10 Best Cloud Storage for Personal Use of 2026

Google One is the plan most households already half use, because every Google account comes with up to 15 GB that covers Google Photos, Drive and Gmail. That free tier is the most generous starting point among the big platforms, and it makes Google the easiest answer for anyone who wants free cloud storage for scanned documents and phone photos. Paying adds space in steps: Basic gives 100 GB, Google AI Plus gives 2 TB and Google AI Pro gives 5 TB, and Google says each paid plan can share storage with up to 5 others. That turns one subscription into a family archive where each person keeps their own files. The trade-offs are the shared quota, since a full Gmail inbox eats into photo space, and the upper tiers, which now bundle Gemini features that raise the price for buyers who only want storage. Google's plan page showed local currency from our location, so we list the price as pending.

For a home where everyone carries an iPhone, iCloud+ is the least effort option on this list. Apple gives 5 GB free the first time you sign in, which fills quickly once phone backups start, so most families move to a paid tier. Apple's US price table lists 50 GB at $0.99, 200 GB at $2.99, 2 TB at $9.99, 6 TB at $29.99 and 12 TB at $59.99 a month. Any of those plans can be shared with up to five other family members at no extra cost, and Apple says each person's photos and files stay private and separate. Subscribers also get iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email and HomeKit Secure Video, where camera footage is end-to-end encrypted. The weak points are outside Apple's own devices: Android and Windows users get less polished access, and there is no one-time payment plan. For mixed households, Google One or OneDrive usually fits better.

OneDrive makes the most sense for a home that already runs on Windows and uses Office files. Microsoft 365 Basic gives one person 100 GB of cloud storage plus 100 GB of mailbox storage for $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month. Microsoft 365 Personal raises that to 1 TB with the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote desktop apps for $99.99 a year. For households, Microsoft 365 Family covers 1 to 6 people for $129.99 a year, and Microsoft's plan page now lists 2 TB of shared cloud storage on that plan. Families that need more space can step up to Microsoft 365 Premium at $199.99 a year with up to 6 TB, 1 TB per person. Every paid tier lists ransomware protection for files and photos. The catch is that most of the price pays for the apps, so a household that only stores documents gets more space per dollar elsewhere, and Copilot features on Family plans are limited to the subscription owner.

Dropbox Plus is a strong single-user plan for people who move a lot of files between computers and phones. Dropbox's plan page lists 2 TB of storage for one person, connections across all devices, 30 days to restore deleted files and transfers of files up to 50 GB. Plus also includes PDF editing, unlimited self-signing and three signature requests a month, which helps when household paperwork needs a signature. Dropbox lists 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption, multi-factor authentication, document scanning and remote device wipe on every plan. The trade-offs for home users are clear on the same page: Plus covers only one person, the free Basic plan gives just 2 GB, and recovery is limited to 30 days, compared with 180 days on the Standard business plan. Dropbox showed local currency from our location, so we list the USD price as pending. Families who want one shared plan get more for their money with Google One or iCloud+.

pCloud is the pick for people who would rather buy storage once than rent it every month. Its pricing page offers monthly, annual and lifetime billing, with lifetime plans for Premium 500 GB, Premium Plus 2 TB and Ultra 10 TB, and a 3in1 bundle that adds pCloud Encryption and the pCloud Pass password manager. Free accounts get up to 10 GB. Every Premium plan includes pCloud Photos with timeline and map views, pCloud Docs editors, restoration of previous file versions and recovery of data from up to 30 days ago. pCloud says files are stored in certified data centres under Swiss privacy law, protected with TLS/SSL and 256-bit AES encryption, and its Family plan covers up to 5 users. The limits are worth knowing: client-side encryption is not included in the standard lifetime plans, and the recovery window is shorter than Sync.com's. pCloud showed euro prices from our location, so the USD price is pending.

Proton Drive is the privacy choice for household paperwork such as passports, tax returns and medical records. Proton says files, photos and documents are protected with end-to-end encryption on every plan, which keeps third parties and Proton itself from reading them. The free plan gives up to 5 GB, though Proton's support page notes that it starts at 2 GB and grows to 5 GB once you complete the Drive setup actions. Drive Plus adds 200 GB and 10 years to recover previous file versions. Proton Unlimited gives 500 GB plus Mail, Calendar, Pass and VPN, Proton Duo gives two people 2 TB, and Proton Family lets up to six family members share 3 TB. Sharing links can carry passwords and expiry dates and can be revoked. The trade-off is cost for families: the bundles add services some homes will not use. Proton's page showed local currency from our location, so we mark the price as pending.

MEGA is the strongest answer for people who mainly want free space: its free plan gives 20 GB, more than Google, pCloud or Icedrive, and MEGA says data is protected with zero-knowledge encryption so only the user holds the keys. Paid plans run from Essential at 200 GB through Pro Lite at 750 GB, Pro I at 3 TB, Pro II at 10 TB and Pro III at 20 TB, and each includes MEGA VPN and the MEGA Pass password manager. File versioning keeps up to 100 versions, and Rewind lets paid users roll folders back up to 60 days, against 30 days view-only on the free plan. Desktop, mobile and web apps are available. The limits are transfer quotas, which cap how much you can download or share each month, and a 1 hour cap on calls for free users. MEGA states that all transactions are charged in euros, so we mark the USD price as pending.

Sync.com suits someone who wants encrypted storage and a long safety net for mistakes. Its individual pricing page lists three plans: Personal 1 TB at $9 a month billed annually for the first year ($108), then $12, Solo 5 TB, and Personal Unlimited with no capacity limit. Sync.com lists end-to-end encryption, no third-party tracking and GDPR, HIPAA and PIPEDA compliance among its core features. File history and recovery runs 90 days on Personal, 180 days on Solo and 365 days on Unlimited, longer than the 30 days offered by Dropbox Plus and pCloud. Sharing controls include password protected links and restricted downloads, and the apps offer auto camera upload, selective sync and offline access. The downsides for households are that every personal plan covers one user and the headline price is a first-year discount, so the renewal cost is higher. Families who need one shared plan should look at Proton Family instead.

Icedrive is a low-cost route to encrypted storage. Its plan page lists 100 GB at $2.99 a month, 2 TB at $6.29, 5 TB at $11.89 and 10 TB at $20.99 in the first year, with the 2 TB plan normally $8.99 a month and $75.52 billed for the first year. Paid plans include client-side Twofish encryption, so Icedrive says the readable file never reaches its servers. The Pro 2 TB plan adds 90 days of file versioning, five desktop sync devices with unlimited mobile and web access, and a 1 TB monthly public share quota. Public links can carry passwords, expiry dates and download limits, and file requests let others drop files into your cloud. The free plan gives 10 GB but has no encryption and no file history, which makes it less useful for sensitive documents. Icedrive Docs is listed as coming soon, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

IDrive is different from the sync services above: it is built to back up whole devices, which suits a home with several computers and an external drive full of family files. Its pricing page lists a free Basic plan with 10 GB, IDrive Mini at $0.25 a month for 100 GB, and IDrive Personal at $6.99 a month in the first year ($9.99 regular) for 5 TB across multiple computers, with tiers up to 100 TB. IDrive says one account can back up PCs, Macs, Linux machines, iPhones, iPads and Android devices, and it can include mapped, USB and external drives plus NAS devices from Synology, QNAP and others. Continuous backup picks up file changes in near real time. The page also notes that discounted prices apply to the first year only, with standard pricing after that. The trade-off is ease of use: choosing backup sets takes more setup than dropping files into a Google Drive or Dropbox folder.