Almost a decade after its introduction, iCloud continues to offer only 5GB of free cloud storage. It’s not laughable enough, so you should consider upgrading to a paid plan sooner rather than later. But that’s not all; iCloud Drive, which lets you back up files and folders on your iPhone and Mac, also provides a mediocre experience when accessing your data on non-Apple platforms.
If you find that iCloud Drive is missing in the free storage or cross-platform sections, there are several alternative cloud storage services that you can easily use on your iPhone or Mac instead. Let’s take a closer look at five of them; You can then perform a full migration from iCloud Drive or use spare capacity with Apple’s native cloud storage service. This is your call.
1. Google Drive
If you don’t mind Google’s risky history of user privacy, Google Drive is a great alternative to iCloud Drive. Right off the bat, you get 15GB of free cloud storage to play on iPhone and Mac. But this is not the end of the story.
Certain file types (like those in G Suite documents) don’t count as part of the storage quota, so expect 15GB to last a while. Also, Google Photos (which you need to download separately on iPhone) allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos, albeit in compressed quality, without consuming an iota of Google Drive space. If you eventually need to upgrade, you can get 100GB for $1.99 per month. This costs nearly the same as iCloud Drive on a cost-per-GB basis.
Google Drive has many other advantages as well; Sharing files and folders with others is super easy, collaborating on G-Suite documents is super easy, the iPhone app offers Face ID/Touch ID authentication, and you can sync almost any folder. your Mac as well as the main Google Drive folder.
Google Drive is available as a downloadable app for iPhone with complete Files app integration. On Mac, you must download and set up the Backup and Sync client to access your Google Drive content or upload locally stored documents and photos online.
2. Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive offers the same amount of free storage as iCloud Drive. However, it’s your best bet if you’re using a Windows 10 device, along with your iPhone and Mac, where you can access your files across all platforms with minimal issues. It is also integrated with Microsoft Office; If you have an Office 365 subscription, you get 1TB of OneDrive storage for free.
The OneDrive app on iPhone works incredibly well, has the ability to make files and folders available offline, and provides an integrated scanner that lets you quickly scan documents and upload them directly to the cloud. You can also set up automatic backup of your photos and videos by enabling the Camera Upload function.
Another interesting addition is Personal Vault, a secure storage folder that lets you back up sensitive documents and protect them with a password and biometrics.
OneDrive on Mac lets you seamlessly access and upload documents to the OneDrive home folder. Microsoft’s cloud storage service also has Files On Demand functionality, where files are only downloaded as needed to save storage space.
Price-wise, OneDrive lets you upgrade to 100GB for $1.99 per month, similar to both iCloud Drive and Google Drive on a cost-per-GB scale. If you want to get more than that, you should get an Office 365 subscription that re-nets your 1TB of storage.
3. Sync
iCloud Drive, an Apple product, is largely geared towards user privacy. If you want an alternative cloud storage service with the same focus but with availability (and better functionality) across multiple platforms including Windows and Android, you should consider using Sync.
Sync comes with 5GB of cloud storage but provides complete end-to-end AES-256 encryption with TLS; this means only you can see your files (as long as you do a good job of protecting your Sync account credentials). Your data is so private that not even Sync can access it.
Sync on iPhone allows you to create folders and back up files and images; it also has a dedicated photo sync module similar to OneDrive’s. And Sync on Mac will quickly back up any items you have added to the Sync home folder. If you need to upgrade, you can get 2TB of storage for $8/month; At $9.99 a month, it’s cheaper than 2TB of iCloud Drive, but you can only pay annually.
To complement its privacy-focused approach, Sync also has a secure ‘Vault’. It allows you to securely upload sensitive files, which can then only be accessed through the device that uploaded them or via the Sync.com web app.
4. Dropbox
Dropbox has been around for a long time and offers rock-solid cloud storage capabilities that work well across platforms. On iPhone, you can quickly upload files, share documents with others, and upload your camera roll to Dropbox servers. And on Mac, it provides the ability to sync specific folders to the cloud, offers Files On Demand functionality, and 30-day version history for your files.
But on the downside, Dropbox only comes with 2GB of free cloud storage, which will run out soon. You can use it as a locker bin for a few extra files you can’t fit in iCloud Drive, or you can choose to upgrade to a paid tier.
Instant tier—Dropbox Plus—offers up to 2TB of storage for $9.99 and comes with a host of features like Smart Sync, advanced collaboration features, and advanced file search capabilities. But you may not need a lot of storage in the first place, making Dropbox a tough sell. Also, iCloud Drive has a similarly priced storage tier.
However, if you prefer a powerful third-party cloud sync service without tying yourself to Apple’s, Google’s, or Microsoft’s ecosystems, Dropbox is a great alternative.
5. pCloud
pCloud comes with a dose of everything for iPhone and Mac; It provides multiplatform access to synced data, lets you share and work on files with others, and provides great privacy-related features (like Apple Sign-in). It also offers 10GB of free cloud storage, but to unlock most of those gigabytes, you’ll need to perform a few tasks like confirming your email and forwarding the service to others.
pCloud even lets you encrypt your files using a feature called Crypto (not related to cryptocurrencies). It’s also reasonably priced, which you can upgrade to 500GB for just $4.99 per month. pCloud also offers Lifetime plans you might want to review.
The pCloud app on iPhone lets you quickly upload files, documents and images. It even has an integrated media player to listen to downloaded music tracks. On Mac, expect to sync your pCloud contents locally and upload certain folders online.
Make Your Choice
With the cloud storage services listed above, you get a much better experience on iPhone and Mac compared to using stock iCloud Drive. Google Drive is arguably the best all-around, but OneDrive, Sync, Dropbox, and pCloud also bring their unique twists to the table. Be sure to try them all before you cash in on a paid storage tier on any service.
Next: You can also use a number of third-party services to back up your iPhone photos. Click on the next link to check out the best iCloud Photo Backup alternatives.
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