Cloud Syncing: Many options

My goal this week has been to examine the option of centralizing all of my cloudsynced files onto one provider.  I'll be honest, I currently have accounts with Apple, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and maybe some others, I honestly don't remember.

All free accounts and all offering something for paid options.  Maybe you're in the same boat?  If you are, then you know that all of these services function very well and are easy to use (YMMV), so if you are considering the same move as I am, here are three factors to consider:

Space

I have to consider space first because I need to make sure that if I'm paying for a platform, that I don't end up needing to use another free space to house some of the files that I want to have access to from any system.  There has to be enough space for it all and room to grow obviously!

Price

Price, because I'm certainly not made of money and don't want to pay more for the storage than I have to.

Value

Value is a tricky one.  What am I getting for my money?  Yes, there is space, but are there any other bonuses that can come with that space?  The answer is definitely yes for some, so the overall value of the service comes into play.

Before getting into the contenders that I'm examining, there are a few different traits that all of these must possess.  They must be easy to use.  They must have web access.  They must have a mobile client for easy access.  Since most of the likely candidates should have these very limited bases covered, I don't expect any surprises.

The Contenders:

• iCloud (Apple) 
• Dropbox
• Google Drive
• Microsoft OneDrive
• Google Apps
• Microsoft Office 365

There really is no need to try to separate these out, because the traits that I need are all that I need, so keeping that in mind, this is what I've found.

Space, Price & Value

You can't really separate these out, so the following chart takes a look at the different offerings for each of these.  To start, I'm going to wipe out some of the big money options.  These are only Google, but it deserves mention.  Google Drive offers storage solutions 10, 20 & 30 TB, but these are beyond my storage needs and beyond my price range.

Tossing those out, this is what I'm looking at:

This is a good estimation of what's out there and this is where Apple iCloud hits the road.  If I were more deeply rooted in the Apple world, then it may be a different story, however I do development on Ubuntu currently and while I have an iPhone, iPad and even an Apple TV, the benefit to me does not justify the additional cost IF I jump above 200 GB and a $0.99 for 20 GB, I honestly get more free from using Microsoft OneDrive.

My Conclusion

I am still undecided, but have been able to punt the decision a little bit, as out of nowhere my usage increased on Microsoft OneDrive to 30 GB due to a jump from a 3 GB bonus to a 15 GB bonus for selecting to use it for camera storage!  I did so on my iPad, which I don't ever use for pictures.  So now, I have 8 GB left for my current usage, so I'll be kicking this can down the road a little bit.

Leaning towards either the 1 TB One Drive for personal use or possibly going with something more full featured, like the Google Apps or Office 365 and getting an @trivialpackets.com email address as a bonus.  Time will tell, but at the moment, the urgency for a decision has drifted.  I'll probably hang back and look for a good deal as they come.

Feel free to comment on what you use and why!