Here’s the full list (and growing) of providers that offer free cloud storage — at no cost at all.
Remember the days when you would often get close to running out of room for your email?
Maybe you had to choose which beloved correspondence to keep and which one to trash.
Well, it looks like those times are even farther behind us.
When I opened a google drive account a few years ago, I learned one of the great advantages — your stuff is available from anywhere.
This may not seem like much of a perk at first, but as time goes on, you realize it helps.
Now it is possible to store all sorts of things online without paying a cent with a free plan from a cloud storage company.
Is this a good way to go?
I decided to delve and do some research into it.
I was surprised to see that there are more of them out there than you could ever imagine.
Uptime and reliability are crucial, so we are constantly monitoring them for you.
Check out the 20+ best cloud storage server statuses that we are following.
Now, you can store all your stuff for nothing.
We did try all of them here on our own personal computers.
But still, we had to warn you guys to use the online storage at your own risk.
19 Free Cloud Storage Providers
| No. | Providers | Free Storage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | pCloud | 10GB |
| 2 | Google Drive | 15GB |
| 3 | Dropbox | 2GB |
| 4 | Amazon Cloud Drive | 5GB |
| 5 | OneDrive Basic | 5GB |
| 6 | IDrive | 5GB |
| 7 | Sync.com | 5GB |
| 8 | iCloud | 5GB |
| 9 | Box | 10GB |
| 10 | Mega | 50GB |
| 11 | Yandex Disk | 10GB |
| 12 | MediaFire | 10GB |
| 13 | Alibaba OSS | 5GB |
| 14 | Syncplicity | 10GB |
| 15 | Degoo | 100GB |
| 16 | Zoho | 5GB |
| 17 | Bitrix24 | 5GB |
| 18 | Blomp | 20GB |
| 19 | Icedrive | 10GB |
No Free Storage is really “No Cost”
The same goes for cloud storage as there are two sides to the same coin.
You are looking for services that need not spend a dime while the provider is trying to make a profit out of you.
In trying to strike a balance between these two, we must acknowledge our priority and decide which act is in the best interest of us as real day-to-day users.
Size or capacity isn’t everything, other factors like the cloud storage’s security & privacy, compatibility, file size limit, uploading speed, ease of use, etc should be considered as well.
But we will not discuss all of that here; our main purpose here is to give you the most comprehensive list that is available now.
If you happen to come across something worth mentioning but are not on the list, do let us know. We would love to include them on the list as well.
Don’t see your favorite provider? Suggest it here.
Grow the list together.
Now let’s get to the list, shall we?
SIDE NOTE. The placing and numbering below are based on my discretion, impression, popularity, and trust-ability towards each of them. You can sort out the result based on your preferences by using this spreadsheet here. Some links might direct you to our affiliate partner site.
1. pCloud
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: Switzerland
Since: 2013
Founded in 2013, pCloud aims to become the easiest-to-use cloud storage for the end user without sacrificing the complexity and importance of security.
Check out my review about pCloud on how they manage to earn the trust of over 8 million users and are growing rapidly.
Please be reminded that this account has a 6 months inactivity clause which by then pCloud is authorized to permanently delete all the files along with the account itself.
A quick shout-out, they are one of my favorite file storage when it comes to photos and videos because of the previewing features.
Mostly cater to individuals, and if you need multiple users to utilize the platform, check out their family or business plan.
And we haven’t talked about their outstanding application security yet.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow pCloud on Twitter
2. Google Drive
Free Space: 15GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2012
Google is no stranger to all of us and in fact, they are one of the best free cloud backups in the market. They collaborate all their services such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and many more, and sync all of those into Google Drive.
The convenience of working within their Eco-system and real-time file editing makes it one of the favorites for the user. Check out the Google Drive review here.
For once, they even had unlimited cloud storage for your photos. It has since been seized after June 1st, 2021.
Like it or not, I’m sure we all have one google drive account at our disposal making them one of the best cloud collaboration platforms worldwide.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Google Drive on Twitter
3. Dropbox
Free Space: 2GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2007
Another seed accelerator from Y Combinator, Dropbox is one of the earliest market players back in 2007. Their innovation and creative energy are what keep them going and becoming one of the leading cloud storage providers.
Uploading and downloading were very easy. Not to mention they are the fastest cloud storage from our testing.
2gb of storage is definitely a shortfall for modern storage space usage.
They had more than 500 million users spread across 180 countries as of now.
And if you are looking for Dropbox alternatives, here’s your list.
Find out more from our Dropbox review here. I had to warn you, it’s very long.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Dropbox on Twitter
4. Amazon Drive
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2011
Starting on 31 December 2023, Amazon Drive will be discontinued.
There will be no more 5gb of free storage coming from the e-commerce giant.
Amazon strike and delivers on durability and stability. Amazon drive stores all your photos, videos, files, etc in one place. If you are a Prime member, you get unlimited storage for all your photos and images.
Do not forget that your 5GB storage will be expiring in 12 months though.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Amazon on Facebook
5. OneDrive Basic
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2007
OneDrive Basic is a Microsoft product for personal online storage purposes. It helps to store all your files and data on their server and nothing else.
Works flawlessly with your Microsoft Windows operating system.
Maximize productivity by combining their OneDrive account with Microsoft 365.
5gb of storage might not be sufficient if you are a Microsoft Office user that utilizes a lot of Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.
Do check out the differences between the OneDrive storage plans to get an overview of what are you missing out on compared with a paid plan.
Or find out who’s the winner in Google Drive vs Dropbox vs Onedrive here.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow OneDrive on Twitter
6. IDrive
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2007
IDrive personal cloud storage service ranging from 5GB up to 5TB (paid). IDrive is a private company based in Calabasas, CA since 2007.
They have 3 core services which include IDrive, IBackup, and RemotePC.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow IDrive on Twitter
7. Sync
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: Canada
Since: 2011
They started as a web hosting provider in 2011 and launched cloud services in 2013.
Backdated 5 years ago, Sync’s service is already equipped with end-to-end encryption for better security and privacy protection. To further enhance security, features like two-factor authentication is in place.
To date, they had over 750,000 individuals and business users combined.
Check out our latest review of Sync.com here.
NEXT STEP
8. iCloud
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2011
A product from Apple Inc. Starting in 2011, they gained over 700 million users through Apple products such as the iPhone and Macbook. It is built into every Mac product and ios device.
A seamless connection with your phone or Apple products lets you love them even more.
Not so user-friendly if you are a hard-core Microsoft Windows user.
Find out more in iCloud Review – Best Cloud Storage for Mac here.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Official Apple Support for iCloud
9. Box
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2005
Based in Redwood City and is listed on NYSE. Instead of storage, Box is focusing on solving content management problems by creating a platform for easy sharing and accessing files with their users.
More than 41 million users trusted Box to manage their content today.
NEXT STEP
10. Mega
Free Space: 50GB
Country of Origin: New Zealand
Since: 2013
Mega is renowned for its security feature that encrypts files on the client side even before they are uploaded them. However, they encountered various issues during the early stage of the launch in 2013. 50GB of storage is more like a marketing gimmick to us.
While the 50GB will return to 15GB after 180 days (if the user doesn’t use the additional achievements) the basic space is 15GB – which remains practical and one of the most generous cloud storage providers offer.
15GB storage is the actual permanent storage that the user will be enjoying, while the additional 35GB will expire after one month of signup.
Still, it’s good to have these incentives as additional space by completing a certain task like a friend invite or downloading their app.
Designed for team collaboration and sharing files easily is what makes them unique.
Get the full power of MEGA with their mobile app.
Know more about them in the MEGA.io review here.
NEXT STEP
11. Yandex Disk
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: Russia
Since: 2012
Yandex.Disk is created by Yandex, a giant search engine from Russia.
It all started in 2012. The storage can go up to 42GB, given that you enable your device to auto-uploads using the Android and iOS apps.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Yandex Disk on Twitter
12. MediaFire
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2006
MediaFire had been in business for 11 years. The single file size limit is 4GB.
They are known for Media online streaming such as Video or Music streaming directly from their platform. That’s why they are limiting their single file size to 4GB.
It’s about the average of a single HD movie file size.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow MediaFire on Facebook
13. Alibaba OSS
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: China
Since: 2009
OSS stands for Object Storage Service and it’s from the giant e-commerce retailer Alibaba.
They claimed to store 3 copies of your data on different servers from the same availability zone.
Still, they didn’t make it to our Best Cloud Storage for China here.
NEXT STEP
14. Syncplicity
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2008
Founded by 3 former Microsoft employees and started the Syncplicity service in 2008. It was acquired by EMC Corporation after 4 years in the market.
It’s now owned by Axway. They offer 4 different plans to cater to different market segments.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Syncplicity on Twitter
15. Degoo
Free Space: 100GB
Country of Origin: Sweden
Since: 2009
You can only install and backup data from 1 desktop device using their desktop app while a paid version allowed unlimited desktop devices.
This version strips out the feature of their Photo Storage Maximizer too.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Degoo on Facebook
16. Zoho
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: India
Since: 1996
Zoho Corporation is a multi-national business that started in 1996. They are focusing on web and cloud-based business tools and “WorkDrive” is one of them.
This version had a limit of uploading a maximum of 1GB file size limit only.
NEXT STEP
17. Bitrix24
Free Space: 5GB
Country of Origin: United States
Since: 2012
It’s more than just 5gb of free storage. It collaborates and brings all your work to the cloud platform that Bitrix, Inc launched in 2012.
Their On-Premise version of the platform comes with source code access and can be installed on your server for better integration.
Make sure you log in at least once every month to keep your account active, otherwise, Bitrix24 will close down your account.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Bitrix24 on Twitter
18. Blomp
Free Space: 20GB
Country of Origin: Maryland
Since: 2018
Here’s another one that I’ve bumped into recently, Blomp.
While they mention you can get up to 200GB for nothing, the actual storage is only 20GB of cloud storage for free upon registration.
I did try to register and get my hands on it but I gave up in the end. There was no web-based application or direct login from their website, you have to install their Windows-based software which I am kind of skeptical about.
I can’t find much info on their technology architecture or the tech system they are implementing.
Not many details and information on their site although I try to dig deep.
I did read through their T&C and thought you might want to know that they will scan, access, and store your kinds of stuff once you had agreed on it when signing up for the account.
It’s your call, but I’m holding mine for now at least.
NEXT STEP
19. Icedrive
Free Space: 10GB
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Since: 2018
A newcomer that offers a generous storage quota for registered users. You’ll get 10GB of free storage after registering using your email and setting up a password.
However, there’s a bandwidth capped at 3GB per day. Paying customers to get a higher bandwidth capped of 250GB to 8TB depending on your plan.
The interface is easy to navigate around and the upload process is very speedy. Read our review about Icedrive.
There’s an encrypted folder where I suppose all your files and folders stored inside will get encrypted but found no information on how that works.
The mobile app for android and ios was not perfect during the early stage. But the problems had been addressed and fixed.
And here’s one of my favorite comparisons, pCloud vs Icedrive.
NEXT STEP
Sign Up
Follow Icedrive on Twitter
Is Free Cloud Storage service really getting the best for nothing?
Cloud storage solutions are getting a ton of buzz right now since major players in the tech sector seem to embrace a new business model.
The reality is that these cloud storage options aren’t any different from those off-site backup companies that have been around for years now.
The differences are that those services aren’t branded with Apple, Google, or Amazon logos.
Cloud storage platforms will likely have a very narrow marketplace in the end.
In these economic times, there aren’t many folks who are willing to pay for the monthly plans if they can get storage for free.
See how I optimized my Chromebook to beef up the internal storage from 22.5GB to 2TB for additional storage.
However, most of the time, these free accounts have many more restrictions such as bandwidth limitation, file size or type limitation, no support at all, etc.
It’s a strip-down of their premium services that require a certain cost or commitment.
You surely can’t get the best for anything there. It pays to require good services.
Hate recurring payments and would prefer to go for a lifetime cloud storage deal instead?
Both pCloud and Icedrive are offering lifetime cloud storage of up to 2tb storage and 10tb storage.
Or is it better to go with a NAS instead?
Check out the details at NAS vs Cloud Storage for the answer.
One thing for sure is you pay what you get in the capitalist system.
Conclusion: To Wrap Up On My Best Free Cloud Storage Service
As any computer owner quickly learns, computers are frail things. From ashes, they come to outdated technical junk they return.
Although you try to be diligent about moving your stuff from one computer to the next, things inevitably get lost along the way.
If your documents or data are backed up or stored online, they will be available from any computer at any time, without you having to do anything to get them off the first computer in the first place.
This is where cloud storage and online backup come in as vital parts of our lives.
We couldn’t stress enough the privacy and security of these services, especially those you use for ‘FREE’.[Off record]- If you aren’t paying, you most probably paying with your privacy.
Now that you’ve checked out my complete free cloud storage list, let’s vote for your favorite cloud storage here.
Do you possess any other items that ought to be included in the list of free online storage platforms? Suggest it here.