Cloud storage let you access your photos, videos, documents and other important information anywhere and anytime, and also keep your data safe and secure from local hardware damages or other form of data losses you may encounter and to protect your digital data cloud storage services provides free online storage where you can easily store and share your personal files.
Cloud storage provides an easy solution to email attachments where you can just share a file or folder link with access level rather than attaching the files, you can collaborate in a group to share work, view, edit and upload files and share thoughts on group projects.
Cloud storage becoming more and more popular day by day because of safe, secure and reliable anywhere access of files, photos, videos and important documents and lots of sharing options which is a another plus point to any cloud storage.
And, to keep in view all these features we have reviewed and listed the top 5 best free cloud services for you.
Google Drive offers you a decent deal of pay as you grow and you get 15 GB of free storage. You’ll have to pay additional fee if use more than 15 GB free storage. In an easy to use interface you can even directly drag or upload folder from your local storage using Chrome browser or installing a Java-Based Folder Upload applet to upload folders from any other browser.
Installing Google Drive for PC or MAC let you easily sync files shared in your My Drive folder. Anything you edit, modify, add or remove will be reflected in your Google Drive account and vice versa.
You can change sharing settings to allow your friends and colleagues to access your uploaded files and you can also have the option to share your files with whom you want to share with choice of access level you set by which you can share documents with your friends and colleagues without sending email attachments.
You can make any file, document or folder private, share with a link, make it public on web and set access level to any group or individual you want.
FREE STORAGE: 15 GB
FEATURES: Pay as you use in addition to free storage, Upload folders, Google Drive for MAC/PC, Auto sync, File sharing with access level, Share files with a link or make It public on Web
Dropbox is one of the largest cloud storage providers and offers great list of services and features.
Though there’re endless opportunities of features a cloud storage could provide but not all can be provided with the start and Dropbox still offers great list of features a cloud storage should offer. Dropbox offers 2 GB free storage which you can increase upto 16 GB with their referral program.
Dropbox works on almost all platforms; Windows, MAC, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Linux so, it let you access your files on device you’re accessible to anywhere anytime. Auto sync feature make it feel like the whole system is just one drive whether you have a connection on not you can access files anytime because Dropbox updates only changes to files rather than transferring the whole thing.
Inviting and sharing with friends and colleagues is the common feature in all cloud storage services and Dropbox also let you invite people to folder, share link and create photo galleries viewable to anyone you choose.
And, if by chance you accidently deleted any file or folder then you can restore your data within a month you have deleted that, because Dropbox keeps one month history of you work.
FREE STORAGE: 2 GB (initially)
FEATURES: Increase free storage upto 16 GB, Auto sync, Work offline, Folder invite, Social sharing, Backup deleted files within a month
iCloud is the cloud service provided by Apple which works with MAC, iOS devices as well as PCs. iCloud is more than just a cloud storage, you can auto sync music, pictures, contacts and other files from your MAC and iOS devices using iTunes Match.
If you’re a music lover then iCloud offers you to store and stream music right from iCloud, you can store your entire collection of photos and music in iCloud and it acts as media server for your iOS devices.
iCloud provides 5 GB of free storage in addition to it 10 GB for $20 per year, 20 GB for $40 per year and 50 GB for $100 per year.
FREE STORAGE: 5 GB
FEATURES: Available on MACs, iOS devices and PCs, Create music library from iTunes, Stream music, Attractive paid plans
Box is a popular cloud storage service but unlike Google Drive where you can upload a file upto size of 1 TB Dropbox limits file size upto 5 GB and 250 MB under Personal Free plan. Instead Box provides great customer support and higher level of services for personal (Free), Business and Enterprise IT plans.
What you get in Personal Free account is 10 GB free cloud storage, quickly share large files and folders and easily embed files in your website. More on you can access your files on any device; desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet, Box is available on both iPhone and Android for on the go access to files.
Box provides an online collaboration platform where in a group anyone whom you invite can view, edit, upload, comment and assign work in a shared folder which make it easy to work on a project no matter from where you’re participating in.
An added feature in Box is their real time update system where you’ll get email notifications for everything you’re involved in at Box platform.
FREE STORAGE: 10 GB
FEATURES: Quick sharing options, Collaboration platform, Real time notofications on activities
OneDrive offers you 7 GB of free space when you signup and you can get additional free 8 GB storage if you activate camera roll backup which save your photos automatically to your OneDrive and 5 GB if you refer someone to OneDrive, with a sum up you get 15 GB free space for your photos, videos, documents and more.
OneDrive is available to install on Windows, MAC, Android, Windows Phone and iOS devices by which your files automatically sync to your OneDrive account.
You can view, edit and save documents in OneDrive from you Office 2013 applications and if you have not installed Office 2013 then you can still access your office documents within your browser using Office Online and collaborate in group projects with your friends and colleagues.
You can easily create word documents, excel workbooks, powerpoint presentations and more, share you photos, create slide shows, send a link to someone or embed anywhere from just one place, OneDrive.
FREE STORAGE: 7 GB (initially)
FEATURES: 8 GB additional free storage, View, edit and save OneDrive files in Office 2013, Office Online, Create Office documents online.
However these are the best cloud storage services which provides free as well paid online storage options, but there are other more or less known cloud storage providers, let us know which one you’re using and what you like or dislike about specific one by leaving a comment.
Images: Screenshot by Gurmeet
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