iCloud vs. Google Drive vs. Dropbox vs. OneDrive: Which is the best cloud storage service of 2022?

In 2022, the cloud rules our lives. It is predicted that the world will store 100 zettabytes (a trillion gigabytes) in the cloud by 2025. Regardless of whether you are a stay-at-home dad, a freelancer, or a high-powered executive, the cloud is inherently woven into our lives and we use it to complete tasks daily. One of the biggest challenges with the cloud is having scalable storage that meets your needs and your workload. 

There are many cloud storage and file-sharing platforms, but four companies dominate the market: Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and One Drive. While each cloud provider offers something unique that caters to a specific kind of user, it’s important to consider which one is right for you based on your needs. With so many variations of functionality, pricing, and storage capacity for each, it can be difficult to decide which storage provider to choose. This article will highlight each platform’s key features and explore the pros and cons of iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive to narrow down which storage provider best fits the needs of individual users. 

Google Drive 

• Overview

Google Drive is the perfect storage platform for users who don’t want to subscribe to a paid plan. It’s versatile for users on limited budgets and offers affordable pricing along with easy synchronization between your devices that can be easily accessed via Web, Mac, iOS, or Windows.

• Pricing

Google Drive is highly affordable and a great option for users who only need 100 or 200 GB of storage to manage their workload. If you’re looking to increase your storage capacity from the default 15 GB of free storage, Google Drive offers a flexible range of monthly and annual pricing for up to 2 TB of storage. If 2 TB still isn’t enough, then you’re in luck because Google Drive now offers a 5TB of storage for month-to-month pricing of $24.99. 

• Features

Google Drive offers 15 GB of free storage for users which istriple the amount iCloud and OneDrive and seven times more than Dropbox. Google Drive integrates seamlessly with all apps and also offers free access to proprietary Google Suite applications like Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. Google Drive supports all file types for play and preview and even provides a range of integrations to open certain file types in an embedded view. Users can easily search documents with advanced search features and engage in effortless sharing and collaboration. Whether your colleagues are internal or external, user permissions, version control history, and auto-save allow you to collaborate freely and engage in worry-free editing. 

• Pros & Cons 

iCloud 

• Overview

iCloud is great for users who are committed to their Apple devices. iCloud can be activated on all Apple products and effortlessly synchronizes and backs up important personal features between devices. iCloud performance works best on Apple and iOS products and has limited functionality on Windows, and is not available on Android or Linux devices. 

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• Pricing

iCloud offers 5 GB of free storage for users on a budget. While 5 GB  is plenty for managing documents and photos, it’s not enough to create a portfolio for digital projects or manage large amounts of data for multiple clients. If you’re an Apple evangelist who wants to pay for increased storage with iCloud, the chart below provides more clarity into iCloud’s pricing options. 

• Features

iCloud’s backup is perfect for users working remotely or switching between multiple Apple devices. It backs up and synchronizes your iPhone, iPad, and Mac data. 

One of the limitations of iCloud is that it only supports select file types for preview and play, which can be very frustrating for users working with a range of file types. 

• Pros & Cons

Dropbox 

• Overview

Dropbox typically appeals to professionals and corporate users looking to better manage their workloads and offers high functionality for users working with outside clients. Dropbox can be accessed via Web, Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows, but it’s integrations are less functional on mobile and Chrome OS. Dropbox’s free storage is significantly less than competitors, but for users with a flexible budget, it offers a competitive list of features that help business professionals manage a large customer base and big amounts of data, including its TB only plans and robust security features. 

• Pricing

Dropbox offers two plans for individuals and three plans for families and teams. For the sake of this article, we will only focus on the two plans offered to individuals. 

Dropbox has the most expensive month-to-month subscription plans out of all of the competitors and its offerings are more limited. One consideration is that Dropbox only offers TB plans which is great for users who need a lot of storage, but it also may be more than some users need. A benefit to this is, if you need a larger storage capacity, Dropbox’s annual pricing aligns closely with the annual pricing for Google One and One Drive. Another benefit is that Dropbox has a free month trial of their 3 TB plan to help users decide if it’s the right choice before investing in the product. 

• Features

One of Dropbox’s competitive advantages over the other storage platforms are its features. Dropbox outshines competitors when it comes to upload speeds and has immediate streaming of videos after upload, which is great for users and creators working with large files. Another advantage of Dropbox is its collaboration features, which includes password protected files, two-factor authentication, and the ability to set expiration dates on files so that clients know when they’ll no longer be able to access them. Though its functionality and performance are highly competitive, a downside for many users is Dropbox’s 3 device limit. 

• Pros & Cons 

OneDrive

• Overview

For users who are already Office 365 subscribers, OneDrive makes the most sense because it’s included in the 365 packages. Like iCloud and Google One, OneDrive offers a range of proprietary features and applications that sync seamlessly with Windows PCs. It is available via Web, Windows, Windows Phone, Mac, iOS, and Android, but functions best on the latest Windows OS with Office 365 applications. 

Screenshots of OneDrive

• Pricing

Microsoft OneDrive offers storage plans for both home and business. For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on the home plans offered at the individual and family level. 

For users on a limited budget, OneDrive offers 5 GB of storage for free. Unlike iCloud and Google Drive, which provide their proprietary application suites with their free versions, OneDrive doesn’t offer any access to the Office 365 applications with their free 5 GB or their paid 100 GB plans. For users interested in a 1TB tier, OneDrive is the cheapest option in comparison with other competitors. 

• Features

One of the perks to OneDrive’s 1TB plan is the Office 365 Suite with Microsoft’s proprietary applications like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Another competitive advantage of having OneDrive is advanced security. OneDrive offers access control systems, strong encryption, and even has a Personal Vault that comes with automatic locking, BitLocker encryption, and the ability to scan directly into the vault. The Files On-Demand feature for Windows and Mac is a popular feature for OneDrive, which allows you to save disk space. If you have a large number of files on your OneDrive, you can activate the Files On-Demand feature to see files you’ve recently accessed without having to search for them. Though it is available via Web, Windows, Windows Phone, Mac, iOS, and Android, Microsoft OneDrive functions best on the latest Windows OS along with Office 365 applications. 

• Pros & Cons 

Conclusion 

The best storage platform for you will depend heavily upon your existing devices, the suite of applications you prefer to use, and how much data you have. While each plan offers a free option, Google Drive is the best option to save money and still utilize suite applications for spreadsheets, word documents, and presentations. For users with more flexible budgets, Dropbox and OneDrive offer storage plans that have higher performance and functionality in comparison to Google Drive and iCloud. Overall, iCloud is the least adaptable for business functions, like sharing with clients and password-protected files.