When I talk about services that are this famous, I feel weird because I think everyone knows about Google Drive. But this review is not just about telling you about it. I will go deep into what Google Drive offers and see if it’s the best for you. Many people use Google Drive personally, but for businesses… well, I think they use it inside their companies, especially if they use the workplace. That’s what G Suite is called now. But I haven’t seen businesses use Drive to share files with people outside. I don’t know why that is.

Anyway, we all know that Google has the best servers. Amazon’s AWS might be ahead, but Google is still a giant and offers excellent storage. It’s also cheap. Usually, you would buy Drive storage through Workspace, which is part of a business plan, but I’m only talking about Google Drive here. I will tell you about the free features and what you get when you upgrade. Workspace is best for businesses, but Drive alone is also good. This is true if you work alone and want to keep it that way.

What Is Google One?

We need to talk about Google One. Google loves naming things, and it can get annoying. G Suite is now Workspace, Alphabet owns Google, but it’s the same company. They need new names to distinguish their services. I like Google and all the good things they’ve done, but if they could stop renaming things, that would be nice.

Google One is Google’s single storage subscription service. It’s a plan with multiple levels that gives you more storage. You also get extra features you might not even need, but they don’t add to the price. So, it’s not a big deal. Let’s first check the free version, then we’ll see if you should pay to upgrade.

Free Google Drive

When you sign up for a Gmail account, you get a free Google Drive account. You can make more Gmail accounts and get more drives, but don’t abuse them. Even if you need several email accounts, don’t take advantage of their free storage. It’s not good business practice. Stick to the 15GB Google gives you. It’s plenty for one person.

You shouldn’t use your free Google Drive for business unless you need to send a file to someone occasionally. For example, if you need to send a file full of pictures, your personal drive can help. Just remember, don’t use it for illegal stuff. Okay, we’re good to go now.

The 15GB is not just for Drive. It’s the storage for all your Google services. So, if you use other Google services, they will take up that space. Your Google Photos also uses that 15GB. So, if you take lots of photos, be careful. It can fill up without you knowing.

Paying for More Storage

The first paid plan is the 100GB option. It’s cheap and enough for personal use. Google doesn’t give these plans cute names like “business” or “enterprise,” it’s just about storage space. The 100GB plan is the first one.

With this plan, you also get access to Google Experts, which may or may not help you. These experts know Google products and can help with problems, but you don’t always get a response. You pay for the chance to ask them questions.

There’s also a family plan, which lets you share your storage with family. They get the 15GB on top of your 100GB. They’d get that 15GB anyway, but it’s easy to share.

This plan costs $19.00 a year. Simple, cheap, and easy.

Paying for More Storage (Bigger Plans)

If you need more than 100GB, there are 200GB and 2 TB plans. These plans only give you more storage, no extra features. The 200GB plan costs $29.99 a year, and the 2TB plan costs $99.99 a year. That’s still not bad when you think about how safe your files are. With Google, your files are very secure, and you won’t lose them.

Google Drive gives you good security. Even Apple’s cloud has been hacked before, but if you use 2-factor authentication, your Google Drive will stay safe. You’ll sleep well knowing your files are secure.

Lots of Features

Google Drive has many features that you might overlook at first, but after using it for a while, you’ll miss them if they’re gone. Google Docs and Sheets are free to use, and they save to your Drive. If you have an Android phone, everything automatically syncs to the cloud, so you won’t lose anything if your phone gets stolen. Google even helps you find your phone if it gets stolen.

If you need a solution for a team, then check out my review of Google Workspace. But for personal use, Google Drive is the best. You don’t need anything else.