Best cloud storage plans in South Africa

South Africans who want to back up large amounts of data and be able to access it from anywhere where the Internet is available can sign up for one of several cloud storage services.

Tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft and several smaller software companies offer cloud storage plans at affordable monthly prices.

In a country like South Africa, where robbery and burglary are common, there is another dimension to using cloud backups than convenience.

Storing your data on just your smartphone or a hard drive solid-state drive in your computer is a bad idea, as these are all attractive targets for thieves.

Even ignoring the threat of crime, storage drives can fail and data can get corrupted, making another strong case for cloud-based backups.

To ensure you can recover your most precious photos, videos, and other documents, you should keep a backup on the cloud.

Cloud backups also allow you to easily transfer your data to a new device.

While cyberattacks are a very real threat, reputable cloud providers keep users’ data securely encrypted with military-grade 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).

To date, there have been no confirmed instances of AES-256 being cracked.

Cyber attackers can only access your cloud data if your password is compromised and you do not set a two-factor authentication method.

The latter can include a phone number for call or SMS verification, an authenticator app, a passkey, or even a physical security key like a flash drive, which you can hide or store away more easily than a computer or smartphone.

All the reputable cloud storage providers offer these security features as an additional layer of protection over and above your account login credentials.

MyBroadband compared the plans from major cloud storage providers to help readers make an informed decision on what plan might be suitable for their needs.

Google the cheapest in most cases — with some drawbacks

We found that Google One offered the widest range of cloud storage plans, with capacities ranging from 15GB to 30TB.

It also has the biggest free data storage of 15GB, compared with 5GB on Apple iCloud+, Microsoft OneDrive, and 2GB on Dropbox.

However, Microsoft’s free plan includes an additional 15GB of mailbox storage, whereas Google’s total storage is split across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.

Another thing to keep in mind is that WhatsApp uses Google Drive storage for backups.

If you don’t have a Google One plan, you will still have up to 15GB of storage.

However, if you subscribe to Google One, keep in mind that the storage taken up by your WhatsApp data is effectively taken out of the total.

That being said, Google One has the most affordable prices for 100GB, 200GB, and 2TB storage.

The only significant additional feature of these plans is that they can be shared with up to five users.

OneDrive’s 100GB plan, available on the Microsoft Basic subscription, is only R5 more expensive per month or R50 higher on an annual plan and adds Microsoft’s popular productivity apps on the web — including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Microsoft is also the only major cloud storage provider with a 1TB plan, priced at R109.00 per month or R1,099 per year.

That makes it a good mid-way option between Google One’s R52.99 200GB plan and R184.99 2TB plan.

This subscription also includes full access to Microsoft Office apps, even when offline.

If storage capacity and pricing are not your main priorities, then features like backup integration with your preferred devices may be more important.

For Apple device users, iCloud+ might be best due to the company’s deep software and hardware integration.

One of its standout features is iCloud Private Relay, an advanced type of virtual private network service for browsing the web on Safari.

A fourth option to consider is Dropbox, which has a 180-day grace period for restoring files before they are completely deleted.

It also boasts built-in PDF and video editing tools and support for up to 100GB file transfers.

However, besides being relatively expensive, it should be noted that Dropbox has adopted unfortunate practices in recent years.

This includes pushing notifications to users, warning them that their storage is about to run out even when it isn’t.

The table below compares the pricing and features of cloud data storage plans available from four major providers.