Cloud Storage Pricing Comparison

Cloud Storage Pricing Comparison

Cloud Storage options are becoming increasingly popular for businesses, and in addition to their features, their pricing structures set them apart from each other. To make it easier for you to find what cloud storage tool is right for your organization, we’ve created a detailed pricing comparison to help you find a cloud storage solution that meets your budgetary needs, and the feature needs of your business.

Pricing Tier Comparison

All of the most popular cloud storage options are sold as software as a service, typically with a monthly subscription, with the option of paying annually.  Many cloud storage options are targeted at specific businesses, or business sizes, as represented by their costs.  Google Drive, OneDrive, and EverNote all have strong features for small businesses, or enterprises with limited storage needs, which is reflected in their price.  In contrast, DropBox business and Box include features such as unlimited storage and built in integrations with popular business software, making them strong choices for large enterprises or businesses with major cloud storage needs. The only cloud storage tool listed below with a forever free version for businesses is EverNote, which is designed to specialize in note storage.  It is worth noting that many of these tools, including Google Drive, DropBox, and OneDrive, offer a forever free version for individual users, but they will not be usable for businesses. 

Product Name	Google Drive	Box	DropBox Business	OneDrive	EverNote
Reviews	Read Reviews	Read Reviews	Read Reviews	Read Reviews	Read Reviews
Annual Cost	$72.00-$144.00+	$60.00-$564.00	$150.00-$240.00+	$60.00-$240.00	Free-$180.00
Monthly Cost	$6.00-$12.00+	$7.00-$47.00	$15.00-%25.00+	$5.00-$12.50	Free-$14.99
Free Tier	No	No	No	No	Yes
Tier 1	$6.00	$7.00	$15.00	$5.00	$7.99
Tier 2	$12.00	$20.00	$25.00	$10.00	$14.99
Tier 3	Custom Quote	$33.00	Custom Quote	$12.50	N/A
Tier 4	N/A	$47.00	N/A	N/A	N/A

Discounts, Free Trials, and Extra Fees

Most of the most popular cloud storage tools offer a free trial or version for businesses, with the exception of Google Drive, which only provides a free version for individual users.  For the rest of these tools, businesses are able to try the software before they make a purchasing decision.  Even Google Drive offers a free version for individuals, so it is still possible for individuals involved in a cloud storage purchasing decision to try every tool.  

Each of these products has some extra fee, or a missing feature that will likely cost businesses money in the long term.  Google Drive and DropBox Business both have limited support availability at lower pricing tiers.  If your business is using integrations or storing many data types,  it is likely that recovery or support will be needed at some point.  Box requires at least 3 licenses with any subscription, so really, the smallest amount you can pay for Box is three times the subscription tier listed above. OneDrive bills monthly, but businesses are locked in for a year when they purchase their subscription, so it is important to be sure OneDrive is the cloud storage solution you want when you purchase it.  EverNote doesn’t offer any collaboration features in it’s lower pricing tires, which means most larger businesses will need one of the higher tiers. 

Student Discounts

All of the popular cloud storage tools offer some sort of discount for non-profit organizations, educators, and students.  Most of these discounts are just in the form of a price reduction of 20-30%.  Notably, Dropbox doesn’t have an ongoing discount, but frequently runs events where students can apply to receive free storage space with their student ID.

Which Cloud Storage Tool is Right for you?

For enterprises with a large number of users and complex storage needs, Box, and Dropbox business are good choices due to their enterprise packages.

For smaller businesses, OneDrive and Google Drive are good choices.  If your business uses Google technologies, Google Drive may be preferred, while businesses making more use of Microsoft technologies will appreciate OneDrive’s integrations.

Evernote is a good choice specifically for sharing notes, and is good for small businesses on a budget, or for larger businesses as a supplementary tool. 

Want to Know More?

Pricing can help narrow down what the best cloud storage option, but once you’ve determined which products you are considering, you can see what verified users think of each option at TrustRadius.