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The Best Cloud Storage Services For Storing And Sharing Files (2023)

Timothy Iyekowa
By Timothy Iyekowa - Technical Writer
31 Min Read
Best cloud storage services
Photo by Soumil Kumar (Pexels)
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How can I store large files on the internet? Use a cloud storage provider. If you’re looking for the best cloud storage services to store and share files online we have written a detailed guide for you to choose from. Whether you are trying to know what cloud storage is, or the best cloud storage providers, we have listed the best for you to pick from.

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Most of all the best cloud storage providers offer a different range of suites depending on your storage need. These cloud services provide personal and business plans, and it also offers both free and premium plans that will enable you to level up your storage space, features, security, and sharing capabilities.

Getting one of these cloud storage providers is one of the best things you can do online, a life with a cloud.

With these cloud storage providers, you will be able to send large files over the internet for someone to view or download. You can use the cloud storage services for business or try one of the free plans for personal use.

There are many websites online that allow you to upload large files and share them without you bothering about the size. Some of the best cloud storage providers allow you to transfer, upload and share files with up to 20GB of free storage space. You can easily transfer large files to any device.

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What is the best cloud storage providers

We have listed the best cloud storage providers for businesses and personal, but if you are wondering what is the best of the best that offers great value and use for your money. Or those that provide a great free packed plan here’s our pick on the best cloud storage services.

Google Drive is one of the leading cloud services that beat many cloud storage providers on their game with their seamless integrations with all Google services it will be easy for you to easily backup and store your data in the cloud.

IDrive is one the best cloud storage provider for businesses and individuals, with their cloud service plan you’re sure to get a good value for your money. From data back up and storing your files, the service is available on both mobile and desktop.

pCloud is becoming a leading giant in the cloud storage market with their one-in-a-lifetime premium plans, with all their great features included. If you’re looking to pay a one-time fee for storage space, pCloud is what we recommend.

If you’re a Microsoft core user, OneDrive is your absolute best choice with integration for all its services and Microsoft 365, you can’t possibly be wrong.

Dropbox is a great cloud storage provider that offers great integration with any third-party application. Their service allows you to easily manage your files on the web without opening other apps. And Dropbox is one of the few cloud storage providers that allow you to easily upload larger files at a-go.

READ ALSO: Best tasks management app for Android and iOS

The best cloud storage deals

They are plenty of cloud storage providers but only a few offer the best deals to get your files on the internet. Whether you’re a business or an individual that simply just wants to store important documents on the web here is a cloud storage deal for you to save some cash on the first year.

pCloud cloud storage deal

Best cloud storage service — pCloud

pCloud offers a different cloud storage plan, if you’re in for a one-time payment offer here’s a deal that will get you 2TB of lifetime cloud storage for $350 or 500GB for $175. You can call this a good deal, the cloud storage is packed with features that let you keep your data safe.

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GET pCloud Deal

IDrive cloud storage deal

Best cloud storage service — IDrive

IDrive cloud storage is one of the best cloud storage services that is widely recommended for use. With their top-notch features and security stands the cloud provider leads in both individual and business use. IDrive is available to use on both mobile and computer. With the IDrive deal, get 5TB of cloud backup at $79.50 for $19.88 on the first year. SAVE 90% for 1TB of cloud backup at $19.50 for $1.95 on the first year.

GET IDrive Deal

The best cloud storage services in 2022

  1. Google Drive — Best for integration apps
  2. IDrive — Best Backup and Cloud storage
  3. pCloud — Best cloud storage for one-time payment
  4. Microsoft OneDrive — Best cloud storage for Windows and Office integration
  5. Dropbox — Best for cloud collaboration
  6. Box — Best for business cloud storage
  7. Apple iCloud Drive — Best for Apple devices

Google Drive

The best cloud storage for Android with endless integration

Best cloud storage service — Google Drive

Specifications

  • Pricing: 15GB of free storage
  • Storage capacity: Up to 2TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

One of the best cloud storage services made by Google, with a suite of professional services, Drive is also available to use on Google One and Google Workspace. If you’re a business and use Google Workspace, you already got yourself cloud storage space.

For individuals, you can subscribe to Google One to get higher storage space, up to 2TB. Drive lets you share large files online and provides free storage space for users, to access Google Drive you need a Google Account.

Before you can use Google Drive you will need to create a Google Account, if you already have one, that’s good. When you open the Google Drive service, you will get 15GB of free storage forever, and if you want to upgrade, you can start at $1.99 a month for 100GB. Then, if you need to go higher you can upgrade to 2TB for $99.99 a year.

Google Drive comes with lots of features that enable you to collaborate with other people in real-time by using Google Docs, just like OneDrive. Drive is integrated with other Google services, and you can also integrate Drive with other productivity apps.

One unique feature of Google Drive is the backup and restore option for Android devices. If you have an Android device you will be able to easily Backup your phone. You can also enable Drive dark mode for easy use.

To share files with Google Drive is very simple, after you have uploaded the file to Drive, Google will allow you to create a link for the file which can be shared with anyone. Google Drive pricing starts at $1.99 per month for 100GB of storage. Drive gives the same features that come with a paid plan, just the storage space difference just like Cloud+.

Pros

  • 15GB of free storage
  • Best use for Android
  • Plenty of integration apps
  • Fully featured cloud sync
  • Very easy to work with

Cons

  • No zero-knowledge encryption
  • Privacy concerns

Google Drive pricing plan

If you have been using the free Google Drive 15GB storage and want to upgrade beyond the norm here is the pricing structure for Google Drive cloud storage.

  • 15GB of free Storage
  • Basic 100GB $1.99/ month ( $19.99 yearly)
  • Standard: 200GB $2.99/ month ($29.99 yearly)
  • Premium: 2TB $9.99/ month ($99.99 yearly)
Go to Google Drive

IDrive

The best cloud storage provider for a hybrid solution

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Best cloud storage service — IDrive

Specifications

  • Pricing: 5GB for free (5TB for $5.79 per month)
  • Storage capacity: Up to 10TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

IDrive is one of the best cloud storage services that give you access to a lot of cloud storage features and security. It is one of the most premium cloud storage providers that offer both cloud storage and online backup, and also gives you a great value for your money with its hybrid solution.

With all the backup-rich features, the IDrive backup app is available for both Android and iOS devices, with a cross-platform recovering method. All IDrive plan is available to use on mobile and desktop.

The cloud storage also offers IDrive Express, which keeps your data in a safe physical HDD, when your data is lost, the company sends you a physical hard disk drive, cool, right.

With their file-sharing features, you can easily share files from the web interface to a popular social platform and can set access privileges on the share links that you have created. And if you’re using the IDrive desktop application, deleted files are not automatically removed from the server.

Their pricing is a little bit intends but also affordable to use and subscribe to. Their free plan only gives 10GB of free storage for sign-up users. You can use this for your cloud storage or your online backup. They offer a mini plan starting at $3.71 yearly for 100GB, and a personal plan starting from $59.62 yearly for 5TB.

Pros

  • Compatible with plenty of devices
  • Unlimited user
  • Easy to use
  • Affordably-priced
  • Backup and Cloud storage

Cons

  • No monthly plan
  • No Unlimited storage
  • No two-factor authentication
  • Slow download speeds

IDrive Pricing plan

If you’re looking for the best online backup and cloud storage provider, IDrive is on top of the list with the best hybrid solution. You can use a free plan of 5GB, or you can subscribe to their personal or business plan.

  • 10GB of free Storage
  • Mini: 100GB ( $3.71 yearly)
  • Personal: 5TB ($59.62 yearly)
  • Team: 5TB ($74.62 yearly) 5 Computers / 5 Users
  • Business: 250TB ($74.62 yearly)
Go to iDrive.

pCloud

The best one-time payment cloud storage provider with security

Best cloud storage service — pCloud

Specifications

  • Pricing: 10GB free (2TB for $95.88 per year)
  • Storage capacity: Up to 2TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

pCloud is the best lifetime payment cloud storage service that allows anyone who wants to make a one-time payment for storage space. Their lifetime subscription starts with 500GB of storage for premium and 4TB for the family. If you’re looking to buy in a storage space you will own and not pay any fee, pCloud cloud storage is your plug.

The cloud storage provider doesn’t just support a one-time payment for all its plans, if you want to go in on a monthly or yearly basis you can key into it. And it also comes with a free plan of 10GB of storage space.

With its advanced features, pCloud automatically creates playlists by artist, album, and folder embedded with its music player. If you are a media lovers that like to keep music or videos, pCloud can help you organize that.

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And you can also use their virtual drive, which can be mounted on your device, and use the cloud storage instead of the device’s local storage.

pCloud features let you back up your entire device to the cloud, and also help you move your files from another cloud service to pCloud. You can also backup images you have previously uploaded to your social media.

Pros

  • Powerful media sharing and playback tools
  • Impressive lifetime license available
  • 10GB free storage

Cons

  • Pricing options are very confusing
  • No document editor or collaboration options
  • Limited support

pCloud Pricing Plan

Most users prefer subscribing monthly, others yearly but if you want a lifetime of access with just a one-time payment and get the cloud storage you need, pCloud helps you achieve that.

  • 10GB of free Storage
  • Premium: 500GB $175 one-time payment or ( $49.99 yearly)
  • Premium Plus: 2TB $350 one-time payment or ($99.99 yearly)
  • Business: 1TB $7.99/ month ($95.88 yearly)
Go to pCloud.

Microsoft OneDrive

The best cloud storage provider for Windows

Best cloud storage provider — Microsoft OneDrive

Specifications

  • Pricing: 5GB of free storage
  • Storage capacity: Up to 6TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage is built with a modern workspace suite, and it is Microsoft storage for all its services. If you have a Windows 8 or newer PC, you’ll be able to easily use OneDrive. The cloud service is available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

OneDrive integration with Office apps can streamline work collaboration by sharing documents and photos with others. If a file is edited you’ll get a notification from OneDrive.

The cloud provider comes with lots of features, and one of the features password protect your documents, edit it, and also helps you restore files if deleted. With Office 365, you can increase the security of your OneDrive by setting an expiration date for the links to files and photos you’ve shared for security.

The OneDrive app supports scanning documents with your phone’s camera and signing and sending them. You can back up your files and photos to OneDrive and share files, folders, and photos through a simple link. OneDrive comes with 5GB of free storage when you sign-up with office 365, you can upgrade your storage to 50GB for $1.99 a month.

Pros

  • 5GB of free storage
  • Free with Microsoft 365
  • Integration with Microsoft and Windows
  • Excellent collaboration tools

Cons

  • Lacks advanced features
  • No zero-knowledge encryption
  • Limited file versioning

Microsoft OneDrive Pricing plan

OneDrive offers three different pricing plans and integration with plenty of productivity apps. The personal plan starts at $69.99 a year, and for family, it starts at $99.99 and it can be used on multiple desktop and mobile phones.

  • 5GB of free Storage
  • Microsoft standalone: 100GB $1.99/ month
  • Microsoft 365 personal: 1TB $6.99/ month ($69.99 yearly)
  • Microsoft 365 Family: 6TB $9.99/ month ($99.99 yearly)
Go to OneDrive.

Dropbox

The best cloud storage service for collaboration

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Best cloud storage provider — Dropbox

Specifications

  • Pricing: 2GB free, 2TB for $203.88 per year ($16.99 per month)
  • Storage capacity: Up to 5TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

Dropbox is one of the best cloud storage services for collaboration and file sharing with a fully built-in modern workspace, designed for teams that collaborate a lot. You can sign up for Dropbox cloud storage for free and upload any documents and photos, which can be shared with anyone to view or download.

The cloud storage service is one of the most popular cloud storage providers because of the collaboration tools and other integrated apps. The service offers plenty of apps that you can use for work, with integration for both Google and Microsoft the service is said to be one of the best cloud storage for collaboration.

When using Dropbox, apps will not be open on a separate tab, but within, to enable easy workflow. With these collaboration apps, it will be easy for you to write or edit documents in real-time with others, and if a text is edited and changed you will get a notification about it.

The cloud storage doesn’t support backup for mobile or desktop, It only stores what you transfer to the Dropbox folder on your device. One of Dropbox’s features “Smart Sync”, helps you save storage space by allowing you to set your files and folders to be stored locally or online only.

Pros

  • Collaboration with Office and Google
  • Smart sync
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • No zero-knowledge encryption
  • No backup features
  • Expensive for only a cloud storage

Dropbox pricing plan

Dropbox offers features for collaboration on Google Workspace and Office 365, but their pricing model is expensive. With 2GB of free storage, you can increase your storage by upgrading to a plus plan.

  • 2GB of Free Storage
  • Dropbox Plus: 2TB $9.99/ month ($119.88 yearly)
  • Dropbox Family: 2TB $16.99/ month ($203.88 yearly)
  • Dropbox Professional: 3TB $19.99/ month $16.58/ month ($199 yearly)
Go to Dropbox.

Box

Best cloud storage service for business

Best cloud storage provider — Box

Specifications

  • Pricing: 10GB for free, 100GB for $14 per month or $120 per year
  • Storage capacity: Unlimited
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

Box is one of the best cloud storage services for businesses with features that let you work better with productivity apps. The storage service provides you an account with up to 10GB of free storage and most of Box storage features.

The service focuses on cloud storage for businesses, but it also offers a plan for personal users and allows you to get up to 10GB of free storage space and a paid plan of $120 per year for 100GB of storage.

The cloud service comes with advanced features that let you collaborate and integrate with other apps like Microsoft Office Suite and Google Workspace.

With integration with other productivity apps, you won’t be redirected to other apps for editing, or collaboration, but instead, Box will let you edit and collaborate on the documents directly from its software on both desktop and mobile. Box is a great cloud storage provider that let you collaborate with security in mind.

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Pros

  • Strong collaboration options
  • Workspace and Office integrations
  • Great security

Cons

  • Business focused
  • Expensive
  • Private key management costs extra

Box pricing plan

Box provides premium features for both individual and business plans. The personal pro plan starts at $119.88 a year for 5GB of storage space, the business plan starts at $180 a year for unlimited storage.

  • 10GB of Free Storage
  • Starter: 5GB $9.99/ month ($119.88 yearly)
    Personal Pro: 100GB $10/ month ($120 yearly)
  • Business: Unlimited GB $15/ month ($180 yearly)
  • Business Plus: Unlimited GB $25/ month ($300 yearly)
  • Enterprise: Unlimited GB $35/ month ($420 yearly)
Go to Box.

Apple iCloud

The best cloud storage provider for Apple devices

Best cloud storage provider — Apple iCloud Drive

Specifications

  • Pricing: 5GB free storage
  • Storage capacity: Up to 2TB
  • Number of devices: Unlimited

Apple iCloud is a great cloud storage for users that are key to the Apple ecosystem. If you use Apple products and services you should consider using iCloud as your online backup and cloud storage. For iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, the Apple iCloud Drive is your best cloud storage, where you can easily back up your files and images to the cloud and restore backup anytime.

iCloud Drive isn’t just on Apple devices, it is also available on Windows PC. Once you create an account you will be given 5GB of free storage space. If you’re using a Windows computer or the web browser you will still be able to create documents on the web and download the files in PDF or Microsoft Office format.

And you can also share private links to the files that you have stored on iCloud, those files can be viewed, shared, or edited, and you can change the shared file settings.

On Apple iCloud Drive there aren’t any collaboration apps on the cloud storage or Integration apps for users, but you can use the inbuilt features to collaborate with up to 100 people on documents, presentations, and spreadsheets and see edits as they’re made. The storage service let you create your folder and store your files wherever you want.

For higher storage space iCloud+ is Apple’s premium cloud subscription service, that allows you to upgrade your iCloud storage to up to 2TB. It comes with iCloud Private Relay, Hides My Email, and HomeKit Secure Video support. All features are available on all plans.

Pros

  • Best for Apple device
  • Easily backup and restore data on Apple ecosystem
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • No integration apps
  • No collaboration tools

iCloud drive pricing plan

iCloud offers free storage with up to 5GB for anyone with an Apple ID account. If you want to save your documents or photos from your Apple devices seamlessly on the cloud, iCloud will do just fine. If you want more you can upgrade to get higher storage space.

  • 5GB of free Storage
  • iCloud+ with 50GB storage $0.99/ month
  • iCloud+ with 200GB storage $2.99/ month
  • iCloud+ with 2TB storage $9.99/ month
Go to Apple iCloud.

What to consider when choosing cloud storage services

Don’t just go with the first cloud provider you find, you’ll have to know what you’re looking for and how to choose and compare these cloud services before picking one. 

With all the cloud storage services that are available on the market today, it is very hard to choose the best cloud storage services when considering subscribing to a cloud storage provider or using one of their free plans.

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You will need the one that will work well with your device and for easy use. Anyway, with our guide, you will be able to choose the best cloud storage service.

Pricing and costs

One of the very first things you should consider before choosing a cloud storage provider is the pricing and cost. You don’t want to be locked up on a price that you didn’t budget for after a discount period.

Most cloud storage services offer discounts on the first subscription (first year) and renewal the price revert to its primary pricing.

Before choosing a cloud provider make sure the pricing is good and it offers great features for use. Compared their pricing with different cloud storage providers before making a pick. offers

Storage

The other thing you need to consider when choosing a cloud storage service is the storage space. Most providers offer great pricing for huge storage sizes and others offer a one-time payment for up to 2TB, while others collect a yearly or monthly subscription fee.

If you’re going to choose, look for the storage space you need, and maybe in the future, you could get a bigger one. If you’re just saving documents and images you can use one of their free plan with up to 15GB of free storage.

Security

Security is a crucial part of the cloud, and keeping your documents and images private is what you should consider before picking a cloud storage service.

Most of the cloud storage providers today protect users’ data and photos on the cloud, it’s their responsibility to make sure your cloud storage is encrypted, others required you to pay a fee to encrypt your documents.

Features

There are certain features cloud storage need to have before choosing them. These features will help you streamline how documents are shared, edited, and how well you can collaborate with others.

With that said you’ll also need cloud storage with better integration if you want to work, but if you’re just saving and sharing files on the internet there’s no need for an integration feature.

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What is cloud storage?

The cloud simply means that you can access it from anywhere remotely without having to be in a specific area or place. The cloud is a big space to store, share and host apps online, and the cloud can be accessed either for free or for a paid fee.

Cloud storage let you stores documents, images, audio, and videos on the cloud, but it is available somewhere on a physical drive (server). With cloud storage, you can get access to your data anywhere by using a mobile phone or a computer with an internet connection.

How much does the best cloud storage up cost?

The cloud storage market is big and most of the providers won’t break your bank, that’s why on top of this guide will have selected the best cloud storage service with affordability, although some may have higher pricing.

Cloud storage providers offer both free and paid plans. If you just want to save files the free plan should be ideal for you. Using a free plan is good, but if you’re trying to do more to get more features and storage you will need to subscribe to a premium.

Since you can’t get every feature in a free or the next paid plan, you’ll be expected to subscribe if you need more storage or features. Cloud storage provider plans are paid yearly or monthly, few do a one-time payment, and it goes from low as $2 to high as $400. It all depends on the plan you want to use.

How secure is cloud storage?

If we start comparing cloud storage to local storage security, we would have multiple sequences with a different outcomes. In every which way, local storage is usually more secure than the cloud, except someone stole your hard drive. Cloud storage security is key, that’s why the best providers use the best security and encryption.

The best cloud storage uses cutting-edge and the best encryption protocol to protect users’ data and private information from anyone, even the company. The cloud storage provider won’t even be able to access your files with their end-to-end encryption.

What you need to know about free cloud storage

There isn’t any sort of negative view of using a free cloud storage service from one of the providers on our list. If you don’t want to spend money subscribing to cloud storage services you can try out the free plan.

At least, you have somewhere to store your documents on the cloud. The only downside of using a free plan is that you will be limited to advanced rich features and with a smaller storage allocation.

If you don’t care about features and just want to save your files to the cloud I don’t see anything wrong with it. And you can easily save important documents and images, but if you later decide to upgrade your plan you can easily do so from your account. And using a freemium plan also allows you to try out other best cloud storage services as well.

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ByTimothy Iyekowa
Technical Writer
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As a seasoned content writer with 5+ years of experience in consumer technology, Timothy has been a dedicated author and editor at Techvocast since its inception. Specializing in addressing user concerns, his articles offer effective solutions for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac-related issues. Timothy's expertise also extends to crafting content about social media and various applications. Through his daily articles, he consistently aids users in overcoming their technology challenges.
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