10 Best Paid and Free Cloud Data Storages

To exchange files between computers and mobile gadgets, cables and flash drives are no longer needed. If devices have Internet access, files can “fly” between them “on the cloud.” More precisely, they can “settle” in cloud storage, which is a collection of servers scattered around the world (united into one virtual - cloud server), where users place their data for a fee or for free. In the cloud, files are stored in the same way as on a computer’s hard drive, but are accessible not from one, but from different devices that are able to connect to it.

Every second or third Internet user has already adopted cloud data storage technology and uses it with pleasure, but some still resort to flash drives. After all, not everyone knows about this opportunity, and some simply cannot decide which service to choose and how to use it. Well, let's figure it out together.

What are cloud storages from a user's point of view and how do they work?

If you look through the eyes of an inexperienced user, cloud storage is an ordinary application. All it does is create a folder on the computer under its own name. But not simple. Everything you put into it is simultaneously copied to the same cloud Internet server and becomes accessible from other devices. The size of this folder is limited and can grow within the limits of the disk space allocated to you (on average from 2 GB).

If the cloud storage application is running and the computer (mobile gadget) is connected to the global network, the data on the hard drive and in the cloud are synchronized in real time. When working offline, as well as when the application is not running, all changes are saved only in the local folder. When the machine is connected to the Internet, access to the storage becomes possible, including through a browser.

Files and folders uploaded to the cloud are full-fledged web objects, the same as any content on Internet sites and FTP storages. You can link to them and share links with other people, even those who do not use this service. But only those to whom you have authorized it will be able to download or see an object from your storage. In the cloud, your data is hidden from prying eyes and is securely protected with a password.

The majority of cloud services have additional functionality - a file viewer, built-in document editors, tools for creating screenshots, etc. This, plus the amount of space provided, creates the main differences between them.

is a cloud data storage service that needs no introduction to Windows users. Of course, in the latest releases of this OS (in the top ten), it actually climbs on top of everything on the screen, since it is configured to autorun by default.

For Windows users, the advantage of the Microsoft OneDrive service over its analogues is perhaps only one - it does not need to be installed. You also don’t need to create a separate account for it—to log into the cloud, you just need to enter your Microsoft account information.

The owner of one Microsoft OneDrive account provides 5 GB of free disk space to store any information. To get additional volume, you will have to pay extra. The maximum is 5 TB and costs 3,399 rubles per year, but this package includes not only disk space, but also the Office 365 application (home edition). More affordable tariff plans are 1 TB (2,699 rubles per year - storage and Office 365 personal) and 50 GB (140 rubles per month - storage only).

Additional features of all tariffs:

• Support for other operating systems - Mac OS X, iOS and Android.
• View and edit documents using built-in Office applications.
• Remote access to the entire contents of the computer (not just the OneDrive folder) on which the service is installed and your Microsoft account is used.
• Creation of photo albums.
• Built-in messenger (Skype).
• Creation and storage of text notes.
• Search.

Paid versions only:

• Creating links with a limited validity period.
• Offline folders.
• Multi-page scanning and saving documents to a PDF file.

In general, the service is not bad, but sometimes there are problems logging into your account. If you are going to work with the web version of the storage (via a browser) and log into it under a different IP address than you used before, Microsoft sometimes runs a check that the account belongs to you, which takes a lot of time.

There have also been complaints about user content being removed from OneDrive when Microsoft suspected it was unlicensed.

is one of the oldest cross-platform cloud storage services. Unlike the previous one, it supports all major operating systems, as well as some less commonly used ones, such as Symbian and MeeGo. The service is very easy to use, works quickly and stably.

A DropBox user is provided with only 2 GB of disk space for free to store personal files, but this volume can be doubled by creating and attaching another account to your account - a work account (which can actually be personal). Together you get 4 GB.

Switching between personal and work disk space on the DropBox website and in the application is carried out without logging out of your account (no need to enter your username and password each time). A separate folder is created on the computer for both accounts - 2 GB each.

DropBox, as expected, also has several pricing plans. About free it was said above, Paid ones are “Plus” (1 TB, $8.25 per month, intended for personal use), “Standard” (2 TB, $12.50 per month, for business), “Advanced” (unlimited volume, $20 per month for 1 user) and “Enterprise” (unlimited volume, individually set price). The differences between the last two lie in the set of additional options.

In addition to storage, free users have access to:

• Document collaboration service DropBox Paper.
• Ability to share links and create public folders.
• Log of file changes with the ability to restore them to the previous version (up to 30 days).
• Commenting on files - both your own and other users, if the file is available for viewing.
• Search function.
• Receiving notifications about events (customizable individually).
• Automatic uploading of photos from the camera (by the way, DropBox provided users with additional space for enabling this option some time ago).
• Select full or selective synchronization.
• Encryption of data during storage and transmission.

The possibilities of paid tariffs can be listed for a very long time, so we will only note the main ones:

• Remotely destroy data from DropBox on a lost or stolen device.
• Limit the link's validity period.
• Two-factor account authentication.
• Setting access levels to different data.
• Enhanced HIPAA/HITECH class information protection (secure storage of medical records).
• 24/7 technical support.

DropBox, if not the best, is a very worthy service. Despite the small amount of free space by today's standards, it is used by millions of people around the world.

Mega (Megasync)

As is clear from the description, Amazon Web Services is aimed only at the corporate sector and is not intended for storing albums with photographs of cats, although it is possible that someone uses it for this too. After all, cloud file storage - Amazon Glacier, like Yandex disk, provides users with 10 free GB. The cost of additional volume is $0.004 per 1 GB per month.

Comparing Amazon Glacier with the web resources described above is perhaps incorrect, since they have slightly different purposes. The functionality and capabilities of this service are determined by business objectives, including:

• Uninterrupted operation, increased reliability.
• Compliance with enhanced data protection standards.
• Multilingual interface.
• Unlimited volume (expansion for an additional fee).
• Ease of use and flexible settings.
• Integration with other Amazon Web Services.

Those who are interested in Amazon's capabilities can read the complete documentation for AWS products, which is located on the official website.

Mail.ru

It ranks second or third in the popularity rating of file web storage among Russian-speaking audiences. In terms of its range of capabilities, it is comparable to Google Drive and Yandex Drive: like them, it contains web applications for creating and editing documents (texts, tables, presentations) and a screenshoter (a utility for taking screenshots). It is also integrated with other Mail.ru projects - mail, social networks “My World” and “Odnoklassniki”, the “Mail. Dating”, etc., has a convenient file viewer with a flash player and is also very affordable (for those for whom the allocated volume is not enough).

The size of the free disk space of the Mail cloud is 8 GB (previously this figure has changed several times). The premium tariff for 64 GB costs 690 rubles per year. For 128 GB you will have to pay 1,490 rubles per year, for 256 GB - 2,290 rubles per year. The maximum volume is 512 GB, which will cost 3,790 rubles per year.

Other functions of the service are not much different from similar ones. This:

• Shared folders.
• Synchronization.
• Built-in search.
• Ability to share links.

The Mail.ru client application works on Windows, OS X, iOS and Android.

Cloud storage is a proprietary web service for owners of smartphones and tablets of the same manufacturer. Designed to store backup copies of data from mobile devices - multimedia content, OS files and other things at the user's discretion.

The Samsung Cloud client application is pre-installed on phones and tablets released after the second half of 2016 (more precisely, after the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7). Registering an account on the service is only possible through it, apparently to weed out outsiders.

The free storage capacity is 15 GB. An additional 50GB costs $0.99 per month, and 200GB costs $2.99.

iCloud (Apple)

- a favorite among cloud data storage users of Apple products. Of course, it’s free (though not very spacious) and integrated with other Apple services. The service is designed to store backup copies of data from iPhone, iPad and iPod, as well as user media files, mail and documents (the latter are automatically synchronized with the contents of iCloud Drive).

Free iCloud storage capacity is 5 GB. Additional storage retails for $0.99 for 50GB, $2.99 ​​for 200GB, and $9.99 for 2TB.

The iCloud client app supports Mac OS X, iOS, and Windows operating systems. There is no official application for Android, but owners of devices based on this OS can view mail from the Apple cloud on their device.

The top parade of cloud storages is completed by a Chinese service. As you can see from the screenshot, it is clearly not adapted for you and me. Why is it needed then, if there are domestic, European and American analogues that are more familiar to Russian-speaking people? The fact is that Baidu provides users with a whole terabyte of free disk space. For this reason, it is worth overcoming translation difficulties and other obstacles.

Registration on Baidu Cloud is significantly more labor-intensive than competitors. It requires confirmation with a code sent via SMS, but SMS from the Chinese server does not arrive to Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian numbers. Our fellow citizens have to get by by renting a virtual phone number, but that’s not all. The second difficulty is that an account cannot be registered with some email addresses. In particular, on the services gmail (Google is blocked in China), fastmail and Yandex. And the third difficulty is the need to install the Baidu Cloud mobile application on your phone or tablet, since this is what 1 TB is given for (when registering on a computer, you will receive only 5 GB). And it, as you understand, is entirely in Chinese.

Aren't you scared? Dare - and you will be rewarded. Information on how to create an account on Baidu yourself is available on the Internet.