The market has responded to this high demand, with storage capabilities increasing and a lot of new services popping up in the last few years. The best part is that many online storage tools can be used for free. Here’s an overview of your best options:
1. DropboxEasily one of the best online storage tools out there, Dropbox has been one of the most popular in the past few years as well. Initially, you only get 2 GB of free storage place, but you can easily increase that by getting referrals from friends (extra 10 GB), or by using the Dropbox App on a mobile device (4 GB). There are other ways to increase it for free as well. You also get a public folder which you can share with your friends or colleagues for collaboration. One of Dropbox’s best features is that it keeps past versions of synced files so that you can easily restore any version from the past 30 days.
2. Google DriveMoving on to another people’s favorite – Google Drive. You start with a lot more free space than on Dropbox, 15 GB, but there’s a slight catch. The storage space is shared with your GMail account, meaning that extensive usage will reduce your Google Drive capacity. However, you don’t have to bother with referring friends or similar, you get your 15 GB upfront. The best feature of Google Drive is that it gives you the ability to create excel spreadsheets, text documents and even PDF files. Google Drives doubles up and kind of serves like an Open Office substitute in the cloud.
3. ADriveThe next free online storage tool is not that well known, but has a very obvious advantage when compared to the previous two. It comes with a whooping 50 GB of free storage for free – that’s right more than 3 times the amount that Google Drive offers you. Unfortunately, it is not very user friendly and for users with little to no computer skills that might be a bit off-putting. However, if you’re just looking for a place in the cloud where you can upload your big backup files, ADrive could be the place to go.
4. JolidriveLast but not least, Jolidrive offers an alternative for all of you who want to get a lot of space but cannot decide on which service to use because each one has different advantages. Jolidrive combines all your online storage tools at once, allowing you to access anything you have stored without having to visit the various sites. It also supports Facebook, Picasa and other similar services, so you can look through your photos there, too. Jolidrive is definitely worth considering if you like using different cloud services and want to access them from a single site.
Using Online Storage Tool can simplify the life of freelancers tremendously, e.g. when
working remotely from different coworking spaces or for those who
travel and work as freelancers. Do you have a favorite online storage tool? Share your experiences below.