Flickr
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Hobbyist photographers who want community, feedback, and long-term photo sharing get real value from the free tier; upgrade to flickrPRO only if you hit limits.
Comparison
Flickr vs 500px
Flickr and 500px both land on Depends.
500px
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Fine as a free inspiration feed and hobbyist photo community, but licensing terms, paywalling, and weak support make it a poor buy for working pros.
| Compare | Flickr | 500px |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Hobbyist photographers | Hobbyist photographers wanting curated feedback |
| Who it's not for | Teams needing shared business asset management | Working pros needing control over licensing and pricing |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.³ | July 2018 breach exposed 14.8M accounts; no newer incidents found in sources reviewed.14 |
| Support quality | No support-quality evidence in reviewed sources | 'Treats its customers... terrible' threads; 1.3/5 Trustpilot |
| Public sentiment | Sources contained almost no substantive independent user reviews; most Flickr mentions are forum link-back signatures.⁸ | Longtime photographers say 500px peaked years ago . the layout earns praise, but licensing, paywalling, and support draw repeated complaints.11 |
| Biggest gotcha | Guess: free accounts cap uploads (historically 1,000 photos); check current limits before migrating⁷ | Opting into licensing hands 500px control of commercial pricing; contributors report poor payouts.13 |
Pick Flickr when
- Hobbyist photographers
- Community feedback seekers
- Long-term photo archiving
- Camera-club style groups
When Flickr is not a fit
- Teams needing shared business asset management
- Client delivery and print-sales workflows
- Anyone chasing viral social reach
- Set-and-forget automatic phone backup users
Pick 500px when
- Hobbyist photographers wanting curated feedback
- Browsing high-quality inspiration feeds
- Amateurs open to stock royalties
When 500px is not a fit
- Working pros needing control over licensing and pricing
- Anyone depending on photo sales for income
- Privacy-cautious users . breached in 2018
- People who expect responsive customer support
Sources
- Flickr homepageflickr.comofficial
- Flickr - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Is flickr.com Safe? Security Score 87.7/100cystack.netsecurity
- Product security pageflickr.comsecurity
- Flickr Help Centerflickrhelp.comofficial
- Building Together: Flickr's 2025 Highlightsblog.flickr.netnews
- get to know flickrPROflickr.comofficial
- DPReview forum thread mentioning Flickrdpreview.comreview
- 500px Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- 500px on G2 (27 reviews)g2.comreview
review
- 9 Reasons I No Longer Use 500pxmrussellphotography.comreview
review
- 500px Data Breach . Have I Been Pwnedhaveibeenpwned.comsecurity
security
- 500px Memberships page500px.comofficial