Best European Cloud Storage in 2023 [EU Servers & GDPR] – Cloudwards

Source: https://www.cloudwards.net/best-cloud-storage-for-europe/

5 of the Best EU-based Cloud Storage Providers Around

5 of the Best EU-based Cloud Storage Providers Around
Cloud storage is all the rage at the moment. While all offer amazing convenience for transferring and storing your data, not all are made equal.

Beyond user experience, you may, for example, have some very real concerns about who can access your private stuff without your knowledge. For this reason, you may want to take advantage of stricter consumer data rights in the EU than in the US?

Why do you need cloud storage?
The time of physical storage devices is at an end. Hard disks, flash drives, and other kinds of storage devices have long fallen out of fashion.

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/culture/5-of-the-best-eu-based-cloud-storage-providers-around

The best cloud storage services of 2023: Expert picks | ZDNET

The best cloud storage services of 2023: Expert picks
With so many of us , having a reliable cloud storage provider is more important than ever. You want your office work stored safely away from home, where your data is always one dropped cup of coffee away from disaster.

ZDNET Recommends
Personal cloud storage got started in 2007, when Drew Houston, Dropbox’s CEO, got sick and tired of losing his USB drive. So he created the first individual, small . It was a radical idea in its time, and everyone loved it. Today, there are dozens of cheap or free cloud storage providers and services. But — beyond giving you storage — they’re very different.

How do you choose which one is right for you? You could just pick based on how much free storage space you get. That’s simple, but, a cloud storage service’s real value comes from how well it works for you or your business. As you’ll see, some work much better with some operating systems and business plans than others.

Let’s get to it.

Also:

Pros

Cons

Free storage: iDrive starts its offers with 5GB for free

iDrive is for everyone who wants a cloud backup and cloud storage in an all-in-one. Its main job is backing up small businesses, but it also works well for personal cloud storage and file sharing.

Unlike many other cloud backup services, iDrive doesn’t lock you down to a single computer. You can use one account to back up your Windows and macOS desktops, your Android smartphone and iPhones and tablets, and your network drives. There’s also a , but it’s meant for Linux servers. There is no desktop Linux storage client. Darn it! You can, however, use its web interface for manually uploading files.

For now, iDrive has a killer deal. It’s the most storage for the least amount of money you’ll find today. They’re offering 10 Terabytes (TB) — no, that’s not a typo, terabytes — for $75 a year. I use it to back up my massive media library of 1930s and ’40s movies.

Normally, iDrive starts its offers with 10GB for free. That’s okay, but if you want to make the most of it for backup, the real deal is in its . These start at $59.62 for 5TB for a year or an even better deal of $74.62 for 10TB annually per user. There are also business packages with unlimited users, but the price goes up for less storage. For example, the company will charge you $74.62 for 5TB of storage that you can share between 5 users.

If you’re looking for a personal or small business backup, iDrive is a great choice. It’s both easy to use and inexpensive. It’s also good for cloud storage, and I’m very happy with it.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: Prime members get 5GB of storage for free with Amazon Cloud Drive

Amazon S3 from Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an object storage service, and it’s a great service. But, that’s not what individuals use. They use Amazon Cloud Drive for personal and small business uses — and it’s not a first-rate storage service.

Mind you, Amazon Cloud Drive is better than it used to be. Amazon Cloud Drive now has sync services for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Alas, it still doesn’t have a Linux client. The web interface, however, continues to be a bit klutzy.

On the plus side, Amazon moves files by using (aka differential sync or delta sync). With this method, which Dropbox also uses, you only send and receive the differences (the delta) between files when you sync a file. This makes syncing files much faster on these services than their rivals.

One nice feature, if you’re an member, is you also get unlimited, full-resolution photo storage and 5GB of video storage with .

Prime members get 5GB of storage for free with Amazon Cloud Drive for file storage. If you want more, start at 100GB for $19.99 a year and 1TB for $59.99. If you go monthly, for $2 a month you’ll get 100GB of storage, for $7 a month 1TB, and for $12 a month 2TB. Other Amazon cloud plans will take you up to 30TB for, brace yourself, $1,799.70.

Amazon Drive is worth your time if you’re an Amazon Prime member. If you’re not, keep looking. You can do better.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: OneDrive comes with 5GB of free storage

OneDrive is baked into Windows, and they’re delicious together. As far as a Windows user is concerned, OneDrive is just another directory in the File Explorer — talk about easy. Anyone can use it on the web, with a desktop app for Mac and earlier versions of Windows, and with OneDrive apps for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Xbox. Yes, Xbox.

Linux? No, not yet. The client, which I’ve long recommended for Google Drive, also works with OneDrive. This program costs $29.99 for an individual lifetime subscription and $49.99 for a team license.

Microsoft OneDrive’s real selling point — besides working hand-in-glove with Windows — is it integrates perfectly with Microsoft Office programs. With Microsoft 365, you can also collaborate with others in documents and spreadsheets in real-time with your partners.

OneDrive comes with 5GB of free storage. This plan maxes out at six people or 6TB of storage. Microsoft 365 Business Standard users, who get access to the full online versions of Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, at $12.50 per user per month with an annual subscription. If all you need is additional storage, you can add 100GB for $1.99 a month.

If you’re already a Microsoft 365 user, this is a no-brainer. OneDrive is perfect for anyone who uses Windows and Microsoft Office every day.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: Box starts out with a free cloud storage account and 10GB of storage

Like most cloud storage services, Box has clients for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. It also supports Blackberry. It, however, doesn’t support Linux. There is a third-party program, , which enables Linux users to work with Box.

For $7 a month, the lets you upload files up to 2GB and provides you with 100GB of space. But while Box is a fine cloud storage service, where it really shines is as a groupware or workflow application. Used that way, it enables you to share files with colleagues, assign tasks, leave comments on someone’s work, and get notifications when a file changes. It’s integrated with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365.

The starter package begins at $5 a month for up to three users with 100GB of storage. The next step up in business plans is $15 a month for three users and unlimited — yes — unlimited storage.

Again, Box’s real selling point is its combination of storage and office software.

Pros

Free storage: Dropbox Basic’s free storage is only 2GB

Dropbox came first, so it’s no wonder that so many of us have Dropbox accounts. Sure, Dropbox Basic’s free storage is only 2GB, but you can use it on any platform. You can get your files from Dropbox’s website, desktop applications for Mac, Windows, and Linux, the native file systems, and the iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire mobile apps. Heck, even Blackberry phones are still supported. It’s a snap to set up, and you need not worry about syncing files for a second.

Dropbox’s personal plans move up to 2TB for $12 a month if you need more storage. Dropbox Business plans start at $18 a month for Teams with 5TB of storage. The Advanced option gives you unlimited storage at $30 per user per month, starting with at least three users. That amounts to a starting price of $90 a month. These latter plans come with a 30-day free trial.

As always, Dropbox shines for its sheer simplicity — and the simple fact that you can use it on almost any platform you care to name. If you value simple, fast, and easy, Dropbox should be your first choice.

I don’t need to tell you that. You’re probably already using it.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: You get 15GB of free storage and an excellent office suite

Google Drive used to be just storage. But then Google took its online office suite, Google Docs, and pasted them together into Google One. Now, you get 15GB of free storage and an excellent office suite by just having a Google account. It’s good enough that many businesses and users are now using it as their complete cloud-based office. I use it all the time myself.

Google Drive comes with clients for most operating systems, except, oddly enough, Linux. Google has promised there would be a client for ages, but it’s never arrived. There is, however, an excellent third-party Linux commercial client, . This program costs $29.99 for an individual lifetime subscription and $49.99 for teams.

Need more storage? No problem. Under the name Google One, Google Drive storage prices start at $2 per month or $20 a year for 100GB. Or, for $3 a month or $30 a year, you get 200GB. At the higher end, for 2TB, you pay $10 per month or $100 annually. You can share your storage with up to five other people with all these plans.

You can also use the on both Android and iOS devices to automatically back up your smartphones. This includes your device data, multimedia messages, and photos/videos in their original quality.

One of Google Drive’s best features is its integration with Google search. So, for example, if you’ve lost track of a file but remember a couple of words in it, it’s easy to find. I use this feature almost every day.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: As much storage as you have available on your machines

Nextcloud is an open-source program that enables you to set up your own cloud storage service using your existing servers and hard drives. This do-it-yourself cloud is for everyone who values security and privacy.

You can use Nextcloud to set up cloud storage either on an office server or off your own external servers. How much storage can it give you? How much do you want? I have a 4TB Nextcloud drive in my office and another terabyte off my co-hosted server rack. Still, NextCloud, while easy to set up for a Linux power user, might prove a challenge for some.

Nextcloud is also evolving. It started as a standalone Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) file storage cloud. It’s been adding in more services, making it more of an all-in-one office suite like those offered by Google and Microsoft. The latest edition, , is also much faster than previous versions.

Nextcloud comes in both a free and a business edition. With the free version, you set it up yourself using your own computers. Here, you get as much storage as you have available on your machines.

If you don’t want to run it yourself, the business version. , comes with basic support for up to 100 users at €36 ($37.80) per user per year.

This cloud storage solution is for anyone who wants the maximum amount of control over their cloud and doesn’t mind doing some extra work to get it just right. I highly recommend it.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: pCloud offers 4GB of free storage for starters, but you can max it out to 10GB

I’m always cautious about lifetime subscriptions to anything, but especially to computer services. Still, after nine years in business, I’m inclined to give the Switzerland-based pCloud the benefit of the doubt.

I also like that pCloud comes with clients for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as Android and iOS smartphones.

The pCloud offers 4GB of free storage for starters. You can also add more storage, at 1GB a go, for installing a desktop app, a smartphone app, storing your smartphone’s videos and photos to pCloud, and getting others to subscribe to pCloud. You can max this out to 10GB of free storage.

But, if you’re really serious about your storage, you can currently get 500GB of storage forever for a one-time payment of $199. Or, $399 for 2TB. That’s a sweet deal.

Another nice feature is that pCloud comes with client-side only file encryption. With , you encrypt your files using 256-bit AES, and no one except you can read them. Oh, when they say no one, they mean no one. If you lose your password, you lose your data. These files are stored in the Crypto folder. This feature costs $4 per month, $39 per year, or $150 for a lifetime plan. It’s included for free on business plans. You can also opt to store your data in the more privacy-conscious European Union servers.

The business service starts with 1TB for $96 per user per year. Or, you can buy a plan for the lifetime (of the company) for $175 for Premium and $350 for Premium Plus. pCloud for Business offers 1TB of storage per user, starting at $287.64 per year. Each additional user gets their own TB of storage.

If privacy and paying once for cloud storage for a very long time strikes you as attractive, check pCloud out.

Pros

Cons

Free storage: You get 5GB of free iCloud storage by owning an Apple product

It used to be that I didn’t like iCloud, even on my Macs. I used Google Drive or NextCloud instead. But it’s finally cleaned up enough of its bugs that I can say Mac, iPhone, or iPad users can trust it with their data.

In theory, iCloud offered seamless integration and great ease of use on any iGadget. Except, it didn’t. I won’t bore you with all the ways it used to annoy me, but it’s finally largely bug-free.

You get 5GB of free iCloud storage by owning an Apple product. One good feature with that is that anything you buy from the iTunes Store doesn’t count against your storage limit.

You can use iCloud to automatically back up all data from your Apple devices onto its servers. But, 5GBs won’t cut it for serious backups. Instead, you’ll need to upgrade to one of three iCloud+ plans: $1 a month for 50GB; $3 a month for 200GB, or $10 a month for 2TB.

While it’s not a big selling point, iCloud is also integrated with iWork, Apple’s low-end productivity suite. It’s no Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, but it’s okay for, say, school work. I’m still not crazy about iCloud — I doubt I ever will be — but if you’re already an Apple user all the time, it’s finally worth using iCloud.

Personally, I prefer iDrive, Google Drive, and Nextcloud — but those meet my needs best. I’ve used all these services, though, and there’s not a lemon in them. Here is a look at how all the services compare in vital metrics:

What you will find is we chose a variety of options to suit many different purposes. So, whether you’re wanting to backup family pictures or keep business docs secure, we have a solution for you.

There’s no one size fits all solutions. Your cloud choice depends on what you use and what you want to do with it. All these services give you more than enough free or cheap service for small business purposes. In short, don’t be distracted by how many free gigabytes of storage you get — it’s not that important. This table helps you determine the best cloud services to choose based on what you want from it:

When it comes to cloud storage, a cloud really is just someone else’s hard drive. Despite the endless stories of how clouds are insecure, and someone can grab your data, your data is encrypted while traveling over the internet to your providers’ servers. Once there, it’s encrypted on those servers. Really, your data is probably safer there than it is at your home or office.

The best cloud storage services don’t upload a new complete copy of your files every time you modify them. Instead, they only ship the changes to your files. This saves you time and bandwidth.

In general, cloud storage services are safe, however, this again points to the importance of choosing the right cloud storage provider. The cloud storage services on this list all store your files on cloud servers that are encrypted. This means that your data and files are scrambled in a way that makes it harder for cybercriminals to access the information.

However, it’s also vital to protect data on your end too. You can do this by refraining from using a public Wi-Fi connection and changing your passwords regularly.

Also:

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service that allows users to store files, documents, and pictures for free up to 15GB. Best of all, it’s very easy to use.

Also:

It also offers users built-in protection from malware, ransomware, and more. Think of it as your digital security guard ensuring your data remains safe from the prying eyes of hackers. And for work, it offers easy integration with programs like Microsoft 365.

Several services offer huge amounts of free storage. But I don’t trust any of them. It falls under the adage you get what you pay for. The most storage you can get for free is Google, with its 15GB of storage.

And if you need to pay for more, providers like Apple give you a generous storage limit for $10 per month.

Do you want to be as sure as anyone can be that your data’s safe from prying eyes? If that’s you, I recommend either building your own cloud storage service with NextCloud or using the high-security pCloud. With NextCloud, you, of course, decide where to keep your data.

I use both my own in-house servers and an offsite server. With pCloud, you can decide between US or EU servers to store your data safely. Either way, with pCloud, you get the best available data encryption.

It’s all well and good to use for backups — I do — but you’re always one house fire or burglary away from kissing your data goodbye. So, if you want a serious backup, why not turn to long-time cloud backup champion Backblaze?

The best thing about Backblaze is that, for $60 annually, you get unlimited cloud storage for your backup. Let me repeat that, unlimited. I like this deal.

In addition, if you subscribe to , an in its own right, you can get Backblaze for a year for free. Backblaze is also downright trivial to use. Once you’ve set it up, it takes care of the backup itself, so you needn’t worry about it anymore. It also encrypts your data so no snooper can get into your secrets.

Sync is another service I recommend based on its collaboration tools. With it, you can create centralized folders your colleagues and clients can access without having to skim through mountains of files. And they take care of branding by sending files through a portal with your company logo on it. How cool is that?

Newsletters
ZDNET Recommends

ZDNET saves you time and money by delivering the best products and tech deals to your inbox every week.

Subscribe

ZDNET Recommends

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-cloud-storage/

Best cloud storage of 2023 | TechRadar

Source: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-cloud-storage

Cheapest Cloud Storage 2023 [Online Storage Deals Compared] – Cloudwards

Source: https://www.cloudwards.net/best-deals-in-cloud-storage/

The Best Cloud Storage and File-Sharing Services for 2023

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-cloud-storage-and-file-sharing-services

Best cloud storage in 2023 | Tom’s Guide

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/buying-guide/best-cloud-storage

16 Best Cloud Storage Providers in 2023 – Hostinger

Source: https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/best-cloud-storage

Best European Cloud Storage Providers of 2020 – Social Positives

Best European Cloud Storage Providers of 2020 – Social Positives
Today on SocialPositives.com, we are looking at the best European Cloud Storage Providers of 2020. I hope you have a good idea of what cloud storage is but still we want to say again about it.

According to , Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools. The physical storage spans multiple servers (sometimes in multiple locations), and the physical environment is typically owned and managed by a hosting company. These cloud storage providers are responsible for keeping the data available and accessible, and the physical environment protected and running. People and organizations buy or lease storage capacity from the providers to store user, organization, or application data.

Personally, I prefer to store my valuable data on a Service provider rather than Pen Drive or External Hard Drive. I have some reasons for that. Let’s look at some of them.

1. It is Cheaper

This is the first issue. A cloud storage service costs less than buying physical storage. You may be wondering if you need to pay for a cloud storage service. There is another side to it. I’ll tell you later.

2. Accessibility

This is the most important reason. If you store your most important files in a cloud storage service, you can access them anytime, anywhere. This is one of the major reason why I love Cloud Storage service rather than typical physical storage.

3. Syncing

If you’re working on a file with Cloud Storage, it’s as soon as you make changes to it it will be synced and updated across all of your devices. Of course, cloud storage is the best for online collaboration.

There are a lot of other reasons besides the above but these are the ones that everyone sees as the most important.

Why European Cloud Storage Providers are better than the US?
If you live in the US or the cloud storage provider you are using is American based, the data upload to the cloud can be accessed for the NSA to see that means your data is not completely secure but the laws in Europe are very strong.

The European strict privacy laws help to keep your personal data away from prying eyes. Therefore, we recommend that you use European Cloud Storage if you value privacy.

Best European Cloud Storage Providers

No need to worry about which European Cloud Storage service provider is the best because today we are going to list some of them.

pCloud is one of the best Cloud Storage service providers out there. I’m a huge fan of pCloud. One of the major highlights of pCloud is it doesn’t take space on your local computer. pCloud Drive makes it possible to work with your files as if they are on your computer, but without taking space from your HDD. It works as a virtual Hard Drive on your PC.

I mentioned earlier that Physical Hard Drive is the least expensive cloud storage service. I did not mean for everyone, only for pCloud. pCloud is the only popular Cloud Storage service provider that offers a lifetime plan for its users.

You can buy 500GB or 2TB of lifetime storage as per your needs. Also, there is a pCloud lifetime Family Plan that comes with 2TB of space where you can share with up to 5 users.

While you Sign Up for pCloud, you have the option to choose between the United States and European Union servers. Check the above screenshot.

Jottacloud comes next into our list. Jottacloud lets you store, share files and documents whether you are an individual or a team. Like other cloud storage services, you can backup and organize all your documents, photos and videos anytime, anywhere.

You will get a 5GB of Cloud Storage space for free when you Sign Up for Jottacloud and for €7.5 per month, you will get unlimited storage of space. Jottacloud is from Norway, a country that has some of the best privacy laws.

Tresorit comes 3rd into this list. The Switzerland based cloud storage service provider has maybe one of the best privacy claims on the market with zero knowledge client-based encryption.

Tresorit doesn’t have access to your encryption keys or to the personal data you manage in your files. Pricing is one of the major issues with Tresorit. You have to pay $10.42 per month if billed annually for 500GB storage space. I don’t how many of them can afford it.

Don’t confuse it with the basic Dropbox plan, this is Dropbox Business plan. If you choose for Dropbox Business plan, you can use servers located in Europe to save your data. Dropbox business is as a smart workspace where teams, tools, and content come together.

Dropbox Business comes with excellent features like Mobile offline folders, Remote account wipe, Document watermarking, and more. Dropbox Business starts from $19.99 per month for and individual.

There are still a lot of European cloud storage service providers but here are 4 of my favourite and best service providers. I hope this blog post helps you to find the best. What do you think about this? Let us know through the comments.

Source: https://www.socialpositives.com/2020/08/best-european-cloud-storage-providers/

The 7 Best Cloud Storage Providers in 2023 (Tried and Tested!)

Source: https://vpnoverview.com/internet-safety/cloud-backups/best-cloud-storage/