Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive are the top three cloud storage services with high preference. Of these, the final choice is narrowed down to Google Drive and OneDrive. The fact that Drive allows you to use Google and other Microsoft services at an affordable price was a big part of the choice.
Both drives come standard with ample online storage at an affordable price, but there are some important differences. You can refer to and select a service that suits your needs.
(1) Price and performance
The first big difference is price and performance. If you want maximum storage space at the lowest price, Google is for you. You can share storage space across Google services, including Drive and Photos, through the ‘Google One’ membership plan with extended storage. You can also share it with family members.
First, there is a 15GB plan, which is provided as basic storage for Google account users. If you need additional capacity, you can get 100GB for $20 per month, 200GB for $30 and 2TB for $100. Starting with plans of 2TB or more, you will receive a 10% refund in store credit when you purchase from the Google Store.
Microsoft’s plan is slightly different. OneDrive fee is included in the Office subscription fee. Office 365 Home costs $100 per year, and you get access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, PC Access and Publisher, along with 1TB of OneDrive storage. You can also share Office 365 Home with 5 family members, and each of them gets 1 TB of free storage. With a $70 annual subscription to Office 365 Personal, you get access to Office and 1TB of storage for one person.
You can increase the storage space on your single account for an additional fee. If you add $10 per month and $120 per year, you get 2TB of storage space. It’s twice the Google fee, but you can use Microsoft Office in addition to storage. If you just want OneDrive storage, you can get 100GB for $2 per month, but Microsoft is focusing more on OneDrive, which is included in the Office 365 subscription.
Both Google and Microsoft offer good value, and each has its own advantages. If you want the most online storage for the price, Google is the obvious choice. If you want an online storage space that works with Microsoft Office, OneDrive is for you.
Winner of multiple benefits: Microsoft
Winner of maximum storage for the price: Google
(2) Search
When comparing searches, there is a clear difference between the two services. Obviously, Google has an obvious edge. As you enter a search term in Google Drive, you can see several recommended search results appearing right below the search box. This can be very helpful if there is a specific word in the title of the search material or if you are searching for something early in the text.
This is in contrast to Microsoft OneDrive, which doesn’t have any search suggestions until you hit the enter key.
Winner: Google Drive
(3) Using on PC
OneDrive is a feature built into Windows 10. Once you log in to your Windows 10 PC, you can access all the files on OneDrive through File Explorer. You can also choose to save your files only on your PC or in the cloud.
You can do the same thing in Google Drive through the ‘Backup and Sync’ app. Like OneDrive, it works like a folder on your PC, and all your data is synced with Google Drive online.
Winner: Draw
(4) End-to-end encryption
Both services do not support end-to-end encryption. This means that it does not support’the ability to encrypt a file on a PC, send it to the cloud through an encrypted channel, and then store it on Google or Microsoft servers, and unlock the password only by the user with the key’
Instead, the file is sent to the cloud via HTTPS encryption, and then Google and Microsoft encrypt the file using their own keys. In this case, even if a hacker breaks into the OneDrive or Google Drive servers, it is not impossible, but much more difficult, to crack the password. However, they can read the files if they want to, and they can hand them over to law enforcement upon request.
If you’re interested in the E2EE option, you can try encrypting all your OneDrive or Google Drive files yourself. If the method is complicated, try a service designed for E2EE. OneDrive or Google Drive data can be encrypted with Cryptomator, an open source encryption program.
Winner: Draw
(5) Added security function,’private warehouse’
Few hackers invade Microsoft’s or Google’s servers to steal plans or plans for online games. However, it is very likely that theft of user’s confidentiality by stealing account information.
The problem with cloud file accounts is that once a hacker gets an ID and password, they can access everything. OneDrive recently introduced a Personal Vault feature to prevent hacking.
This feature does not add encryption to the file. Instead, it adds an authentication step to the important files. Additional steps are added, such as scanning a fingerprint or face or entering a PIN, a code sent from the user’s authentication app, or an authentication code sent via email or SMS. Personal Vault doesn’t seem to support security keys yet. However, you can use a security key such as YubiKey to get an authentication code. Free account users can add authentication steps to up to three files, and Office 365 subscribers can add an unlimited number of storage limits. Personal Vault automatically locks after a certain period of inactivity (20 minutes on the web, 3 minutes on the mobile app) after opening the file and unlocking it, requiring access to the file again.
I don’t recommend using Personal Vault for documents that need to be protected by E2EE, but it’s certainly a good extra security.
Winner: One Drive
(6) Result
The conclusion is a draw. Both services are functionally good, and there are differences, so you can choose according to your needs. If you mainly use PCs and Microsoft Office, you should choose OneDrive. If you like Personal Vault’s security concept, this is also a reason to choose OneDrive.
But if you mainly use Gmail, Google Docs, or Google Sheets, Google Drive is your best bet. Even if you want the most storage space for the price, Google Drive is a good fit.
