How to you store your important files? Carrying a hard drive that has your important business documents, videos, and files everywhere you go is not a smart solution.
On the other hand, with cloud storage, you can create a business file on your office computer, proofread and edit the documents on your smartphone while travelling, and finish your work on your laptop or tablet at home. This shows how convenient free cloud storage and file syncing apps are for business and individual use. If you check the best iPhone deals and buy the latest smartphone you’ll get easy access to cloud storage apps on your smartphone.
Let’s take a look at the top cloud storage and file syncing apps available today.
Price and Storage
Google Drive: Each cloud storage app has free and paid plans. Google Drive is the most economical option as it offers a whopping 15GB space for free, though it also includes all activities on your Google account. Its paid plan starts at £1.59/$2 per month, which gives you up to 100GB of storage space.
Box: Box offers 10GB of storage for free and 250MB of files. Its paid plan costs £5.50/$10 for 100GB storage a month, but you can also opt for the Enterprise solution that offers unlimited storage.
Dropbox: Dropbox allows 2GB of storage for free, but you can expand the space to up to 19GB by inviting your buddies. Every time you invite a new friend, you get an extra 500MB. Dropbox offers Business and Standard Plans, with paid plans starting at £7.99/$11.99 per month
OneDrive: OneDrive also offers a cost-effective option, offering users 5GB space for free. The one month paid plan for OneDrive starts at £1.99/$1.99.
Version Control
All four cloud storage apps allow you to restore the version history, but there are some other differences you should be aware of.
Google Drive: This is the best option if you’d like to restore deleted files or access advanced changed tracker features. Google sends all the deleted documents to trash. Even if you delete a file from all folders and cloud storage, you have the option to restore them from the trash.
Dropbox: This cloud storage app offers a “rewind” option that allows users to restore the previous version of the Dropbox account which is especially useful when you face security issues.
OneDrive: OneDrive has a similar function. You can rewind your OneDrive app version and store all your previous documents, though this comes with a one-month limit.
Box: Box doesn’t have many options, but you can restore the older version of your file by clicking “…” located on the right-hand side.
Security Options
Let’s compare the security features of each cloud storage a file syncing app.
Google Drive: On Google Drive, you can set your files to private or make them available to anyone who has a link to the file. This app also offers two-factor authentication and data encryption.
Dropbox: The same option is available on Dropbox: you could choose an authentication app or the SMS notification for two-factor authentication. Dropbox encrypts your data and restricts third-party access.
OneDrive: OneDrive scans each file to detect viruses, malware, and potential security issues. Data encryption and two-factor authentication boosts security and protects your data. Its personal vault function makes it compulsory for each user to complete a two-factor authentication process every time they sign in.
Box: With Box, you get two-factor authentication and data encryption. For every failed log-in attempt, you get an email alert. As an admin, you can give users permissions to access your Box files.
File Browsing Experience
With the best cloud storage apps, it is the quick and easy to browse files. You can search and load any file you want in a few simple clicks. However, Google Drive performs a lot better than the other three cloud storage apps.
Google Drive: You can access Google Drive’s file management options using your PC or mobile browser. You can view your documents in different formats, such as thumbnails and grid. The best part is that you can filter the search result by type, last activity, and date.
Box: Box shows some suggestions based on the initial words you type into the search bar. It also allows you to filter the results by file owner, last modified date, and file type.
OneDrive: OneDrive offers a few convenient browsing tools, but it doesn’t have as many options as Google Drive. For instance, you can use OneDrive to search for files, but you won’t get any suggestions unless you press the “Enter” button.
Dropbox: Dropbox has a range of file browsing tools that make your experience a little convenient and better. You can also sort the result by the file type and the last modified date.
In today’s tech-driven world, cloud storage is a must for individuals and businesses. It enables users to share their documents easily, store videos and photos, and sync saved content with other devices. In the list of best free cloud storage services each each app mentioned above offers a fast and secure experience, but overall we recommend Google Drive.
I love tech things, especially the way they infiltrate our lives without us even realising. I don’t like having to explain how a gadget works to every member of my family though!
