Is Google Drive Free? Yes (But There’s a Catch…)
Google Drive is a great tool for working online, remotely, and collaboratively. But is Google Drive free? Let’s find out…
Like Microsoft 365, Google Drive is all about productivity. You have a word processor (Docs), a spreadsheet tool (Sheets), and even tools for presentations (Slides) and surveys and polls. And everything runs in the cloud, so you pick up where you left off on any device.
Basically, Google Drive is an excellent tool for everybody from students to novelists and start-up CEOs to mega-corporations that employ tens of thousands of people (although bigger companies tend to use Workspace, Google’s enterprise-version of Drive).
There are many things to like about Google Drive, from its simplicity to the fact that it will run on pretty much everything: your phone, your PC, your iPad, even your web browser on your TV.
But is Google Drive Free To Use?
Google’s big idea with Drive is to make cloud storage and productivity available to everybody. For this reason, Google Drive has always been completely free. All you need is a Gmail account to access it. All free Google Drive accounts come with 15GB of storage too, which is plenty to get started.
If you need more storage, Google has options for that. All the way up to 2TB, so whether you’re a small company, an individual looking to keep on top of your work and/or projects, or a novelist planning on their next book, Google Drive is the perfect place to develop and store your ideas.
| Storage | Price (US$) |
|---|---|
| 15 GB | Free |
| 100 GB | $1.99/month ($19.99/year) |
| 200 GB | $2.99/month ($29.99/year) |
| 2 TB | $9.99/month ($99.99/year) |
| 10 TB | $99.99/month ($1.199,88/year) |
| 20 TB | $199.99/month ($2.399,88/year) |
| 30 TB | $299.99/month ($3.599,88/year) |
We have TONS of guides about how to use Google Drive, as well as an extensive collection of Google Drive Tips and Tricks. If you’re new to Drive, be sure to check these out. You’ll be up and running like a pro in no time.
Does Google Drive Work With iPhone?
If you’re using an iPhone or an iPad, you might think Apple’s iCloud suite of applications is a better option. Apple offers Pages, Numbers, and a range of additional productivity apps for those looking to work on their Macs and iPhones.
And iCloud’s suite of apps is decent too; I use Pages all the time on my Mac. But with iCloud, you ONLY get 5GB of storage. And because iCloud is Apple, you can only use it on Apple products which makes accessing and editing your documents on non-Apple products a problem.
Google Drive is more versatile than iCloud. You can run Drive on iPhone, Mac, PC, and anything with a web browser. You cannot do this with iCloud. Also: Google gives you 10GB more cloud storage than Apple with 15GB of storage as standard for all Google Drive accounts.
This is the main reason why millions of people, even iPhone users, tend to favor Google Drive over Apple’s iCloud and Microsoft 365. It’s cheaper, it works across more devices, and you get more free storage with Drive.
Google Drive Resource Hub: Learn All The Basics + Pro-Level Tips For Drive
