Top 5 Free Cloud Storage Options

Cloud Computing is the new buzz of the Tech Industry. According to Wikipedia,

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like electricity.

I am sure many of the readers will be confused as to which of the site offers the best cloud storage. So here is a quick list of the best free cloud storage options:

1. Dropbox (Best Free Cloud Storage Option)

It is till date the best Free Cloud Storage option available. (Might change after Google Drive release) It has shell integration even on Linux, a great little iPhone app and web interface, as well as convenient Firefox and Google Chrome extensions. You get 2GB of Free Cloud Storage space — up to 3GB/ 10.25 GB 16 GB if you get people to sign up under your referral (500 MB per referral). You can even use it to watch a movie file on your iPhone — but the upload may take a while.

Features include:

• Automatic Syncing of files online and across your computers automatically.
• Share folders with several people to collaborate on the same files.
• Access your files even if you have deleted them.
• Shared folders are viewable only by people you invite and much more..!

2. SugarSync

This is the second best Free Cloud Storage option out there. It allows you to Sync files on multiple computers, you can also upload / sync via email. The major advantage being ability to backup any folder on your computer and real-time upload of changes. It also allows you to edit files through the web interface, comes in handy for simple edits. You can Share photo albums, Send files of any size and Stream music to web browser or your iPhone, BlackBerry and Android device. It offers 5 GB of Free Cloud Storage space.
It supports XP, Vista and 7,Mac OSX, Linux and you can download mobile apps to sync iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices to sync folders.

Highlights:-

• Sync files on multiple computers
• Upload / Sync via email
• Real-time upload of changes
• Edit files via Web
• Stream music

3. Box.net

Box.net is the third best Free Cloud Storage option out there. It offers some great features and compatibility options (the latest Microsoft Office files, image and mp3 files, flash video, Photoshop and Illustrator and more). Their free plan only gives you 1GB of Free Cloud Storage (25mb filesize limit) and there’s no shell integration (great web interface though), but they integrate with Google and Zoho and have a decent mobile app for the iPhone.

Also Check out -

• Top 5 Free Plugins to Backup Your Blog to Cloud Storage
• 3 Best Ways To Sync MS Office Documents to Cloud Storage

4. Memopal

Memopal starts you off at 3GB Free Cloud Storage and works natively on most platforms (Linux is in beta). Shell integration is decent and if you want more storage, you can get 200GB for $50 bucks per year. I only mention the paid plan here because, well – that’s pretty frickin’ good!

Bonus for TechSplurge Readers:- Use the code SPLURGE15 and get 15% off on any Paid Plan

5. Windows Skydrive

SkyDrive is a Microsoft’s cloud storage offering.This is a great option if you have lots of small files to share. By small, I mean 50MB filesize max. By lots… I mean 25GB of Free Cloud Storage.There is no built in shell extension, but you can (on Windows, anyway) install SkyDrive Explorer to handle that. It works pretty well, and can apparently bypass the filesize limit with the pro version. Not the easiest for general (non-windows) mobile access though.

Other Free Cloud Storage Options

Here are two services that just fell short of making it to the list of Top 5 Free Cloud Storage Options.

Google Docs

Google Docs recently added the ability to upload any type of file. Their upload filesize limit is 1GB and you get 1GB of storage for free. If you convert files to Google Docs formats the space they take up is significantly smaller — and the 1GB seems to be on top of regular Google Docs use thus far, and your Gmail and Picasa storage (7GB and 1GB, respectively) is separate as well.

With clients like GDocsDrive, you can upload files the easy way on Google Docs.

Google does have plans for purchase as well, if you need more, with a yearly pricing scheme (starting at just $0.25 per GB) that is comparable to Memopal’s. And if its Google, its trustworthy for sure. Also you can buy 20GB of storage for your entire Google Account at just 5$/year. Detailed pricing can be found here.

Amazon Cloud Drive

With 5GB of Free Cloud Storage space, Amazon’s very own cloud storage option, is a cheaper alternative, you can have a look at the detailed comparison of Dropbox vs. Amazon Cloud Drive. It is noteworthy to mention that songs purchased from Amazon Music store are saved directly to your Amazon Cloud Drive, moreover it doesn’t consume your storage limit. On the downside, It lacks some essential features and most importantly, a desktop client. You can’t always upload files via web interface, can you?

Hope this helps. Let me know if you vary in opinion and have better Free Cloud Storage options to add to the list.

If you are using multiple cloud storage services, my post on 4 Ways to Manage All Cloud Services From One Place should help!

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