Best Cloud Storage for Windows 2020: OneDrive Alternatives

Windows is one of the most popular operating systems in the world. While it’s far from the most robust and bug-free OS, the latest version, Windows 10, takes care of many of its predecessors’ mistakes. We’ll further complement that with a list of the best cloud storage for Windows, starting with Sync.com.

The more files you pile on to your hard drive, the more errors and drops in performance you experience. One solution is to store as much data as you can on the cloud to optimize the drive for Windows. Music, movies, photos and huge files are all prime candidates for a new home in the cloud.

If you just want backup, and there’s a difference, read our best online backup services list. Otherwise, we’ll take you through our top picks for Windows from among the best cloud storage services. Before we start, though, let’s take a look at what factors we used to rate them.

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Best Cloud Storage Services for Windows 2020

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What Makes the Best Cloud Storage for Windows

Windows support is chief here. We’ll look at how well the service works on it and how easy the desktop, web and mobile clients are to use. It’s best if the interface is attractive and intuitive, not a clunky mess.

Being inexpensive is a plus, too. If a service has many plans, it’s more likely you’ll find the one that best matches your needs. That includes getting the most storage space for the least money, or, in other words, the best value. If that’s your top concern, read our best deals in cloud storage.

Storage space alone won’t amount to much if it takes forever to transfer files to the cloud. You’ll need a stable connection with fast upload speeds, as well. Speeds also depend on your ISP and how close you are to the servers you’re using. Block-level transfer helps, too, because it uploads only the parts of the file that have changed since the previous upload.

Once you transfer your files, tough security will keep them safe. We’ll check what kind of encryption the service uses and whether it uses it in-transit and at-rest. Zero-knowledge is best, because it prevents anyone from accessing your data other than you If someone cracks your password, having two-factor authentication is helpful, too, as an extra layer of security (make sure to read our article on the best 2FA apps for more on this).

1. Sync.com

Sync.com sits at the top of our online storage comparison list. The Toronto-based service has a reputation for robust security and good user privacy, thanks, in part, to Canadian privacy laws, which are among the best in the world.

The desktop client works on Windows 10, 8, Vista, 7 and XP. Working with it is easy and consists of using your sync folder, which looks like a regular folder with a check mark, and accessing the client through the taskbar icon. The web client is clear and intuitive and has the same features as the desktop one, as well as others that enrich the general experience.

There’s a smartphone app available for Android or iOS, too. You can use it to work with files offline and upload photos and videos to the cloud.

Paid pricing plans are competitive. Personal Pro will cost you $49 a year for 500GB or $96 for 2TB, making it one of the best deals in cloud storage. If you’re a business user, you can request files from clients and ensure HIPAA compliance, along with the other usual features, for $96 a year on the Business Solo plan.

Business Pro fits the needs of multiple users — it requires a minimum of two — and costs $60 to $180 a year, depending on the number of users and the amount of storage space. It includes administrative control and centralized billing.

Sync.com’s initial upload speeds are average for a cloud storage service, but you can throttle your speeds if the sync process interferes with other activities. There’s also an option to set monthly upload and download limits for those working with a limited data plan.

Other Reasons Why We Like Sync.com

Security doesn’t fall behind privacy. Sync.com uses AES 256-bit encryption and the TLS protocol to protect your data in-transit and at-rest (which helped it take the top spot in our best cloud storage for sharing piece). The service is zero-knowledge compliant — it tops our list of best zero-knowledge services, in fact — so it can’t help you if you lose your password.

Two-factor authentication can help, though, if you’ve made a weak password and someone cracked it (read our guide on how to make a strong password).

Sync.com offers good value with its subscription plans, straightforward use and security. All that makes it fit for the top of this list. You can learn more about its security and other features in our Sync.com review.

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2. pCloud

pCloud is our second choice and it’s available for all major versions of Windows. Using the desktop client is enjoyable and easy. You’ll access it the same way you would most services — through the system tray icon or the pCloud drive in your system files manager. The interface is bleak, but clear and intuitive.

The web interface will not disappoint you, either, because it has more features, offers a streamlined experience and gives you access to all of pCloud’s tools in one place. Plus, it’s fast. The only flaw is it’s not useful for transferring large files. Stick to the desktop client for that (read our how to use pCloud Transfer guide).

The mobile app is good, too, because it lets you edit documents instead of just viewing them. It will also play your video and audio files.

pCloud offers plans for personal and business users. Personal users can choose Premium, which costs $4.99 a month for 500GB, or Premium Plus, which will set you back $9.99 per month for 2TB. Both include features such as keeping your file version history for 30 days and unlimited remote uploads. You’ll get a discount if you pay for a year.

Choosing a lifetime plan will also get you a discount. The free plan gives you access to 10GB of storage and one additional gigabyte for every referral up to 20GB.

Upload speed is comparable to other services but the connection isn’t as stable as it should be. It does tend to reach higher speeds more often, though.

Other Reasons Why We Like pCloud

Like Sync.com, pCloud uses the TLS protocol to protect data in-transit and AES 256-bit to encrypt your files. Zero-knowledge encryption will require the Crypto add-on, though, which costs $4.99 a month. It might be worth the money because pCloud’s privacy policy has some questionable clauses, even though the service is based in Switzerland.

pCloud and Sync.com are excellent services and comparing them is splitting hairs. We feel that Sync.com is better as it provides zero-knowledge without the extra cost and has a more stable connection while uploading. That makes pCloud second, if only by a small margin. For more about the service, read our pCloud review.

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3. Egnyte Connect

With Egnyte Connect, which is among our best enterprise file sync and share services, you can upload and access your files by using a desktop client, browser interface or mobile app.

The desktop client uses the common sync folder model, which will store content on your drive and in the cloud. It also includes a feature called Egnyte Drive, which lets you access cloud content from your file system without requiring local storage space.

The browser experience is enjoyable as the interface is easy to use and it has plenty of features. The same is true for the mobile app. You can use it to open and edit content you have in the Egnyte cloud, including .pdf files and Office documents, so there’s no need to buy Microsoft Office 365. Egnyte can also store content from your phone.

The service wasn’t a great choice for individuals before it launched the Team plan, which is good for one to three users. It’s aimed at business users, but paying $10 a month for 1TB of storage is still a fine deal, especially considering that it offers a wealth of features.

The service still offers its business plans, which require at least five users, and each is an excellent value. For $8 per user per month, you get 5TB of space, more than any other services in that range. The Business and Enterprise plans have even more features and storage space, but come with a higher price tag.

Egnyte takes longer than other services for initial file uploads. A 250MB folder took twice the time other services needed. Changing files and uploading them again is much faster — only Dropbox beats it — because Egnyte uses block-level sync.

Other Reasons Why We Like Egnyte Connect

AES 256-bit encryption will scramble files before uploading. The service can’t be classified as zero-knowledge, though, because it decrypts your files to read metadata then encrypts them again. Fortunately, Egnyte integrates with Boxcryptor, which you can use for private encryption, but doing so will prevent block-level sync from working.

You can set minimum password requirements to make sure your password isn’t weak and use two-factor authentication for more protection. To learn more about its security, read our Egnyte Connect review. To get a sense of the service, you can use the 15-day free trial.

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4. Tresorit

Tresorit is one of the most secure cloud storage services, despite the Switzerland-based company keeping its servers in the Netherlands and Ireland. You can transfer data to those servers by using a full-featured desktop client or web interface.

Using the desktop option requires you to create folders, called tresors, and sync them individually, which might complicate the experience for some. The web interface is similar to the desktop one, but it doesn’t have the same options — it lacks the page for “recents” but it has a link for “contacts.” The mobile app is available for Android or iOS.

Tresorit doesn’t offer great value as the subscription plans aren’t competitive. Premium is the cheapest, yet it costs $12.50 a month for 200GB. That’s more than some charge for 1TB. The other personal plan, Solo, provides 2TB of storage for $30 a month. To sweeten the deal, it adds unlimited versioning and the ability to sync 10 devices instead of five.

There’s a discount if you pay for the year, but before deciding to pay Tresorit’s high price, you should use the 14-day trial to test the service.

The speeds that Tresorit achieves are slower than some other services, but not by much. Unless you’re working with large files, it shouldn’t be an issue. You can throttle them if Tresorit takes too much of your system resources and schedule when you want the service to run, too.

Other Reasons Why We Like Tresorit

To compensate for its high price tag, Tresorit provides remarkable security. You can use zero-knowledge to encrypt your data and make it private. The level of encryption is AES 256-bit.

However, that won’t help if someone steals your password. Two-factor authentication will. The data centers comply with the latest ISO standards and run Microsoft Azure. For the nuts and bolts of the service’s security, read our Tresorit review.

Tresorit Review

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5. Dropbox

It’s not surprising that Dropbox offers a polished user experience. The desktop client is straightforward — you use a sync folder and a system tray icon — but we’re more fond of the web client. It’s striking and displays all the necessary information while still being easy to navigate.

There’s a mobile app, too, which is available for Android or iOS. You can use it to automatically upload photos and videos from your phone.

The Plus plan will get you 1TB of storage for $10 a month, which makes for decent value. It’ll also provide access to features such as priority email support, remote data deletion and offline folders on mobile. For $20 a month, Professional adds smart sync, showcase, full-text search and priority chat support, but it doesn’t increase storage space.

Basic is a free plan which gives you a mere 2GB of storage. You can add 500MB to it for every referral.

Dropbox’s servers are in the U.S., so the closer you are, the better your speeds will be. Speed test results were similar to good results from other services we’ve tested. You can use throttle to limit speeds, but that shouldn’t be necessary as sync doesn’t use a lot of system resources.

The impressive block-level sync will speed up transfers after the initial upload. In fact, Dropbox is one of the best cloud storages for sync.

Other Reasons Why We Like Dropbox

Dropbox uses AES 256-bit to protect your files in transit and at rest, but it’s not zero-knowledge so it won’t protect your privacy. If you need it, you can use Boxcryptor to achieve end-to-end encryption. Normally, Dropbox decrypts your data when it arrives at the data center in order to access your metadata for indexing, but Boxcryptor won’t allow that.

Dropbox provides a great user experience and fast sync, but doesn’t offer zero-knowledge encryption, limits storage to 1TB and charges a lot for it. To get a more detailed overview of the service, read our Dropbox review.

Dropbox Review

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Final Thoughts

Because all services support Windows — no surprise there — we’ve turned to other factors to make our ranking such as like value, speed, security and ease of use. Sync.com has those in spades, as does pCloud. The next two services are good, but not as good, and Dropbox places last because the other service set the bar too high for it.

Whatever you choose, these are some of the best services on our cloud comparison list and should fit your storage needs. Did we miss anything? What’s your favorite cloud storage service? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.

Sync.com Review

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