Save and Share Files, Documents, Photos and More
It is now clear: the particular historical period we are experiencing has changed many aspects of our life. Digital work, smart working, social distancing, distance learning: these are just some of the terms that, for a year now, have become part of our daily jargon.
The abandonment of the concept of work or face-to-face lessons has made the use of cloud services almost inevitable. The reason is quickly explained: the restrictive measures imposed to deal with the health emergency have intensified the need for remote storage to share documents and files extremely quickly with colleagues, professors or schoolmates.
The solution to all this is represented by the so-called Cloud, which had an unprecedented boom from the pandemic onwards. Suffice it to say that, at the end of March 2020 and therefore after only a few weeks of home isolation, Microsoft’s cloud services recorded a growth of + 775% . Similar speech also for Dropbox which for the first time after going public in 2018, a few months ago reported a turnover of 455 million dollars, 18% more than in the same period of the previous year.
In this regard, therefore, we have decided to create a guide concerning the best cloud services available to date: what do they offer? What are the costs? What are the features? The answer to all the questions and a comparison between the various proposals in the guide below.
Google Drive
One of the first clouds we talk about and certainly one of the best known, is Google Drive, the file hosting service owned by the well-known research company that makes ease of use and excellent integration with mobile operating systems – especially Android – its main selling point.
What It Offers
Google Drive offers a single free storage plan: the available space is equal to 15GB and can be used for uploading photos and videos in original quality to Google Photos , uploading files to Drive or for sending, receiving and archiving emails on your Google Account.
If you need more storage space, you will need to choose one of the paid plans offered by Google One. Users will be able to choose from six different plans that will automatically replace the old one from Google Drive.
Each of them offers dedicated support from Google experts, additional and exclusive benefits for members and the ability to share the plan with members of their family – up to 5 family members with a single payment.
Thanks to the dedicated Google One app for the Android operating system, it will also be possible to make a backup of all the contents on your device such as photos, videos, contacts and much more.
Functionality
There are many features available on Google Drive: the merit, of course, is also – but not only – of the wide catalog of services offered by the Mountain View company.
- Integration with Google’s office suite: Drive integrates seamlessly with Docs, Sheets and Slides, cloud-native apps that allow teams to collaborate effectively by creating and sharing content in real time.
- Microsoft Office Integration: Drive allows you to collaborate on Microsoft Office files without the need to convert the format and to edit and archive over 100 additional file formats, including PDF, CAD, images and more.
- Google Search Capabilities: Drive uses Google’s search capabilities and AI to predict what the user is looking for even more effectively and quickly.
- Other integrations: Other integrations that have come over the years include those of Adobe, Atlassian, AutoDesk, DocuSign, Salesforce and Slack.
Availability
Drive is practically accessible from any type of device: all you need is an internet connection.
Pros & Cons
- Easy to use
- Integration with Google services
- More plans and prices that better suit the different needs of users
- Nothing to report
Dropbox
Along with Google Drive, Dropbox is certainly one of the longest-running and most popular cloud services in the industry. To give you an idea, just think that already in 2009 the service of the Californian company could count on a pool of over 3 million users. Dropbox now has over 14 million paying subscribers.
What It Offers
Just like Google Drive, Dropbox also divides its offer into two different models: a limited free plan (Dropbox Basic) and two paid plans (Dropbox Plus and Family) with more features and more storage space. To these are added those dedicated to professionals and teams with work needs.
Functionality
| ONEDRIVE BASIC | ONEDRIVE STANDALONE 100GB – all the features of the Basic Piano plus | MICROSOFT 365 PERSONAL – all the features of the Basic and Standalone plans plus | MICROSOFT 365 PERSONAL – all the features of the Basic and Standalone plans plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage space: 5GB | Quota: 100GB | Storage space: 1TB | Simultaneous access for up to 6 members |
| Services included: OneDrive | Price: 2 euros per month | OneDrive premium feature | Storage space. 6TB (1TB for each user) |
| Personal Vault: Protect files, photos and videos with identity verification (maximum 3 files) | Services included: OneDrive, Skype | Price: 10 euros per month or 99 euros / year | |
| Multi-page Scanning: Ability to use your smartphone to scan and save multiple pages of printed documents, receipts, business cards, or more | Office apps included: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint | 1 month free trial | |
| Free Office for the Web: Use Word, PowerPoint and Excel to create, edit, share and collaborate on documents with ease. It does not require any installation | Personal Vault: Protect your files, photos and videos with identity verification (unlimited in OneDrive space) | ||
| PC folder backup | Sharing links with expiration: Set an expiration date for sharing links and allow others access for limited time | ||
| Advanced synchronization technology | Ransomware detection and file recovery: Get notified if we detect a malicious attack | ||
| Mobile app | Full OneDrive space restore: Restore OneDrive space to an earlier time in the last 30 days | ||
| Web access | Password protected sharing links | ||
| Search and discovery of content | Offline folders: access to folders even without internet connection | ||
| Photos: Automatically saves photos from your smartphone gallery | More Shares: Share 10x more content per day than with the free OneDrive version | ||
| Edit files: Access and edit Office app or PDF files from your PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet | Expandable storage: add more cloud storage, when you need it, for a monthly cost (up to a maximum of 2TB) | ||
| File on request | Price: 7 euros per month or 69 euros / year | ||
| Share files, folders and photos with friends and family | |||
| Version History – Restore any file to an earlier time in the last 30 days | |||
| Offline files: Access selected files even when you are not online | |||
| Real-time collaboration | |||
| Price: free |
Availability
Dropbox is available on all platforms.
Pros & Cons
- Good file history system to restore previous versions
- Lots of features
- Well integrated into known NAS systems
- Little space for the free plan
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive is the cloud storage and backup service offered by Microsoft and accessible via browser, desktop app and smartphone. OneDrive also offers a free standard option and several paid plans. Either way, you’ll need a Microsoft account to sign in.
What It Offers
The free plan offers 5GB of storage, with the most comprehensive paid tier up to 1TB per single user.
- OneDrive Basic: OneDrive Basic is the free plan that offers 5GB of storage.
- OneDrive Standalone 100GB: This is Microsoft’s first paid service offering and includes 100GB of storage. The cost is 2 euros per month.
- Microsoft 365 Personal: costs 7 euros per month (or 69 euros / year) and includes 1TB of storage space, premium OneDrive functionality and full access to the entire Office and Skype suite.
- Microsoft 365 Family: can be used up to a maximum of 6 members and offers 6TB of total storage space (1TB for each user), premium OneDrive functionality and full access to the entire Office and Skype suite. The cost is 10 euros per month (or 99 euros / year).
Functionality
| ONEDRIVE BASIC | ONEDRIVE STANDALONE 100GB – all the features of the Basic Piano plus | MICROSOFT 365 PERSONAL – all the features of the Basic and Standalone plans plus | MICROSOFT 365 PERSONAL – all the features of the Basic and Standalone plans plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage space: 5GB | Quota: 100GB | Storage space: 1TB | Simultaneous access for up to 6 members |
| Services included: OneDrive | Price: 2 euros per month | OneDrive premium feature | Storage space. 6TB (1TB for each user) |
| Personal Vault: Protect files, photos and videos with identity verification (maximum 3 files) | Services included: OneDrive, Skype | Price: 10 euros per month or 99 euros / year | |
| Multi-page Scanning: Ability to use your smartphone to scan and save multiple pages of printed documents, receipts, business cards, or more | Office apps included: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint | 1 month free trial | |
| Free Office for the Web: Use Word, PowerPoint and Excel to create, edit, share and collaborate on documents with ease. It does not require any installation | Personal Vault: Protect your files, photos and videos with identity verification (unlimited in OneDrive space) | ||
| PC folder backup | Sharing links with expiration: Set an expiration date for sharing links and allow others access for limited time | ||
| Advanced synchronization technology | Ransomware detection and file recovery: Get notified if we detect a malicious attack | ||
| Mobile app | Full OneDrive space restore: Restore OneDrive space to an earlier time in the last 30 days | ||
| Web access | Password protected sharing links | ||
| Search and discovery of content | Offline folders: access to folders even without internet connection | ||
| Photos: Automatically saves photos from your smartphone gallery | More Shares: Share 10x more content per day than with the free OneDrive version | ||
| Edit files: Access and edit Office app or PDF files from your PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet | Expandable storage: add more cloud storage, when you need it, for a monthly cost (up to a maximum of 2TB) | ||
| File on request | Price: 7 euros per month or 69 euros / year | ||
| Share files, folders and photos with friends and family | |||
| Version History – Restore any file to an earlier time in the last 30 days | |||
| Offline files: Access selected files even when you are not online | |||
| Real-time collaboration | |||
| Price: free |
Availability
Also in this case, the availability offered for the Microsoft service is wide. OneDrive is in fact available both on desktop (Windows 10 and macOS, the first is pre-installed) and on mobile (Android and iOS).
Pros & Cons
- Native integration into Windows
- Integration with Microsoft Office 365
- Free plan with lots of features
- Family plan cost
- Not Recorded
Mega
Mega is a file hosting and file sharing website developed by Kim Dotcom. The more accustomed to the subject will know it as Mega is the successor of the famous Megaupload that offered 200GB of free space to all users, closed in January 2012.
What It Offers
Among the services mentioned so far, Mega is the one that offers the most storage space. It starts with a free basic plan of 50GB (15GB base share + 35GB objectives share), up to the 16TB of the Pro III professional plan. Mega then uses a personal 2048-bit key generated by the system when the account is created.
Functionality
Mega’s features are basically the same for all paid plans, with the exception of storage and transfer bandwidth.
- Easy and private sharing of files and folders
- Ability to send large files even to those who do not have a Mega account
- Automatic backup of any device
- Saving old versions of files when uploading new ones
- Private group chats where you can share files and make audio and video calls with end-to-end encryption
- Secure video conferencing: private audio and conferencing solutions
- Customized automatic recycle bin cleaning: You can set up a recycle bin cleaning schedule to suit each user’s needs
Availability
Mega is available on desktop (Windows, macOS and Linux) via the Mega Sync application and on Android and iOS in the respective Google Play and App Store stores.
Pros & Cons
- Price / space ratio offered
- Free plan up to 50GB
- Safety
- Automatic deletion of files for inactive Mega accounts