Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, pCloud, MEGA and Proton Drive compared: free gigabytes, photo backup, shared documents and end-to-end encryption.
Choosing a cloud is not really a contest over who gives away the most gigabytes. It is a question of what the files are for. Backing up every phone photo automatically, editing one document with several people at once, and storing documents nobody else should ever be able to read are three separate problems with three different answers, and the best service for each does not coincide. The 6 apps in this guide cover that full spread: Google Drive and OneDrive anchor the two big office ecosystems, Dropbox remains the sync workhorse, pCloud bets on lifetime ownership, and MEGA and Proton Drive compete on encryption nobody else can open. Pick by your dominant use; many people sensibly run two.
Google Drive gives 15 GB free and the best real-time collaboration in Docs and Sheets, though the space is shared with Gmail and Photos.
Google Drive is the default cloud for anyone inside Google's world, starting with 15 GB free the moment an account exists. Its real edge is not the space but the ecosystem: Docs, Sheets and Slides open straight from the app and let several people edit the same file simultaneously, search reads text inside images and PDFs, and sharing is the benchmark other services copy. The trade-offs are worth stating. The 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Google Photos, so it fills faster than expected, there is no end-to-end encryption — Google holds the keys — and the whole setup depends on a Google account you might not want central to your life. For collaborative work it leads; for private archives, look at MEGA or Proton.
MEGA encrypts files on your device before upload, so not even MEGA can read them, and offers the most generous free storage tier.
MEGA is the privacy-first choice among the big clouds: files are encrypted on your own device before they leave it, meaning the company itself cannot hand over or inspect your content, and encrypted chat and video calls come in the same account. It is also the most generous free tier on the market for raw storage. The trade-offs are the flip side of that encryption and generosity. The free plan caps monthly transfer volume, losing your personal recovery key means losing the files permanently because nobody else can reset it, and continuous syncing is reported to drain a fair amount of battery. Accept those terms and it is the strongest free option for sensitive backups.
OneDrive bundles 1 TB with every Microsoft 365 plan, making storage essentially free if you already pay for Office.
OneDrive makes the most sense inside a household or office that already uses Microsoft 365: the subscription includes 1 TB of storage, so the cloud effectively arrives free with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Office documents open and co-edit without leaving the app. Beyond documents it backs up phone photos automatically and offers a Personal Vault protected by an extra verification step for sensitive files. The standalone case is weaker. The free tier gives only 5 GB, it feels less nimble than Google Drive outside the Microsoft world, and the app can run heavy on modest phones. Existing Office users should not look anywhere else; others can.
Dropbox still syncs folders with the fewest surprises and restores older file versions, but its free tier holds only 2 GB.
Dropbox is the app that made personal cloud storage mainstream, and it remains the most dependable at the core job: folders appear identically across devices without conflicts or mystery duplications, shared links stay under your control, and version history lets you pull back a file exactly as it stood days ago, which quietly rescues more work than any backup feature advertises. The free plan is the catch — just 2 GB, far behind the competition, with a cap on linked devices as well — and paid tiers are expensive per gigabyte. Pay for it when reliability and version recovery matter more than raw space; treat the free account as a sharing utility rather than a backup.
pCloud sells one-off lifetime plans instead of subscriptions, stores data in Europe and plays cloud videos and music in-app.
pCloud is known for one genuinely unusual choice: it sells lifetime access as a single payment rather than a monthly subscription, which works out far cheaper than years of recurring fees and removes the fear of losing files after a missed payment. The company is Swiss, keeps its servers in Europe, and includes a capable media player, so videos and music stream straight from the cloud without downloading. The fine print matters: the strongest zero-knowledge encryption is a paid add-on rather than part of the core, the free tier's storage is modest, and third-party app integrations are far fewer than Google Drive's. It suits users who want to own capacity outright, especially for media libraries.
Proton Drive encrypts files end to end on Swiss servers, from the Proton Mail team — MEGA's privacy with a calmer, established company.
Proton Drive comes from the Proton Mail team and applies the same uncompromising model to files: end-to-end encryption, Swiss headquarters under strong privacy law, no data analysis and no advertising, with encrypted photo backup on mobile and 5 GB free, expandable through paid plans. It exists for users who do not want their documents hosted by Google or Microsoft, and it pairs naturally with a Proton Mail account. Compared with MEGA it gives less free storage, syncing is slower than the large incumbent platforms because of the encryption overhead, and its wider app ecosystem is still growing rather than complete. Switch for principle and privacy; do not expect Drive-level polish on every integration yet.
Download price only. In-app purchases and subscriptions may cost extra.
Questions & answers
Which cloud gives the most free space?
MEGA runs the most generous free tier on the market, followed by Google Drive with 15 GB. Read the small print before deciding on gigabytes alone: Google's allowance is shared between Drive, Gmail and Google Photos, so a photo library erodes it quickly, while MEGA caps monthly transfer volume on free accounts even when storage remains. Dropbox is by far the tightest at 2 GB, and OneDrive and Proton Drive both offer 5 GB.
Which cloud is the most secure and private?
MEGA, because end-to-end encryption is applied by default: files are encrypted on your own device and the company never holds the key, so it cannot read or surrender content. Proton Drive applies the same model from Swiss-based infrastructure, while pCloud offers zero-knowledge encryption only as a paid add-on. Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox encrypt files on their servers, but in a form those companies could technically access if required.
Can I use several clouds at once?
Yes, and it is a sensible strategy rather than an admission of indecision: for example, Google Drive for shared work documents, MEGA or Proton Drive for sensitive personal backups, and pCloud for a media library bought outright. The only real drawback is remembering where everything lives, so impose one clear rule from day one — work files in one, personal files in another — instead of letting uploads land wherever the share sheet defaults.
Does photo backup eat my mobile data?
Only if you let it. All of these apps can restrict automatic photo backup to Wi-Fi, which is the recommended setting unless your data plan is unlimited. The option lives in each app's photo-backup settings, and it is worth checking during setup rather than after a surprise bill, because some services ship with mobile-data uploads enabled by default. On an iPhone, also confirm the app is allowed to finish uploading in the background after a large photo session.
More related apps
App library · United States App Store. Prices and availability reflect the last check.
