Lately, cloud storage or online storage services have become insanely popular. They are widely used by individuals and businesses on a regular basis.
However, when it comes to videos, the story is quite different. Video files are large files, and they require a lot of storage space. This makes it difficult for videographers and video content creators to store their videos.
While storing the video locally on a computer hard disk is always an option, they need to keep expanding the storage, which isn’t really a cost-effective method. Yes, Network Attached Storage is also a feasibility, but the technical burden is often the deterrent.
So, if you are such a person who works with videos, and you are looking for a good cloud storage service, you need to read this blur as it rounds up the top cloud storage services for videos.
Let’s begin.
What Should You Look for While Selecting Cloud Storage Services for Videos?
The selection criteria is no different from what you use for selecting a cloud storage service for your other file types. However, there are a few extras that you need to consider.
Here is what you should be looking at:
- No limit to the file size. Yes, video files can be very large. If a cloud storage provider is setting a limit on individual file size, that will not be suitable for you.
- Total storage space available is another factor. As mentioned in the previous point, video files are large. So, a small storage is not going to be helpful.
- Speed is yet another factor. If it takes a lot of time to upload or download a video, the service is definitely not worth the time and money you spend.
Also, do not forget that many professional video creators opt for NAS setup for organizing their video content. For them, the ability to backup network drives in cloud storage will be an additional benefit.
Of course, the usual things that you should look for are:
- Ease of use
- Security
- Price
- Collaboration capabilities
- Sharing
- Versioning
- Syncing, etc.
The ability to stream media directly from the cloud storage interface will be another great advantage, but not a crucial one in the selection procedure.
Okay, now that you know what to look for, it is time to go through the list of the best cloud storage services for videos.
Let’s start.
1. pCloud
pCloud is one of the top cloud storage providers for storing videos. It is one of the top-of-the-line providers because of security, affordability, and amazing features that include sharing, no limit on file size, and of course, a built-in media player.
It is super-smooth on desktops, and the company does a great job with the mobile applications, as well. Yes, it has both Android and iOS apps, and both of them support automatic uploads for continuous backups.
It is particularly great if you frequently use your mobile device for clicking photos or shooting videos.
The pricing of pCloud is also highly acceptable as the company charges a meagre $4.99 a month for 500GB storage. If you need more, you can ramp up the storage to 1TB for $9.99 a month.
What’s great is that you can always settle for the free plan to test the service, but you will be limited to 10GB storage against the free tier.
The only caveat of using pCloud is that you will get zero-knowledge encryption against extra payment. Yes, that’s something you need to buy separately.
As said earlier, pCloud doesn’t put restrictions on the file size. This is particularly good if you are working with 4K, or even 8K videos. The best part? They have an integrated media player that will allow you to play your videos directly from inside the web interface of your account.
To ensure that the video plays smoothly, pCloud will convert your videos into a web-friendly format. Don’t worry, they will retain your original video format.
In case you are using NAS, you will be disappointed with pCloud, because it doesn’t support NAS devices, making it a strict no for professionals that make use of NAS devices.
Benefits:
- Cheap.
- Integrated media player.
- No file size limitation.
- Works on both desktop and mobile devices.
Disadvantages:
- No support for NAS devices.
- File encryption available against extra cost.
2. Sync.com
At Cloudzat, Sync.com has always been our second-favorite cloud storage service for multiple reasons. Just like pCloud, Sync will not set any limit on the file size. This means that you can happily upload large images and videos.
Unfortunately, you will not get an integrated media player. This means that if you want to play your videos, you will have to download them back to your computer and then play them using your preferred media player.
From a security perspective, Sync.com is one of the finest. Its privacy policy is great, and you get a 256-bit AES encryption. You can secure your account even further using their two-factor authentication that adds an additional layer of security.
If we are to compare Sync and pCloud from the security aspect, Sync is the clear winner!
As far as storage is concerned, the default free space you get upon registration is 5GB. However, you can always use their referral system and increase the free storage to 20GB. Unfortunately, you will have to refer 15 people to get the extra 15GB at the rate of 1GB per new referral signup.
Sync is slightly more expensive than pCloud, because the lowest they offer is 200GB storage for $5 a month. Compared to this pCloud will give you 500GB storage for $4.99 a month. Still, if money is not a blockade, you can get up to 4TB of storage space for $180 a year!
Of course, this price includes the cost for zero-knowledge encryption, and you don’t need to pay anything extra like in the case of pCloud.
Benefits:
- File versioning for 30 days.
- Remote removal of users.
- Remote data wiping from linked devices.
- Two-factor authentication.
- No limit on file size.
- Excellent privacy policy and great security features.
Disadvantages:
- No integrated media player.
- No support for NAS devices.
- The interface is slightly clunky.
3. IceDrive
IceDrive is comparatively new in the market, and yet, it is making some noise that you cannot ignore! The noise comes in the form of cheap pricing, brilliant privacy policy and security features, and a sleek and beautiful interface.
Once you start using IceDrive, you will quickly grow fond of the interface!
There is no limit on the file size that you can upload, making it a great choice for uploading high resolution photos and big videos. Yes, you are free to upload 4K, or even 8K videos. Just like pCloud, even IceDrive also has an integrated media player that will allow you to play your stored audios and videos directly from the web interface of IceDrive.
Yes, the upload and download speeds are impressively fast, and on top of that, the storage space plans they offer are quite affordable. Just in case you do not want to engage in a monthly or yearly payment cycle, you can get a lifetime subscription.
If there is something that is going to sting you, it is the lack of collaboration features. Yes, in case you and a few other people need to work on the same video together, there is no way you can do that. Also, IceDrive doesn’t have what is called block-level syncing.
What does that mean? It means that if you are editing a small part of the video, you need to upload the entire video all over again. This might be a bit frustrating, especially for professionals working on the whims of clients that look for frequent changes.
Yet another problem is that they don’t support NAS devices. So, if you are using NAS devices, you must look for other services.
As far as pricing is concerned, you will get 1TB storage for a price of $49.99 a year, or $4.99 a month. Of course, going for the yearly plan is going to save you some bucks.
Benefits:
- Pretty affordable.
- No limit on file size.
- Comes with an integrated media player.
- Fast upload and download speeds.
Disadvantages:
- No support for NAS devices.
- No support for block-level syncing.
- Heavily lacks collaboration features.
4. IDrive
IDrive isn’t really a cloud storage service. It is an online backup solution. Still, it does make it to the list, because it indeed has some excellent features that you cannot ignore. For professionals, IDrive will be a great option as it offers support for NAS devices.
They, too, don’t have any limitation on the file size. So, no matter how large your video files are, you can upload them to IDrive storage. Additionally, the service also supports block-level syncing, which means that for minor edits, you can quickly upload the edited videos.
Not clear? Well, when you try to upload an edited video, only the portions that you edited will get synced and uploaded, making the whole upload process fast, thereby minimizing the frustration!
What else, IDrive comes with an integrated media player allowing you to stream your videos directly from the storage interface, thus eliminating the need for downloading the entire video just to watch it.
Apart from that, despite IDrive being an online backup solution instead of a cloud storage, it offers sharing and syncing features too!
On the bad side, you can get frustrated with the painfully slow service at times. Another problem is that if you want to use IDrive, you need to subscribe for an entire year. There are no monthly plans available.
Luckily, IDrive isn’t that pricey. You can opt for 5TB storage for $69.50 a year. If you need more, they offer 10TB for $99.50 per year. Just in case you want to try them out before making a yearly commitment, you can use their free tier that will allocate 5GB storage for you. You can upgrade anytime you want!
Benefits:
- No file size limit.
- Integrated media player for streaming.
- Sharing and syncing options available.
- Offers NAS support.
- Quite affordable.
Disadvantages:
- Can be painstakingly slow at times.
- No monthly plans available.
5. Google Drive
How can we miss out on Google Drive? It is safe to assume that you already have a Google account, and you know what you are dealing with. Google Drive has extraordinary collaboration features and it comes with a full-blown office suite that can happily rival Microsoft Office.
Google Drive will give you direct access to the entire Google suite of various services including email, Keep, office, and more. What’s interesting is that you can even store your videos on Google Drive that comes with an integrated media player!
Of course, the free version will give you only 15GB of free storage, but you can purchase more storage if you need.
The collaboration features are just amazing. You can even share your large storage limit with your family members provided you are opting for their paid upgrades that start at $19.99 a year for 100GB. You can go all the way up to 2TB, and that will cost you $99.99 a year.
That’s pretty much in the same range as other providers we have discussed so far.
Talking of its downsides, Google is quite unpopular for lapses in privacy policy. To be clear, it doesn’t respect the privacy of users. There are several incidences where Google peeked into users’ accounts and terminated them simply because they didn’t like the content stored!
Since Google Drive doesn’t come with any encryption, it is best that you use it with another service like Boxcryptor.
If you are looking for block-level syncing, that’s absent! That can be totally frustrating. However, it is needless to say that Google’s services are quite simple, and using Google Drive will tell you just how simple this cloud storage service is.
Benefits:
- Very simple and easy to use.
- Amazing collaboration features.
- Reasonably prices.
- Tight integration with Google Workspace.
Disadvantages:
- Privacy is a major concern.
- Doesn’t offer encryption.
- No support for NAS devices.
- No block-level syncing available.
6. MEGA
We are often confused whether to call MEGA a good provider or a bad one! There are love and hate stories surrounding MEGA, as many people go in favor, while others simply hate the service. Everyone has a reason.
As for us, we are not a big fan of MEGA, but can’t even ignore what it offers on the plate. Of course, you can point to the Kim Dotcom controversy, but despite all that MEGA is taking the fight to the government to create an ecosystem without any government ecosystem.
That’s the reason why they are offering what we refer to as zero-knowledge encryption. They also have a generous free offering of 50GB, but you need to cross several hurdles before you can bag that 50 gigs of storage without even providing your card details.
Even though they ensure that you don’t easily get their generous 50GB free storage, they are still providing way more for free compared to their competitors.
To get to the 50GB, you have to install MEGA Sync, MEGA mobile app, and even invite friends to use MEGA. You will get additional storage for every confirmed subscription.
As far as the paid plans are concerned, they start from 4.99 Euros a month for 400 GB, and the company offers all the way up to 16 TB of storage for 29.99 Euros a month.
Yes, there are sharing features available, but when it comes to productivity and collaboration, it can barely stand a chance with the likes of GoogleDrive, OneDrive or Box. They have a secure chat facility, too!
Benefits:
- Offers zero-knowledge encryption.
- Offers a secure chat feature,
- Very generous free storage.
- File previews available.
- High-end paid plans have high storage.
Disadvantages:
- The service is quite expensive.
- Collaboration tools are non-existent.
- User experience is pretty poor.
- The free-tier comes with strings attached.
7. Box
We are pretty darn sure that Box will usually not come to one’s mind when looking for best cloud storage services for videos, especially when they clearly explain that they are more of an enterprise storage solution with greater focus on productivity apps.
While this may deter people looking for video storage solutions, Box does have an unlimited storage option that will cost you $20 a month. Despite this, there is another bottleneck – the file size limit. Yes, they will not allow files greater than 5 GB in size.
This means the Box is only useful for content creators who create short videos. For instance, you can use Box if you are a YouTuber not engaged in creating very lengthy videos.
Even better, they have an excellent file syncing feature that will allow you to sync your video files across all devices, including your mobile devices.
But on the bright side, Box is known for security. They over the state-of-the-art 256-bit encryption, and even regularly perform penetration testing to find out loopholes in security and close them before any damage can be done.
Box is definitely on the pricier side of the spectrum as it charges $60 a year for just 100GB of storage. On top of that, if you want zero-knowledge encryption, you have to pay for that separately.
Benefits:
- Excellent security features.
- Offers unlimited storage feature.
- Great apps integration.
Disadvantages:
- Very expensive.
- File size limit of 5GB.
- Extra charges for zero-knowledge encryption.
8. Dropbox
Dropbox can rightly be called the Father of Modern Cloud Storage. But that doesn’t really make it the finest in business. It is definitely not the best for video storage, but you can use it for the purpose. Among advantages, Dropbox will offer block-level file syncing, making it easy to reupload your files after edits.
The company also offers an integrated media player that will allow you to play your videos directly from the browser. You don’t need any third-party app to do so.
Yes, they have a free plan available under which you will get 2GB free storage. That’s tiny, especially when you want to store your video collection. You can keep increasing your free storage by referring new users, but you really do need to hit that feature hard, because the maximum storage you get for every successful referral is just 500 MB.
Dropbox isn’t really cheap. The company will charge you $119.88 a year for 2TB of storage. Compare this with Google Drive that charges $99.99 a year for the same amount of storage.
The higher price would have made sense if Dropbox provided zero-knowledge encryption, but that’s not the case!
To top that, there had been data breaches in the past, raising concerns about the company’s security features. However, if you are just collecting some random cat or dog videos from the Internet, or if you have a bunch of movies that you want to store online, you shouldn’t be afraid of data breaches. Just make sure that you are not putting something confidential.
Benefits:
- Smart sync.
- Block-level sync.
- Smart collaboration tools available.
- Simple and easy interface.
- Integrated media player.
Disadvantages:
- Quite expensive.
- Privacy policy is poor.
- No zero-knowledge encryption.
- Previous data breaches.
Final Thoughts
Videos are large files, and storing them locally on your computer might not always be a great idea. Cloud storage may be the thing you need. Now that you have read our entire list of best cloud storage services for videos, do you agree with this list?
Have you made a decision on which one you want to use? We know it is difficult. Our suggestion will be to use one among the top four providers. All those are top-quality providers, but you see, no one can be perfect, so you shouldn’t expect these services to be perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.
In case you think that this list isn’t the most accurate list on the web, and you want to suggest adding some other provider, you are free to do so. The comments are open.
