I signed up for Google One when I needed more cloud storage space for my Gmail account and to store my Google Docs files. However, when I looked at other alternatives and saw OneDrive, I decided to switch providers.

4

Microsoft 365 Offers Better Value Than Google One

The basic 100GB plans on both Google One and Microsoft cost $19.99 annually. However, since I needed at least 1TB of space, I looked at what both companies offered. Google has the 2TB Premium subscription, which is priced at $99.99 per year. Microsoft 365 Personal costs the same, but only offers 1TB of cloud storage.

So, if I’m only buying for myself, I would’ve chosen the Google One subscription. However, my wife also needed online storage—that’s why I picked the Microsoft 365 Family option instead. It’s $30 more expensive than Google One Premium or Microsoft 365 Personal. I also shared it with my mom, so if you divide it by three, I’m effectively paying $44 per head per year.

More than that, each member of my subscription gets 1TB of cloud storage. Since I can share the subscription with five other people, that means we’re getting a total of 6TB of online storage. If I find three other users to share my subscription with, then I’m effectively paying just $22 per head.

You can share a Google One Premium subscription with the same number of people, but you’d all be using the same pool of 2TB of cloud storage. So, if one of my members uses up a huge chunk of the available storage, I’d find myself needing to purchase additional capacity.

3

OneDrive Is More Convenient to Use With Computers

Both Google One and OneDrive are compatible across many devices, but I love how OneDrive syncs much more easily to my computer. Since OneDrive is a Microsoft product, it’s installed natively on my Windows 11 PC. This makes it more convenient to set up, and since I use a Microsoft Account to log into my computer, my files are automatically synced to a new PC.

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More than just automatically syncing on my PC, I can also set it to download all OneDrive files to my laptop. This ensures that I always have a copy of my files on the local drive of my primary workstation, ensuring they’re easily accessible with File Explorer.

I also have a MacBook Air with a tiny 256GB local drive that I use for travel. OneDrive for macOS ensures that I can access my files anywhere as long as I have an internet connection. It also complements the tiny local storage, so I don’t run out of space.

2

It Comes With an Office Suite for Productivity

The biggest advantage of a Microsoft 365 subscription is that I get access to full Microsoft apps on both desktop and mobile. So, whether I’m working at home on my Windows PC, in a hotel on my MacBook Air, in a coffee shop on my iPad Air, or while waiting for a flight using my Samsung S24 Ultra, I have the full functionality of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This is why Microsoft 365 pays for itself. Aside from those three programs, I also get other feature-rich apps like Outlook, OneNote, Microsoft Defender, Clipchamp, and more.

Sure, Google Docs is free and can work offline. However, you still need to eventually connect to the internet to be able to save the file you’re working on. But with Microsoft 365, I can work without needing to go online and save files locally.

1

My Photos Are Backed Up Automatically, Too

Since OneDrive works on all my mobile devices, I use it to automatically back up my photos on them. I love that it works seamlessly on both my iPhone and Android phone, ensuring that my memories are saved online no matter which device I use. I could then clear old photos from my phones, ensuring I don’t run out of space on them.

The OneDrive app on mobile phones also has a scan feature, allowing me to take images of documents and save them as if they were scanned cleanly.

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I primarily pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription for the 1TB cloud storage. However, all the other features that Microsoft included with it make it an absolute steal, especially because I’m sharing it with a few other people. But if I were only getting cloud storage for myself and not sharing it with anyone else, I might stay with Google One for its 2TB cloud storage capacity.