File Storage · pricing
Google Drive pricing
Google Drive publishes 3 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 1 September 2026, Google Drive pricing is free across 3 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Free tier plus paid storage add-on
- Tiers
- 3
- Free tier
- Yes
Google Drive plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 | Entry tier |
| Google One 100GB | $1.99/month | 1 | +$1.99/month, 1 more feature |
| Google One 2TB | $9.99/month | 1 | +$8/month, 1 more feature |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
Free
FreeThe entry tier. It covers 15gb shared across gmail, drive and photos.
Google One 100GB
$1.99/monthOver Free, this tier adds:
- 100GB shared storage across the same Google services
Google One 2TB
$9.99/monthOver Google One 100GB, this tier adds:
- 2TB shared storage
Where Google Drive stops being free
Free, Free
- 15GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos
Google One 100GB, $1.99/month
The first thing you pay for:
- 100GB shared storage across the same Google services
What the product covers
The full Google Drive feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Cloud file storage and sync
- Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
- Shared drives and permissions
- Offline access
- Version history
- Third party format support
People bring Google Drive in for backing up and syncing personal files across a phone, laptop and desktop, collaborating on a document, spreadsheet or presentation in real time with others, sharing a folder of files with specific permission levels with a defined group, storing large attachments to send by link instead of email attachment size limits. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Google Drive are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in File Storage
Too few file storage tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive (this page) | Free | Free tier plus paid storage add-on | - | |
| Cloudian | On request | quote | - | vs Google Drive |
| Panzura | On request | quote | - | vs Google Drive |
| VAST Data | On request | quote | - | vs Google Drive |
| Scality RING | On request | quote | - | vs Google Drive |
| LucidLink | $7/month | Per member per month plus storage | - | vs Google Drive |
| Storj | Free, then $4/month | Per terabyte per month | - | vs Google Drive |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Google Drive badges page.
Before you pay for Google Drive
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 3 tiers between Free and $9.99/month, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Google Drive runs on ios, android, web, windows, macos, and is published by Google LLC of Mountain View, California, United States. The full record is on the Google Drive review, and the rest of the category is under best file storage tools.
Google Drive pricing questions
- How much does Google Drive cost?
- Google Drive publishes 3 tiers, from Free for Free up to $9.99/month for Google One 2TB. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Google Drive have a free plan?
- Yes. The Free tier costs nothing and covers 15gb shared across gmail, drive and photos. Paying starts at $1.99/month for Google One 100GB.
- What is the difference between Free and Google One 100GB on Google Drive?
- Google One 100GB costs $1.99/month against Free, and adds 100gb shared storage across the same google services.
- Is the Google One 2TB plan on Google Drive worth it?
- That depends entirely on whether you need what it adds, which on the published record is 2tb shared storage. It costs $9.99/month against $1.99/month for Google One 100GB. Softwr has not used either tier, so this page can tell you what changes, not whether it is worth the difference to you.
- Which file storage tools can I use without paying?
- 3 of the 8 file storage tools listed alongside Google Drive have a free tier: Storj, Cloudflare R2, IDrive e2.
- What am I actually paying for with Google Drive?
- The record lists 6 features across 1 area: other. In practice it is brought in for backing up and syncing personal files across a phone, laptop and desktop, collaborating on a document, spreadsheet or presentation in real time with others, sharing a folder of files with specific permission levels with a defined group.
- Does Google Drive charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 3 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Google Drive prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Google Drive against before paying?
- The closest file storage tools in this directory are Cloudian, Panzura, VAST Data, Scality RING. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Google Drive covering price, platforms and features.