The best cloud storage services of 2025: Expert tested

4 hours ago 7

If you want your digital work stored safely away from hackers or physical damage caused to your PC while still being easily accessible from wherever you are, reliable cloud storage is a necessity. Personal cloud storage has been around since 2007, with just one well-known provider in the space, but now dozens of cheap or free cloud storage services are available.

How do you choose which one is right for you? You could just pick based on how much free storage space you get, but a cloud storage service's real value is how well it works for you or your business, how accessible it is, and how the provider approaches customer security. As you'll see, some work much better with some operating systems and business plans than others.

I've tested and researched every cloud storage service on this list. My top pick for best cloud storage overall is iDrive for its backup and storage options, easy pairing and compatibility, as well as its affordability.

See how iDrive stacks up to our other recommended cloud storage services of 2025 below.

Google Drive used to be just storage before Google took its online office suite, Google Docs, and pasted them together into Google One. If you're a little confused because Google Workplace is also available, you're in good company.

To clarify, Google Workspace Individual is meant for small business owners, while Google One is a consumer subscription plan that gives you more storage across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.

A Google account alone gives you 15GB of free storage and an excellent office suite. It's good enough that many businesses and Chromebook owners now use it as their complete cloud-based office. If you buy a Chromebook and are a new Google One customer, you'll get 100GB of free cloud storage for a year. With both kinds of free storage, it's shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.

Google Drive comes with clients for most operating systems, except Linux. Google promised long ago that there would be a Linux client, but it's yet to arrive. There is, however, an excellent third-party Linux commercial client, Insync.

Need more storage? No problem. Under the name Google One, Google Drive storage offers 100GB for $2 per month or $20 per year, or 200GB for $3 per month or $30 per year. For 2TB, you pay $10 per month or $100 annually. You can share your storage with up to five other people using any of these plans.

You can also use the Google One app on both Android and iOS devices to automatically back up your smartphones. This includes your device data, multimedia messages, as well as photos and videos in their original quality.

One of Google Drive's best features is its integration with Google Search. So, for example, if you've lost track of a file but remember a couple of words in it, it's easy to find. I use this feature almost every day.

Google Drive features: Free storage: Google Drive starts its offers with 15GB for free | Variety of storage plans including individual & business | Secure sharing | Multi-platform | AI tools

Show Expert Take Show less

Read Entire Article