
- Wasabi for cloud archive
A NOTE ON WHERE YOU PROBABLY ALREADY STAND
If you’re already running two physical drives, you’re most of the way to what photographers call the 3-2-1 backup rule:
- 3 copies of your data
- 2 different storage types
- 1 offsite copy
Add one cloud layer and you’re genuinely well protected. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive — it just has to be consistent.