Free cloud storage is all the rage. If you want to upload a school or work document, or share a simple family photo album, there’s no need to spend money on an expensive paid service. Most people don’t need terabytes of storage to sync and share files. Many cloud services can fit your needs, with a cost of zero.
The following services were evaluated by:
- Free space offered
- Speed and performance
- Features (some services severely limit their free accounts)
- Bonus space
You’ll generally want to avoid services with file size limits. They’re not worth the hassle. Many free accounts also have daily transfer limits for shared links, which you’ll want to keep in mind if you share lots of files. I’ll mention these limitations for each service, if they apply.
1. Google Drive
Free Space: 15 GB
Bonuses: None
Google Drive is arguably the best free cloud storage service. It offers the most free space of all the major cloud providers (15 GB versus OneDrive’s 5 GB, Dropbox’s 2 GB, and iCloud’s 5 GB).
There are no bandwidth limits, unlike many other free services. Syncing is fast and reliable. It supports file versioning for all files, unlike OneDrive which can only undo changes to Office files.
On the downside, there are better options for privacy (such as Sync.com and MEGA). And even though 15 GB is a lot, it’s shared with your Gmail and Google Photos accounts. There’s also no Linux client.
2. Dropbox
Free Space: 2 GB
Bonuses: 500 MB per friend referral. 125 MB for connecting Facebook/Twitter. 16 GB max bonus.
Dropbox has held steady over the years with their 2 GB of free storage offer. It’s tiny compared to some other services, but Dropbox makes up for it with simple and reliable file synchronization. The apps are easy to use, and files sync quickly across devices (even faster when devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, due to LAN sync). Dropbox has clients for every major operating system including Linux.
With shared links, Dropbox has a traffic limit of 20 GB per day for free accounts. If you go over this limit, Dropbox will temporarily suspend any links you’ve created.
3. OneDrive
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: 500 MB per friend referral. 10 GB max bonus.
Ever since Microsoft downgraded free plans from 15 GB to 5 GB, they’ve been playing catch up to Google Drive. There’s still no file versioning support for non-Office files.
However, OneDrive will be attractive to those who want an easy-to-use cloud service that is fast and reliable. It comes free with your Windows account, which is a plus. OneDrive also offers plenty of sharing and collaboration options to share and edit files as a team.
4. Degoo
Free Space: 100 GB
Bonuses: 3 GB per friend referral. 500 GB max bonus.
Degoo is a small Swedish startup that is giving away an unheard-of 100 GB of free cloud storage. That’s 50 times more than Dropbox, and it trounces MEGA with double the space offered.
The desktop software is simple and easy to use. There’s no file sync and share, however. There’s also no Linux client or web interface to access to your files. You can access your backed up files on mobile devices, but the experience is not as seamless as other cloud providers.
5. hubiC
Free Space: 25 GB
Bonuses: 5 GB per friend referral. 25 GB max bonus.
hubiC is a French cloud storage service that gives you 25 GB to start with, with the option to earn up to 50 GB total by referring friends. It has great operating system support, with desktop sync clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
On the downside, performance is slow outside of Europe. Download speeds were under 2 Mbps in our tests.
6. iCloud
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: None
Apple’s iCloud gives you 5 GB of space for free. This is probably enough to back up your iPhone’s settings, contacts, and maybe photos (but probably not videos). You can sync files across devices with iCloud Drive, a Dropbox-like folder on your hard drive. The software works on Mac and Windows desktops.
There’s no link-based sharing option, however. The web apps are also quite limited.
7. MEGA
Free Space: 50 GB
Bonuses: None
MEGA is one of the most popular free cloud storage services. It offers a massive 50 GB of free space. It also claims to offer zero-knowledge privacy with client-side encryption, so not even the NSA can view your files. This also means there is no “password reset” (don’t forget your password).
Sync clients are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are also mobile apps for iOS and Android.
There’s a 10 GB bandwidth limit, which resets every 30 minutes. This is much higher than Dropbox and other free services. I can’t fault them for it.
On the downside, not everyone believes MEGA is secure. Even the founder Kim Dotcom doesn’t trust the service, after shares of the company were apparently seized by the New Zealand government. Also, some users have complained that the sync client is buggy and will lose your data.
8. pCloud
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: 1 GB per friend referral. 500 MB to back up Facebook/Instagram. 500 MB to connect Facebook account. 10 GB max bonus.
pCloud promises their 10 GB plan is free forever. You can share folders, listen to your music with their web-based media player, and even back up data from other cloud services.
The desktop software can create a virtual drive on your computer. This can be a 100% pure cloud drive, or it can sync files to your computer.
There are no bandwidth limits for shared links as far as I can tell.
9. Symform
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: Half the amount of hard drive space you contribute. 5 TB max bonus.
Symform is a peer-to-peer cloud storage service. It offers 10 GB for free to start with. You can earn up to 5 TB more by contributing excess hard drive space on your computer. When you contribute space on your hard drive, you get half the amount you contribute in free cloud storage.
There is no file sharing, so you’ll want to use another service if you need that feature. Also, contributed devices must be online 24/7.
10. Yandex.Disk
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: 500 MB per friend referral. 10 GB max bonus.
Yandex.Disk is Russia’s answer to Google Drive. It offers 10 GB of free cloud storage with the option to grow to 20 GB by referring friends. Each person you invite gets 1 GB of extra space, while you get 500 MB.
11. MiMedia
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: None
MiMedia gives users 10 GB for free. It’s primarily geared towards storing photos, videos, music, and documents. It doesn’t give any extra space for referrals, so you’re stuck at 10 GB.
12. MediaFire
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: 1 GB per friend referral. 2 GB to install desktop/mobile apps. 1 GB to connect Facebook/Twitter. 1 GB to post to Facebook/Twitter. 40 GB max bonus.
MiMedia starts at 10 GB for free, with the option to grow to 50 GB by referring friends and completing other tasks.
Unfortunately, some users have complained about the ad-supported nature of this service. Ads appear on shared links, which is an annoyance that the major cloud services don’t have.
13. Syncplicity
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: None
Syncplicity offers 10 GB of free cloud space. They used to offer a refer-a-friend program, but not any more. The service has no bandwidth restrictions and great mobile apps, however.
14. Cubby
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: 1 GB per friend referral. 20 GB max bonus.
Cubby is a cloud storage service from LogMeIn. It offers 5 GB of free space, although you can increase it to a hefty 25 GB by referring friends (+1 GB each).
15. ASUS WebStorage
Free Space: 8 GB
Bonuses: 512 MB per friend referral. 10 GB max bonus.
WebStorage offers 8 GB for free, with an additional 512 MB for each referred friend. The free plan supports one PC, and there’s a 500 MB file size limit.
16. Sync.com
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: 1 GB per friend referral.
Sync.com is a newer cloud storage service that offers better privacy than traditional cloud storage. Their free plan gives you 5 GB of cloud storage space. For each friend you refer, you’ll get an extra 1 GB. Your friend will also get 1 GB.
17. Jottacloud
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: None
Jottacloud is a Norweigan cloud storage service that gives you 5 GB for free. Desktop sync clients are available for Windows and Mac. There are also Android, iOS, and Windows Phone apps.
18. IDrive
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: None
IDrive offers 5 GB of free cloud storage to sync, share, and back up files. You can also use the free plan to back up contacts, photos, and text messages on your mobile devices.
19. CloudMe
Free Space: 3 GB
Bonuses: 500 MB per friend referral. 16 GB max bonus.
CloudMe is a Swedish cloud storage service that gives you 3 GB of free space. You can earn up to 19 GB by referring friends. Each friend will get 500 MB for using your invitation.
There’s a 150 MB file upload limit with the free account, which is pretty bad.
20. Box
Free Space: 10 GB
Bonuses: None
Box offers 10 GB of free cloud storage space space. I think their free account falls short of Dropbox and Google Drive. There’s a 250 MB file size limit on it, as well as no file version history.
21. OpenDrive
Free Space: 5 GB
Bonuses: 500 MB per friend referral. 15 GB max bonus.
When you refer others to OpenDrive, you’ll get an extra 500 MB and they’ll get 5 GB.
On the downside, there’s a 100 MB max file size for free accounts. There’s also a 1 GB per day bandwidth limit and a 200 KB/s speed limit. I can’t see anyone using the free plan unless it’s just to try out the service.
22. Tresorit
Free Space: 3 GB
Bonuses: None
Tresorit is another zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage service (like MEGA and Sync.com), which offers better privacy than the major services. You can synchronize files on up to 3 devices with the free Basic plan, as well as send encrypted share links to others.
Unfortunately the free account has a 500 MB file size limit and no file version recovery, so I tend to not recommend it.
Your Turn
What’s your favorite free cloud storage service? Let me know in the comments below.
Geoff Akerlund
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