Comparison

Flickr vs Unsplash

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Flickr

Connect with a global community of photographers to share and discover billions of images. Easily organize, edit, and upload your photos from any device. Find inspiration and connect with like-minded individuals.

Highlights
  • Photo uploading and sharing
  • Photo editing tools
  • Discover inspiration
  • Join photography groups
  • Organize photos easily
Features
Read full description

Join the largest, most influential community of photographers in the world. Upload, edit, and share your photos from any device, anytime. • Find your inspiration, find your people. Flickr is home to billions of photos and millions of groups of passionate photographers. • Organization and sharing made simple. Browse with ease, select and organize hundreds of photos with one gesture, and share in seconds. • Unleash your creativity. Edit your photos, add filters, crop images, and more! Flickr and SmugMug are Awesome. Learn more at www.awesome.co We’re committed to making Flickr a better place to grow, and we’d like to hear your feedback. Let us know your thoughts here: https://help.flickr.com/contact/contact-us-rkBc7roJQ Terms of Use: https://www.flickr.com/help/terms

About

Unsplash

Access over 7 million free, high-resolution images contributed by a global community of photographers. Discover new photos daily for any project and easily save and access your favorites across devices. Anyone can contribute, regardless of equipment.

Highlights
  • Millions of free high-resolution images
  • Daily curated new photos
  • Collect and access photos across devices
  • Drag & drop functionality on iPad
  • Contribute your own photos
  • Used for presentations, artwork, mockups
Features
Read full description

The Unsplash app is home to over 7 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers. Want in? Beautiful, free images With Unsplash, you’ve got access to over seven million high-resolution photos that are free to do-whatever-you-want with. And with new images hand-selected every day, you’ll find the perfect photo for your next project — guaranteed. Unlimited Unsplash Access When you create a free account, you’ll be able to collect photos to keep coming back to and access them anywhere: iPhone, iPad, your computer — you name it. Drag & Drop Plus, our app plays well with others on iPad. Simply drag your favourite Unsplash photos into any app that supports drag & drop, like Keynote, Pages and Notes. Anyone can join the Unsplash community No pro camera? No problem! You don’t need fancy equipment to start contributing to Unsplash - submitting a photo can be as simple as picking up your phone and taking a few photos. So whether you’re new to photography or consider yourself a pro—your images are welcome here. Make something awesome Millions of creators from around the world have downloaded over 5 billion Unsplash images to create presentations, artwork, mockups, and more. About Unsplash We built Unsplash as a way to empower creativity by sharing copyright-free photography. Today, Unsplash hosts some of the world’s most widely-seen photos, contributed by a community of some of the most talented (and most generous) creators in the world. Curiosity piqued? Come contribute a shot, or spend some time browsing. Make something awesome at https://unsplash.com.

Screenshots

Flickr4 screens
Unsplash4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Unsplash at none against Flickr's 2. Unsplash also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5). Flickr's advantage is chart position (#191 vs unranked) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Flickr sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $11.00 per month. Unsplash asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unsplash holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15K and 13K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Flickr's written reviews are positive against 75% of Unsplash's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flickr ships an update every 2 weeks, Unsplash every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Flickr versus Unsplash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlickrUnsplash
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (15K ratings)4.9 (13K ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.7% of reviews74.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15K — better13K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#191 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size114 MB23 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperFlickr, Inc.Unsplash Inc

Customer experience

Flickr

All ratings14,811 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews1,164 reviews
Positive69.7%
Neutral5.6%
Negative24.7%

Unsplash

All ratings12,934 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews563 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral8.5%
Negative16.9%

User reviews

Flickr

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent platform for photographers
  • 📚 Great for storing and organizing photos
  • 🌟 Wonderful community of photographers
  • 🖼️ High-quality photo display
  • 🔍 Useful search and discovery features

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Restrictive free account limits
  • 💰 Expensive pro subscription
  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
  • 🤖 Aggressive AI content moderation
  • 📤 Difficult photo upload and organization

Unsplash

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent quality photos
  • 🎨 Inspiring and creative content
  • 🔍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 💰 Completely free to use
  • 🌐 Wide variety of images from around the world

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
  • 🔒 Lack of account integration and personalization
  • ⏱️ Slow loading times and performance issues
  • 🔀 Difficulty navigating back to previous screens

Bugs and requests

Flickr

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent app crashes
  • Unreliable photo uploads
  • Inconsistent account management
  • Inaccurate photo metadata display
  • Glitches in group and album features

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved mobile app functionality
  • Better photo editing and management tools
  • Easier sharing and collaboration options
  • Expanded free account capabilities
  • More responsive customer support

Unsplash

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Clear all history feature not working
  • Downloading images causes app to crash
  • Widget not functioning as expected
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Inability to login or create an account

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to follow photographers and see their full portfolios
  • Implement a dark mode option
  • Improve search functionality with more filters and tags
  • Allow users to upload and share their own photos
  • Provide detailed photo metadata and exif data

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Flickr

Subscriptions2
  • MONTHLY PLAN$11.001 Month
  • ANNUAL PLAN$82.001 Year
None

Unsplash

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flickr free?
Flickr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Unsplash free?
Unsplash is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Flickr or Unsplash?
Unsplash is rated higher. Flickr averages 4.5 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Unsplash averages 4.9 from 13K ratings.
Do Flickr or Unsplash have ads?
Neither Flickr nor Unsplash shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flickr or Unsplash?
Flickr ships an update every 2 weeks, and Unsplash every 3 weeks. Most recently, Flickr was updated on September 25, 2026 and Unsplash on September 25, 2026.

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