I wanted to use icloud. But I always got confused as there are different versions of the same media contents (on cloud, on the laptop, exported or non-exported

I wanted to use icloud. But I always got confused as there are different versions of the same media contents (on cloud, on the laptop, exported or non-exported? duplication between devices). And the cost. So I gave up. Unfortunately I still have to do manual export all media from i$$$ devices, move them to linux/android-based system. "move" really means that, because I never pay icloud again.