By 
Online storage can be expensive, which is why it’s so frustrating that a lot of companies are beginning to rely on the cloud for providing users with long-term storage options. Thankfully, one of the “cloudiest” companies there are — Google — is looking to challenge the status quo.
They have introduced some new ridiculously affordable Google Drive pricing options for those who need more storage beyond the standard free 15GB you already get. Here’s a quick look at all of the new options you have at your fingertips:
- $1.99 per month: 100GB (previously $4.99)
- $9.99 per month: 1TB (previously $49.99)
- $99.99 per month: 10TB+
We’re sure those higher tiers are more for business users than anyone else, but it’s refreshing to see a host of options for regular Joe Schmos like you and me that are both plentiful and affordable. If you don’t remember, Google now uses your Drive storage for your email accounts, Google+ photos, as well as anything else you decide to upload there.
Most average users probably get by with the free 15GB option, but we’re sure there are folks out there with tons of email and photos who have been looking for this extra breathing room without having to break the bank.
It’s especially refreshing in a time where companies seem keen on increasing prices more than anything, such as Amazon’s price hike to Amazon Prime earlier today. Let’s hope this latest move pressures competitors such as Dropbox, Box.net and Microsoft OneDrive to drive cloud storage prices even lower across the board. Dial it in right here if you want to hop onto one of these great new plans (those who were already paying have been converted automatically).
[via AndroidForums.com]
I’m using 1GB of 125 free ones but that $2 for 100GB would be nice down the road.
Thank you NSA.
I know I will get clowned, down voted, and probably raped…..but I don’t get it.
I’m guessing Abby’s, “Thank you NSA.” wasn’t meant to thank the NSA. Instead, she was saying “thank you” from the NSA.
wow that makes a hell of a difference..I will begin laughing now..thanks.
I’m on a legacy plan where I get 80 GB for $20/year + the free user bonus of 15 GB gives me 95 GB for less than $1.70 a month. I’m only using 10.6 GB of that space so I think I’m good with what I have. Although it would be nice to cut the rope with DropBox where I’m paying 9.99 /month for 100 GB. Hmmm, I may just cut out DropBox out right and get the 1 TB with Google. I’ll wait for a few days to see if DropBox counters.
mega.co.nz does not have the integration that dropbox or google drive does, but it has better security, a strong anti-NSA attitude (google “Kim Dotcom”) and you get 50GB free.
Mega doesn’t offer bonuses for referrals, but I will tell you that I think it is the best option for hosting and sharing media files, and I use it for off-site backup of infrequently accessed files. I think it would be one of the best sites for a clandestine group (Chinese Falun Gong, Russian democracy activists, etc.) to share files as well.
I am an amateur, but mega just seems well architected. It is almost an extension of my hard drives with read/write permissions assignable per user. None of my other cloud services normally work this way. And mega strongly discourages any use of email links to share files as that compromises the encryption. Everyone gets their own account and then can be limited with clear granularity as to what they can do, and no one outside of approved contacts can see inside.
PS That sounds like an ad, but it is just my experience with mega.
Soo you’re saying you save $0.25 a month and get 5 GB less. Stick it to them!
I was paying $5 for 100GB. Those prices are killer. Just ponied up $10 for the 1TB. Great deal.
Well it did used to be around $5 for a year before it was rebranded to Drive.
eat a pickle.
i’m not paying a monthly fee to store my stuff on something i would need an internet connection to access. i currently have 200GBs used of my 2TB hard drive so they’re gonna have me pay $10 a month for storage?
bite me!
You have an excellent point. One little problem at their storage/server facility and millions of people lose all their data.
They have thousands of “one little problem[s]” every day. The cloud storage services all have redundancy built into their system. You’re far more likely to lose your stuff on your own single hard disk than they are on their complicated systems.
Still, you should have your own backup of everything important no matter where you keep your primary copies. The cloud is way more for convenience than it is for security.
^^^This. There are backups of those files. It would take more than “one little problem” for you to lose everything. Take a look sometime at how these data centers are built, maintained, secured, and backed up…. I’d worry more about storing something on a hard drive at home
It’s more like you have one little problem in your house like a bumped NAS, hard drive crash or a lightning strike and you lose all your data. I’m using both a nas and a cloud drive. Gives me redundancy and the ability to switch clouds when i want and makes all my files available when I’m not home. I also just started using Plex so I can share all my family videos, photos, and basic dvr’d content.
I need fault tolerance.
fault tolerance = take care of your stuff.
there’s no fail safe way to store your data no matter what you do. life happens.
This is true. I’ve lost data from physical memory. I’ve yet to lose any data from online storage.
I would feel more content paying for cloud storage than I would buying physical media.
Also, when you start getting into the larger TBs, like 10+ Terabytes, then physical memory starts getting expensive.
A consumer may be able to get by, but a business would save a lot with cloud storage. And I’m lazy and will pay for this convenience. It’s no different than buying ANYTHING at your local gas station. You’re clearly paying for the convenience when that tiny bag of chips comes up as $1.50. =.[
wake me when the 1TB goes on sale for 99cents/month.
OK..I’m no mathematician, but 99*12≈$12 per year for 1TB…but Google has it for $10 per year…so you can wake up now….
Google has it for $10 a month not per year lol
Aaahhh…Faaack!!!! OK my bad..I guess I’m not much of a reader either!!lol *facepalm*
I’m on bitcasa. Early adopters paid $69/year unlimited storage…
Why they don’t have anything in between 1TB and 10TB. I may soon exceed my quota of 1Tb and I can already see paying $99.9 per month for unnecessary extra storage of 10TB.
Seems like it would be nice to offer some intermediary amounts….. 1, 3, 6 & 10, or something similar.
Their desktop Drive client is so slow on upload (deliberately throttled, literally 20x slower than SugarSync or Dropbox, no throttle speed options) that it’d take over a year to Upload 10 TB with it. How do you get around that?
Edit: Okay, current client is doing a constant 275KByte/sec. That’s about a gigabyte an hour. Still throttled, but much much more reasonable.
That sounds like it’s just your ISP. What’s your typical upload speed for a long transfer?
I have the Legacy $5/yr for 20GB. Paid user bonus of 15GB and Early Adopter bonus of 1GB =36GB and I’m only using about 5GB.
Since…
“Photos bigger than 2048×2048 pixels use your storage. Everything smaller than that is free.”
I hope to never have to upgrage.
I hope you never “upgrage” either.lol