It’s becoming a wonder why the phrase, “you’ve got your head in the clouds” is symbolic of mindlessness and lacking direction. With all the latest technology giving “the cloud” a very useful and multi-functional space, we should all be putting our heads in the clouds more often. Cloud storage is continually gaining popularity among business professionals and just people looking to access their files more easily in general. One of the most innovative features of cloud storage is the ability to access your files from any device, as long as you have internet connection. And with the ability to hold everything from important documents to pictures and the freedom to share these files with others, the cloud will only gain more users in the months to come.

If you’re currently using a popular storage cloud or are looking to toss your files into the cloud, here is a list of the top 5 storage cloud services and how they stack up against each other:

  1. Dropbox – Perhaps the most popular storage cloud service, Dropbox does it all. With Dropbox’s free account you can store up to 2 GB of files ranging from Microsoft, Adobe, pictures, videos, and music. Dropbox offers premium services of Pro ($9.99/month) and Business ($15/user/month) which increase your storage space and add on unlimited file recovery (Business only). Also with Dropbox, you have the ability to edit documents straight from your web browser making it easy to both update files and keep your team members up to speed.
  2. Box – Box provides its users with a clean, easy to navigate service that lets you store up to 10 GB of files with the free service and options to upgrade for more. It also boasts easy file creating, editing, and sharing online with the ability to share any file, no matter the size, with a simple link. For business users, Box enables a collaboration feature that lets you easily access files immediately after they have been updated. Typical of all storage clouds, Box is accessible across all different platforms for your phone, computer, and tablet. There are two options for personal accounts: Free and $10/month for 10 GB of storage; and three business account options at $5/month, $15/month, and special pricing for enterprises.
  3. OneDrive – Microsoft’s answer to the cloud based storage service comes with more than just storage space. Their cloud service is actually part of their larger plan, Microsoft 365. For an annual price of $69.99 for a basic personal account, you also receive full Microsoft Office applications and the ability to sync with Skype for easy calling. Office 365 includes OneDrive which comes with 1 TB of storage for keeping your files and pictures easily on hand at all times. To better suit your business needs, you can also upgrade for $99.99/year and sync 5 computers, 5 tablets and 5 phones, plus receive 1TB of storage per person. For those looking to sync whole offices, OneDrive offers more specified plans for your needs at different price values.
  4. SugarSync – An up and coming storage cloud, SugarSync promises to do things that Dropbox cannot. This mainly points to its ability to back up your existing folder structure with SugarSync so that you don’t need to create any new folders or upload any files online. You can simply decide which folders you want synced to the cloud and SugarSync will automatically add it for you. You can add files to folders as you do normally and it’ll sync in real time to the cloud so that you can start a document at work and finish it on your laptop when you get home. SugarSync offers a basic Individual plan starting at $7.49 per month for 100 GB and has other plans with more storage that you can upgrade to for syncing more than 10 devices.
  5. Google Drive – Google Drive exists to make storing things on the cloud as simple as possible. With 15 GB of free storage available to you, you can create documents and save things to the cloud in a click of a button. As it is a Google product, you can also sync attachments sent to your Gmail account to Google Drive as well as individual email messages. Another easy to use feature – scan all of your documents with Drive for Android and Drive will upload them to your storage cloud as a PDF. Your documents are collaborative so you can easily work with team members to instantly update files and work on them out of office. Google Drive has upgradeable plans starting with 100 GB for $1.99/month and increases in storage size to the TBs for larger price values per month.

With these 5 services, storing your most important files in the cloud couldn’t be anymore simpler. Start organizing your folders and devices with your favorite storage cloud and make it easier for you to work on projects or recall important notes easier than ever.

Bonus Storage Tip: Try the YouMail Visual Voicemail service which helps you organize and access your voicemails from your phone, laptop, or tablet.