Looking for the best cloud storage service? Then keep watching!
In this video, we will cover the five best cloud storage services available on the market.
Also, we will show you how you can secure exclusive discounts on all of these services,
including a special 50 percent discount on our top-rated pick.
We have spent countless hours reviewing and ranking all the best cloud storage services out
there, so you can confidently choose the right option -- without wasting your time. So, don’t
go anywhere and watch this video till the end. Also, we have added official links to all the
products in the description section below, so whichever service tickles your fancy,
don’t forget to buy it using the official links we've added in the description section down below.
These links have special discounts already applied to them, so you will end up saving a lot of money.
Now, let’s get started. The world is evolving at
an unbelievable speed, and with it, each of us must also embrace evolution. While
we used to rely on hard drives to store and share files and documents in the past, that
method seems to have become old-school nowadays. Thanks to technology, many aspects of our lives
have seen significant changes and improvements, including the way we store and share files. With
a large percentage of people now working from home and on-the-go nowadays, the traditional
storage solutions no longer cut it for us. There were calls for a better alternative,
and as it always does, technology delivered - a cloud storage option. For those wondering,
cloud storage doesn’t mean you’d be storing your files up in the sky above.
The cloud in this context simply means ‘online’ and with this technology, you can remotely and
safely store and access all types of files from a wide range of browsers, devices, and locations.
Even though the storage method only just became mainstream, it has been around for a while.
In fact, a report claims that the cloud was already hosting 45 percent of workloads in the
year 2018. In the same year, the global cloud computing market was valued at $272 billion,
and by 2023, the numbers are expected to reach an astonishing $623.3 billion.
These statistics show us how tremendously the cloud storage option is being embraced across
the world, and it’s easy to see why. For one, cloud storage improves collaboration,
allowing team members to easily share documents without being in the same physical location.
That apart, cloud storage makes working on-the-go much easier as you can easily access and edit your
files wherever you are, whether on the train or a bus. The experience is truly remarkable. And to be
honest, every progressive and modern organization must adopt and get familiar with the way it works.
With that being said, it must also be noted that there are many cloud-storage providers to
choose from. While highly reputable names like DropBox and Google Drive probably ring a bell,
there are other good options as well but are barely known.
There are also paid and free options, but we recommend going for a paid option,
as free ones are usually too limited. We’ve made this all-encompassing video to
ensure you don’t have a hard time when making a decision. After comprehensive research,
we have compiled a list of the best options and subsequently reviewed them.
Each provider is reviewed with five key factors in mind.
The first factor that will be discussed is the different features built into each cloud service.
The second factor is security – these services are responsible for keeping your files safe,
so every top provider must prioritize security. The third factor is privacy – With many
countries imposing strict privacy and data access laws, we take the
privacy policy into account for each provider. The fourth factor is technical support – the
quality of support offered by each provider says a lot about its reliability. For this
reason, we consider this factor as well. Lastly, pricing structure – we also take
a look at each provider's pricing structure and the plans on offer.
Before we cover our picks, we ask for a small favor. A lot of extensive research and hard work
goes into making these videos. Sometimes, Our team spends as much as 100 hours on creating a single
high-quality video. We do this because we believe you deserve to see quality content. All we ask
in return is that you like this video and press the subscribe button. It would mean a lot to us.
Also, which cloud storage service is your favourite, and what you like about it? Leave
us a comment down below. We read all the comments, and the most interesting comment will be pinned.
Now, here are the 5 best cloud storage services in descending order.
On the 5th spot, we have IceDrive. For a fairly new provider, IceDrive
packs a lot of punch. It implements encryption impressively, boasting a syncing approach that
allows you to access files without saving them on your hard drive, helping you to free space.
However, we must say that IceDrive is not the most feature-packed cloud storage service out there.
For one, a couple of basic features are lacking, which puts it some levels behind the top dogs
in the industry. Also, only paid users enjoy encryption, which means for all its brilliance,
the free plan leaves a lot to be desired. But when it comes to security, it’s a different
story. It’s one of the biggest selling points of IceDrive. For encryption, the company adopts the
Twofish protocol, rather than the typical AES protocol used by most rivals. The logic behind
this also makes sense, as IceDrive believes that since the encryption protocol is less known,
most hackers are yet to be familiar with it. The service also provides end-to-end encryption
and zero-knowledge encryption. Besides, you can preview even encrypted files – a feature that
used to be impossible with most other services. However, there is no two-factor authentication,
which means your account is susceptible to brute-force hacking, and anyone with your
login details can easily access your data. The company is based in the United Kingdom,
so it complies with all UK privacy regulations and laws. In general, the company flourishes
when it comes to privacy. None of your data is kept without your consent. The company also
never uses third-party tracking applications, so all your activities are only known by you.
In general, all the company’s services are kept private, and the zero-knowledge encryption keeps
your data completely safe. There’s also no chance of your data getting compromised,
as long as you encrypt your files. The customer support, however,
is everything but impressive. The only option available to customers is a ticket. That means
you can’t call them or chat them up, which doesn’t bode well for a 21st- century organization.
The incredible value it delivers is probably the service’s most attractive feature.
With 10GB of free cloud storage space, the free plan is one of the best free options.
Should you be looking for an upgrade, there are three paid plans to choose from.
The first is the Lite plan, which gives you 150GB of storage and a monthly bandwidth limit of 250GB
for just $19.99 yearly. Right after that is the Pro plan, which for just $49.99 yearly,
gives you 1TB of cloud storage and a monthly bandwidth limit of 2TB.
Lastly, there is the Pro+ plan, which is actually the most expensive option on offer.
Costing $179.99 yearly, the plan offers 5TB of storage and a monthly bandwidth limit of 8TB.
See the official link we have added down below if you want to get a special discount on IceDrive.
At number 4, we have Sync.com While Sync.com is still a few steps below
some of our top providers, the platform still gives them a run for their money. Admittedly,
it’s not really big on features but does make it up with solid security encryption and reliable
privacy policy, which puts it firmly in the conversation for the best cloud storage options.
For starters, the service supports versioning, which allows you to get
older versions of your files if you ever need them. Generously, the older versions do not count
against the original storage quota. As long as you are a paying user,
the platform will keep the older versions forever. Otherwise, they will be wiped
automatically after thirty days. The features don’t stop there, of course. The platform
also supports basic file and folder sharing, and there are advanced sharing controls with
expiry dates and password protection on links. That said, we can’t help but wonder if the company
doesn’t care much about other features just to focus on the most important functionality i.e.,
keeping your files private, safe, and well-managed between different computers and if needed,
different users. If that’s all that matters to you, then you’d have no problem choosing Sync.com.
For security, the platform features two-factor authentication, AES 256-bit encryption,
and end-to-end encryption. In addition, it uses secure TLS tunnels to safeguard snoopers and
spies from snooping on your data while in transit from and to the company’s servers.
To give you an edge and further strengthen security, Sync.com does not work with a range
of third-party apps or allow other individuals to use its API. This reduces the risk of your account
getting compromised and keeps the platform’s inner workings as surreptitious as possible.
Also, most cloud storage platforms allow their employees to access,
share and scan your files kept on their server but things are different with this service.
The company has set itself up to prevent that sort of thing, which is a huge selling point.
To achieve this, they protect all the data in Sync using end-to-end AES 256-bit encryption,
which means only the owner can control the data key as the data is encrypted at the source.
This way, your files would be useless to others, despite them being online. To understand it,
they will require the encryption key, which is only available to you.
However, the downside to this is that if you ever forget your password,
you will never be able to recover it. The company does not hold the encryption key,
which means they are incapable of resetting it.
If you are looking to try it for free, the free plan offers 5GB cloud storage. We suspect you’ll
need more than that though. If that’s the case, you can sign up for either $8/month for 2TB,
$12/month for 3TB, or $15/month for 4TB. There’s no option to pay monthly,
so whatever plan you choose, you’d have to multiply it by 12 and pay upfront.
If you’re interested in Sync.com, make sure to buy it using the official link
we have added below. You can save up to 60 percent if you buy sync.com using that link.
That brings us to Google Drive, which sits in the third position on our list.
Being one of the tech industry's biggest names, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that Google
made the list. In fact, Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud services in the world,
even though it has some serious drawbacks which we’ll get to in a moment.
On the upsides, the service has mastered how to strike a perfect balance between simplicity and
functionality. With the mobile apps and web interface, you can effortlessly access your
data from anywhere. Not only that, but you can also edit your data as the service integrates
with other Google products like Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Docs.
Furthermore, you get to enjoy helpful features like advanced search, offline access,
preview options, and file versioning. You can also choose which files are synchronized to each device
and which files remain on the cloud, thereby reducing the amount of disk space you consume.
However, Google is quite disappointing in the area you’d least expect – security.
While technically, they have the best security of any cloud storage provider,
the fact that they hold the encryption keys is a letdown. So, despite having strong encryption,
the company can decrypt and access your data whenever it wants, which is a huge danger sign.
On the pros, it encrypts your data in rest and transit using TLS, AES 128-bit, and AES 256-bit
encryption protocols. This way, no hacker or middleman can access your data. The service
also uses two-factor authentication, which is probably the ultimate protection feature nowadays.
For support, the company has a packed Help Center, covering most of the questions that
you could possibly have. The Help Community is also ready to assist with your problems.
If you’re unable to solve your issue using both, then you can contact the support team,
either through email or 24-7 live chat. Google Drive has been packaged into a plan
referred to as Google One. With this plan, your storage space is shared between Google Photos,
Gmail, and Google Drive. Generously, the free plan offers 15GB of cloud storage.
If you want more capacity, you can subscribe to either of the two premium plans. One offers 100GB,
costing $1.99 per month. The Plus plan costs $9.99 per month but offers an enormous 2TB.
If you choose to prepay annually, you’ll only be paying for ten months per year.
Check out the official link we have given down below for exclusive
discounts on Google Drive premium plans. In the second spot, we have pCloud.
pCloud is widely considered one of the top cloud-storage services, and to be honest,
it’s nothing but the truth. It comes with most of the features you would typically expect from
a top cloud storage service, but additional features give users a sense of uniqueness.
For starters, it allows you to access deleted data for up to 15 days on free accounts,
30 days on the paid accounts, and an entire year for people who paid for
extended file history. It also supports automatic syncing over multiple devices,
and you can configure mobile devices to automatically back up files.
Furthermore, a virtual hard drive frees up space on your hard disk as it doesn’t consume space
on your local devices. Besides being able to share folders, links, and files with others,
you can also brand your links with your own description, heading, and image.
In terms of security, pCloud is impressive. The service offers AES 256-bit encryption and TLS/SSL
protection for all data as standard for every account. About five copies of users’ files
are also retained on different servers. And if you want an extra security layer,
you can subscribe to pCloud Crypto, which allows client-side encryption.
With this, there’s zero-knowledge privacy as you’re the only one with access to your
data and every file is encrypted prior to being uploaded to the provider’s servers.
It’s also worth adding that pCloud prioritizes its customers, delivering a quite remarkable
quality of support. First, there is an extensive FAQ base where dozens of questions have been
answered. Whatever problem you’re facing, you’re likely to find the solution in the FAQ base.
You can also get in touch with the support team either through email or their social media
accounts. They are usually quick to respond. Already reliable support could be even better,
though, if there was a way to make a direct phone call for technical support.
For the pricing, we think it’s relatively reasonable. There’s a free account with a
generous storage size of 10GB. Then, there are two premium plans, based on the size of
the storage you need. Costing $47.88 per year, the first paid plan offers 500 GB.
If that’s not enough, the Premium Plus plan costs $95.88 per year, giving you up to 2TB.
Meanwhile, there is a one-time lifetime plan, valid for about 99 years. In case you are
interested, the premium costs $175 while the Premium Plus costs $350 for the lifetime plan.
If you are interested in pCloud, don’t forget to buy it using the official link
we have added in the video description. You can save up to 65 percent on pCloud using our link.
Finally, we have iDrive on the number one spot. With its incredible interface, feature-rich
nature, and solid security, iDrive’s spot on this list cannot be debated.
It’s an amazing service, ticking all the boxes we love to see on top-rated cloud-storage services.
To begin with, the service comes with remarkable sharing and sync features,
allowing it to edge its rivals. It also supports NAS, image-based, external hard drive, mobile,
and hybrid backup, which can be done on a scheduled or continuous basis.
Interestingly, iDrive allows you to create sync folders that automatically synchronize
contents between devices. This way, your storage space is effectively doubled
as the sync folder doesn’t consume from your original backup storage.
For corporate organizations, the service allows you to set up multiple user accounts per plan.
That apart, it allows you to grant different individuals permission and access to various
files and organize them into different groups. In terms of security, we must say that the
company takes it very seriously. It encrypts your data using AES 256-bit encryption during rest and
while being transferred. Also, you are the only person who has access to your encryption key,
which means no outsider will ever be able to access your files, not even an iDrive employee.
While this idea is brilliant for the most part, the catch is that the company won’t
be able to help recover your files if you ever forget your password.
It’s hard to fault the customer service too, as nearly everything is provided for client support.
If you ever need help, you have a wide range of options to get help,
from a comprehensive FAQ page to phone support. Coming to iDrive’s pricing, the Personal tier is
priced at $69.50/year, offering 2TB. There’s a 5TB plan also, which will set you back on about
$99.50 per annum. Like most companies, most of their plans attract different discounts at
different times, so you could find that out when you are ready to buy a plan.
We have added official links to iDrive in the description box below. You can get a
special 50 percent discount if you buy through our links. So, grab your chance before the sale ends.
We have reviewed the most incredible cloud storage services in the world in this video. Of course,
some are more sophisticated than others in terms of functionalities, features, and usage, but you
should be fine with any of our recommendations. That said, kindly let us know your opinions in
the comments section below. Also, which cloud storage do you use,
and why? We will reply to all the comments. We hope you enjoyed watching this video. Please
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