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Google Drive

Google Drive

Overview

What is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.

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Learn from top reviewers

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Video Reviews

5 videos

Google Drive Makes Collaboration Easier for New Users
02:47
Google Drive: Flexible Cloud Storage Unlocks Collaboration
03:49
Included Features Set Google Drive Apart
03:25
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Pricing

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Basic

$6.00

Cloud
per month

Business

$12.00

Cloud
per month

Enterprise

Contact Vendor for Quote

Cloud
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://cloud.google.com/drive…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Using the Google Drive Presentation App

YouTube
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Features

File Sharing & Management

Features that allow collaborators to view, work on, and organize files.

8.3
Avg 8.4

Cloud Storage Security & Administration

Features related to security and administration for cloud storage platforms

8.3
Avg 8.7

Cloud Storage Platform

Features around the functionality of the cloud storage platform.

8.8
Avg 8.6
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Product Details

What is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files on their servers, synchronize files across devices, and share files. In addition to a website, Google Drive offers apps with offline capabilities for Windows and macOS computers, and Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Google Drive encompasses Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, which are a part of an office suite that permits collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms, and more. Files created and edited through the office suite are saved in Google Drive.


Google Drive Features

File Sharing & Management Features

  • Supported: Versioning
  • Supported: Document files
  • Supported: Image files
  • Supported: Video files
  • Supported: Audio files
  • Supported: Document collaboration
  • Supported: Shared folders
  • Supported: Access control
  • Supported: File search
  • Supported: Device sync
  • Supported: Web interface
  • Supported: File change notifications
  • Supported: Simultaneous editing

Cloud Storage Security & Administration Features

  • Supported: Single sign-on
  • Supported: Two-step verification
  • Supported: User and role management
  • Supported: Storage limit management
  • Supported: File organization

Cloud Storage Platform Features

  • Supported: Performance
  • Supported: Reliability
  • Supported: Multi-language

Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives

Google Drive Videos

The top things you need to know to get up and running on Google Drive. To learn more, check out → https://goo.gle/34qWMf7
To learn more about how Drive can help your team collaborate more effectively, take a look at our website. And when you're ready to get started, sign up for a free trial. Links: Website → https://goo.gle/drive-enterprise Start your trial now → https://goo.gle/37pwbjR
To learn more about how Drive can help your team collaborate more effectively, take a look at our website. And when you're ready to get started, sign up for a free trial. Links: Website → https://goo.gle/drive-enterprise Start your trial now → https://goo.gle/37pwbjR
To learn more about how Drive can help your team collaborate more effectively, take a look at our website. And when you're ready to get started, sign up for a free trial. Links: Website → https://goo.gle/drive-enterprise Start your trial now → https://goo.gle/37pwbjR
To learn more about how Drive can help your team collaborate more effectively, take a look at our website. And when you're ready to get started, sign up for a free trial. Links: Website → https://goo.gle/drive-enterprise Start your trial now → https://goo.gle/37pwbjR
To learn more about how Drive can help your team collaborate more effectively, take a look at our website. And when you're ready to get started, sign up for a free trial. Links: Website → https://goo.gle/drive-enterprise Start your trial now → https://goo.gle/37pwbjR

Google Drive Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android

Frequently Asked Questions

Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.

Box, Dropbox, and Dropbox Business are common alternatives for Google Drive.

Reviewers rate Document collaboration highest, with a score of 9.1.

The most common users of Google Drive are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

(1-5 of 208)

Simple file sharing and collaborating!

Rating: 6 out of 10
June 21, 2016
NB
Vetted Review
Verified User
Google Drive
2 years of experience
I use Google Drive to collect data from surveys that I take. We send out a post-training follow up survey, and the results get dropped into my Google Drive file. This is helpful for me as it allows me feedback on the training exercises that we did, and if they were effective to the learner's development.
  • Speed - when I need to access the files, I don't have to wait for downloading a file, or syncing a file.
  • Simple login to Google allows me to access information from different locations from different web enabled devices.
  • Also very easy to navigate to the files from my computer.
Cons
  • Don't really have any weaknesses. Google's platform is very strong and simple to work with!
Most of the files that I need to access are done through my computer. Though I appreciate the ability to sync with my phone and tablet, I would say that I don't utilize that option as much. But the fact that I can access them "on the go", makes me appreciate Google Drive.

Extremely Useful for File Sharing/Compatibility!

Rating: 10 out of 10
November 30, 2021
HP
Vetted Review
Verified User
Google Drive
5 years of experience
We use Google Drive to house the majority of our documents and excel spreadsheets. It is very useful for teamwork and collaborating for almost everything that we do. I mainly use the spreadsheets function as I think it is best for working simultaneously with others and it is a lot quicker than just having to send emails back and forth.
  • Amazing collaboration.
  • It's free.
  • Allows to not force us to purchase Microsoft Office 365.
Cons
  • It's free so I don't think they really need to do anything.
  • Could potentially integrate more options.
I think it is appropriate for anything that requires teamwork. You can also send attachments through it and it is well integrated with Gmail so all the things I use are in one easy place to access. We use it to track mountains of data and house a bunch of data. It is very easy to configure as well.

Easy Collaboration, Backups and file sharing.

Rating: 8 out of 10
September 04, 2023
LS
Vetted Review
Verified User
Google Drive
6 years of experience
We use Google Drive for short-term sharing of files that are too large to send via email or WhatsApp. We also use the platform for storing business files to be accessed by multiple remote users. We even use Google Drive to provide uploading functionality to clients and other 3rd parties from whom we require files that are too large to send via email or WhatsApp.
  • File viewing, whether PDF, sound or video files
  • Access control from view-only to edit rights
  • Synchronisation with local folders
Cons
  • More flexibility of choosing an account on which storage space is used.
  • Access control could be more intuitive especially when adding new files to an already shared folder.
  • Synchronising local folders was tricky to first set up
For personal and business use, Google Drive is super flexible and accessible. Even if you upgrade to a paid tier, the cost is very reasonable. Perfect for sharing files, storing files in the cloud for backup purposes and collaboration between different users, even if the users are geographically far apart.

Suitable for higher education file sharing need

Rating: 7 out of 10
August 07, 2023
I use Google Drive to synchronize teaching materials for my professor. He picked Google Drive because it is free, and his Dropbox account had already full. Google Drive is probably not my choice had I been given that authority. It does not quite correctly present or depict the final deliverable files (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). Other file-sharing services (or Microsoft's own OneDrive) would be better if you want to edit the deliverable files directly in the app. So, I ended up creating and editing files on their own native software app and then saving them to Google Drive, so my professor could review and download them.
  • Sharing files with other users
  • Editing files and working concurrently with other users
  • Synchronizing saved files with other users (after you and other users figured out how to set up the drive in your computers)
  • Free for the most part
Cons
  • Formatting issues with documents created (or edited) with Google Workspace
  • Setting up the Drive in your computer (for auto synchronize) is not exactly intuitive
If the requirements for deliverable files are not strict, and the space requirement is not large, then Google Drive should be suitable for most projects. However, if the format of the deliverable file is mission-critical, then you should opt for other file-sharing services or use Google Drive differently. Also, Gmail users seemed to have a better experience using Google Drive than non-Gmail users.

Large-file sharing? Google Drive is the answer

Rating: 9 out of 10
April 09, 2021
MZ
Vetted Review
Verified User
Google Drive
5 years of experience
Our company uses Google Drive for file-sharing big files because for the small-sized files, we just share it on our team collaboration apps (RocketChat / Slack). We use Google Drive to share a file with our client too or upload a presentation online for our meeting purpose. Google Drive is the solution for our big-sized file sharing because it server upload is reliable, and doesnt have any technical issue (until now from our usage).
  • Server Reliability
  • Server Availability
  • Sharing-access management
Cons
  • Sharing access doesn't repeat on folders
  • Pricing too expensive
  • Native PC Apps to sync not efficient because takes too much bandwidth
Google Drive is good when you need file-sharing platform with strict access management. Google Drive is good for large-sized files too. When you upload the file you won't worry about failed to upload / server is down. When accessing the file, you won't worry about [if] the file is corrupt/down too. Drive is supported by Google docs/spreadsheet/slide too, so when you need to present your presentation file it can be viewed online without any third-party apps.
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