The popularity of cloud storage services has skyrocketed in the past few years, and for good reasons. After all, they offer a convenient way of accessing your important data anytime and anywhere, (generally) requiring nothing more than a web browser and Internet connectivity. Not only that, majority of cloud storage services also offer advanced features like file sharing, real-time collaboration, and much more. Good times!
Now, there are quite a few cloud storage providers out there, with more jumping into the fray regularly. And even though most of them offer paid (and free, of course) accounts, what if you just want some free cloud storage for a couple of files that you have? More importantly, what if you’re a little bit concerned about the reliability and longevity of a free cloud storage service?
These are the questions this article is meant to answer, as we take a look at some of the best services that not only offer free cloud storage, but are also dependable enough to trust your valuable files with. So get reading, fellas!
Reliable Free Cloud Storage Services
1. Dropbox
Arguably the most popular of the bunch, Dropbox is ridiculously simple to use, and offers quite a few features to get you started. You can upload your files either via the web interface, or through the sync clients available for just about every desktop/mobile platform. Standout features are easy file sharing, along with 30 days revision history (unlimited for pro users), and you can upload files of virtually unlimited sizes. Dropbox has been around for almost a decade, and it’s surely not going anywhere.
Free storage: 2 GB, which can be maximized to 16 GB via referrals
Pricing: Starts from $9.99/month for 1 TB storage
2. Google Drive
Coming from the technological colossus behind the most popular search engine in the world, Google Drive offers quite a lot, and if you’re invested in the Google ecosystem, it’s a must-have, given its tight integration with other Google services. For example, take Google Photos. You can store unlimited photos online, as long as they are 16 MP or less in resolution. Only larger photos count towards Google Drive storage. Same goes for Google Docs as well. Other features include preview support for multiple file types, and multiple add-ons.
Free storage: 15 GB
Pricing: Starts from $1.99/month for 100 GB storage
3. OneDrive
Microsoft’s cloud offerings have always been one of the best, and OneDrive is no different, despite having recently cut down on the free storage. It lets you not only save, but also create/edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations online, thanks to integration with the free Office Online suite. Impressive collaboration features (e.g. real-time editing notifications) make working on documents together a cakewalk. Then you have features like PDF annotation and signing, automatic backup of photos from smartphones’ cameras, and paid plans with Office 365 integration. And as for reliability, it’s owned by Microsoft. ‘Nuff said!
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $1.99/month for 50 GB storage
4. Box
Although it’s primarily geared towards enterprise users, Box can be used by just about everyone, thanks to its simplicity and ease of use. It places quite a lot of emphasis on sharing and collaboration features. This can be evinced from the fact that Box can connect to both Google Docs and Office Online office suites. And the list doesn’t end there. You get multi-level file versioning, robust administrative controls, and ton of a lot more. In a nutshell, if you don’t mind the paltry 250 MB cap on the max. file upload size, Box is a cloud storage service you can truly depend upon.
Free storage: 10 GB
Pricing: Starts from $11.50/month for 100 GB storage
5. Hubic
Based out of France, Hubic shines with its sizeable amount of free storage. You can upload files of any type and size, and share files by email, or on major social networks. Your data is replicated across three separate data-centers, and the unique “Backup” option makes it easy to backup all of your important data, and even smartphone apps to the cloud. Having been around since 1999, Hubic has a presence across 3 continents and 16 countries, so you don’t even have to worry about the reliability.
Free storage: 25 GB, which can be doubled to 50 GB via referrals
Pricing: Starts from €1/month for 100 GB storage
6. pCloud
If you take the security of your data seriously, pCloud is the cloud storage service you should be using. The uploaded files are duplicated across at least three separate locations, and uploads are secured by SSL/TLS protocols. In fact, pCloud are so confident of their client side encryption, that they organized a hacking challenge, offering a $100,000 award to anyone who could break their encryption. And as you might’ve guessed, no one was successful. Apart from that, standard features like unlimited file upload size, sharing, and automatic backup are also there.
Free storage: 10 GB, which can be maximized to 20 GB via referrals
Pricing: Starts from $3.99/month for 500 GB storage
7. Yandex.Disk
Owned by the Internet company operating the largest search engine in Russia, Yandex.Disk is one of the better free cloud storage services you can find. You can upload any and all kinds of files, and there’s preview support for quite a few of them. All files are uploaded over encrypted connections, and checked for viruses. Standard features like file sharing and version history are on-board too, and a Chrome extension even lets you directly save/share images to your free account.
Free storage: 10 GB, which can be doubled to 20 GB via referrals
Pricing: Starts from $1/month for 10 GB storage
8. ASUS WebStorage
Coming from one of the top PC vendors in the world, ASUS WebStorage makes a strong case for a great free cloud storage service. Uploaded files are instantly synchronized across all the devices (e.g. PCs, smartphones) you access them from. You can further the secure shared files by setting up options like expiration date, and files can be collaboratively worked upon, with real-time updates. ASUS WebStorage also includes solid backup and recovery functionalities, and the files being uploaded are scanned for viruses in real-time, with affected files immediately quarantined.
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $22.99/year for 100 GB storage
9. iCloud
Although it works on a Windows PC just perfectly, if you own a MacBook or/and an iOS powered device, using iCloud makes even more sense. Apple’s free cloud storage service also gives you access to the online version of the iWork productivity suite. All your contacts, reminders etc. are instantly synchronized across any and all devices that you use iCloud on. In a nutshell, iCloud may not be the most feature heavy cloud storage service of them all, but if you just want reliable access to your files at all times, it works extremely good.
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $0.99/month for 50 GB storage
10. iDrive
While it’s primary focus is more towards backing up of data, iDrive can be used for cloud storage equally well. All your uploaded files are secured with AES-256 encryption, and can be easily shared via email, or on social networks. Not only that, iDrive can also backup all your Facebook and Instagram photos/videos. Among other highlight features are incremental backups, multi-device backups, and revision history.
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $44.62/year for 1 TB storage
11. Sync
Having a nice long list of features, Sync is a pretty great free cloud storage service that you can use. Doing its name full justice, it syncs all your cloud uploaded files across all the devices with blazing fast speeds. Files can be selectively synced and offline access is available too. The service also has solid collaboration features, and you can specify custom passwords for restricting control to shared files. As far as security and privacy are concerned, Sync is based on the “zero-knowledge” approach, with end to end encryption.Then you have remote wipe, file audit logs, and then some more.
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $49/year for 500 GB storage
12. Cubby
If you’re looking for a simple and no-fuss cloud storage service, look no further than Cubby. Just create an account, and start uploading your files. It has public and private sharing, which makes for better collaboration. In addition to that, you also get unlimited versioning control, with no restrictions on the maximum file upload size. Oh, and all your uploaded data is secured by client side AES-256 encryption. How cool is that?
Free storage: 5 GB
Pricing: Starts from $3.99/month for 100 GB storage
13. OziBox
One of the more unique cloud storage services out there, OziBox has been developed by a community of coders, and advocates of free Internet for everyone. It’s not exactly the most feature loaded of them all, but for basic cloud storage needs, it works pretty well. You can upload all kinds of files via the web interface, as well as through the desktop sync client. There are some collaboration features thrown into the mix as well. However, as basic as OziBox is, it could still use some overall polish.
Free storage: 10 GB
Pricing: Starts from $12.99/month for 200 GB storage
14. Syncplicity
On the hunt for an effective solution for syncing your files between multiple devices? Syncplicity is what you need. It’s a leader in enterprise file syncing and sharing (having clients as big as Siemens). There are no restrictions on the maximum file upload size, bandwidth etc., and you also get secure mobile editing and PDF annotation features. There’s even an Outlook add-on for sending files/folders of any size to other users.
Free storage: 10 GB
Pricing: Starts from $60/year for 100 GB storage
Bonus: Amazon Cloud Drive
Coming from the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon Cloud Drive doesn’t offer any free level accounts. However, if you’re willing to shell out some money on it, it’s an extremely good value, especially if your usage is more geared towards storing photos. That’s because the starter paid plan not only gives you unlimited space for all your photos, but also an additional 5 GB for other documents. If you consider that for the long term, it’s almost as good as free.
Storage: Unlimited for photos, and 5 GB for other documents
Pricing: $11.99/year for the aforementioned plan
SEE ALSO: Best OneDrive Alternatives
Lots of free cloud storage for your files!
The rapid rise in the popularity of cloud storage services is a clear indicator that cloud computing is here to stay. And as the discussion above makes it clear, there are tons of cloud storage services that are not just free, but also pretty dependable, and won’t go out of business randomly. So what are you waiting for? Try them out, and let us know your favorites in the comments below.
