Cloud storage services are great for sharing files with friends and families, keeping documents in sync between all of your devices, and so much more. Free cloud storage is even better!
Yes, there really are no-strings-attached, free cloud storage services out there. Many of them, actually. While nearly all have premium offerings that provide more space, the free cloud storage offered is usually more than enough for most people.
Whether you need a reliable data backup solution, instant access to files, a simple way to share files with clients and colleagues, or all of the above, there is a cloud storage service for you. Cloud backup and cloud storage are often confused with each other. Cloud sync, also known as synchronization, is a feature built on top of these two methods of remotely stowing away data. Learn the difference here.
Better yet, many of these free online storage providers give you even more free space for referring friends or performing other tasks.
Having trouble deciding on which free cloud storage service is right for you? Here's a comparison chart of the top five services to help you decide.
Cloud storage is different than automatic cloud backup. The services listed below are great for keeping your files online for storage, sharing, and playback, but they won't back up your computer files to the cloud on a schedule like a cloud backup service will.
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MEGA
What We Like
- Lots of storage space.
- Share public folders.
- Mobile and desktop apps.
- Clean and modern look.
What We Don't Like
- Slow to prepare files for download.
- Bandwidth limitations.
- No advanced link sharing options.
Get 50 GB of free cloud storage with MEGA. MEGA offers secure end-to-end encryption to help combat a breach in privacy.
You can view and update your MEGA files through a browser, the desktop sync client, or the mobile app, so it can run on a variety of platforms like Android, iOS, Windows, and others.
Download For:
BlackBerry
Linux
Windows
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pCloud
What We Like
- More free storage than most services.
- Earn additional space.
- Multimedia streaming.
- No speed or file size limit.
Our Review of pCloud
10 GB of free online storage is offered by pCloud, with friend referrals and other bonus steps jumping it to a possible 20 GB.
A desktop client can be installed for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. There's also a mobile app that's very intuitive and easy to use.
pCloud supports adding files from a remote URL in addition to single file and whole folder uploads through a browser. The mobile apps can upload photos and videos directly to your pCloud account.
Both files and folders can both be shared with non-users. Shared folders can even be downloaded as a ZIP archive.
Also, pCloud allows upload links to be generated for folders so anyone can send files to your account. A unique email address is also generated which lets you (or anyone) email files directly to a folder on your pCloud account.
In addition to the above, you can backup the photos from your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Picasa.
Get pCloud for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, and more.
Download pCloud
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MediaFire
What We Like
- Upload large files.
- Zero bandwidth limitations.
- Upload public files to your account.
Best Cloud Backup Drive For Mac
What We Don't Like
- Account expires after inactivity.
- Ad-supported website.
- No updates from company since 2017.
Instantly get 10 GB of free online file hosting with MediaFire. Increase it to 50 GB or more with things like friend referrals and application downloads.
There are sharing options for files and folders and easy uploads of either single files or whole entire folders through the MediaFire website.
Mobile users can download an app to view and share files on the go or upload photos and videos.
Get MediaFire for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Android.
Download MediaFire
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Dropbox
What We Like
- Earn lots of free storage.
- Mobile and desktop apps.
- Undelete files.
- Intuitive file and folder sharing.
What We Don't Like
- Small storage space.
- Bandwidth limits on shared folders.
Dropbox users start off with 2 GB of free space with several simple ways of earning more, up to around 18 GB.
You can view and upload all your Dropbox files from a desktop or mobile app and share whole folders with anyone, even if they don't have a Dropbox account.
If you have Microsoft Office files stored in your Dropbox account, you can edit them from inside your browser for free using Microsoft Office Online.
Get Dropbox for Android, iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, or your computer.
Download For:
BlackBerry
Linux
![Storage Storage](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126610284/955504877.jpg)
Kindle Fire
Windows Phone
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Box
What We Like
- Robust search tool.
- Bulk file downloads.
- Notes and spreadsheet integration.
What We Don't Like
- Limits upload file size.
- Some features cost.
- No password option for shared files.
10 GB of free online storage space is offered by Box (formerly Box.net).
There's a mobile application for nearly all devices that lets you upload/download/share your content. The desktop sync client also makes it super simple to upload files to Box.
Box users can share whole folders of data or pick single files to share with a public link.
Get Box for Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Windows, or macOS.
Download For:
BlackBerry
Mac
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FlipDrive
What We Like
- Useful amount of storage.
- Cross-platform mobile apps.
- Unique file sharing permissions.
What We Don't Like
- No public access to shared folders.
- Tiny upload file size limit.
- Unfriendly website interface.
- App updates infrequently.
New FlipDrive users get 10 GB of initial storage with an opportunity for more for each friend they can refer to start using FlipDrive.
There is a mobile app that can be used for uploading files to FlipDrive, but the website works, too. If you use the web version, you can upload whole folders using the website, which is nice.
You can share files with anyone, even if they don't have a FlipDrive account. However, accessing shared folders requires a registered FlipDrive account. Recipients can be given write, edit, delete, and share permissions in addition to read rights for folders.
You can create up to 10 shared links and upload files that are as large as 25 MB.
The FlipDrive website isn't the easiest to use when compared to most other cloud storage services, which is a bummer, but it still manages to function if you can work through it.
FlipDrive downloads are available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows.
Download FlipDrive
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Google Drive
What We Like
- Super user-friendly website.
- Collaboration and file sharing.
- Plenty of free storage.
- Desktop and mobile apps.
What We Don't Like
- Shared storage with other Google services.
- Bare desktop sync client.
Google Drive is the cloud storage service offered by Google. Each new user gets 15 GB of free space.
The total storage is actually shared with other Google services, like Gmail and Google Photos. If you don't use the other services, you can utilize almost all the space for Google Drive alone.
A sync client can be installed for desktop users, which supports folder and file uploads. There's also a mobile app that can send photos and videos to Google Drive.
Folders and files can be shared with specific Google users via their email address or anyone with a public link. You can also make a file view-only, which prevents someone from downloading it.
Google Drive makes it really simple to collaborate with others by allowing comments and letting files be opened and accessed my more than one person at a time.
Get Google Drive for iPhone, iPad, Android, or your Mac or Windows computer.
Download Google Drive
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OneDrive
What We Like
- Works with Microsoft Office Online.
- Many ways to upload files.
- Control how files are shared.
- Earn more storage for free.
What We Don't Like
- Less storage than similar services.
OneDrive (formerly called SkyDrive) is an online storage service from Microsoft. Everyone gets 5 GB of free space when they sign up.
Extra hosting can be awarded if you follow certain instructions, like friend referrals and mobile photo syncing.
A desktop program can be installed to easily transfer folders and files of any type to OneDrive, making them accessible from a mobile device. The mobile app can also upload files — both images and videos.
OneDrive supports sharing both folders and files with non-registered users. A permission can be set to only allow viewing or to allow full editing.
You can get the OneDrive app for Windows, Android, iPhone, and iPad.
Download OneDrive
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Yandex Disk
What We Like
- Features not found elsewhere.
- Good amount of storage.
- Upload mobile images automatically.
- Lots of apps.
What We Don't Like
- Lots of website ads.
- Buy extra storage.
- Cannot upload folders with the web app.
Yandex is a Russian company known mainly for its popular Yandex Search and Yandex Email services, but they also have others, like Yandex.Disk for 10 GB of free cloud storage for anyone who creates an account.
There are plenty of useful features with Yandex.Disk, such as public and private folder and file sharing, the ability to import photos via social networks, bulk downloads, automatic mobile uploads, and support for drag and drop.
Windows, Mac, and Linux users can install a desktop program to upload files to Yandex.Disk, and a mobile app is available for Android, iPhone, and iPad.
Download Yandex.Disk
You can upgrade to Yandex.Disk Pro to get 100 GB or 1 TB of space.
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Sync
What We Like
- Complete tasks to earn more free space.
- Web-based folder uploads.
- Collaborate with team folders.
- Password protect shares.
What We Don't Like
- Not ideal for large files like videos.
- Can't cancel web uploads.
- Minimal but functional website.
5 GB can of free cloud storage can be had when you sign up for Sync.
Like some of the other services listed on this page, Sync can upload multiple files at once through both the website interface as well as the mobile and desktop app.
You can build shared folders that other users can interact with as well as share any folder or file with anyone, regardless if they're a Sync user.
Vault is a folder in Sync that you can put files into so that they aren't synced across your other devices. This is useful if you just want to archive some files online but don't need them elsewhere.
See Sync's features page for a list of its features and some comparisons between the free and pro versions.
This service is available from not only the web but also Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Download Sync
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Jumpshare
What We Like
- Intuitive uploading from your desktop.
- Extra features like screen recording.
- High upload file size limit.
What We Don't Like
- Limited initial storage space.
- More storage only after inviting friends.
- Infrequent app updates.
Hundreds of file types can be uploaded to Jumpshare, with a total of 2 GB of free storage for every user. If you refer friends to join Jumpshare, you can get up to 18 GB for free!
The upload limit per file is 250 MB. The desktop program also lets you take screenshots and record your screen for 30 seconds.
A downloadable program is available for Windows and Mac users that allows really simple drag-and-drop and hotkey file sharing capabilities. There's also an app for iPhone and iPad.
Download Jumpshare
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MyDrive
What We Like
- WebDAV connectivity.
- Free mobile and desktop apps.
- Restore files long after deleting them.
What We Don't Like
- Very limited storage space.
- Strange file sharing requirements.
- Updates are hardly ever released for the mobile app.
MyDrive is another online storage service but it offers much less space than the majority of the others in this list. There's no limit to how large uploads can be, but you can only store up to 100 MB on MyDrive, which makes the maximum file size 100 MB as well.
MyDrive is very limited compared to similar websites, such as the fact that file sharing is allowed only if you give out a 'guest' username and password, and you only get one.
However, I do like that you can download multiple files in an archive and restore deleted files up to a month after removing them from your account.
A desktop app is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac computers, and an Android and iOS app for mobile devices. Plus, you can connect to your account through WebDAV.
Download MyDrive
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Amazon Drive
What We Like
- Unlimited photo storage.
- Upload from mobile and desktop apps.
- Free 30-day trial.
What We Don't Like
- Free only for Prime members.
- No folder sharing.
Amazon.com has an online storage service called Amazon Drive, which offers Amazon Prime members unlimited photo storage plus 5 GB of space for videos and files.
Users can share files to create a public link accessible by anyone who uses it, even if they don't have an Amazon account. Folder sharing isn't supported.
Files can be uploaded using the desktop client software or the web version, though only the former allows folder uploads. A mobile app is also available for uploading videos and photos from Android and iOS devices.
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Tencent Cloud
What We Like
- Instant access to 10 GB storage space.
- Clean and modern interface.
What We Don't Like
- Non-English website and apps.
- Signup can be confusing.
Another website that gives out quite a bit of online space is Tencent Cloud at Weiyun.com. However, while there is 10 GB of free storage up for grabs, the website and app are not in English, making it pretty difficult to use them.
With that being said, if you're out of options and need these 10 gigabytes, the upload and download buttons are easy enough to understand since they're just pictures.
You can check how much space you have available from this page.
To get logged in to Tencent Cloud, you can download the WeChat app on your phone (it's in English) and use the Discover > Scan option to scan the QR code on Weiyun.com, which will get you in and let you use the cloud storage features (use the QR code from the right tab).
Tencent Cloud can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, and iPad.
Download Tencent Cloud
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Degoo
What We Like
- More storage than most services.
- Apps for mobile and desktop.
- Automatically upload files.
- Multiple ways to earn more free storage space.
What We Don't Like
- Works more like a backup service.
- No external hard drive support.
- Can't view saved files on the website.
Degoo gives out a huge 100 GB of free storage to anyone who makes an account.
If you have lots of friends who want to use Degoo to store their files, you can even get 500 GB more by referring them to make an account. You get 3 GB for each person that joins through your referral. You can also watch ads to get more free online space (1.2 GB per day).
I've placed Degoo at the very bottom of this list despite its huge 100 GB capacity because it functions a bit more like a backup service rather than a cloud storage program.
You can definitely pick which files are backed up but backups are performed automatically every 24 hours to keep things updated, which makes it work more like a free backup service.
Because Degoo is a bit different than these other cloud storage services, you should use it like this: pick a folder on your computer that will hold all of your backed up files, or make new one. Put everything into that folder that you want to keep online, and then make sure Degoo is running to back up the files online.
You can use the cloud storage account on your computer through the desktop program, or access your files on the go with the mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
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iOS
Windows
If you don’t back up your Mac’s files, then it’s a matter of when—not if—you’ll lose data that’s precious to you. Apple already robbed Mac users of any excuse not to back up regularly with Time Machine. But a single bad power surge, or a true disaster like fire or vicious weather, could render your Time Machine backups worthless.
Fortunately, off-site backup is easier than ever. A slew of Web services offer affordable online backup for your Mac. These services are often simple to use as well: you install software from the service on your computer, and it backs up your files over the Internet. By keeping current copies of your treasured data far away from your home, you can feel far more confident that your files are safe.
I looked at six online backup providers: Backblaze, Mozy, Carbonite, JungleDisk, Dropbox, and CrashPlan. They all offer the same core approach, but vary significantly in precisely what they offer, what they charge, and how they work. Note that when you first start backing up your files with an online service, it can take some time to upload all your data—even days. If your Internet service provider caps your bandwidth, you may need to consider throttling your initial backup (by limiting how much data the backup service can transfer per day, or by limiting the number of files it backs up initially and ramping up over time), or instead choosing a service like CrashPlan that lets you send in a hard drive for your initial backup (with an additional cost).
Backblaze
Backblaze is a fairly typical example of how these online offerings work. The service costs $5 per month (or $50 for a year), which affords you unlimited backups for the files on a single computer, and any directly attached USB and Firewire hard drives. (Extra discounts are available if you prepay even more; the price gets as low as $3.96 per month if you pay for two years at a time.)
Like several services covered here, Backblaze places limits on what types of files it will back up. It specifically doesn’t back up the operating system, installed software, temporary files, or any files larger than 9 GB. Fortunately, seemingly huge files like your iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom libraries are generally smaller than they appear, since they’re really bundles of many files—which Backblaze can handle.
Backblaze’s software runs as a well-designed pane in System Preferences on your Mac. The options are simple: You can initiate a backup, check out restore options, or configure settings. The settings let you throttle how fast Backblaze backs you up (and thus how much of your bandwidth it consumes), exclude specific files, and browse reports and logs regarding just what the software is doing. On the whole, it’s very simple to navigate and configure the preference panel.
Backblaze backs up your files continuously (though you can switch to once daily or manually triggered instead), and keeps up to four weeks of file revisions. When you need to restore files, you can do so for free via a Web interface, or order your files on a DVD (for $99) or a USB drive (for $189).
Mozy
![Best Cloud Backup Storage For Mac Best Cloud Backup Storage For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126610284/855749129.jpg)
On the whole, Mozy is pretty similar to Backblaze. Mozy costs $4.95 per month per computer, or as little as $4.33 per month if you prepay for two years at a time. Like Backblaze, Mozy runs on your Mac as a preference pane. Also like Backblaze, the service keeps up to 30 days’ worth of file revisions, backs up your files continuously, and ignores certain file types like your applications. Mozy—again, like Backblaze—wisely uses what it calls “block level” backups, meaning that the service attempts to back up only new or changed portions of files, to save bandwidth and time. And, like Backblaze, it backs up any drives connected via USB or Firewire.
That said, Mozy’s file restoration options aren’t quite as good as Backblaze’s. You can order a DVD with your files, and its cost is variable: $30 for setup, 50¢ per GB of data, and $40 for shipping (via FedEx’s Next Day Air service). 60 GB of data would thus cost about $100. Mozy’s Web-based restore interface isn’t great, particularly when you need to restore larger amounts of data: Mozy generates multiple disk images for you to download—each about 1 GB. And I found that those downloads didn’t always keep my folder hierarchies consistent—different disk images would contain the same parent folder, with different files and subfolders in each image. You’re able to restore your data with Mozy, but the process is far more painful than it should be.
While Mozy’s preference pane isn’t as cleanly laid-out as Backblaze’s, it lets you accomplish most of the same tasks without much confusion: You can adjust how much bandwidth the software uses, exclude specific files, adjust the backup schedule, and browse logs.
Both Mozy and Backblaze offer free trials.
Carbonite
Carbonite’s offering isn’t quite as compelling, particularly for Mac users. The cost is about the same: $4.58 per month per computer, or as little as $3.61 if you prepay for three years in advance. By default, the service backs up photos, e-mails, documents, music, and personal settings, but you can also add videos, “executable files,” and files larger than 4 GB. Windows users get niceties like 90 days worth of file versioning, but the company doesn’t offer those features in the Mac version of its software.
Like Mozy and Backblaze, Carbonite’s main interface on your Mac is through a System Preferences pane—and the controls it offers are frustratingly sparse. You can enable a “low-priority mode to conserve bandwidth,” but the software lacks the more detailed bandwidth controls that other backup solutions offer. And the interface for excluding specific files and folders is needlessly clunky, since it lacks drag-and-drop support and instead forces you to work through a hierarchical file browser.
Carbonite cleverly tweaks your files’ icons so that you know their status: backed up, will be backed up, or excluded from the backup process. But that cleverness is outweighed by gaping holes in what the service offers. Since Mac can’t get past versions of their files, you can get burned if you delete something and want it back a few days later. Carbonite’s current failure to offer feature parity for Mac users is disappointing.
Also unfortunate is that Carbonite only allows you to get your files back via the Internet. That is, you can restore files via the preference pane or the Carbonite Website, but you can’t request a DVD or hard drive be shipped to you.
JungleDisk
JungleDisk takes a slightly different approach, both to pricing and backup method. The service offers two plans: Simply Backup and Desktop Edition. The former only backs up your files; the latter adds a Dropbox-like syncing feature that lets you mount your backup storage space like a network drive.
The Simply Backup service costs $2 per month, and the Desktop Edition costs $3 per month. But on top of those base prices, you need to pay for your storage space. JungleDisk lets you rely on either Amazon S3 or Rackspace for storage. Amazon charges 14¢ per gigabyte per month; Rackspace charges 15¢. But since Amazon also charges data transfer and data request fees and Rackspace doesn’t, Rackspace is probably the cheaper choice. Your first 5 GB of backup data are free.
If all that sounds a little complicated, that’s because it is. If you can wade through the initial complexities, though, JungleDisk has some distinct plusses. First, you can use the service with an unlimited number of computers. If you want to back up only about 20 GB of data on the Simply Backup plan, that’s about $5 per month total, which remains competitive with the other services. You can also customize how long JungleDisk keeps older versions of your files—though you must configure that manually—and of course, you must pay for the storage cost, too. And JungleDisk will back up whatever files you throw at it—applications included.
Unfortunately, though, JungleDisk’s interface doesn’t feel at all Mac-like; the software looks as if it were surgically transplanted straight from some older version of Windows. It’s usable, and you can mostly muddle your way through configuring settings like allowed bandwidth without getting lost. Sadly, choosing files to exclude is as painful as in Carbonite.
As with Carbonite, your only option for restoring old files is over the Internet; no restore DVD or hard drive option is available.
Dropbox
If you like the idea of JungleDisk’s Dropbox-esque Desktop Edition, it’s worth considering the backup abilities of Dropbox itself. While the popular (and Macworld Editor’s Choice award-winning) utility’s focus is on syncing files between multiple computers and devices, it’s a viable backup option, too. The service doesn’t offer unlimited data as an option, and you can’t get copies of your files sent to you on DVD, but it still offers some compelling features.
The free version of Dropbox offers 2 GB of storage space. You can get 50 GB for $9.99 per month (or $8.25 if you prepay for a year), and 100 GB for $19.99 per month (or $16.58 if you prepay for a year).
You install Dropbox on your Mac (and as many other Macs, PCs, and iOS devices as you’d like), and it creates a seemingly magical folder: anything you drop in that folder quickly syncs with any other computers linked to your Dropbox account. Even better, every file you sync with Dropbox is available via the Dropbox Website, too. By default, Dropbox keeps earlier revisions of your files for the past 30 days—and those revisions don’t count against your storage quota. If you pony up for the Pack-Rat option—which costs $3.99 per month or $39 per year—you get unlimited version history for all your files.
Like Carbonite, Dropbox uses tiny graphics atop your files’ icons to indicate whether the file has already synced or is currently syncing. And like JungleDisk, you can back up any kind of files you’d like to Dropbox, including software, as long as you have the space available. With Dropbox’s recent 1.0 release, the service introduced selective syncing. That means you can sync everything you put in Dropbox to the cloud, but choose which specific computers those files get synced to—making it an even more worthy of consideration.
As a pure backup solution, Dropbox seems to offer less (limited storage) for more (a higher price). But when you couple its backup abilities with its core syncing behavior and ubiquity across devices, it becomes more compelling.
CrashPlan
The last online backup solution I checked out was CrashPlan. For free, the software lets you back up your files to computers belong to your friends and family. That’s fine, and a smart way to start getting off-site backups. But since everyone’s hard drive space is at a premium, and your friends’ uptime can’t be relied upon, the for-pay online-backup plans are where the real action is.
Best Backup For Mac Computer
The premium offerings are called CrashPlan+. You can choose among three options: CrashPlan+ 10 GB gives you 10 GB of storage for $2.50 per month, or as low as $1.46 per month if you prepay for four years. CrashPlan+ Unlimited removes the 10 GB cap, and can cost as much as $5 and as little as $2.92 per month. And my favorite plan is CrashPlan+ Family Unlimited, which lets you back up between 2 to 10 computers for as much as $10 and as little as $6 per month, again depending on how far in advance you prepay.
CrashPlan keeps your deleted files forever, and those files don’t count against your quota if you’re on the 10 GB plan. While most of these online backup services offer some control over how much of your bandwidth to use, none can rival the fine-grained controls that CrashPlan offers; the standalone CrashPlan software lets you set precise usage maximums for both bandwidth (over WAN and LAN connections) and total CPU utilization. Even better, you can configure unique values for those settings for when your computer is idle as opposed to when you’re using it.
The software won’t win any Apple Design Awards, but it’s smartly organized and makes configuration a snap. You can set multiple file destinations—meaning you can back up your files both to CrashPlan Central, the traditional online backup repository that the company offers, as well as other friends’ computers.
You can restore your files via a Web interface or the software itself. CrashPlan will send a hard drive with your data from between $125 and $165, depending upon how fast you need it. The service can also be configured to send you emails or messages on Twitter if your computer stops sending backups to CrashPlan properly.
The bottom line
These services have plenty in common, but it’s the tiniest implementation details that set some apart. You want your offsite backups to be consistent, timely, dependable, and easy to restore—and to avoid bogging down your computer while they do their thing. My data is important to me; I have years of writing, along with thousands of photos and videos of my kids. I’ve chosen to depend on a combination of CrashPlan and Dropbox, coupled with local backups. All of these services (with the possible exception of JungleDisk) are easy to get up and running, but CrashPlan and Dropbox offer substantial benefits in terms of feature set and ease of getting your data restored when needed.
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