Storage of files and data on the “cloud” has a lot of benefits for business users and home users alike, being able to access your data from multiple devices anywhere you have internet access (and let’s face it, these days with mobile phones that can be just about anywhere) is both a convenience and business necessity.

The best part of this technology is there are a lot of free services available to you, and in this update, I’m going to talk about what I think are the best free ones, Google Drive and DropBox.

Well, which is better? I have to say I honestly cannot give either one a better review; they are both fantastic and have strengths and a few minor weaknesses.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a very easy to use web based option with an App that can go with it; if you are a very frequent user and need to make a lot of uploads to the cloud, the easy to use App is an excellent download to have.

The Google Drive website is very easy to use and reduces the need to use an app. Offering a generous 15gb of storage to free user accounts, one interesting feature is the direct connection to Google Docs, which enabled the user to create documents for free with the Google Docs editing tools provided, a bit like a basic Microsoft Office suite, the Google Docs has plenty of nice templates to use.

Google Drive application is available in a more limited format, providing native support to Windows, Mac, Android and iOS based devices.

Google Drive is the best option for ease of use and interconnectivity with other Google services and products, and I highly recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

Dropbox

Dropbox is the best option for storing small files online using the Dropbox App. The drawback to using Dropbox is the smaller storage limit for free accounts; 2gb isn’t much in 2016 regarding data storage. So if you want to upload anything other than small documents that you have no intention of keeping forever, then you’ll need to invest in more storage.

You can use the Dropbox website to access your files and data. Still, if you want quicker and easier access, I recommend using the App. The App does come with useful features like alerts to file uploads and access to your files and folders without having to open the web browser first.

Dropbox has compatibility with:

  • Windows
  • Mac
  • Linux
  • Android
  • iOS
  • Windows Phone
  • BlackBerry
  • Kindle Fire

Which is to say plenty of devices, so depending on which of these you use, Dropbox might be the right option for you; make sure you get the App for your mobile devices if you are going to use Dropbox from your office computer.

There are plenty of other options out there for business use; within a paid system, including Google Drive and Dropbox, there are plenty of ways to get professional level cloud storage, but the subjects of this post are really about the great options for free.

You don’t need to invest in expensive storage with many gigs of data storage for working in the home office.

I’d love your thoughts on this; please leave a comment in the comment section below.