After months of rumors, Google yesterday launched the new Google Drive cloud service that gives you access to a network drive that can be used to sync and back up your files.
However, Google enters the game quite late and there are several competitors who have offered similar solutions for several years. PC for Everyone’s sister magazine, PC World, has compiled a table showing the differences between the various services.
Here follows a brief summary of the largest services in the area.
- Skydrive offers the largest free space with 7 gigabytes. Users who have used the service in the past get 25 gigabytes for free for a limited time.
- Google Drive is the cheapest on a monthly basis, but Microsoft Skydrive is the cheapest on an annual basis.
- Sugarsync is the only service that allows you to use multiple folders of your choice on your computer. Skydrive can do the same via two-step authentication.
- Beware of file size limitations. Only Sugarsync offers unlimited size of each individual file. Google Drive is also generous with 10 gigabytes per file.
- Google and Microsoft have a disadvantage as they do not support each other’s different platforms.
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However, comparison tables do not tell the whole story. You may prefer to use Dropbox because many of your friends use it. Or you may prefer Google Drive if you use many of Google’s other services. Use the table only as a reference to find the cloud service that suits you best.