Who is the best cloud storage provider? A com­par­i­son of 9 providers

The ad­van­tages of secure cloud storage mean that cloud storage providers are equally at­trac­tive for both private users and companies. In order to find out what’s important when choosing the best cloud service and which providers offer the best cloud plan, check out the following cloud storage com­par­i­son.

Overview com­par­i­son of the best cloud storage services

In­for­ma­tion accurate as of July 2025

What makes the best online storage service?

The cost aspect is often what people take into account when choosing a provider. This is an important factor, but by no means the only one you should pay attention to. As with other web services, factors such as usability, or the security of your own data also play an important role. It may also be useful for companies to find out how well each cloud storage provider works when it comes to teamwork. Finally, you should also take a close look at the re­li­a­bil­i­ty of the various providers and the support they offer.

In detail, the criteria mentioned for the cloud storage com­par­i­son focus on the following features:

• Costs: Even the best cloud storage shouldn’t cost more than your budget allows. It is advisable to estimate how much storage space you need in advance and which features are essential. This will help you compare the different providers more ef­fec­tive­ly.
• Usability: You should be able to upload and download your files in­tu­itive­ly, re­gard­less of which device you are currently working with. This also applies to all col­lab­o­ra­tion features provided by the service. If sharing cloud storage is very important to you, features such as a change log and cross-device syn­chro­niza­tion are essential.
• Security: Modern data centers and so­phis­ti­cat­ed firewall and backup strate­gies are just as much a part of a cloud provider’s desirable security measures as the en­cryp­tion of the stored data and the data transfer itself. If data pro­tec­tion plays a major role for you, it is also essential to know where the server is located.
• Re­li­a­bil­i­ty and support: It is important that you have access to your files at all times if possible and that you are informed in good time about new features, technical problems or changes. A service’s high avail­abil­i­ty (online time) is just as important as a high level of stability.

What are the various cloud storage providers available?

The perfect cloud storage should have a high level of security, simple and intuitive operation as well as low offline times. Ideally, you’d also get a large amount of storage space for a low price. Depending on the intended use of cloud storage, and the user’s know-how and financial situation, there are various solutions that meet these re­quire­ments. We introduce you to some of the best cloud storage solutions.

HiDrive

The domain and hosting provider IONOS offers HiDrive, a cloud storage solution that, unlike many com­peti­tors, is not available in a free version but instead offers a variety of af­ford­able sub­scrip­tion plans. For example, you can get 100 GB of storage for just $1.50 per month for a single user. Business plans for up to 10 users with up to 2 TB of storage (priced at $10 per month for the first year) make the cloud service appealing to small busi­ness­es as well. IONOS stores all data — trans­ferred ex­clu­sive­ly with 256-bit en­cryp­tion — in ISO 27001-certified data centers, which are among the most secure in the world.

HiDrive can be accessed via the web ap­pli­ca­tion or using the desktop or mobile apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. When you’re using one of these apps, you can also access your data offline according to the last time you syn­chro­nized. You can also easily share files saved in HiDrive with friends and ac­quain­tances via a share link.

pCloud

pCloud is a Swiss cloud storage provider that puts the security and pro­tec­tion of your data first. SSL/TLS en­cryp­tion ensures secure trans­mis­sion, while the server location being Lux­em­bourg (se­lec­table during reg­is­tra­tion) ensures that data pro­tec­tion complies with the GDPR. Op­tion­al­ly, an ad­di­tion­al security level can be added with pCloud en­cryp­tion. This would mean that your data is ad­di­tion­al­ly encrypted and password-protected. This is done on the client side so that nobody but you has the necessary keys for decoding.

pCloud offers several file sharing options. You can share large files or entire folders with other users via a share link, for example. It doesn’t matter whether these people use this par­tic­u­lar cloud storage or not. You can op­tion­al­ly secure the share with a password, which you give to the others so they can upload files to your cloud. If you opt for a business plan for three or more users, cloud storage is enhanced with various col­lab­o­ra­tion features such as teams and access levels, a comment function or an activity log.

You can use the basic version of pCloud com­plete­ly free of charge. Here you have access to 4 GB of storage space as standard, which can be upgraded to up to 10 GB depending on how you use the app or by inviting ad­di­tion­al users to use it. If you need more storage space, you will need to pay for a different plan. This is where the cloud storage differs compared to other solutions because you have the choice between monthly/yearly and lifetime sub­scrip­tions. For example, 500 GB costs $4.99 per month or a one-off $220.00 (approx.) for a lifetime sub­scrip­tion. 2 TB is available for $9.99 per month or around $440.00 (Lifetime). Business plans start at around $9.00 per month per user.

Google Drive

In order to use Google Drive, the search engine giant’s official cloud storage, you need an active Google account, which you also require for other services such as Gmail or Google Photos. These are also directly connected to the cloud thanks to cor­re­spond­ing in­ter­faces. To get you started, you get free access to 15 GB of storage space. You can increase the capacity by taking out a paid sub­scrip­tion (100 GB for $1.99, 2 TB for $9.99 per month).

A glance into the main menu shows why Google’s program is one of the best cloud storages for co­op­er­a­tive working, man­age­ment and file or document editing of all kinds. With one click, you can upload or download data and access the popular apps from Google Workspace. You can also link to hundreds of third-party apps. Google Drive au­to­mat­i­cal­ly syn­chro­nizes the stored data on all devices you use to access the cloud. For this purpose, ap­pli­ca­tions for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android are available for free download if you do not want to use the web ap­pli­ca­tion.

luck­y­cloud

luck­y­cloud is a cloud storage solution from Germany, which comes with a special pricing strategy. Instead of fixed sub­scrip­tions, you use the cloud con­fig­u­ra­tor to determine how much storage space you have in your cloud and how many user profiles you want to create. You can choose between 3 GB and 500 TB that you can then rent for 1-24 months. The maximum number of accounts is 10,000, meaning that the en­ter­prise sector is also well catered for.

luck­y­cloud offers a secure cloud. Data centers in Germany with backup in­fra­struc­ture not only ensure the necessary data pro­tec­tion, but also a high level of re­li­a­bil­i­ty. Your data is encrypted (AES-256) during the entire transfer. luck­y­cloud also provides reliable pro­tec­tion against ran­somware, as files can be restored to their original state at any time with just a few clicks. In the team and business plans, you can enjoy a wide range of features for col­lab­o­ra­tion including upload and download links and col­lab­o­ra­tive work on documents to user sharing and ver­sion­ing. If required, you can even com­mis­sion a cus­tomized cloud solution with your own branding from luck­y­cloud.

As already mentioned, unlike other services, cloud storage does not rely on fixed service plans. You decide in­di­vid­u­al­ly how much storage you need and how much it should cost. For example, you can get 100 GB as an in­di­vid­ual user from around $7.00 per month. 2 TB costs in­di­vid­ual customers around $70.00 per month. The more people you add, the cheaper the cloud storage solution becomes. You can test the service free of charge for up to 14 days.

Box

Box is a cloud storage service from the American company of the same name. In its business plans, the de­vel­op­ment team focused on features to make the shared use of Box as a col­lab­o­ra­tion tool easier. For example, you can use bookmarks (favorites) to easily exchange links, create tasks (to-do lists), or take notes on the files and tasks of your choice in real time. All changes are recorded in the action history so that you always know which user made them (including time stamp). De­ter­min­ing which user is allowed to access which cloud area can be in­di­vid­u­al­ly regulated by giving different access au­tho­riza­tion.

Box also does well in terms of security and data pro­tec­tion. The cloud service supports customer-managed file en­cryp­tion using the AWS (Amazon Web Services) key man­age­ment service. Companies even have the option of backing up necessary en­cryp­tion keys them­selves by using an optional hardware security module (HSM). In order to comply with regional data pro­tec­tion guide­lines, the cloud provider uses data centers of in­ter­na­tion­al partners (e.g., in Germany, Ireland, Japan and Australia).

Like many other cloud storage systems in this com­par­i­son, Box offers desktop clients for macOS and Windows as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android with which you can access your cloud storage (Box Drive) or create notes (Box Notes) from the device of your choice. Box provides up to 10 GB of storage space free of charge for its users (upload size limited to 250 MB per file). Private users can upgrade to 100 GB for around $10.00 per month. Business plans start at around $15.00 per user per month.

Tresorit

Tresorit is a service from the Swiss cloud provider of the same name. Thanks to end-to-end en­cryp­tion, your files are already encrypted before transfer and as secure in the Tresorit cloud as in a vault – the word “tresor” is cognate of the English treasure, and the German word Tresor literally means vault. Thanks to en­cryp­tion, password-protected file and folder links (up to 20 GB file size), definable ex­pi­ra­tion dates and dif­fer­en­tiable user rights, file sharing is more secure than with almost any other provider in the cloud. It makes no dif­fer­ence whether access is via the Tresorit browser ap­pli­ca­tion, the desktop ap­pli­ca­tion (Windows, macOS, Linux) or the mobile app (iOS, Android) – the security package applies to all clients.

One of Tresorit’s greatest strengths is its com­pre­hen­sive and yet clearly arranged admin center. Here, you get the perfect overview of your storage space and the users or devices accessing it. You can also manage in­di­vid­ual user accounts and define security policies, such as blocking access to certain devices or IP addresses, or enabling two-factor au­then­ti­ca­tion.

The certified data centers (ISO-27001) used by Tresorit are located in the US, Ireland, Germany, and the Nether­lands. Com­pli­ance with European data pro­tec­tion guide­lines is therefore not a problem if you choose one of the latter options. Private users receive 1 TB of storage for around $11.00 per month (up­grade­able to up to 4 TB for around $27.00 per month). The price for teams starts at around $14.00 per user per month (1 TB per user). As with many cloud storage systems, there is also a free basic version in com­par­i­son. However, Tresorit offers a free service to securely send large files (up to 3 GB).

iCloud Drive

Apple users should be familiar with the iCloud Drive storage service. This cloud solution is part of the standard software package of iOS and macOS, which is why it is au­to­mat­i­cal­ly installed and ready to use. However, Windows users with a valid Apple ID can also access iCloud Drive via the web interface or using the desktop ap­pli­ca­tion. iCloud is aimed ex­clu­sive­ly at private users, who receive 5 GB of free storage** as standard. This can be upgraded to 50 GB ($0.99 per month), 200 GB ($2.99 per month) or 2TB ($9.99 per month).

Compared to other solutions, the cloud storage cannot be shared (except in the family editions). To-do lists, schedules, pre­sen­ta­tions, etc. can be easily shared with other users, provided they also have an Apple ID. All your data is encrypted by Apple both during trans­mis­sion and on the server (minimum 128-bit AES). Ad­di­tion­al pro­tec­tion is provided by optional two-factor au­then­ti­ca­tion, which links your cloud password with a six-digit ver­i­fi­ca­tion code.

Se­cure­Cloud

With Se­cure­Cloud, the Nuremberg-based cloud provider targets business customers. Those who choose one of the business plans gain access to user man­age­ment and, in higher-tier plans, advanced per­mis­sion settings—two features that make it easy to perfectly manage your available cloud storage compared to similar services. The ability to col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly edit documents online is available in all plans, re­gard­less of which one you choose.

Se­cure­Cloud also has extensive features for team col­lab­o­ra­tion in all versions. You can share folders in your personal cloud with col­leagues. Activity histories show which files have been changed and you can restore older versions at any time if required. Thanks to the in­te­grat­ed cloud office, you can easily open Microsoft or OpenOf­fice documents. A comment and chat feature is also provided. All files are trans­mit­ted in encrypted form (AES-256) and stored in certified data centers in Germany.

After a two-week trial period, you can choose between three different plans: The Business plan costs around $5.00 per user per month. Starting with the Advanced plan at around $10.00 per user per month, features such as custom cloud storage branding are also available.

Dropbox

Dropbox has been one of the most popular and best cloud services for years. The standard 5 GB storage space of the free Basic Edition can be expanded to up to 20 GB through various actions such as inviting ad­di­tion­al users. If you need more storage, you will find suitable solutions with the paid plans such as “Plus” (2 TB for around $12.00 per month) or “Pro­fes­sion­al” (3 TB for around $19.00 per month when billed yearly).

“Standard” and “Advanced” are tailored to companies and grant access to ad­di­tion­al ad­min­is­tra­tion and col­lab­o­ra­tion tools. For example, you can create user lists and define the access options for in­di­vid­ual users. Activity reports tell you who shares, accesses, or deletes which files, and you can also see the space each person is using. For joint idea de­vel­op­ment and task man­age­ment, Dropbox connects to the Microsoft Office suite, and has also in­te­grat­ed its own document tool “Paper”. Your files are encrypted by the cloud provider both during trans­mis­sion (128-bit TLS) and on the server (256-bit AES). The data is stored on servers worldwide, making it virtually im­pos­si­ble to control security standards.

Cloud storage plus online backup for the perfect part­ner­ship

With cloud storage, you always have your important data on hand. The services are also ideal for sharing documents or images. However, they only offer limited pro­tec­tion if your system is threat­ened by malware or hardware errors. In this case, an online backup is the right choice. Your data is backed up au­to­mat­i­cal­ly and regularly in the cloud, making it the perfect extension to your online storage.

Below we present two in­ter­est­ing backup solutions that perfectly com­ple­ment the tools offered by cloud providers.

My­De­fend­er

If you want to store all your data au­to­mat­i­cal­ly in state-of-the-art, ISO-certified data centers, My­De­fend­er from IONOS is the right solution for you. The security solution allows you to plan your data storage with precise timing, re­gard­less of whether you want to back up your computer, cell phone or smart­phone. You determine the time of the backup so you can ensure you’re connected to WiFi and won’t use any mobile data for the upload. You can easily access the files later at any time by logging into the central user interface.

As already mentioned, the data centers that My­De­fend­er uses to store your data are known for having very high security standards and the hardware for having a high level of re­li­a­bil­i­ty. The security pro­ce­dures such as ran­somware pro­tec­tion and AES 256-bit en­cryp­tion when uploading the secured data ensure the necessary data security as well as com­pli­ance with the strict data pro­tec­tion guide­lines.

The cheapest plan, which provides a backup volume of 100 GB, costs just $2.50 per month (one backup per device type). If you want to back up an unlimited number of devices, you can do so from a monthly price of $15.00 (1 TB storage). In­ci­den­tal­ly, My­De­fend­er works on any operating system so the service can be used with Windows computers as well as macOS, Android and iOS devices.

Cloud Backup

With Cloud Backup, IONOS focuses specif­i­cal­ly on cloud in­fra­struc­tures. Whether virtual machines (VMs), file servers, Exchange servers, or work­sta­tions, the backup solution makes securing and pro­tect­ing company data child’s play and guar­an­tees con­tin­u­ous pro­duc­tiv­i­ty of busi­ness­es. Backups can be managed and con­trolled centrally, so that you can easily leave ad­min­is­tra­tion in the hands of the IT de­part­ment if necessary. Thanks to pre­con­fig­ured backup agents, the effort is minimal – even complex server backups can be set up in a few minutes, and you choose when and how often backups are created.

In an emergency, IONOS Cloud Backup gets your company back on track within just a few minutes. The flexible recovery mode and version man­age­ment enable rollback to older files or and if necessary complete data transfer to a new hardware. The secured data, which is always trans­mit­ted via SSL/TLS con­nec­tion, is always 256-bit AES encrypted, to ensure the best possible pro­tec­tion against unau­tho­rized access. You can also compress your backup files, if necessary, to make the most of the available storage space.

If you want to use the cloud backup from IONOS, you have two different sub­scrip­tion options to choose from. The standard plan is a fixed monthly fee that provides a certain storage quota in return. For $7.00 a month you have 100 GB of storage space available for your backups and for $100.00 per month, you have 2 TB at your disposal. with the Flex plan ($0.07 per GB/month) you pay for what you actually use. Re­gard­less of the plan you choose, IONOS will provide you with a personal customer advisor who will support you with the setup and remains available as a central point of contact if you have any problems.