In recent years, companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Dropbox or even Apple have been betting on cloud storage as a safe and reliable method to save our data online. Emphasizing, also, how easy and fast it is to store and share all kinds of documents. The perfect way to get rid of the chains that bind us to everything physical, to all those "breakable" and therefore ephemeral pen drives, hard drives and storage units on which we trust the security of our data.
Google drive has always been one of the most visible heads in promoting the use of the cloud to store information safely, offering different levels of free storage for anyone with a Google account in their possession. Making it easy to send large files through Gmail, storing full resolution photos in Google Photos or making backup copies of the most critical and essential files on our smartphones and computers.
Without a doubt, you can always leave between 100 and 200 euros in a good 1TB external SSD, or even mount your own NAS at home if you are a little handyman and you like to investigate these issues. Now, most experts agree that "the cloud is the future." A statement that for now only time will be able to confirm or deny us, but friends, it has all the earmarks that if not, at least it will be a terribly similar future.
Premium storage plans on Google Drive
The cloud is that ethereal thing that nobody knows where it is, that it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Wonders of science. Now, what is true and no one can deny at this point is that every time we upload more content to our respective online storage spaces, and in the case of Google Drive, the "free bar" of all those megabytes ends when it reaches 15GB.
This is the limit that the big G offers us when it comes to free storage space. From there, if we want more room, the company also has other premium -paid- plans that go from 100GB to 30TB, with prices that start to be quite exorbitant when we exceed the barrier of 2TB.
- 100GB plan: € 1.99 / month
- 200GB plan: € 2.99 / month
- 2TB plan: € 9.99 / month
- 10TB plan: € 99.99 / month
- 20TB plan: € 199.99 / month
- 30TB plan: € 299.99 / month
If we want to contract any of these premium plans, we have to do it through Google One. Google One is the name of Google's cloud storage service, which centralizes all the data we store from Drive, Gmail and Google Photos. If we want to contract a plan higher than 15GB free of all life, we will have to enter one.google.com, and from there do the pertinent management.
Unlimited storage space on Google Drive
The good thing about all this is that if we have a lot of data to store in the cloud, there is a little, let's call it a "trick", that not many people know and that will help us get unlimited space on Google Drive for a lower price than the 10TB plan, which already shoots us up to almost 100 euros per month.
The process consists of hiring a G Suite account, instead of using a standard Google account. The G Suite "Basic" plan is priced at 4.68 euros per month per user and 30GB of drive space, but if we go to the "Business" plan, the storage space is expanded indefinitely. That is to say, unlimited space for a price of € 9.36 per month for each user that we add to our subscription plan.
Note: G Suite is a business-oriented service, so the plans offered are billed by number of users. This implies that we can also use accounts with our own domain (@ yourcompany.com). As a prerequisite, Google will ask us to have our own domain registered before jumping to G Suite.
See all available G Suite plans
Where is the catch?
By subscribing to the "Business" plan of G Suite we can save all the gigs and teras that we want in Google Drive for less than 10 euros per month, which is equivalent to an expense similar to the 2 Terabyte plan of Google One, being of course much more cheap than the 10TB plan of almost 100 euros.
In any case, it should be clarified that Google clearly warns that unlimited storage is only available when we hire the Business plan for more than 5 users. Below that figure the limit is set at 1TB per person. Now, after reading the experiences of some users who have tried the service, it seems that Google does not explicitly establish any real limit, which in practice allows us to exceed that theoretical maximum of 1TB.
It is important to bear in mind anyway that if we try to take advantage of this "hole in the system" to try to bleed Google and save a few bucks, we run the risk of losing our data at the least expected moment. Our recommendation is that in that case we opt for a Google One plan that adapts to our needs, although if you like risk… you already know where to look.
You have Telegram installed? Receive the best post of each day on our channel. Or if you prefer, find out everything from our Facebook page.
