Hi everyone! I’m trying to move away from Google services for privacy reasons but I’m on a tight budget as a student. I need to find a Google Drive replacement that doesn’t cost money each month.
I looked into Nextcloud and it seems good with mobile apps and everything, but I can’t afford to pay for hosting. I also don’t want to just backup to external drives because I’m always on the go and might lose work if my laptop crashes before I backup.
Basically I want something like Google’s 15GB free storage that syncs automatically so my files are always safe in the cloud. Mobile app support is a must since I work from my phone sometimes too. Does anyone know of free alternatives that would work for someone in my situation?
mega.nz gives u 20GB free - way more than google! Been usin it for 2 years no probs. Desktop sync works great and the mobile app’s solid. Some people might not trust it tho, but it’s totally fine for student files.
pCloud gives you 10GB free - not quite 15GB but decent for students. I switched after getting sick of Google’s privacy issues and it’s been rock solid for 18 months. Desktop syncs perfectly, mobile apps work great on Android and iOS. I appreciate the crypto folder feature, which encrypts my sensitive files before they reach their servers. Being Swiss-based means it adheres to better privacy laws than US services. Upload speeds outperform most other free options I’ve tested. My only concern is that 10GB can feel tight at times, but you can expand your storage through referrals. It effectively handles all my document storage and syncing without monthly fees.
OneDrive gives you 5GB free and works well if you don’t mind Microsoft over Google. Office integration is solid for editing docs on your phone. Sync’s been rock solid for me this past year. Dropbox starts at 2GB but you can bump it up through referrals and linking social accounts. Their mobile app beats most competitors and sharing files is dead simple. Here’s what everyone missed - your university might already hook you up with Microsoft or Google Workspace storage. Lots of schools give unlimited or huge amounts of space that students never know about. Hit up your IT department before settling for these limited free plans.
Been there when I ditched Google years ago. Those free storage options work, but you’ll end up juggling multiple services and apps.
Game changer for me? Setting up automation that handles all the syncing and backup stuff automatically. Connect multiple free services together and build your own backup system that’s way more reliable than trusting one provider.
Mine auto-syncs files between different cloud services, sends notifications when backups finish, and sorts files by type. Takes 10 minutes to set up, then you forget about it.
Mobile access works great since everything stays synced across all your services. Plus you get way more than 15GB by smartly combining multiple free accounts.
Latenode makes this dead simple without coding. Just drag and drop connections between services and it handles the automation.
icedrive gives you 10gb free with solid encryption. interface is way more modern than other services i’ve used. been syncing daily for 8 months without any failures