You would have been hearing a lot about different storage services, and it is challenging to choose one that fits your bill. Google Cloud Storage and Microsoft Onedrive are two popular storage services, but which one will work for you? Here in this article, we will look at some common differences between Google Cloud Storage and Onedrive.
We already saw the comparison for Google Cloud Storage vs Google drive in this blog.
What is Microsoft Onedrive?
Microsoft OneDrive, like Dropbox, is a web-based online storage and sharing platform. It collaborates with SharePoint to give a more personalized experience for end-users who want to save files and documents online or collaborate with others.
Said, you create a folder, begin uploading data, and everything is saved in the cloud and accessible from any device – whether it’s your business laptop, home PC, or smartphone.
OneDrive offers 5GB of free storage to anyone with a Microsoft account, with 50GB available for $2 per month. In addition, many Office 365 subscription levels include 1TB (1,024GB) of OneDrive storage for free for the duration of your Office 365 subscription.
What are the benefits of using Microsoft Onedrive?
OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service, can back up your information online. It is pre-installed in Windows 10. It allows you to sync files from your Windows 10 PC to the cloud and other Windows PCs, smartphones and tablets, and even your Mac.
Anyone can access files or folders in your OneDrive with a web link. So, for example, if it’s a Microsoft Office file, you and others can work on it using the web apps for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Some of the benefits of using Onedrive are:
- Accessibility: You can access files stored in one drive from anywhere and on any device, be it windows pc, android smartphone, iOS, or Mac. Also, Microsoft data centers are everywhere globally, so you will get a good speed and accessibility from any continent.
- Availability: Microsoft claims to provide 99.97% uptime with one drive. So you may rest sure that they will always have access to anything stored on OneDrive. There are rare chances of one drive being down.
- Security: Like any other Microsoft product, one drive has a robust security environment. Your content is safe from any malicious attacks.
What is Google Cloud Storage?
Google Cloud storage is a storage offering of Google’s cloud platform known as GCP. GCP provides computing and storage services to enable the development, testing, and deployment of applications. It uses the same infrastructure as Google, and stability and security are two of the primary features heavily included in GCP’s underlying architecture.
Because Google Cloud Storage is a paid subscription of GCP, it provides more functionality and independence than One drive. For example, you can only store files on Onedrive. However, Google Cloud Storage can also be integrated with an app or website. It can be described as a server-based cloud storage solution requiring some technical knowledge. Therefore Google Cloud storage is mainly used by developers, unlike one drive, which is primarily used for day-to-day work by individuals.
What are the benefits of using Google Cloud Storage?
- Well-curated documentation: Google Cloud storage offers multiple functionalities, and Google has designed pretty sorted documentation for it. So your technical team can quickly implement it into the product.
- Different Storage options: GCP offers other storage classes, and you can choose as per your requirements.
- Easy Integration: You can easily integrate Cloud storage with other GCP services like App Engine, Kubernetes, or Compute Engine.
Google Cloud Storage vs Onedrive: The Difference
The main difference between Google Cloud Storage vs Onedrive is that Onedrive is a simple cloud-based storage solution for people and organizations and Google Cloud Storage is not your typical consumer service. and it requires the target audience includes developers and other professionals with a technical background. Organizations use this enterprise-level online file storage solution for application development.
Onedrive is accessible to everyone and provides both free and fee-based storage.
Some of the other major differences between one drive and Google cloud storage are:
- Pricing: With one drive, you get 5GB storage free, and you can later update it as per your needs. You will get two different pricing models, one for personal use and one for business. In Google Cloud Storage, you pay for what you use. There is no fixed subscription, and the billing will depend on your usage.
- Security: Both the products offer top-notch security from technical giants Google and Microsoft. In Onedrive, you have the option to limit and control file sharing. You get IAM permissions and other encryption options for Google Cloud storage to keep your files safe.
- Ease of use: One drive is relatively simple than Google Cloud storage. Even if you are from a non-technical background, you can efficiently work with one drive. It is easy to upload, share and download files. At the same time, Google Cloud storage requires a significant amount of technical knowledge.
Which one should I choose: Google Cloud Storage OR Onedrive
Both Google cloud storage and one drive have different use cases. Choose one drive if you want to store your files for backup purposes, you do not want to mess with the technical parts, and you do not need any computational integrations.
If you are looking for storage to use with your app or website, you should prefer Google Cloud storage. You can easily integrate with other cloud services and handle a large amount of data.
Final words
Google Cloud storage and one drive both are excellent services with several benefits. But they are entirely different, and choosing one option depends on your storage needs.
If you are looking for a technical storage service to integrate with an application or app, Google Cloud Storage is a good option. And if you want to upload your files and photos to the cloud as a backup, then One drive is a good option.
That’s it for comparing Google cloud storage vs Onedrive.
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Amit Doshi is a Cloud Engineer who has experienced more than 5 years in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. He is an IT professional responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining cloud computing infrastructure, applications, and services.