The Internet is like looking at the sky. We can observe those thousands of stars converted into files, into data, but no one will tell us what the theoretical limit is. Because your space grows exponentially according to its needs..
We already gave a series of tips to mount your own hard drive in the cloud, and how to create an almost unlimited photo library thanks to the QuickPic invitation system. Although the alternatives have not stopped growing .
Let's take a look at the best options divided by strips of virtual space. What do you need, a few gigs but integration with Word to edit and send documents on the fly, or hundreds of gigs to save all those songs that Spotify does not have and you need like eating?
Safety or space: a rough classification
File hosting systems can be differentiated according to how we use them..
On the one hand, we have the applications that require us to register , which have good coverage, both mobile and desktop applications and they want us to manage files in a clear and professional way, just as a user of a PC folder would do.
On the other hand, there are systems that delete files but offer theoretically unlimited storage , such as Uploaded or Rapidgator. Its file cleaning makes them servers especially recommended for occasional downloads and free sharing..
And finally, we would have the block of applications that link to an account, offer some protection, and build their entire database around our files, as long as we give permission to share. They are usually the most forgiving in terms of numbers but one day you can be operating online at full throttle and, the next day, disappear from the face of the earth . With your files.
1 to 5 gig systems: modest but quarrelsome
In this strip of space we find some of the best services, with good customer service, with file protection and encryption and alternatives to increase space for relatively cheap offers.
Dropbox
In the veteran platform, you start with 2GB, but you can go up to 16 through recommendations to friends — as long as the person who receives the message accepts it and creates an account — and added systems.
For example: just by synchronizing our smartphone they give us an additional 3GB. Additional 125 MB for putting a tweet recommending the app. And so. Its system is stable, it recognizes the file format and allows previewing; you can even create galleries.
For 9.99 euros per month, Dropbox offers 1TB of clean space and the possibility of recovering, up to 30 days, the files that we have been deleting from the service.
And be very careful with business alternatives : for 10 euros you can have unlimited space and file recovery.
In terms of security, apart from the two-step verification we can implement an application like Cloudfogger for extra encryption and blocking, using a token code.
Official site: Dropbox.
OneDrive
OneDrive is the popular Microsoft alternative that has been losing steam up to 5GB. But the truth is that those 5GB are only a theoretical starting point.
You can achieve bonuses by chaining requirements: for a new laptop , linking an old account, for each record of a friend or up to an additional 10GB for a camera album.
In addition, it offers a very low rate: 50GB for 2 euros per month and 1TB for 7 euros per month . With the special addition that this second offer includes the Office 365 package, with official support, the possibility of editing in the cloud, creating public folders and full integration with the Windows, Office and Skype ecosystem. Even making a single annual payment, they increase the discount to 70 euros per year .
Official site: OneDrive.
HiDrive
HiDrive has the same royalty systems, same base space: 5GB for beginners, with the possibility of going up to 100GB for less than 6 euros or 500GB for less than 13 euros . From the first payment system we can use the virtual HD as a normal unit in Windows, even link it to a NAS through the FTP or rsync protocols.
Official site: HiDrive.
Cubby
Ditto with Cubby, although in this particular we can go up to 25GB through referrals and installations.
For $ 4 a month we can buy up to 100GB and for 40, with an annual payment, up to a terabyte.
Cubby is more concerned about security: in the free account they offer AES 256-bit encryption and the possibility of double security checks.
A simple and intuitive system that from time to time launches offers.
Official site: Cubby.
Sync
Sync starts with 5 gigs but has some improvements.
First of all, you can upload multiple files at the same time both through the web interface, as well as from the mobile and desktop applications, and fiddle within folders like in Dropbox.
Not to be confused with SugarSync, an alternative that only offers temporary free periods , such as Carbonite or Backblaze, with trials ranging from 15 to 30 days.
Official site: Sync.
Jumpshare
Jumpshare starts with 2 gigs but allows you to go up to 18 , with an identical program to Dropbox.
It accepts a lot of different types of files, and its desktop application is really light and fast, with a single drag & drop (drag and drop); the rest is handled by the application.
Its plus model is a marvel: we can program the self-destruction of the files we want, the punctual encryption of some and not others, a custom domain of each folder, and integration with applications such as the Adobe suite.
For $ 100 we will have practically unlimited space and similar control. An alternative to consider.
Official site: Jumpshare.
Up to 10GB: forgiving services
pCloud
Already in this leap in scale we find similar offers. We start with 10 gigs but we can go to 20 by simply recommending a friend.
It offers folder management and download using compressed ZIP files.
The 100GB per year is $ 50 and the monthly terabyte is $ 80.
Official site: pCloud.
Mediafire
Mediafire has been, for many years, one of the most loved applications by users. It built in encryption and secure erase before many others, and despite its seniority, it remains on the web with enviable stability.
It offers 10GB to new users and the ability to upload up to 50 by making friends and making recommendations.
And pay attention to its 50% discount: 1TB for less than 4 dollars a month and 100TB for 40 dollars —with such interesting options as sharing with up to 100 users, clean of advertising, and a personalized "web page" exclusively for us.
Arguably the best deal today in terms of dollar per gigabyte price… if it weren't for a few more to discover.
Official site: Mediafire.
BOX
BOX also meets the 10GB per new user barrier.
For $ 10 a month, you can upload up to 100GB of space and files up to 5GB — not bad for the limitations imposed by other services, with a maximum of 1GB per file.
Although the most interesting model comes with the Business: unlimited storage for three users for $ 15 a month , with integration in EMM and advanced reports on users and security.
Official site: BOX.
Yandex. Disc
Yandex. Disc is part of a much larger conglomerate.
The Russian company has its own browser, and offers compatibility with both social networks such as VK and through desktop and mobile applications.
Their rates are within the norm: 10GB for free, another 10 for $ 10 a year, 100GB for $ 20, and 1TB for $ 100 a year .
In all their annual options they give away two months on the total monthly price and can be purchased from anywhere in the world, regardless of the currency with which we operate.
Official site: Yandex. Disc.
And there would still be other alternatives such as FlipDrive, which follows the path of the practically extinct Binfire or Humyo, both with 10GB free for new users but that do not allow uploading files greater than 25 megabytes, with a mobile and online interface that is quite clumsy and difficult to manage. .
Up to 50GB - Expert Options
Google drive
Obviously the popular Google service is here.
It offers 15 gigs to start , although if we enter annual programs when buying a smartphone we can go up to 50GB per account.
Its free version offers everything you may need. It integrates with the email account, so that we can send the files by mail; Ditto with Google Docs, Google Photos, spreadsheets or presentations, as well as external applications such as Adobe Reader.
A powerful system with robust and versatile performance. It serves 100Gb for $ 2, 1TB for $ 10 per month , and 10TB for $ 100 per month, among other offers.
Official site: Google Drive
HubiC
HubiC offers up to 25GB free.
But this is not all: its file transfer system is fast and agile.
They have a pretty crazy temporary offer: for 50 euros, 10TB. Although it is annual, once the offer ends, you keep it.
It has the OVH guarantee and each space is not shared: it is 100% private; each transfer is protected by the SSL protocol .
It does not limit the file size whether you are a free or premium user — in free accounts, you put the file link to work or it will expire — and its applications, whether for Android, iOS or Windows Phone, are really clean and simple.
Without a doubt, one of the alternatives most loved by users.
Official site: HubiC.
Mega
Mega is the popular alternative of the computer scientist Kim Dotcom to Megaupload, which had 50 million visits per day and represents 4% of global Internet traffic.
It offers 50 clean gigs , great integration with browsers, a chat room, secure encryption using a single key, the ability to edit and delete folders whenever we want, and it is, without any doubt, one of the fastest and most agile services we know of.
Although it is an application questioned by its own creator, who has disassociated himself from the project, as long as there is no new firm and effective Megaupload, this accidental offshoot is the best alternative we know of.
Official site: Mega.
SFShare
Although 50GB also offers SFShare, with the same encryption system and link protection.
Once registered, it eliminates waiting periods and advertisements, but instead continues to impose the limitation of 250 Mb per file , something that MEGA does not even consider.
In terms of side options, SFShare is somewhat sparing: beyond the link checker, it provides practically nothing.
Official site: SFShare.
More than 100 GB: the heroes of the Internet
Promptfile
Here we already play on a giant scale.
Promptfile is a true titan when it comes to options. It offers up to 250GB of free space , without hassle or advertising, with a tastefully designed interface and without hundreds of useless features.
No limitations between uploading and downloading, beyond our bandwidth, we can upload any type of file, from remote URL or FTP, as long as the file does not exceed 5GB.
It also gives the option to share files, not folders, and even play video and music without having to download it - something that is already part of a good part of the clients, from Dropbox to MEGA. But on the other hand, it does not allow dragging files, just cut from one path and paste into another.
Official site: Promptfile.
RSAPlay
We continue in the 250GB band with the option of watching streaming video , integrating a viewer of image files (tiff, pdf, jpg) and video (mpg, mp4, avi) from the web.
Regarding security, each file has a key pair, public and private, with RSA 2048-bit encryption . By the way, if we pay 9.33 dollars a month we have infinitive storage. In theory, of course, but infinite.
Official site: RSAPlay.
360 Cloud Drive
This Chinese service offered, as its name suggests, up to 360 gigabytes of free storage per customer . But if you downloaded the desktop application, your space would immediately go up to 10TB. Yes, it is insane.
You could share anything, either from your smartphone or on your desktop, without any limitation. And they did daily giveaways with extra storage prizes.
All this is in the past because his plan has been upgraded to 3.6 TB of space plus an additional 2.4 TB when installing the desktop application , with a limit of 20GB per file. If someone questions the capabilities of this service, try to fill all the space they offer.
The big downside: it is a service entirely in Chinese, both the web application and the desktop.
If we ignore this exclusive and dare to enter http://yunpan.360.cn/, we will see how western limitations are a meaningless toy for them. The company behind this project, Qihoo, recent acquirers of Opera Software, is the leading web provider in China. In addition to offering a popular antivirus — 360 Total Security—, an application store similar to Google Play, and a search engine that has been the second most used in the country for 2 years.
Official site: 360 Cloud Drive.
And Flickr?
Finally, a modest note. Flickr, the website for storing, ordering, selling and sharing photos, offers new customers 1TB of space completely free . Without cheats.
In addition, its web editor has nothing to envy to any competitor on the list and integrates the possibility of uploading and watching videos online .
A private library that integrates with our Yahoo account. For this very reason, there are those who fear at this point, since Yahoo was recently acquired by Verizon.
Although other services such as 500px seem to eat their share of the cake, Flickr is one of the only applications that allows you to upload and download photos at their original size , without applying compression or inserting information into the file, in addition to its veteran professional integration. Ideal so that our collection of photos never runs out of space.
Our final recommendation
Truth be told, there is no ideal setup. Rather chop a little of each.
Google Drive is ideal for editing and sharing files , in addition to the security it provides and integrity with all your systems. Dropbox is a phenomenal alternative that has not been daunted by so much competition and has focused on optimizing its application.
There are also hundreds of integrating alternatives, such as AHsay, the total backup .
And large capacity systems, such as MEGA or the aforementioned Flickr, are ideal for sharing multimedia files , for backing up discs, series and movies, for specific moments in our digital life.
What we do know is that collecting gigabytes and gigabytes is easier than ever. More than managing all our accounts.
