Choosing a cloud service for storage and other productivity tasks can be confusing, as it can be difficult to determine which of the many different options is the best bang for your buck, whether in terms of the amount of storage per dollar you get or the multitude of tools it offers. Now, you might think that big-name services like Microsoft, Google, and Apple would win this battle by default, but with so many options available, let’s look at which services are available and offer the best value for money.
When it comes strictly to storage, it’s currently a small company called IDrive that comes out on top. No, this company is not associated with Apple or BMW, but it stands out with its cloud storage plans ranging from $6.99 per month for 5TB to $69.99 per month for 100TB. This price for these amounts is unmatched by other players offering cloud storage, including competitors like pCloud, an iCloud+ alternative that users swear by. IDrive can also be used on multiple devices at the same time for cloud backups, including the entire PC itself. It can also be extended to multiple users with other subscription options.
Best and Best Storage Option for Apple
The majority of cloud services simply provide storage, unlike Google or Microsoft, who have a full cloud-enabled suite to use. In this case, there is no equality; Google offers 2TB of storage, a free VPN, and direct integration with your PC through the Google Drive app for $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, among other benefits. In comparison, Microsoft’s OneDrive offers tons of features and extras, mostly around its AI offerings with Copilot, for $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, but only with 1TB of storage. Unless you’re really married to Microsoft Office, there’s no reason to give up the extra terabyte of storage that Google offers for the same price.
All of these options should work just fine on macOS, but Apple’s cloud storage option is pretty much life-saving for people within its ecosystem. At a fairly reasonable price, iCloud is functionally useless if you don’t have an Apple device to use it with. iCloud’s feature set includes direct integration with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, and automatically backs up files in the background when not in use. If you’re someone trading between Apple and Microsoft or Google, you might be better off using one of the options above rather than Apple’s. Again, once you start taking it outside of the Apple ecosystem, things like sharing with other users or even just accessing files can be a real pain.
