20 Best Cloud Storage Software In 2024

Google Cloud provides a suite of cloud computing tools and services to support various computing needs such as data storage, analytics, and machine learning. It can be used to support data-heavy operations with secure, high-performance storage options.

Why I picked Google Cloud: Google Cloud helps your team save costs while managing large datasets. Its storage automatically adjusts to your usage, ensuring you don’t overpay for unused capacity. With multi-tiered storage options, you can easily select the performance level that fits your data needs. Google Cloud also includes features like high availability and low-latency access, which are crucial for real-time data processing.

Google Cloud Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include automatic storage tiering to optimize costs, multi-region data replication for availability, and low-latency access to stored data. Your team can also benefit from easy scaling options to adjust storage capacity as needed. It’s designed for high-performance and secure data management.

Integrations include Firebase, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Functions, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, AI Platform, Cloud Run, and Anthos.

OneDrive is a cloud storage product from Microsoft that provides several security and collaboration capabilities. With a Business plan, you can unlock additional features designed specifically for use in large-scale operations, such as higher storage limits per user and enterprise applications.

Why I Picked Microsoft OneDrive: I picked OneDrive because of its association with Microsoft 365, the suite of products and services for a variety of enterprise use cases. With a Business plan, you can get unlimited storage alongside these apps and other services that streamline processes in large-scale operations.

Microsoft OneDrive Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include the Personal Vault, which introduces an additional layer of protection that I believe is valuable for businesses that want even more security in the cloud. It's an area within which you can lock files and folders, with its own credentials, including biometrics like fingerprint or facial scans or a PIN. OneDrive comes preloaded with modern versions of Windows, but it's also available on other major OSs, including Android, Mac, and iOS. On a tablet or phone, you can use the app to scan and digitize physical items like documents, whiteboards, and photographs and upload them to the cloud.

Integrations include Teams, Microsoft 365, Sharepoint, Trello, Asana, YouTube, Vimeo, Slack, Zoom, Draw.io, and dozens more.

Google Drive is a file storage and sharing platform that acts as the primary storage for several products from the company, especially Google Workspace.

Why I Picked Google Drive: Google Drive is part of Google Workspace, which gives you built-in support for Google’s other cloud-native apps like Docs, Sheets, and Slides. In my experience, the integrated nature of Google Drive makes collaboration a breeze and lets you easily take full advantage of the strengths of cloud storage.

Google Drive Standout Features and Integrations:

Features that make Google Drive stand out to me for collaboration include the fact that it’s part of Google Workspace, support for cloud-native office apps, embedded Google Search capabilities, and 15GB of free storage that makes it easy for anyone with a Google account to test it out extensively. All these make it easy to find, import, and work with files from multiple sources in one place.

Integrations are available natively with popular productivity and collaborative services like Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Docusign, Miro, Folgo, Atlassian, Hive, Cloudlock, MailMerge, LucidCharts, and hundreds more.

Dropbox is one of the earliest providers of cloud storage services and is still going strong. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t have the most reassuring stance on privacy and says it can and does access user data and even shares it with third parties. If low-level encryption is fine with you, there are several compelling features to be found.

Why I picked Dropbox: I picked Dropbox because it has several integrations that make it easier for team members to collaborate, including frequently-used business tools like Slack and Google Workspace. I also appreciate the Smart Sync feature, which lets you free up space on your local storage if you’re running low – an especially helpful tool if you’re a business owner aiming to get by with minimal overhead on equipment.

Dropbox Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include strong collaborative functions like status reports and notifications. Dropbox Paper lets you work closer with team members and organize projects in one place.

Integrations include native support for Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Workspace, Canva, HubSpot CRM, AutoCAD, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Zoom, Pixlr, and Microsoft Teams.

IDrive is a cloud storage solution with a strong focus on backups for common operating systems and storage types. It supports backups and restores at all levels, from individual files to the entire system.

Why I Picked IDrive: IDrive impressed me with the richness of options it gives you for backing up your data, with file versioning, clones, and disk images. These features are available on at least one level for all major operating systems, including iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac, making them easy to adopt.

IDrive Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include IDrive Express, which lets you back up and retrieve data in a physical drive that’s shipped within less than one week. File versioning lets you back up individual files, whereas snapshots give you a point you can restore to if your system is breached. You’ll also have the option to clone an entire system for disaster recovery, something I recommend heavily for your peace of mind.

Integrations include native support for Veeam, Cloudflare, Microsoft 365, Fastly, and Amazon S3 Browser.

pCloud is a cloud storage service that places a premium on security in every sense. It offers zero-knowledge encryption alongside an optional password manager that lets you store and share login credentials.

Why I Picked pCloud: I selected pCloud because of its security focus, with zero-knowledge encryption and a password manager. These features allow you to work with sensitive content, knowing that it won’t land in the hands of anyone you haven’t authorized.

pCloud Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include lifetime plans that give you access to premium features for life with a one-time payment, something I recommend for anyone that struggles to keep up with subscriptions. Moreover, it provides unlimited capabilities in terms of file size as well as upload and download speeds and a file versioning system that lets you keep older copies of items for up to 30 days.

Integrations are available when you connect your pCloud to a premium Zapier account.

Box is a cloud storage service with over 1,500 natively supported integrations. The company was involved in a privacy scandal in 2019 where user info was made public, but if you’re willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, there’s some promise in the product.

Why I picked Box: I picked Box because of the Content Insights feature, which gives you a closer look into how your team uses the platform, which items they access most frequently, and when. This information can help your decision-making processes for scaling and allocating resources.

Box Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include inbuilt apps for digital signatures, threat detection, data governance, whiteboarding, no-code workflow automation, content migration, and more, making it a convenient unified platform for a small business. I also liked how you can make content available offline and still have changes sync with the cloud in the background whenever possible.

Integrations include native support for Google Workspace, Microsoft OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Oracle Netsuite, VMware, and Zoom.

Mega is the successor to the controversy-laden Megaupload. As it exists now, it’s fully above board, with strong privacy features and regular transparency reports from the company.

Why I Picked Mega: I picked Mega because of the 20GB of storage it gives you on its free plan, making it ideal for a small business with moderate storage needs. It also has robust sharing features with functions such as encrypted file sharing and links that you can set to expire.

Mega Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include file versioning that gives you up to 100 versions of a file on both free and premium plans. There’s also a feature that lets you request files from others, including people that don’t have a Mega account, and have them uploaded directly onto your cloud. I can see how a small business owner would use this to make it easier to work with stakeholders.

Integrations are limited, but that’s why I recommend Mega for businesses with minimal operations.

Sync.com is a cloud storage software that puts privacy and security at the forefront of all its plans. It uses zero-knowledge encryption technology to keep data safe from prying eyes, meaning that even Sync itself cannot view user content.

Why I Picked Sync: I picked Sync because of its commitment to security at every turn. It provides zero-knowledge encryption, which means anyone that isn’t you can’t see what you’ve stored in the cloud even if they intercept it.

It also provides file versioning, where it creates a previous version of files as a failsafe against ransomware and other cybersecurity threats. Depending on what plan you’re on, the backup version can last anywhere from 30 days to a year and doesn’t count toward your allocated storage quota. It also doesn’t limit file sizes, making it ideal as a backup for large pre-encrypted systems.

Sync Standout Features and Integrations:

Features that set Sync apart from the competition in my opinion include a strong emphasis on security at every stage. Aside from zero-knowledge encryption, it has a strong file versioning system on all plans to give you peace of mind.

Integrations are available natively with Slack, Microsoft Office 365, and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Koofr is a cloud storage platform whose main focus is on managing multiple clouds. It’s based in Europe and goes to great lengths to comply with GDPR security standards.

Why I Picked Koofr: I picked Koofr because of how well it can combine different storage locations in one place, including local and cloud. It doesn’t soar above its competition in features, I believe it’s still an excellent tool for anyone looking for collaboration between teams on incompatible clouds.

Koofr Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include end-to-end encryption that keeps your data safe as it travels between clouds. With the desktop client, you can create a virtual drive and access files on your computer via the cloud. You can use the Vault Safe Box feature to create encrypted folders and add security for sensitive items.

Integrations include Google Drive, OneDrive, Microsoft Office 365, and Dropbox.