Technology advances faster and faster by the day. Not that long ago American society was introduced to “the cloud” and now we’ve quickly become a cloud-based world. Remember when Gmail launched and introduced a free GB of email storage space, roughly 500 times more than Hotmail, their nearest competitor? At the time, it was revolutionary.
One of the most popular cloud-based storage sites is Dropbox. The biggest problem with Dropbox is its limited storage space (2 GB on a free account, with opportunity to earn more by sharing the service with friends).
Thankfully today there are many more options out there that can offer the same service but with much greater storage capacity.Here are a few to choose from if you’re running up against the limit of your Dropbox account.
1. OneDrive
OneDrive is a one-stop-shop for your storage needs. A free account provides you with 15 GB of space to use for storing documents, photos, or anything else you can think of.
OneDrive allows you to create, edit, and share your documents regardless of the device that is being worked on. The downside of OneDrive is that it does not share files as easily as some of the other cloud storage options.
2. Google Drive
Google Drive also offers 15 GB of storage space at no cost, however it needs to be split between Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. Additional storage space may be added for a nominal price.
However, I’ve been a Gmail user for nearly 10 years and am still just over 50% of my capacity.
3. Box.com
Box.com gives 10 GB of free storage space. With its easy sync feature, you can access any stored file on your tablet or phone. A potential downfall of Box.com is that you can only share files up to 250 MB.
4. Team Drive
Team Drive provides its users with 10 GB of storage space for no cost. Team Drive allows users to sync data between computers with ease. Users can also share music, documents, images, or folders with others.
Team Drive offers a high level of security by encrypting users’ data and each user decides who may and may not have access to files.
5. Amazon Cloud Drive
Amazon Cloud offers up to 5 GB of free storage. It also allows users to add photos from a phone or tablet. As with the other cloud storage sites, all your files can be saved in the same place and be easily accessed.
One nice feature of Amazon cloud is that pictures that are taken with a phone can be saved there and can still be accessed once the picture is deleted from the phone. Amazon Cloud also has an automatic back-up feature that saves pictures in the cloud so they are safe even if the phone is lost or damaged.
6. Wuala
Wuala provides users with 5 GB of free storage space in the cloud with which to store and share files. Wuala encrypts users’ data before it is uploaded. An added security benefit is that users’ passwords are never transmitted, not even to Wuala employees.
Wuala also has superior backup and file versioning, which is really valuable if you ever inadvertently delete a file without saving or if an older version needs to be accessed.
7. Cloudme.com
Cloudme.com allows users up to 19 GB to store files, however, there is a maximum file size of 150 MB. A unique feature of Cloudme.com is that it allows users to have their own Desktop within the cloud.
Users can sync specific folders to specific devices so work and personal files are never confused. Cloudme.com allows users to have their music library with them at all times,
8. Cx.com
Cx.com offers 10 GB of free space. Users can access their files from any device. They can also sync and share their data quite easily. Cx.com also allows for group collaboration. Anyone who needs to share data with multiple people can easily do so through the Cx.com platform.
9. Sugar Sync
Sugar Sync allows users 5 GB of free storage and allows users to choose which files to sync to which devices. Sugar Sync also allows for secure file sharing and makes it easy to manage files when using a phone or tablet.
10. SpiderOak
SpiderOak provides 2 GB of space for free and 100 GB for a cost of $10.00 per month. SpiderOak promises a secure back-up system. Users will never need to worry about losing a file again.
It’s easy to sync and share files with SpiderOak and you can choose which files can be accessed through specific devices. Just drop a file into a folder for someone else to see.
Everything is password protected, so there is no need to worry that a file will be seen by the wrong eyes.
11. Copy.com
Copy.com gives users 15 GB of storage for free. With Copy.com files are available to users on their computers, mobile devices, or tablets. Copy.com is convenient, as there are no file size restrictions nor viewing restrictions. Plus, users are still promised a high level of privacy.
One nice extra perk of Copy.com is that it allows for file size sharing. So, if two people are sharing a 10 GB file, it only counts as 5 GB apiece.
Now it’s your turn. Do you have a favorite cloud storage service that I missed? Please be sure to share it in the comments below.
