The key difference is that a photo sharing site is a limited platform. You will not be able to embed images from one photo sharing site to another website. With photo sharing websites such as Instagram, the particular image you uploaded is generally restricted to that one site and can’t be easily transferred to other website.
On the flip side, image hosting allows you to reach a much bigger audience. You can easily embed your photos on other sites, and it's very easy to do so. You can use link copy buttons to add a link to where you want to embed the image to. Image hosting sites have code fragments that can be used to add a picture to any other third party website. As a matter of fact, image hosting sites encourage this.
Keep in mind that when using an image hosting site, you want to ensure that your images maintain their quality. So ask yourself, does the image hosting site you have in mind have the tools you need to edit any of your pictures? This is an important feature, especially if your pictures are for business use.
Security is always a top priority when it comes to storing your photos. You want to ensure that the image hosting platform that you choose to use will survive a crash. This way, you won't have any regrets about using the platform that you choose.
If you plan to share your pictures with a lot of people, you'll also want to make sure that the hosting image platform you use makes it easy for you to do this. Look for features like sharing buttons. Take a good look at how many sites you can share it with with just one click.
Overall, image hosting sites offer a range of features that can’t be matched by basic photo sharing websites. When you want to optimize your storage space, backup and secure your images, and easily share your content, image hosting sites are the way to go.