We frequently hear the term “it’s in the cloud” mentioned but what is the “CLOUD” and how many of them are out there?
If you start searching for cloud storage services you may be surprised at how many you find but this is just a quick look at the top four services.
Apple iCloud
Many people have heard of iCloud, a service provided by Apple for their users to benefit from. The iCloud service makes synchronising all your important information between your Apple devices, as long as they all use the same Apple ID. It’s also great for automatically backing up your iPhone and iPad, assuming you have sufficient cloud storage and that the Backup feature has been switched on.
Should you find that the free 5GB of storage space is no longer enough then the upgraded options are easy to activate and relatively cheap to use. The next step up from 5GB is 50GB and this is now known as iCloud+ and you can share everything with up to five other family members.
About iCloud+
iCloud+ is Apple’s premium cloud subscription. It gives you more storage for your photos, files and backups, and some additional features:
iCloud+ with 50 GB storage for £0.79 per month.
iCloud+ with 200 GB storage for £2.49 per month.
iCloud+ with 2 TB storage for £6.99 per month.
Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is easy to use and offers fast syncing. Although it’s not the best cloud storage provider on the market, it still offers better security features than Dropbox and Google Drive, thanks to its private vault feature, which adds a PIN-protected folder to your cloud storage.
It is possible to share selected folders with other people and the OneDrive provides seamless integration with Microsoft 365 applications.
With the paid for plans it is possible to automatically backup selected folders on your PC and take advantage of the AutoSave feature in Office.
Every personal Microsoft account gets 5GB of free cloud storage with a couple of upgrade options:
OneDrive Standalone 100GB storage for £1.99 per month.
1TB of storage but this is part of your Microsoft 365 account and includes full offline Microsoft Office applications and costs from £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year.
Google Drive
Google Drive offers the largest amount of free storage at 15GB, but this can be increased up to 2TB.
Google Drive isn’t a perfect service; it’s great for collaboration, but you lose some privacy for using it.
Google Drive offers a slew of productivity solutions, including its in-house Google Workspace suite (which includes Google Docs, Sheets and Slides). However, it seems that most people don’t make use of these tools.
Google Drive is part of the Google One family of applications but it doesn’t integrate with Office apps like OneDrive does but shouldn’t be dismissed lightly.
The Google Drive pricing is as follows:
Google Drive with 100 GB storage for £1.59 per month or £15.99 per year.
Google Drive with 200 GB storage for £2.49 per month or £24.99 per year.
Google Drive with 2 TB storage for £7.99 per month or £79.99 per year.
Dropbox
Dropbox has been a cloud storage service for many years and is probably one of the most well-known services.
Dropbox only supplies you with 2GB of free storage, but it is possible to increase the storage by carrying out specific tasks within your account and recommending the service to friends otherwise it’s the paid for route as all the others.
Dropbox integrates very well with Office applications and is very good for collaborative working.
The only storage upgraded offered to personal users is 2TB, but it depends if you select the personal or family package and watch out for the pricing variations if you opt for yearly or monthly billing:
Dropbox Plus with 2 TB storage for £7.99 or £9.99 per month.
Dropbox Family with 2 TB storage for £13.99 or £16.99 per month.
Business versions offer 3TB or more are available too.
