Google Drive

Google's consumer cloud storage app, sharing the same 15GB quota as Gmail and Google Photos

As of 1 September 2026, Google Drive is free to use. The consumer file storage and sync app for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and general files. Softwr lists it under File Storage. Google Drive is made by Google LLC, available on iOS, Android, Web, Windows.

Visit siteVisit Google Drive

Overview

What Google Drive does

Google Drive stores files, syncs them across devices, and hosts Google's own Docs, Sheets and Slides editors for collaborative document creation, alongside general file upload and folder sharing with configurable permissions. It works as a mobile app, desktop sync client and web interface. The storage economics matter because they are shared, not separate per service: the free tier gives 15GB total across Gmail, Google Photos and Drive combined, not 15GB for each. Anyone who has used Google Photos in original quality or has a large inbox will find their Drive allowance affected by the same pool. More storage requires a paid Google One subscription, currently 1.99 USD a month for 100GB up to higher tiers for multiple terabytes. Google Workspace, a separate paid product for organisations, typically includes larger storage pools and administrative controls not present in the free consumer tier. Buyers are anyone with a Google account wanting file backup or Google Docs-based collaboration, which functions as the default choice for many due to bundling with Android and Gmail. The trade-off is the shared quota model catching users off guard, plus the usual free-service consideration that file metadata and usage inform Google's broader account and, in the case of Workspace-scale deployments, business services.

What people use it 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

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Google Drive.

Free storage is a 15GB pool shared with Gmail and Google Photos, so heavy use of any one of those services reduces what is left for the others.
Version history and recovery for accidentally deleted files has limits, and permanently deleted items are unrecoverable after a set retention period passes.
Sharing links can be misconfigured to be more open than intended, and Google's permission model has been a source of accidental oversharing for organisations and individuals alike.
Native Google Docs format files do not export perfectly to Microsoft Office formats in all cases, and complex formatting can shift on conversion.
This is the consumer product with consumer-grade support; organisations needing admin controls, audit logs and larger storage pools need the separate paid Google Workspace product instead.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Google Drive

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Google Drivevs
Save to Google Drive
Save to Google Drive: If you specifically want the browser extension for saving web pages into Drive, rather than the storage app itself
Google Drivevs
Google Photos
Google Photos: If your priority is photo backup specifically rather than general file storage

Pricing

What Google Drive costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Free

15GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos

Google One 100GB

$1.99 /mo

100GB shared storage across the same Google services

Google One 2TB

$9.99 /mo

2TB shared storage

Capabilities

Features

Cloud file storage and sync
Upload and sync files across devices with folder organisation
Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
Native collaborative document, spreadsheet and presentation editors
Shared drives and permissions
Configurable sharing links and permission levels per file or folder
Offline access
Selected files and folders can be made available offline on desktop and mobile
Version history
Automatic revision history for Docs, Sheets and Slides files
Third party format support
Opens and converts many non-Google file formats including Microsoft Office documents

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Is Google Drive free?

Yes, up to a 15GB storage pool shared with Gmail and Google Photos; more storage requires a paid Google One subscription.

Is this the same as the Save to Google Drive browser extension?

No, that is a separate browser extension for saving web pages directly into Drive; this entry covers the storage and document app itself.

Do I need Google Workspace for business use?

For individual or informal use the free or Google One consumer tiers work, but organisations wanting admin controls and larger pooled storage need Google Workspace.

Keep looking

Where to go from Google Drive

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Google Drive, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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