OneDrive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox: The best cloud storage service of 2017

Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive are three of the largest cloud storage services available, but each one comes with a number of different benefits. To help you decide which fits your needs best, we’ve investigated the pros and cons of each service.

Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Google Drive: service overview

Dropbox

Dropbox is a basic file storage service in the cloud. It’s very similar to the kind of interface you’d expect from a desktop computer, with the ability to arrange your files into folders and sub-folders.

You can choose to share folders with other people too, which is handy if a file is too hefty to send over email or if you want to keep a single version of a document.

OneDrive

OneDrive offers many of the same features as Dropbox, but they’re integrated within the Microsoft ecosystem.

OneDrive, which was formerly called SkyDrive, is intrinsically linked with Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Windows operating systems, as well as Office Online (formerly known as Office Web Apps).

If you have a Microsoft email account – Outlook or Hotmail, for example – you already have OneDrive, as well as access to Office Online.

Windows 10 users will notice OneDrive is one of the apps included with the OS and is accessible from the Start screen.

Google Drive

Google Drive is much the same as OneDrive, only it’s integrated with Google Docs, as well as Android and Chrome OS. As with Microsoft’s offering, if you have a Gmail account, you already have Google Drive. 

Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Google Drive: how much do you get free?

Free storage (GB) 

Google Drive is the most generous of the three services, offering 15GB free storage per user. 

OneDrive did once match Google’s offering, but then reduced their free storage from 15GB to 5GB. They also cut the previous bonus 15GB of storage when you activate your camera roll backup. Dropbox, meanwhile, offers a measly 2GB per user for free. However, the service operates a bonus scheme: for each person you invite to Dropbox, normally by sharing a folder, who joins you receive an extra 500MB of free storage up to 16GB.

Dropbox does have the highest maximum free bonus – 16GB. Admittedly, you’d have to successfully recruit 26 people to the service to get up to Google Drive’s minimum capacity, but the possibility is there.