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Google Drive
The free 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Google Photos, so a busy inbox quietly eats your file space. Paid tiers step up through 100 GB and 2 TB. The Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac lets each folder either stream, using almost no disk space, or mirror a full local copy, a genuinely useful choice on a small laptop drive.
Recovery is the weak point. An older version of an ordinary file can be deleted after 30 days or once 100 newer versions exist, unless you mark it to keep forever. Google offers no official Linux client. Pick it when your household already lives in Gmail, Docs and Android, and keep a separate backup of anything you cannot lose.
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OneDrive
If you would pay for Word and Excel anyway, Microsoft 365 Personal bundles 1 TB of OneDrive with them, so the storage comes almost as a bonus. Subscribers can also roll their whole OneDrive back to any point in the last 30 days, the feature that matters after ransomware or a sync that wipes the wrong folder.
Read the Family plan carefully. New Family subscribers from October 8, 2026 get 2 TB shared among every member rather than a terabyte each, and existing subscribers move to the shared 2 TB at renewal from May 2, 2027. Storage on Personal cannot be shared at all. The free tier is 5 GB, and Personal Vault adds a second identity check before sensitive files open.
More about OneDrive3
ICloud
iCloud Drive with iCloud+
US plans run from 50 GB for $0.99 a month to 2 TB for $9.99, with 6 TB and 12 TB tiers above, and any plan can be shared with up to five other family members. For an all-Apple household, one 2 TB plan covering everyone's files and phone storage is among the cheaper arrangements here.
The privacy story depends on a switch. Turn on Advanced Data Protection and iCloud Drive becomes end-to-end encrypted, with the keys on your trusted devices. It is off by default, needs a recovery contact or recovery key, and a shared folder keeps that protection only when every participant has it on. Homes that mix Android phones and Windows PCs will usually be better served by Google Drive or OneDrive.
More about ICloud4
Dropbox
Dropbox is still the benchmark for sync that stays out of the way, and unlike Google Drive it offers an official desktop app for Linux. Plus gives one person 2 TB. The number to weigh is version history: Basic, Plus and Family keep 30 days, while Essentials and the business tiers keep 180, which is the difference between recovering a spreadsheet you overwrote last week and one you overwrote last quarter.
The free Basic plan is a trial rather than a home for your files: 2 GB, and only three devices signed in at once, phones included. Dropbox is the pick for a mixed set of computers that need dependable sync; pay for the longer history if you rely on it for recovery.
More about Dropbox5
Proton Drive
Everything in Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted, the free 5 GB plan included, so privacy is not a paid upgrade. Drive Plus gives 200 GB with ten years of previous file versions, an unusually long recovery window, and the larger bundles add Proton's VPN, up to 3 TB shared by six people on Proton Family.
Budget on the renewal price, not the introductory one: in the US, Drive Plus is billed $29.88 for the first year and $47.88 a year after that. Desktop apps cover Windows and Mac. Linux users currently get a command-line tool, released in June 2026, without background sync; Proton says a full Linux desktop client is on its way but has given no date.
More about Proton Drive6
Sync.com
Sync.com is end-to-end encrypted on every plan and priced around the terabyte rather than the gigabyte. Personal 1TB keeps 90 days of file history, three times the 30 days on Dropbox Plus, and Pro Solo 5TB stretches that to 180 days.
The headline prices are first-year promotions. In the US, Personal 1TB starts at $9 a month billed annually, then renews at $12 a month, so plan around the second figure. It suits someone who wants a private, recoverable copy of a working folder more than slick real-time collaboration.
More about Sync.com7
Tresorit
Tresorit encrypts files and their metadata on your device before upload, which makes it a natural home for confidential paperwork. Version history is counted rather than timed: Personal Lite keeps 5 previous versions, Essential 10 and Pro 25. That is fine for a contract you save a few times, but a spreadsheet saved every hour can push the good version out within a day.
Personal Lite is also limited to 50 GB and two devices, so most households will look at Essential, with 1 TB across 10 devices. The 14-day free trial asks for payment details up front, so set a reminder before it converts.
More about Tresorit8
Mega (service)
MEGA starts you with 20 GB of end-to-end encrypted storage for free, among the most generous allowances here and enough to test the apps properly before paying. The catch is the transfer quota: plans meter how much you move as well as how much you keep, and the US Pro I plan lists 3 TB of storage alongside 3 TB of transfer for $12.49 a month.
Syncing your own devices rarely bumps into that limit; sharing large folders with other people can. Treat it as roomy private storage rather than a place to hand out big downloads.
More about Mega (service)9
Filen
Filen pairs zero-knowledge, client-side encryption with some of the lowest per-terabyte prices on this list: Pro III gives 2 TiB for 8.99 euros a month. Its headquarters and servers are in Germany, which matters to anyone who wants their files under EU rules.
Plans stack on a single account, so two 10 TiB plans make 20 TiB with no upper limit, a tidy way to grow an archive without migrating. It is a younger, smaller company than the household names, so keep a separate backup of anything that lives only here.
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PCloud
pCloud is best known for lifetime plans: pay once for 500 GB, 2 TB or 10 TB and never see a renewal. The arithmetic can look excellent, but a lifetime deal is only worth as much as the company's own lifetime, so weigh it as a bet rather than a saving.
Read what the lifetime price covers. pCloud Encryption, the client-side layer that keeps the provider out of your files, is not included in those storage plans; it comes only as an extra or in the 3-in-1 bundle. Lost data can be recovered from up to 30 days back.
More about PCloud11
Icedrive
Icedrive draws a sharp line between its free and paid tiers. The free 10 GB plan has no encryption and no file history, so treat it as a test drive. Paid plans add client-side Twofish encryption with zero-knowledge protection, and the 2 TB Pro plan keeps 90 days of file versions, three times the 30 days on Dropbox Plus.
Pro also limits desktop sync to five devices, with phones and the web unlimited, which suits a household with a couple of computers. Like pCloud, it sells lifetime plans; the same caution about betting on a smaller company's future applies.
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Internxt
Internxt is an encrypted option with a desktop app for Linux as well as Windows and macOS, something Proton Drive still cannot offer. Storage is protected by zero-knowledge AES-256 encryption, and the company, based in Valencia, Spain, adds post-quantum encryption on top.
The free plan is only 1 GB, enough to try the apps and little more. Individual plans come in 1 TB, 2 TB and 5 TB sizes, including one-time lifetime options. Internxt was founded in 2020, so the lifetime question is sharper here than anywhere: keep a second copy of anything that matters.
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Koofr
Koofr is the practical pick when your files are already scattered across other clouds. Paid plans connect existing Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive accounts, from 9 connections on the smallest tier to 30 on the largest, so you can reach everything through one app and one search, with storage held in EU-based data centers.
Pricing comes in small, honest steps from 10 GB up to 10 TB, billed yearly, and every paid plan adds the 10 GB free allowance on top. Deleted files stay recoverable for 30 days on paid plans but only 7 on the free 10 GB tier, so treat the free plan as a convenience rather than a safe place.
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