File sharing sites have become increasingly popular over the past few years and the popularity has spread over into business use. These sites now offer businesses a secure and convenient way to share files with partners and sometimes even customers.

Why Use a Cloud Storage / File Sharing Service?

The days when email was enough to move files around as attachments are long gone. Even documents today are richer in quality and larger in size thanks to the ability of many word processors to embed other files within.

Because of these reasons and more, Cloud storage services have sprung up and are growing like weeds. The quality and speed of Internet lines have made them a seriously viable option both for personal use as well as business.

Some Cloud storage and file sharing companies have even added extra features, either placing their core capabilities within an advanced workflow ecosystem or even having business-specific uses such as regulation compliance.

Yet despite all these features and characteristics, the most basic reason to be considering the use of one is to increase the reliability of your business. Backups are the key and anything extra is simply icing on the cake.

10 Best Cloud Storage and File Sharing Services

When it comes to business, rather than size, there are specific needs that usually need to be catered to. These range from price to team collaboration and not all can be found in each service. These services aren’t exactly equal but can be used in similar ways.

1. pCloud

pCloud for business adds functionality to the usual Cloud-based file sharing by allowing users to easily anoint files and folders with comments. All activity is also monitored and logged so that administrators can review them at any time.

Perhaps the two key characteristics about pCloud though is that it is more generous in the storage space offered and you can also opt to pay in two different modes. The first is what most Cloud storage brands work like – payments on a monthly basis. The unique part is that you can also opt to pay a one-off lifetime fee instead.

Business features include a white label front that you can rebrand as your own so that customers see shared files in a system that looks like it belongs to you. That alone gives it a one-up on many other business Cloud storage services.

pCloud Pricing: Starts from $3.99/mo

Pros White label file sharing system

Generous storage space

Lifetime plans available Cons Limited 30-day file history/recovery

Few extra features

Visit pCloud

2. Sync for Business

If you’ve used OneDrive before, chances are that you get used to Sync very quickly. The app integrates with devices easily and shows itself as a folder on your system. From there, files can be saved to the Cloud and shared easily with both co-workers and clients alike.

For sharing it’s good to note that all you will need to provide is a link to the file or folder you wish to share – your counterpart doesn’t need a Sync account to access it. Individual users get the short end of the stick with accounts at $10 per month but Sync really is designed for businesses in mind.

Companies can benefit from lower price-per-user plans which come with administrative management tools that will let you manage all accounts from a single point of view. This includes adding and removing users, resetting passwords, checking activity logs, and more.

Sync Pricing: Business Plans start from $10/mo

Pros Fully compatible with Microsoft Office

Restrict downloads on shared files (view only)

365-day file recovery Cons Limited SLA of 99.9% uptime

Live chat support only on Enterprise plans

Visit Sync

3. OneDrive for Business

There’s no doubt that Microsoft is king both in Operating Systems and business applications. Because of this powerful ecosystem, it can be incredibly tempting to work with OneDrive for Business, especially when it comes so well integrated into many Microsoft products such as Windows and Office.

OneDrive for Business lets you store documents and other files in the Cloud and work on them there no matter where you are. It also enables key business features such as sharing and collaboration, all secured by encryption that complies with the security needs that most organizations have.

OneDrive for Business Pricing: From $5 per month

Pros Microsoft ecosystem integration

Relatively cheap Cons May not integrate well with non-Microsoft products

Visit OneDrive

4. Dropbox for Business

Where the consumer version of Dropbox offers mostly just storage space in the Cloud, Dropbox for business is a beast of a different nature. Building on its basic storage capabilities, Dropbox for Business adds in the vital element of collaboration.

It offers business users a single point of view that organizes entire working spaces combining content and tool. You can sync and work on local files, cloud-based content, and Dropbox’s Paper docs easily and share them with your team.

Dropbox for Business Pricing: From $12.50 / user / month

Pros Generous storage space

Very secure Cons Minimal workflow features

Visit Dropbox

5. Google Drive

Where Microsoft rules the Operating System and Office, Google rules the Web and mobile. As such it is a serious contender when it comes to the Cloud space, especially with the extensive and agile G Suite of applications.

Google Drive works well in that ecosystem and can be used not just for file storage but also teamwork and collaboration on documents. It further sweetens the deal with online tools that let you work with all those files from any browser that has an Internet connection – or even offline.

Google Drive for Business Pricing: From $5.40 / user / month

Pros G Suite integration

Good collaborative features Cons May be too highly Google-centric

Visit Google Drive

6. FileCloud

FileCloud is where the big boys play and offer a complete range of Cloud Storage solutions to business users. It wasn’t designed for the average consumers and even at the low end of the scale, it helps create a secure file sharing environment for entire servers.

It helps companies built their own ecosystem of file sharing servers and associated client accounts, letting them retain full management and ownership of the data. This is vital in some organizations and even in some countries to comply with data regulation laws for business. Of course, you can also opt to make use of their servers as well.

FileCloud Pricing: From $4.20 / user/ month

Pros Can opt for self-hosted server use

Multiple regulations compliant Cons No consumer option

Visit FileCloud

7. ShareFile

ShareFile by Citrix is another business-specific Cloud storage system that integrates many features vital to big businesses. This includes not just file sharing and collaborative features but an abundance of controls for better governance.

It helps in the automation of workflow which can be customized for each organization’s specific needs. Controllers can monitor document flow and intercede in real-time, giving their feedback or even carrying out approvals or making changes.

Uniquely, the system can support the recognition of legally binding e-signatures across the entire system and real-time tracking plus high levels of encryption to secure it all.

ShareFile Pricing: From $10 / user / month

Pros Unlimited storage

Comprehensive file sharing Cons Can be expensive

Visit ShareFile

8. Box

Based in the US, Box is another business-oriented Cloud storage system highly geared towards content management. It works not just within a company’s ecosystem but also extends collaborative and sharing features towards partners and clients.

The system is highly secure and complies with a ton of corporate governance requirements including global regulations such as GDPR, HIPPA, and more. Aside from storage and collaboration, Box also has a solid reporting system to handle the entire workflow.

Box Pricing: From $5.80 / user / month

Pros Strongly business-oriented

Highly detailed workflow control Cons Each plan needs a minimum of 3 users

Visit Box

9. Hightail

Trying to spread itself across a wide user audience, Hightail has a variety of plans suitable for both individuals as well as businesses. Yet rather than focus its energies on Cloud storage or sending large files, it tries to do both with some strange results.

For example, although it enables the sending of large files the exact use of this feature isn’t exactly certain since there is also unlimited storage space on paid plans. A simple link share would work well rather than having the questionable option to send files of over 100GB in size.

Hightail Pricing: Paid plans from $12 per month

Pros Multiple plans available

Focused on file sharing Cons Not much in the way of collaborative features

Visit Hightail

10. SugarSync

Where hightail has multi-purpose objectives, SugarSync is very singular minded. Instead of offering true business advantage features this provider concentrates on offering staggering amounts of storage space at varying prices.

It behaves very much like the sync-and-store many Cloud storage services have with some basic editing and collaborative features. The good point is that it is outstanding in something a lot of companies could do better – simplicity.

SugarSync Pricing: From $7.90 per month

Pros Simple to use

High security Cons Minimal workflow support features

Visit SugarSync

Conclusion: How Vital is Cloud Storage to Your Business?

As you can probably tell from the list of these Cloud storage and file sharing providers, there is a great discrepancy in the breadth of services which each service providers offer. Some excel at a consumer level, while others go the whole hog to cater to business users.

The key element in choosing the perfect service provider for yourself or business is the same as it is always – consider carefully your needs. As an example of this, while Box offers extremely detailed features, not all businesses will need to comply with many regulations and such. In cases like this, a more consumer-friendly option might be a better choice, such as the basic Google ecosystem.

List down exactly what you think your business requires before making a selection, you might save yourself a ton of grief over facing multiple features you don’t use and yet pay for.