Today, we’re talking about nothing less than the best cloud storage available in 2021. We’ll be counting down our top five favorites, and we might have a few surprises for you. I know you’re eager to get started. So am I, but we’d love it if you could take a second to hit the thumbs-up and the bell to get more of our s on your feed. With that done, let’s jump right in. Everyone’s heard of Google Drive and Dropbox. But there are well over 30 other cloud storage providers competing for your attention, and we’ve reviewed pretty much all of them.
#5: Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive will probably be the most familiar name on this list since it comes pre-packaged with Windows ten.OneDrive isn’t the best at anything, but it’s our favorite of the big three. It beats out Google Drive and Dropbox by having a better web app.
It also lets you scan documents in color and share them with people who don’t have a Microsoft account. Another nice thing about OneDrive is block-level copying, though you can only do this with Microsoft Office documents. Block-level copying means you can change a synced file without the entire file being-uploaded.
It lets you sync in something close to real-time. Obviously, it integrates super well with Office Online, and if you’re using it already, then having OneDrive in your shortlist does make sense. Overall, we think there are better services for file syncing and sharing, especially if you’re handling bigger files.
#4 Icedrive
#4: Icedrive Now, let’s look at Icedrive.Icedrive is pretty new to the cloud storage landscape, but it’s made a fantastic first impression. It was founded last year, and it’s been offering ten gigabytes of storage space for free since then. It’s also heavily focused on security. Icedrive offers zero-knowledge encryption, so the only person who can read your files you.
None of the big three go that far. Zero-knowledge encryption is also baked in, which means you don’t have to purchase an addon. Icedrive never completely downloads files to your computer, which means its drag on your hard drive is really low. And its user interface is fantastic whether you’re on desktop, mobile, or the web app.
The designers were clearly thinking of cloud storage newbies when they built it, so everything is intuitive and easy to find. Icedrive is one of the providers that offer lifetime plans, so you can get 1TB for only 149 USD in a one-time payment or a generous 5TB of cloud storage for only $499, which would normally17,99 USD every month. We have the pros and cons of life plans that you can access right here.
#3 Tresorit (best for business)
#3: Tresorit is our favorite cloud storage service for businesses. It’s got zero-knowledge encryption that grants you total privacy. It also offers unlimited versioning, which gives you a huge range of backups to choose from if your data gets corrupted or seized in a ransomware attack. And there’s a beautiful user interface that makes great use of negative space.
Overall, it’s an excellent app, but we named it only “best for business” because the cost is high compared to other more consumer-focused services. Tresorit’s price is a steep barrier to entry. Consumer plans start from 12,50 USD per month for 500GB. Businesses are looking at 20 USD per user for 1TB of storage.
#2: pCloud
pCloud is one of our favorite cloud storage apps for file sharing. If you have someone’s email address, you can share files and folders with them and change their edit privileges easily. You can also keep track of all your different shares, so you don’t get your wires crossed. You can share files with people even if they don’t have a pCloud account,
and with file requests, they can also upload files into shared folders, which makes it useful for collecting all photos from a party or wedding. We also want to talk up their free plan, which gives you ten gigs of free storage. That’s one of the most generous offers there is. Only Google Drive gives you more without any strings attached.
Icedrive
Just Icedrive, pCloud also offers lifetime cloud storage options and family plans where you can get 2TB for up to 5 users for a one-time payment of 500 USD. The only thing keeping pCloud from the number one spot is that once you’ve shared a file with someone else, you can’t apply zero-knowledge encryption to it anymore. If you want to know more about Cloud, check our review here or our deep dive review.
#1 Sync.com
#1: Sync Drum roll, now let’s get to our favorite cloud storage service. If you’ve watched our others, you might already know how much we talk up Sync.com.It’s the only service that beats out pCloud for file sharing since it lets you keep files encrypted when you share them.
Only you and the recipients you choose can ever read them. It’s truly zero-knowledge security. You can even wipe a file remotely after somebody else has downloaded it. That’s unbelievably rare. It just goes to show you how Sync is always trying to be more convenient and more secure.
The 2TB plan only costs 8 USD, but you’ll have to pay for one year in advance. Overall, we think it’s worth the money, though, and we don’t see you going back once you’re on Sync or us. I think sync would be perfect if it had a drive feature other cloud storage platforms where you could access it and external hard drive without files taking up hard drive space.