{"id":78315,"date":"2015-05-06T22:10:41","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T20:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=78315"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:12:01","slug":"best-free-cloud-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/best-free-cloud-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Best free cloud storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

It used to be common to store files on your computer, external drive, or burned on a CD. Now people want files available anywhere, anytime and that’s why cloud storage<\/strong> is so popular today. There are a lot of companies that offer cloud storage, but vary in the amount of free storage available and features.<\/p>\n

Check out this list of the best free cloud storage options and decide which one works for you.<\/p>\n

Google Drive<\/a><\/h3>\n

Google is one of the biggest providers for cloud storage. Free Google Drive space is included with your Gmail<\/a> account. If you use Google Docs<\/a>, files are stored in your Drive<\/a> account and accessible through the web or mobile apps.<\/p>\n

You can install a Google Drive folder to your desktop to access files. You can select which folders to sync, but be aware that syncing takes space<\/strong> on your computer.<\/p>\n

\"google<\/p>\n

Free: 15GB across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google+ Photos<\/p>\n

Paid: 100GB – $1.99\/month, 1TB – $9.99\/month, 10TB\/month – $99.99<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Documents: 50 MB and 1 million characters<\/p>\n

Spreadsheets: 100 MB and 400,000 cells with a maximum of 256 columns<\/p>\n

Presentations: 100 MB (created in Google Drive), 50 MB (uploaded, converted presentations)<\/p>\n

Files: up to 5 TB each<\/p>\n

Items counted towards storage are Gmail messages and attachments, files stored in Drive like images, videos, and music, photos over 2048×2048 pixels and videos longer than 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Open within Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can open and preview<\/strong> common files via browser without a problem. The Android app<\/a> can stream music and video. Google Drive for iOS<\/a> is limited to simply viewing files and can\u2019t play media.<\/p>\n

Google Drive in Chrome can play music files<\/strong>. AAC and OGG files are also supported, but there is a delay. If you want to play FLAC or ALAC, then you\u2019ll need a compatible third-party app. You can also watch uploaded videos<\/strong> in a variety of formats. WebM, MPEG4, 3GPP, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, and MTS. After you upload, the file is processed for playback in Google Drive.<\/p>\n

Photos will open in a preview window and other office documents will open in the respective app if they\u2019re supported. Other file types like PDFs are viewable in Drive, but you need to install a third party app from the Chrome Web Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google Drive: Android <\/a>| iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Gmail users, general backups, and file sharing.<\/p>\n

Dropbox<\/a><\/h3>\n

Dropbox has been around for a while and a lot of people use it. Unfortunately Dropbox only offers\u00a02GB for free accounts<\/strong>, much less than its competitors<\/strong>. However, you can earn more space by referring friends and other methods<\/a>. Dropbox adds a folder on your desktop that syncs with your online account<\/strong> so if you manage files through that folder, changes also happen in the cloud.<\/p>\n

\"dropbox\"<\/p>\n

Free: 2GB (with ability to earn more)<\/p>\n

Paid: 1TB – $9.99\/month<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no limit<\/strong> when uploading on the desktop or mobile apps<\/strong>. Files uploaded through the website<\/strong> are limited to 10GB<\/strong>. Be aware that Dropbox syncs with your computer so if you don\u2019t have enough physical hard drive space, you can\u2019t upload all your files.<\/p>\n

Open with Dropbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dropbox can open files stored online. On desktop, you\u2019ll need a compatible program. Depending on the mobile operating system, you will be able to view a file, but saving edits will only work if the program is integrated with Dropbox. Here’s what each mobile application supports:<\/p>\n

Android<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Android app will search for a compatible application.<\/p>\n

iOS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Images: JPG, TIFF, GIF<\/p>\n

Music: MP3, AIFF, M4A, WAV<\/p>\n

Movies: MOV, MP4, M4V<\/p>\n

Microsoft Office: DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX<\/p>\n

Adobe PDF<\/p>\n

iWork<\/p>\n

Text: TXT, RTF, and more<\/p>\n

Dropbox: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Productivity.<\/p>\n

Box<\/a><\/h3>\n

Box is another classic cloud storage service. It\u2019s great for personal use with 10 GB of storage<\/strong>, but the 250 MB upload cap<\/strong> is disappointing. If you go with a paid plan, you will have a higher upload cap, but the amount of storage doesn’t match other providers.<\/p>\n

\"box\"<\/p>\n

Free: 10GB, 250MB upload limit<\/p>\n

Paid: 100GB, 5GB upload limit – $10.00\/month<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Box is perfect for photo and music storage. 10GB should store most of your photos and some of your music. But it\u2019s worthless for storing videos. You\u2019ll probably hit the 250 MB cap a lot if you try and upload high definition videos.<\/p>\n

Open in Box<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re using the Box app, you can use Preview to glance at files. If you\u2019re using Box through a browser, you can view most\u00a0common file<\/a> formats. But Preview is limited to files 500MB or smaller except for video files which have a 3.5 hour limit. If you\u2019re viewing video, it will be down-sampled to 640×480.<\/p>\n

Box Mobile apps give you different options if you\u2019re using Android<\/a> or iOS<\/a>. Android lets you to view, create, edit, and share files. iOS allows you to view and share only. If there are compatible third party apps, you will be able to edit within those.<\/p>\n

Box: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Productivity, photo backups.<\/p>\n

iCloud Drive<\/a><\/h3>\n

Apple\u2019s service is great if you live inside the company’s ecosystem. While it\u2019s compatible for Windows<\/a>, iCloud Drive is designed to benefit OS X and iOS users with simple drag-and-drop and cross-app editing. One problem with iCloud is it\u2019s possible to fill up the free 5GB<\/strong> very quickly.<\/p>\n

\"icloud<\/p>\n

Free: 5GB<\/p>\n

Paid: 20GB – $0.99\/month, 200GB – $3.99\/month, 500GB – $9.99\/month, 1TB – $19.99\/month<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

iCloud Drive lets you upload any type of file to your storage. The file size limit is 15 GB<\/strong>, but considering only 5GB is free, don\u2019t expect to store a lot of media files. iCloud Drive is best for sharing files and data between apps<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you want to store your music in iCloud, then you\u2019ll need to sign up for iTunes Match<\/a> at $24.99 a year.<\/p>\n

Open in iCloud Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have a compatible app, you can open files on different Apple devices and sync changes across them all. This means that you can edit one document in different apps<\/strong>, but always have the latest version when you sync through a data connection.<\/p>\n

If you use Apple products, then using iCloud Drive as a productivity tool is useful.<\/p>\n

iCloud Drive: Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Apple users with Mac and iOS devices.<\/p>\n

Amazon Cloud Drive<\/a><\/h3>\n

Amazon is the biggest online marketplace in the US, but its cloud storage service isn’t as well known. It works as a basic cloud storage alternative<\/strong>. It\u2019s meant for smaller files rather than full backups. Amazon is also taking a familiar approach with files available on Amazon\u2019s Fire devices.<\/p>\n

\"amazon<\/p>\n

Free: 5GB<\/p>\n

Paid: 20GB – $10.00\/year, 50GB – $25.00\/year, 100GB – $50.00\/year, 200GB – $100\/year<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo and video uploads are limited to under 2GB and videos have to be less than 20 minutes long. As a bonus, Amazon Prime members get unlimited photo storage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Open in Cloud Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon supports different apps, but it\u2019s obvious from the selection it\u2019s meant for photo storage rather than productivity. OfficeSuite<\/a> is supported, but the majority of apps are for file management.<\/p>\n

Amazon Cloud Drive: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Photo backups with Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n

OneDrive<\/a><\/h3>\n

Microsoft is transforming into a cloud-driven company using OneDrive to unify its ecosystem. OneDrive is the company\u2019s cloud storage system that works like Google Drive.<\/p>\n

Office Online<\/a> is included with OneDrive so you can work on Office docs in the cloud. The desktop app gives you access to your files without needing a browser. Files are stored online, but you can select files for offline access<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"onedrive\"<\/p>\n

Free: 15GB, add 3GB (camera roll backup), add up to 5GB by referring friends. Follow our guide to get an up to 8GB of free space<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paid: 100GB – $1.99\/month, 200GB – $3.99\/month, 1TB – $6.99\/month includes Office 365<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

OneDrive works as a general storage solution so you can upload any type of file. The upload limit is 10 GB<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Open in OneDrive<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can open Microsoft Office Word<\/a>, PowerPoint<\/a>, Excel<\/a>, and OneNote<\/a> documents through OneDrive. You can share files from your OneDrive account through your Outlook<\/a> email too.<\/p>\n

MP3 files didn\u2019t play natively in the app and downloaded the file to my device instead, but video played in a preview window. Supported formats are Mp4, MOV, and M4V, but if a video won\u2019t play in OneDrive, you\u2019ll have to download it first and use a compatible video player.<\/p>\n

OneDrive: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a> | Windows 8<\/a> | Windows Phone<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Windows 10 users.<\/p>\n

MEGA<\/a><\/h3>\n

MEGA is the successor to Megaupload. MEGA is an encrypted storage service<\/strong>, which is a little different from it’s predecessor<\/strong>. You can store anything you want and get access through the desktop client, browser, or apps. There is end-to-end encryption for files and even MEGA won\u2019t know what your uploads are.<\/p>\n

The desktop app is similar to Google Drive and Box because it adds a folder<\/strong> to your computer. You choose what folders you want to sync and files can automatically be uploaded to Mega.<\/p>\n

\"mega\"<\/p>\n

Free: 50GB, 10GB monthly bandwidth limit<\/p>\n

Paid: 500GB – 9.99\u20ac\/month, 1TB monthly bandwidth limit, 2TB – 19.99\u20ac\/month, 4TB monthly bandwidth limit, 4TB – 29.99\u20ac\/month, 8TB monthly bandwidth limit.<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no maximum file size<\/strong> limit, but you\u2019re limited by available account space.<\/p>\n

Open in MEGA<\/strong><\/p>\n

MEGA is for storage so there are no tools to play or view files. If you\u2019re synced on desktop, you can browse your files like you would through an explorer. The Android app can stream audio and video.<\/p>\n

MEGA: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Storing files securely, getting the most free space.<\/p>\n

Bitcasa<\/a><\/h3>\n

Bitcasa is another end-to-end encryption cloud storage service. A nice feature is that you can view or stream any kind of file<\/strong> without needing extra software on any device. The company says that three fully encrypted copies<\/strong> are stored in its servers. You can also share files with people even if they\u2019re not using Bitcasa.<\/p>\n

Bitcasa offers auto-backups so you can set important files to back up and not worry about losing important data.<\/p>\n

\"bitcasa<\/p>\n

Free: 5GB<\/p>\n

Paid: 1TB – $10.00\/month, 10TB – $99.00\/month<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bitcasa\u2019s desktop client doesn\u2019t have any upload limits, but the mobile and web apps are capped at 2 GB.<\/p>\n

Open in Bitcasa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bitcasa supports viewing and streaming within its apps without needing extra software. That means you can play music<\/strong>, watch videos<\/strong>, and open documents<\/strong> within the app. If something doesn\u2019t play then the file is either corrupt or Bitcasa doesn\u2019t support it, but considering the list of supported formats<\/a>, it\u2019s probably corrupted.<\/p>\n

Bitcasa: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a> | Windows 8<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Backing up important and sensitive files.<\/p>\n

CloudMe<\/h3>\n

CloudMe is a cloud storage service with multiple tiered plans<\/strong>, you can get storage for a small amount of money. The free plan ranges from 3 to 19GB with a maximum file upload of 150 MB. CloudMe isn’t designed to be an all-in-one solution and works better for selective backups. You can backup photos through its mobile app, sync through desktop, stream, and share folders.
\n\"Courtesy<\/p>\n

Free: 3 – 19GB<\/p>\n

Paid: 10GB – \u20ac 1\/month, 500GB – \u20ac 30\/month<\/p>\n

Upload limit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The free plan is limited to 150MB and any paid plan is limited to 2GB.<\/p>\n

Open in CloudMe<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can stream music and watch music in the app. If you want to edit files, you will have to download them first.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

CloudMe: Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Mac<\/a> | Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for<\/strong>: Photo and music backup<\/p>\n

These are just a few cloud storage options. Combining all the free plans might be difficult to manage, but you’ll get a lot of free space without spending any money.<\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/h3>\n

Best free office suite<\/a><\/p>\n

Best free Android apps<\/a><\/p>\n

Best free iPhone games<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It used to be common to store files on your computer, external drive, or burned on a CD. Now people want files available anywhere, anytime and that’s why cloud storage is so popular today. There are a lot of companies that offer cloud storage, but vary in the amount of free storage available and features. … Continue reading “Best free cloud storage”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[3150],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-78315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329583,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78315\/revisions\/329583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78315"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=78315"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=78315"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=78315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}