Biggest FREE Cloud Storage Service Shootout, August 2013
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World is now filled with cloud storages. The biggest hype now after social media services is now to have online storages. Here i tried to compare almost all possible FREE service available on the web. I personally tested all the service myself. It took much time but without testing them all i cant be sure to find the BEST.
The Contenders: Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, Sugarsync, Glide, CX (Cloud Experience), Memopal, Safecopy, Mimedia, Teamdrive, HiDrive, iDrive, Comodo Cloud Storage, Spideroak, MegaCloud, Wuala, iCloud, Bitcasa, 4Sync, Rapidshare, Adrive, Mediafire, Synplicity. ZenOK, Ubuntu One, Symform, Minus, JustCloud, SurDoc, OpenDrive, ZumoDrive, Cubby, AVG LiveKive 2012, FileLocker, Evault, Fileserve, Lenovo Cloud Storage (LCS), Asus Webstorage, AcerCloud, PogoPlug, Uploadingit, Jottacloud, AT&TLocker, Fileswap, Kleii, Oxygencloud, Dump Truck, ElephantDrive, GoAruna, TyphoonDrive, Mega, Copy, Shared
iDrive: offers 5GB initial free storage, 500MB max file size upload, 1GB / referral. 10GB for sharing with your contacts list, and 50GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Sugarsync: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, and 32GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses). The sync is legendary. The best in the class. Sync is legendary. sync any folder or all your pc to the cloud. a must have feature. Cons: Files deleted in sugersync folder stays in your storage quota.
Sugarsync: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, and 32GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses). The sync is legendary. The best in the class. Sync is legendary. sync any folder or all your pc to the cloud. a must have feature. Cons: Files deleted in sugersync folder stays in your storage quota.
ElephantDrive: 2 GB of free storage space. Automated Backups. Everywhere synchronization. Built-in file sending. polished interface. all platform supported. win8 supported app.
GoAruna: 2 GB of free storage. sync is not available.
Mega: a new player in the market of cloud storage made by one of the oldest players of online storage Kim Dotcom. offering 50 GB of free cloud storage much like mediafire. the same company of Megaupload.
TyphoonDrive: 100 GB as startup in FREE for 30 days afterwards it will become 2 GB. using Amazon S3 servers.
Glide: offers 30GB initial free storage, no limit file size upload, no referral programs, and 32GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Dropbox: offers 2GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, 500MB extra free storage/friend, and 16GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Box: offers 5 GB free storage, sync, 2 GB max file upload.
Copy: Innovative interface. supports syncing. has apps on all major mobile platform. free 15GB storage for all and 5GB for all referral ! can you believe it?
Minus: a unique service.login from Facebook.no mandatory signup. 10 GB of storage.mostly for pictures.exe files are not supported. Though you can try to upload zipped files but the service itself is optimised for pictures only and there is NO SYNC.
CX (Cloud Experience): offers 10GB initial free storage, no limits file size upload, 300MB extra free storage/friend, and 16GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
UPDATE [18/12/2012]: following changes has been made to the FREE service.
1) You must log in (via the web, mobile apps, Zipline or a 3rd party tool) at least once every 15 days in order to maintain a free Starter account.2) After 15 days of inactivity, your account will be considered inactive and will be frozen. You can unfreeze your account by upgrading to a paid plan.
3) Accounts left inactive for longer than 30 days will be subject to deletion, and all data will be destroyed.
4) Starting in 2013, the Desktop Sync tool will be a paid feature and will no longer be offered on free accounts. To continue syncing your files you will need to upgrade to a paid plan.
SurDoc: Offers 10 GB of initial space and 1 GB per referral so that you can earn up to 30 GB of storage.Sync is not available for free user.
OpenDrive: 5 GB of cloud storage for FREE and view files to anywhere but no SYNC.
ZumoDrive: 2 GB of storage for FREE. get all your files anywhere but NO sync service.
PogoPlug: 5 GB for free.sync is available.mobile apps are available.
Uploadingit: free 10 GB file for life. 10 GB monthly bandwidth.advertisement supported.
Jottacloud: Free 5 GB of storage space and earn by referral. no sync.
Fileswap: 15 GB of free cloud storage and sync.the download speed is limited in free account as 200 Kbps.
Kleii: offers 2 GB of free storage. up to 50 GB by referral.sync is available.
Dump Truck: a relatively new site with very fresh UI. 5 Gb of starting free sync enabled storage.
Oxygencloud: 5GB of storage, Anywhere access on Windows®, Mac®, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ and Web, Sync files across devices, End-to-end encryption, Unlimited sharing
Cubby: Free storage of 5 GB, sync feature is interesting, its almost like sugersync’s + its has pc to pc sync capability, so you dont have to store your files on cloud, thus saving your cloud space. . interface is superb. get up to 25 GB, 1 GB per referral.client is nice.
FileLocker: A new player to the cloud. offering 25 GB for starters which can be shared with 5 Users.full sync and unlimited versioning is offered. The best feature is it’s security. AES 256 bit end to end protection. Total encryption. even your files at the storage stays encrypted.
Evault: ONLY for US and CANADA people.offering 100 GB of just plain free storage.
AVG LiveKive 2012: basically a backup tool with legendary virus protection.relatively new in the market. looks pricey. free storage offered 5 GB for starters.
Memopal: offers 3GB initial free storage, 5GB max file size upload, 500MB extra free storage/friend, and 13GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Safecopy: offers 3GB initial free storage, 5GB max file size upload, 500MB extra free storage/friend, and 13GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Mimedia: offers 7GB initial free storage, 3GB max file size upload, 1GB extra free storage/friend, and 12GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Teamdrive: offers 2GB initial free storage, no limits file size upload, 250MB extra free storage/friend, and 10GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
HiDrive: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, 5GB for each 10 friends, and 10GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Comodo Cloud Storage: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, 200MB extra free storage/friend , and 10GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Spideroak: offers 2GB initial free storage, no limits file size upload, 1GB extra free storage/friend, and 10GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
MegaCloud: offers 8 GB Storage + 8 GB Backup as initial free storage, no limits file size upload, 500MB extra free storage/friend, and 10GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Wuala: offers 5GB initial free storage, 1GB max file size upload, 250MB extra free storage/friend, and 8GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Skydrive: offers 7GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, no referral programs, and 7GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Amazon Cloud Drive: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, no referral program, and 5GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Google Drive: offers 5GB initial free storage, 2GB max file size upload, no referral program, and 5GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
Synplicity: offers 2GB initial free storage, no limits file size upload, 1GB extra free storage/friend, and 5GB Max Storage Ceiling (including max extra bonuses)
iCloud: apple specific service. only can be activated using Apple iDevices. Then user can also synch their windows machines.5 GB of free storage. plans are available. apps and music bought from itunes store wont be counted towards the storage.
4Sync: company behind the online file sharing service 4Shared has bough their cloud offering with 15 GB of free storage and sync. though the most of the part in in Chinese this website is worth noticing.
Ubuntu One: the cloud storage from the Linux pioneer, 5GB free and later can be purchased. though the service was very limited and basic. new features are being updated soon.
JustCloud: free service states that they are giving UNLIMITED storage space but it seemed to be a false claim. Cluttered interface and feels very cheap.
WARNING: there are many false credit card charges this company used to put in your credit card bill. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE.
WARNING: there are many false credit card charges this company used to put in your credit card bill. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE.
ZenOK: a very confused website which doesn’t know actually what they want to do. though can be a nice place to check in.
** Click on the Dropbox name above to get it now with 500 MB extra storage space **
Free HUGE Cloud File Storage Systems
Shared: Latest addition to the FREE cloud storage and its giving 100 GB of whooping storage for saving file. it will make every other free storage company go out of market. its even giving referral programs. interface is super clean and swift. uploading and downloading is nice. logo seems inspired from SkyDrive.
Rapidshare: the oldest data storage company now changing their public picture as a cloud storage company though the basic systems are same, they are offering UNLIMITED free storage. sync is a premium only feature here. and free account will get deleted after 90 days of inactivity. software support available. but to the premium only.
Mediafire: another data sharing company trying to change their public image. offering 50 GB of free storage to the basic users.sync is not available.though their software, which is unusually large, only gives file download and upload feature. There is an inactivity time for the free users but they stayed shady in that part.Cons: every file uploaded is by default public, means anyone can access it if they search it, there are several searching sites out like Filestube.
Adrive: Probably the best among all HUGE data storage company. It is providing 50 GB of storage.features are basic.no sync.but the best part is that they are not deleting files due to inactivity.mobile apps are available.desktop apps are for premium only.though the web interface is nice.
Fileserve: Another file sharing site turned cloud storage offering whooping 500 GB, YES its not an typo. but with limitations like 60 days inactivity. but if you are regular on net. you can consider it once.
Restricted File Storage Service
Lenovo Cloud Storage (LCS): 5 GB sygersync powered cloud storage free for LENOVO users.
Asus Webstorage: 5 GB for asus users.
AcerCloud: even details are for acer products only. the only beneficial thing is that you can acess the space from any android phone. its more like an iCloud service for acer.
AT&TLocker: 5 GB of free storage for AT&T branded internet connection and mobile phones, tablets, pc.
Unique File Storage Services
Symform: 10 GB storage. But user can get 100 GB of cloud storage if they share their 200 GB of unused HDD space. And the more user will share the more they can get. This is a very unique service but user have to maintain a 2:1 ratio between local contribution to cloud space used.
Bitcasa: another unique file storage company. it offers INFINITY storage, sync, client software, mobile app, web interface for FREE. When a folder is shared by it, it actually uploads the files to their storage and converts the folder to a network mapped drive. When you open the folder you will see that the files are there. When you try to open it they will be downloaded and then opened. When you close the file it will edit the file and upload. Very interesting feature indeed. The only problem which i found while testing it that the software is not very stable in windows 7, it is buggy, it causes system instability and to use this service you have to have a very fast connection with broad bandwidth. The interface is very fine. Though this service should be tried.
Rank Wise My Verdict for The BEST of BESTS
1. Dropbox: At first it May look like the smallest possible size offered for FREE to the mass. But unlike other this service has a very much scope to increase it's space to the almost 15 times of its free offering. The sync feature is awesome. The support, forum, blog is nice. Yearly events which includes superb gifts, like 100 GB space free for life. Highest UPLOAD & DOWNLOAD speeds. File Sharing capability even with the non Dropbox users. The biggest feature now is maybe its Facebook integration. You can share files from Dropbox to Facebook in one click. Unlike other services Dropbox doesn’t compromises features in it's free version. You only pay to get more space or business functions. But the majority of its feature is available for free also. The interface is very easy, nice, simple, clutter and advertisement free. Mobile app has automatic camera upload function, saves ton of times. Cons: online document editing feature is missing. Whole computer sync is missing (sugarsync \m/)
** Click on the Dropbox name above to get it now with 500 MB extra storage space **
2. Skydrive: A remarkable service from Windows maker Microsoft. Offering 7 GB straight at first for FREE. Storage & sync is available at its best. The interface is very fine, following Metro style. The biggest feature of Skydrive is that it is totally integrated into Windows 8 and Upcoming Office 2013. also Skydrive offers online document editing using Office 2013 web interface and its just like using the desktop service. This is very unique. The old loyal customers have already get 25 GB storage in their account but new users have to start with 7 GB. It combines all your digital life, mail + calender + storage in one place. Sync available for all platform. YES even for Apple, without any *conditions (please learn from MS, apple). Cons: It has also the web's strictest DMCA policy. It deletes files and accounts just even on a suspect of copyright infringement or on illegal contents. Try to upload a semi nude hand drawn picture and BOOM, your account is gone. Though it is the most cleanest and secure place to store your files but before uploading here please scan your files for any illegal files which may break company policy.
3. Google Drive: Offering 5 GB of space. Integrated into google chrome. Means it is available cross platform. offline data editing is possible only with document and spreadsheet. Sync software is available. Offline documents can be viewed. The biggest feature of google drive that documents saved or converted using google document format wont be counted towards the storage space. So you can practically save unlimited number of documents here. Can work on team collaboration on documents. Can convert, upload and download files from any format to any other format. This is the best collaboration function, which is absent in all other services. Google actually gives its users total of 16 GB storage. 10 GB in gmail + 5 GB in drive + 1 GB in picasa. Cons: only if it would combine all its storage in one place and gives its user a straight 16 GB at once, it would become the best cloud service of the net and will give Skydrive a hard time.
4. Shared: offering 100gb of plain simple storage and its fun free and smooth.
5. Adrive: you want to just free up your hard disk & upload without any frill. Just need some straight upload space. Look no where just join Adrive. Bulk space at it's best. Also you can find Zoho office suit for online document editing though it didn’t worked for me. Another nice feature is that you can select files and can download then as a compressed zip file which in a way can save you tons of time as the download is compressed. Cons: the interface is laggy, outdated and slow.
2 comments:
Good article, thank you; useful. You have left out 4Shared; 4Sync and 4Shared are now separate. 4Sync offers 15 GB free, and 4Shared also offers 15 GB; now that they are separate, that’s a total of 30GB free between them.
An important point that you haven’t mentioned is the speed of upload and download, particularly upload. The best upstream rate that I get from my connection here in the UK is about 150 KB/s, and more usually it averages 100 KB/s. That’s around 3 hours per GB, so to store 50GB would take nearly a week of continuous running, and to download it again about 9.5 hours at 1.5MB/s. Only a few of the services that I have tested come close to that upload rate, and 4Shared and 4Sync are two of them. You would need to test which are the quickest services for your part of the world of course. In the UK at least, the 4Sync site is in reasonably good English, not Chinese!
So, even free storage is not much use if you can’t access it at a reasonable rate. I tested many cloud services and ruled out a lot of them for that reason. IDrive is quick upstream from here (~110 KB/s), but IDriveSync (which you didn’t mention, but again is a separate service) is quite a bit slower, at an unsteady 60 KB/s. Cubby and Bitcasa looked good superficially, but did slow and uneven uploads. Comodo Backup (but not Comodo Cloud) was one of the best, at around 140 KB/s, along with 4Sync, with 4Shared not far behind. I also use SugarSync, whose synchronisation between computers is terrific, with a reasonable, if not outstanding, upload speed.
Anyone considering cloud storage should carefully check the speeds as well as the cost per GB. One of the best ways of doing that is to use the NetWorx network monitoring tool, available free at http://www.softperfect.com/products/networx/.
You didn’t mention Mozy, which is pretty good but offers only 2GB free. Finally, one of the fastest I have used is JustCloud, who I believe use Amazon S3 servers. They offer a miserable 15 MB (!) free, but gave me a good deal for 75 GB for a year in the end. They seem to charge a lot for the various extras, and they make each extra computer you register have its own storage space instead of sharing the storage space on the account, so the costs could increase rapidly. I have heard about the problems with their billing from various review sites, so I take your warning (fairly) seriously, but I have yet to experience any problems personally. Also, I partly chose them because they seem to be based not too far away in the south of England, so if there are any problems – I know where they live!
Regards,
J M Ward
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