Technology has made our lives easier and made everything within our reach, making the world smaller. From printing and faxing to floppy discs and CDs, to USB drives and external hard drives, and now, we send files and important documents and presentation through email by email attachments or we just provide a link from our cloud storage providing access to view or edit the said document to users all over the world.

Welcome to the future of cloud storage! We have utilized the internet to provide online storage where we can keep our files for backup or upload our files so more than one person can work on it simultaneously! If that’s not amazing enough, your files are accessible wherever you go, through a computer or through mobile, as long as you have internet connection (goodbye corrupted files on external HDDs and USB sticks!). Everything is in the palm of our hands now and I’m pretty sure that cloud storage isn’t the end of innovation.

There are tons of storage applications present today but I’ve narrowed everything down for you! Here are 10 storage apps that we think are the best!

Google Drive

If you’re an Android user or if you have a Gmail account, Google Drive would be the best option mainly because Google Drive is already integrated with any android phone and in Gmail. This online storage syncs easily and automatically with your desktop application, web application, and your mobile phone, making all your files uploaded to Google accessible wherever you go!

One of the best features of Google Drive is that a free account gets 15gb of storage and getting 100gb isn’t even pricey, pricing at around $1.99. They offer 1TB and more for decent prices as well. Out of all the storage apps I’ve seen and used, Google Drive provides the most features and space for a free account. However, a possible con for this is it can appear quite cluttered and confusing.

Other amazing features:

  • Google Docs (similar to Microsoft Word), Google Slides (similar to Powerpoint, and Google Sheets (Excel).
  • Able to share files and folders with anyone!
  • Has a desktop app which functions like a normal folder/drive on your computer
  • File History -- shows the changes made to files complete with time and date
  • Multiple users are able to edit a single file at the same time.
  • Live chat/comments for riles
  • Supports are wide range of files (docx, html, pdf, pptx, svg, txt, png, pdf, xlsx)
  • Has the drag and drop feature whether you’re using the desktop app or the browser version for easily upload of files on your documents or for storage
  • Sync your photos on mobile right into Google Drive and backup all photos instantly
  • Makes files accessible offline

Dropbox

A leading app for cloud storage would be Dropbox. With an appealing, minimalistic and pleasing interface, it’s one of those storage apps that are easy to use. However, upon creation of a free account you can only get 2GB of storage, but if you refer people and if they sign up or if you connect your social media or android/apple phones to your Dropbox account, you’re entitled to additional storage for free. In some cases though, these freebies are usually temporary.

They offer multiple pricing for additional storage which gears towards business or work matters. For 2TB of storage, you pay $12.50 a month and share it with 3 users. For growing businesses, they offer a $20 price for unlimited storage (yep! As much storage as you need!). Paying for these subscriptions give you additional features such as:

  • Office 365 integration
  • Admin console and audit log
  • File event tracking
  • Viewer history
  • Live Chat support
  • Management Tools
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Domain Verification
  • Dropbox Paper admin tools

There are some features in Dropbox that requires to be paid that you can get for free on other apps, sadly, and they’re more expensive than say, Google Drive, but hey, each to their own.

iCloud

Though the iCloud is accessible through PC, this storage app benefits those using iOS the most. A free account starts at 5GB and it keeps everything from your files on your Mac or iOS mobile device to your videos and photos. The iCloud even backs up everything on your device for easy restoration.

They offer plans starting at $0.99 a month for 50GB, $2.99 a month for 200GB and 2TB for $9.99 a month (the last two options shareable with storage with family so members of the family don’t need to spend individually.

Other features:

  • Real-time Collaboration (iWork suite) wherein users can edit and access shared files - this option is open to Android, Linux and PC as well.
  • iCloud Backup and Restore
  • iCloud Photo Library which backs up all your videos and photos and make them accessible in all our devices

Compared to other features provided by other apps, iCloud is more of an app for personal use and not much businesses.

OneDrive

If there’s Google and Apple’s version of storage, Microsoft has their own too, it’s called OneDrive. pon signing up with a Hotmail/Outlook email, you can immediately access your own OneDrive with basic storage of 5GB.

It offers a $0.99 per month fee for 50GB if you are in need of additional storage. A notable feature of this storage app is you need to pay for Office 365 (the online/app version of Microsoft Office Suite). The free version and 50GB version does not have the feature of using Office 365. You need to pay 6.99 or 9.99 for this feature.

OneDrive provides these features (for paid users):

  • Office 365 (Premium for 5 computers, phones and tablets or Personal for 1 computer, phone or tablet)
  • Expiring links for enhanced security
  • Offline Folders
  • Multi-page scanning

The free version doesn’t offer as much compared to the other storage apps but it’s pretty decent and provides the basic features you would need for online storage of your files.

Amazon Drive

Amazon Drive doesn’t offer as much for a free (just 5GB to upload photos, videos that will sync throughout all devices), it’s very reliable with fast syncing thanks to their block-level file copying which allows faster syncs by only copying parts of files that was changed than syncing the entire file all over again.

Perks of being subscribed to Amazon Prime gives you unlimited storage for your photos which doesn’t count with your current storage plan. Other plans are paid per year 100GB for $11,99 and 1TB plus Amazon Digital for 59.99 per 1TB per year.

Unfortunately, Amazon Drive only provides storage, they have no productivity integrations like iCloud, Google Drive, and OneDrive, no at-rest encryption for your files and no password protection for links.

Box

Box is second to Google Drive when it comes huge storage for free, a free account gives you 10GB of online storage space. It’s has a simple UI that makes it easy to use. It has a desktop application and mobile (supporting iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone). Like other storage apps, you are able to share files and folders with people without a Box account, which makes it convenient. The app also allows the creation of Google Docs and spreadsheets, or you can download a separate app called Box Edit that allows document editing.

The free account, however, has a 250 MB upload limit per file. This could be a great disadvantage for uploading huge video files or graphics. This limit is increased when you subscribe to their paid plans. The starter plan is at $6 monthly which gives you 100GB of online storage and 2GB file upload and if it’s for work or a big business, they offer a $17 per month with unlimited storage and 5GB file upload.

Other paid features:

  • Two-factor Authentication
  • User Management (maximum of 10 users, minimum of 3)
  • SSL and at-rest encryption
  • Version history
  • Custom Branding
  • Mobile security controls
  • Data Loss PRevention
  • API Calls

Mega

If security is what you need plus a hefty storage space for free, Mega would be the best app for you. They provide 50GB of online storage the moment you create an account (that’s the best so far in terms of storage). This app is focused mainly on storage and security. All files and passwords are encrypted and not stored which makes everything in your account heavily protected.

The downside for this app is that it has a 10GB bandwidth limit upon uploading files but refreshes every 30 minutes. Availing of paid plans will allow you to have more bandwidth limit and more storage space. They offer 4 different plans starting at €4.99 with 200GB of storage and 1TB bandwidth limit and their biggest offer is at €29.99 per month for 8TB storage and 16TB transfer.

SpiderOak One

Should your priority be privacy and you’re looking for an app that prioritizes it as well, check out SpiderOak One. This online storage makes sure that no one holds any of your passwords or information as everything is safely encrypted. However, this one is one of the most expensive. They do not offer a free account, just a 21-day trial with 2GB. You do not need to provide any credit card details upon availing of the free trial.

The best thing about this app is that it’s the best for backup of your entire computer and allows unlimited devices. Their plans start at $5 per month for 100GB, $9 per month for 250GB, $12 per month for 1,000GB and $25 per month for 5TB.

They have mobile apps and web access but they strongly warn you as you access your storage using these devices that it will affect your privacy such having your password kept on their servers accessible to their employees. The best way to access this storage is via their desktop application.

iDrive

Another good option to go for is iDrive. They provide a free account with 5GB of storage, plus unlimited devices which is great if you plan on syncing everything on every gadget that you have in it. Like a few of those listed here, iDrive makes sure that all files and information are encrypted which provides a great deal of security. They even integrated Windows File Explorer by implementing a right-click option for your files. A very notable feature of iDrive is that they offer iDrive Express, it’s a service wherein if you lose your data at one point, they’ll happily ship a physical hard drive to your doorstep so you can restore everything of your backed up files! (that’s pretty convenient!)

The plans are pretty affordable as well, with iDrive personal has an option of 2TB for $69.50 a year or 5TB at $99.50 a year. Their business plan has three options but starts at $99.50 a year for 250GB storage allowing unlimited servers, computers, and users. The key features of this app are as follows:

  • Multiple Device Backup
  • iDrive Express
  • Facebook, Instagram, Office 365 backup
  • Retrieve Data
  • Linux Backup
  • Server Backup
  • Hyper Backup

pCloud

A great option for free online storage will be pCloud, you are given a free 10GB of storage but referrals and sharing can up your storage space to a total of 20GB. This app provides the basic storage features such as sharing and collaborating. There’s no limit with uploads or bandwidth, so you’re free to sync large media files.

Their paid plans allow layers of encryption for the protection of your files aside from the providing more storage space. Their plans start with a one-time payment of $125 for 500GB storage and a one-time payment of $250 for 2TB storage. The other key features of this app are:

  • Collaboration, permission to modify files
  • TLS/SSL channel protection
  • Extra layer of encryption
  • Selective offline access for files
  • Backup for Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, OneDrive and Google Drive

There you have it, 10 storage apps that will be a great help with backing up all your files or for sharing files with clients or customers. These applications are a must nowadays and are great ways for file collaborations or working with people from anywhere in the world.

There are other storage apps that weren't covered (e.g. Mediafire, SugarSync, and a lot more), which ones are you using the most and what makes them convenient for you?