Amazon Drive, Google Drive, I’m sure you’ve heard about these big names in industry blogs or forums if you aren’t already using them.They’re all options for cloud storage, so you don’t have to occupy your hard drive or your device’s storage with bulky files, these companies help you with that at fees many would consider a steal.

But maybe you don’t even know what cloud storage is or how it works. Cloud storage is a service in which data is stored on remote servers that you can access from the internet. So just like saving a file on your local storage, in this model, you upload the files to servers maintained by companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Recently we’ve compared Dropbox vs Google Drive vs OneDrive vs iCloud vs Amazon Drive. Now we compare Amazon Drive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Mega

Amazon Drive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Mega

VALUE FOR MONEY COMPARED

Updated: May 2018

So let’s look at each of these services to see what their features are and if they’re worth trying out.

Let’s start with Amazon Drive. It’s clear that this is a cloud storage solution controlled and maintained by the e-commerce giant Amazon but there’s more to it. Amazon Drive offers cloud storage for every file you can think of, photos, documents, videos, you name it. All Amazon customers receive free 5GB of storage and you can access the drive with the app on your iPhone or Android device.

Then Google Drive. It’s another option offered by the tech giant Google. You get 15GB of free storage and one reason many people swear by Google Drive is because of its seamless synchronization with other Google apps like Docs, Google Keep and Google Sheets. Depending on your mobile device, Google Drive may come as a preinstalled application.

And Dropbox is another cloud storage option. It provides features like file recovery where you can easily recover deleted files and the remote wipe feature where you can clear files from devices that have been stolen so your documents aren’t compromised. Dropbox also integrates with over 300,000 third-party applications and they offer a 30-day free trial plan if it’s something you want to try.

OneDrive is the next service on our list and it’s maintained by Microsoft so you can’t run OneDrive without a Microsoft account. When you get on a plan like Office 365, you have access to 1TB of storage and of course, you get that seamless integration with other Microsoft products like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The last but not necessarily the least in this post is Mega. It’s a New Zealand based cloud storage option that provides 50GB of free cloud storage and up to 8TB if you sign up for their plans. Mega provides end-to-end encryption so your files can only be viewed by people you’ve offered access.

Cloud Storage: Value for Money compared

Value for Money compared: Amazon Drive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Mega

Cloud Storage

Each service in this post provides different features for the different comparison points. So how will they be compared? We’ll use charts that match the storage tier each service offers with their asking price. There are different variables that influence a sale but price is a huge factor that influences the purchase decisions of many buyers so you’ll see different Amazon Drive alternatives and how well the competing brands try to or actually beat them on price.

The blue marker belongs to Amazon Drive and they clearly beat other services on price for plans that are 1TB and below. For the very little offers between 0 and 0.2TB, OneDrive appears to be winning but they don’t keep up with it so Amazon Drive offers a more consistent option within this price range.

Google Drive starts with free storage options but can’t maintain this as they demonstrate an exponential growth pattern which ends with a $9.99 offer for a 1TB plan. That’s a $4.99 addition to Amazon’s $5 offer for the same plan.

Dropbox is next on the chart, starting off with a free plan just like Google drive, actually, they have a 30-day free trial plan but prices start to jump when you’re done with that so you end up with an $8.25 plan if you need 1TB of storage. That’s like a mid-range offer since it’s still not as expensive as the Google Drive option.

And then we have the OneDrive. It’s the closest option to the Amazon Drive as they offer 1TB of storage for $6.99. Microsoft will want to justify this price by citing the integration feature they have to offer but that will only concern people with a Microsoft account. It beats Amazon for most of the offers below 0.2TB but charges slightly higher prices for the larger storage packs.

Mega doesn’t even try to compete on price with the other brands. They charge a $6.22 fee for a plan below 0.2TB and their 5TB plan goes for $11.22. That’s way above what most of the other services ask for.

The second chart is all about prices the different services offer for storage packs between 1TB and 5TB. It’s clear OneDrive wins this one but let’s start with Amazon Drive.

Amazon Drive continues with its lead in the first chart but somewhere before the 1.5TB mark, it begins to charge higher than options like the OneDrive and this continues till they end up being the most expensive option for a 5TB plan which they provide at $25.

Google Drive stopped at 1TB so they don’t compete with the other services for plans with larger storage packs. Just like it is in the first chart, this plan is offered for $9.99 which is a bit pricey considering some of the other companies offer up to 2TB of storage at the same price.

Dropbox is next with a plan that just like Google Drive, doesn’t have a 5TB pack, but offers an $8.25-$16.50 price range for storage plans between 1TB and 2TB. Its 2TB plan at $16.50 is the most expensive option at that point with the closest to it being the Mega plan that offers 2TB for almost $15.

And then Mega, it offers an $11.22-$21.22 price range for storage plans between 1TB and 4TB. It’s more expensive than the Amazon Drive at 4TB but not at 5TB since there’s no plan for that amount of storage space.

Microsoft’s OneDrive wins in this chart, offering clearly cheaper options from the 1TB to the 5TB mark with a 5TB pack retailing for just $9.99.

The third chart compares the prices offered by the different cloud storage options for the storage range between 5TB and 30TB. Amazon Drive returns to winning ways for this one with its closest competition, Google Drive being way more expensive. Let’s look at each service.

We’ll start with OneDrive. They stopped at $9.99 for their 5TB plan so they don’t offer the higher storage plans compared in this chart.

Next up is Mega, they offer a $31.22 option for what looks to be a mini range (between 7.5TB and 8TB in this chart). That’s the cheapest option for that range but people looking for more storage options will have to try somewhere else.

Then it’s time for the Google Drive. It starts at $99.99 for a 10TB plan and ends at $299.99 for a 30TB plan. It’s clearly more expensive than the Amazon Drive at every step of the way, its $199.99 plan for 20TB of storage being a very clear marker. Google Drive also doesn’t have a plan for “light” users in this chart, so if you need between 5TB and 10TB of storage space, Amazon Drive, OneDrive and Mega are the solutions you can look at.

And we have the Amazon Drive. It wins at most point in this chart, conceding only to OneDrive at the 5TB mark because its $25 plan is way more expensive. So it offers a $25-$150 range for plans between 5TB and 30TB. This is way cheaper than what the Google Drive offers and this can be seen at even the 10 and 20TB points.

Cloud Storage: Value For Money

Amazon Drive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Mega

Amazon Drive

Average
Score: +1

Google Drive

Average
Score: -1

Dropbox

Average
Score: 0

OneDrive

Above-average
Score: +2

Mega

Below-average
Score: -2

Cloud Storage: Features

Amazon Drive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Mega

Amazon Drive

Average
Score: 0
Unlimited photo storage
Amazon secure datacenters

Google Drive

Below-average
Score: -1
Secure Google datacenters
Upload anything
Stream videos
Google search your files

Dropbox

Average
Score: +1
Sync files across devices
Shared folders and links
Offline file access
Remote device wipe
Priority email support

OneDrive

Above-average
Score: +2
Get Office for PC + Mac
Sync files across all devices
Productivity tools
Enhanced security

Mega

Above-average
Score: +2
End-to-end encryption
Collaboration tools
Automated synchronisation
Browser Extentions
Open Source
Console Access

The above data compares each cloud storage service with metrics like price and special features. It uses star ratings to decide if the services that may be considered expensive compensate that by offering exciting benefits and if the services you may consider cheap are worth spending money on at all. A score using a -2 to +2 range has also been provided for each service.

Cloud Storage Comparison Quadrant

Like a modified version of the previous description, the cloud storage comparison quadrant uses the price and features of each service to determine the solutions that provide the best value for the particular storage amount or range you need.

A service that’s good for you if you need 5TB of storage may not be ideal if you’re looking at getting 10TB. The three different charts demonstrate this with the Amazon Drive performing poorly on one of the charts.

Moving up and down the quadrant, we have value for money. Moving sideways, the features for each cloud storage option are compared. The sweet spot is the upper right quadrant where you have services that give you amazing features and at the lowest possible price.

Google Drive is clearly not an option you want to consider as they offer very average features at very expensive prices.

Mega gives you great value for your money but they don’t offer that many features to compete with the top dogs.

Amazon Drive offers features you’ll want to check out but not really at prices you’ll love. It does put up a good fight though, competing with Dropbox and OneDrive on the quadrant.

Dropbox gives you good value for your money but with very little features.

OneDrive ticks all the boxes, it offers very exciting features and at a price, you’ll consider a steal, you’d see this confirmed in the second cloud storage comparison chart.

SUMMARY

Here are a few reasons you may need to order a plan from one of these cloud storage services: So you need to access a slide you urgently need to deliver a presentation but forgot to copy it to your system on your way to work, if it’s saved it the cloud, you have no worries because your files can be accessed from anywhere. Very important business files can be compromised on your local computer but cloud storage systems have more secure servers and can provide you a backup file whenever you need it. And when next you’re hiring, you don’t need to recruit anyone to manage your in-house servers if you’re on a cloud storage plan.