A small study of the cloud storage market: we are looking for where to get as many gigabytes as possible for less money, and which service provides more opportunities.
In mid-May 2018, the Google One service was announced – this is a rebranding of the old Google Drive cloud. Why it was necessary to take such a step is still not clear to me, the company once again complicates the life of its users with new names. I am sure that many people are already confusing Drive and Docs, and now Google One appears, which is similar to Android One.
Users from the United States have already been transferred to Google One, and the service has begun to reach Russia only now, and even then not for everyone. Only a few Drive subscribers received a notification that they were transferred to a new subscription, the rest are asked to wait.
I decided that the launch of a new service in Russia would be an excellent reason to compare popular clouds – prices, benefits and bonuses.
Prices
Cost is the most important parameter, so let's start with that. I have written out prices for the base plan monthly and yearly subscriptions for 100GB and 1TB of storage. Some services provide a different volume, so I took the most similar options. To make the comparison more revealing, I calculated how many rubles one gigabyte costs.
In the table below, I selected only the Google One tariffs in comparison with the old Drive and Yandex.Disk, which turned out to be the most profitable. I have uploaded a complete pricing table to Google Docs, which also compares OneDrive , Mail.ru Cloud, iCloud and Dropbox.
I would like to make several clarifications at once. Google One has slightly changed its tariff scheme, it has become more profitable than Drive for large volumes. OneDrive cloud from Microsoft works in tandem with Office 365, which can now be bought in Russia only in retail and immediately for a year, but more on that later. Apple does not provide an option for an annual cloud subscription. Dropbox only has a 1TB plan and sells in dollars.
The most favorable tariffs in relation to the cost to the number of gigabytes turned out to be at Yandex. It should be understood that this service does not provide any additional bonuses, it is suitable only as a data storage. While other services have additional benefits, for which it may be worth paying extra. I propose to consider each cloud separately. Plus, there are ways to get even more memory and cheaper than Yandex.
Google One / Drive
The Google cloud has a big advantage – it has deep integration with other services of the company. They should be signed up for the Google Docs office suite. It is a complete suite of office applications that run only in the cloud. With it, you are not tied to one device, you can open a window in a browser on any computer and continue working.
For example, I never got used to Google Docs, so I continue to use the 'office' from Microsoft. But many editors and journalists use this particular service as the main one, because it is more convenient to work on the text together and share materials via a link.
The Google cloud is also used as storage for Gmail and backups Android – smartphones. While 15 GB of free space will be enough for many users, plus sometimes the company gives bonus gigabytes.
The company promises offers to Google One subscribers for third-party services – for example, a discount on hotel bookings through search. There is no such thing in Russia yet. You can also share a Google One subscription with 5 friends – it's cheaper that way.
OneDrive
Cloud Microsoft I would call the main competitor of Google Drive. Cloud storage is provided for an Office 365 subscription – only 1 TB, less or more cannot be obtained.
This message appears when trying to subscribe through the website Microsoft
Previously, in Russia, you could subscribe to a monthly subscription to Office 365. But due to economic problems, the company shifted software sales to partners, so now you have to buy keys in stores, there is only an option for a year. To save money, you can team up with friends and family to buy Office 365 'Home' – buy one key for five, everyone will get access to the office and 1 TB of storage in OneDrive for 800 rubles. per year (66 rubles per month). This is the most advantageous offer among competitors.
You can only recommend OneDrive if the person needs the office package from Microsoft. I am used to Word because it is easier to work with document layout according to standards.
iCloud
With the cloud Apple everything is simple – users iPhone and Mac computers already, most likely, understand the need to purchase a subscription. System backups, photos and documents are uploaded to iCloud. Plus, this cloud is used for Pages and other office programs Apple.
Apple gives free users only 5 GB in the cloud – this is too little. Therefore, you can pay attention to the tariff with 50 or 200 GB. Better yet, team up with someone to take a 2 TB tariff for five people, you get 120 rubles each. per person.
There is no point in buying an iCloud subscription for devices from other companies – Apple has an iCloud app for Windows, but not for Android.
Rest
Cloud Mail.ru is priced like a subscription to Google One, although there are no additional bonuses from it. The service does not even know how to view the contents of archives. You can also remember that at the start of the project, the company distributed 1 TB of memory for free, so someone does not need to pay money for this. It can be noted that in addition to the service, they have an application for screenshots and a program for combining Mail.ru Cloud with other services. That's all.
All that remains is the Dropbox subscription. There are plans from only 1 TB, the cheapest one costs $ 9.99 per month and has some limitations compared to the 2 TB plan. For example, you cannot use cloud applications so that files from it do not take up disk space on your computer. You can't share temporary links to files and folders yet. You can view all restrictions on the Dropbox website. This service is unprofitable for personal use, there are cheaper options with additional functions.
Conclusion
If you only need additional memory in the cloud, the most profitable service is Yandex.Disk. You can also team up with friends and buy a family key for Office 365 – this is how you get access to a full-fledged office suite and 1 TB of memory for each for 66 rubles. per month.
I want to remind you that there is no point in buying space in the cloud for storing personal photos – there is a wonderful service called Google Photos. It gives unlimited storage for photos and videos, but they go through compression algorithms. For me, the difference between a compressed photo and the original is not critical.
The new Google One service does not differ much from the old Drive, it has become a little more profitable on some tariffs. In any case, users have no choice, because gradually everyone will be transferred to the new service. I would like, for example, to receive a YouTube Premium bonus with a paid cloud subscription – then this service would look more attractive.