The offer of cloud storage services has not stopped growing and has grown in recent years under the umbrella of cloud computing. Among all of them, there is a group of platforms that stand out in popularity over others , either because their services are better or simply by name.
Of course, we are talking about Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive . Although the first was the pioneer, at least, in democratizing this of storing files in the cloud, instead of having everything locally, the rest were joining the trend sooner or later. In the case of Google, it came offering its service coupled with its numerous application pack, while Microsoft did more or less the same by taking advantage of its Office office services offering.
In this special we are going to make a thorough comparison of these three services, without entering their payment plans . We will focus on the free versions of each one, specifically the aspects most important to users. We will see how these three mastodons stand up. We started!
Storage capacity
We are going to start with the main aspect of these three tools, which is none other than their ability to host files. Of course, we will find a huge difference between the free and paid versions. However, as we have already noted above, we will focus on the free options .
And is that both Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive offer some free GB of memory just by registering, and in fact, already here you can see certain differences between these services.
In advance, we have to say that Google Drive wins by a landslide in this regard , since it is the one that offers the most storage capacity for free. It has no less than 15 GB of space, expandable by contracting one of its available payment plans.
When it comes to Dropbox, the free capacity is just 2GB with the basic plan . We know that, for many, they won't even have to start with this. However, there is the possibility of expanding this initial capacity through specific promotions with other brands for the purchase of devices, sending invitations to friends to open an account, etc. Through this type of method we can get up to 16 GB totally free.
Finally, the OneDrive option offers us a free plan that reaches up to 5 GB , staying in an intermediate position between Drive and Dropbox. Unfortunately, although it has more initial GB than Dropbox, it does not offer the possibility of expansion through promotions unlike the latter. Of course, we can always extend by payment.
Security
In terms of security, it could be summarized that there are no major differences within the free plans of the three services. They all have basic security standards that we can find in most sites to protect our information. Let's see it in more detail.
By following the same order as before, Google Drive offers two-step verification , a widely used security standard. With this system, if someone manages to get our username and password, they will still need our phone or security key to access the account. Plus, it offers SSL and AES-128 bit encryption on all of its plans.
In Dropbox we find small differences compared to Drive. For starters, all files are under 256-bit SSL / TLS and AES encryption . It also allows file recovery and version history (up to 30 days in the free version), remote device wipe, and two-step verification. In case of theft or loss of our mobile device, the account can be unlinked quickly to avoid greater evils.
To conclude with this section, note that OneDrive offers SSL encryption, in addition to individual encryption for each file, so that, if one document is corrupted, it will not affect the rest.
Other benefits
These three services do not just offer security and storage in the cloud. They also have a number of functions that are well worth knowing.
For starters, both Dropbox and Google Drive offer the ability to work offline without a connection . In the case of OneDrive, it is only included in their Premium plans. Here we see that Microsoft stands out from the competition, but for the worse. Of course, in all three cases all kinds of files can be saved , without exception.
It is also common in the three services, the options to share documents with other people, or even edit them within the tool itself. In the latter case, we must recognize that both Dropbox and OneDrive are somewhat crude when working with Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. We can even run into a problem when trying to open the files.
In this sense, Google Drive already has free office automation apps that will be fully integrated. Without a doubt, much more comfortable to use and work with. As if that were not enough, we will also have full integration with the Google Photos service for image management.
In summary, Google Drive is presented as a much more complete option than the other two in terms of performance. Although, the others also offer us the Office 365 pack, in the case of OneDrive, or Dropbox Paper and Dropbox Showcase, for Dropbox, both options require that we go through the box previously .
And so far our comparison of the free versions of Dropbox, Google Drive and Onedrive. We have shown you the differences that exist between each one in terms of security and storage, in addition to having reviewed some of their main functions.
Hopefully it has helped you when choosing the plan that best suits what you are looking for. Although, what the hell, they are free, the best thing is that you complement each other.