Examples of Cloud Storage Services

1. IDrive is the best cloud storage, provider
IDrive, the secure cloud storage veteran, delivers tons of storage online for an incredibly small outlay. 5TB for $3.98 for the first year is unmatched, and so is the support for unlimited devices and the extensive file versioning system available.

IDrive offers continuous syncing of your files, even those on network drives. The web interface supports sharing files by email, Facebook, and Twitter. Cautious or click-happy users will be pleased to hear that files deleted from your computer are not automatically deleted from the server, so there’s less danger of removing something important by accident.

Up to 30 previous versions of all files back to your account are retained. Another thing to note is that IT admins have access to the IDrive Thin Client application, which allows them to backup/restore, manage settings, and more for all their connected computers via a centralized dashboard.

For photos, you have a neat facial recognition feature that helps you to automatically organize them, as well as syncing them across all your linked devices. IDrive also offers IDrive Express which sends you a physical hard disk drive if you lose all your data, allowing for the swift restoration of all your backed up files.

An enhanced version – aptly named IDrive Business – exists and offers priority support, single sign-on, as well as unlimited users and server backup. While IDrive Personal offers 5TB or 10TB per user, the professional counterparts get between 250GB and 50TB of online storage.

Examples of Cloud Storage Services 2. pCloud provides a lifetime cloud storage subscription
The Swiss-based company is more expensive than the competition, but the one-off payment means that you won’t have to worry about renewal fees which can be horrendously expensive. $350 for 10 years is less than $3 per month.

pCloud is one of the very few cloud services that offer lifetime subscriptions; you essentially get a virtual, permanent cloud drive. It describes itself as a “personal cloud space where you can store all your files and folders [with] a user-friendly interface that clearly shows where everything is located and what it does.”

pCloud comes with a 30-day trash history and unlimited remote upload traffic (you only need the URL of the file); you are – as expected – limited on the download link traffic: 500GB for the Premium package and 2TB for the Premium Plus package every month.

While some bandwidth limits apply, there seems to be no limit to the size of files you can upload, so feel free to sync large media files. The service is available for all desktop and mobile platforms – users can also log in via the website.

Note that as of August 2020, pCloud now allows its users to choose where they want their data to be stored, either in the EU or the US. The company itself is registered in Switzerland which has strong privacy laws, and you can also pay a premium of $4.99 a month for pCloud Crypto to lock (and unlock) individual files with passwords.

There’s also a family option that allows you to share your space with up to four other family members and a superior option – pCloud Business – that offers 1TB per user with pCloud Crypto included.

3. Get BackBlaze Cloud Backup FREE
BackBlaze is our #2 rated cloud backup service, offering unlimited bandwidth, storage capacity, and file size. It usually costs $6 per month. However if you sign up for the #1 rated VPN provider – ExpressVPN,- for $6.67 per month, you get your first year of BackBlaze completely free.

Backblaze is a cloud storage giant, an industry veteran that caters to personal and large-scale business backup needs. The keyword is ‘backup’ here because there are no file syncing or fancy collaboration features here – as the name suggests, Backblaze backs things up, and that’s it. It is the only one in this list that offers true unlimited cloud storage, no strings attached.

The subscription price for personal backups – which can be paid monthly, yearly, or on a 2-year deal – is a good value ($60 for a year), particularly considering that you’re getting unrestricted storage.

But that gets only better still when you know that you can currently get Backblaze completely free for a year when you sign up to award-winning VPN provider ExpressVPN. Not only is Express our #1 favorite service out there for protecting your privacy online, reinforcing your anonymity, and letting you geo-spoof your location, you also get 15 months for the price of 12 – and now that free year of Backblaze, too!

But if all you need is a backup system, then Backblaze is a seriously tempting proposition on a number of fronts. For starters, Backblaze makes the whole process of keeping your files backed up and safe extremely easy; trivial, even.

Simply install the app, and it continuously backs up all important data (basically grabbing everything that isn’t a system file or similar), with no need for any intervention from the user. You can forget it’s installed and simply not worry about your files.

The caveat is that one account only covers one computer, so while there are no data allowance worries, you’ll have to pay for a fresh account for each PC you want backing up.

Backup speeds are fast, your data is encrypted for security, and you have the option – for a fee – of having a physical hard drive or flash drive sent over in the event that a restoration process is required.

Whether or not you go for Backblaze will depend on your exact needs when it comes to secure cloud storage, but those who just need a pure backup system, with no extra features or trimmings, will find it a great service for sure – and an impressive value proposition gave the unlimited data support. Also of note is a 15-day free trial (no credit card details required) to try before you buy.