Lima enables you to build your own personal Cloud very easily: simply install Lima by plugging it to your router and to an external hard drive of your choice. Personal Cloud Storage Device Another Addition to Apple-Made Backups Apollo is an interesting addition to Apple’s Cloud storage strategy, which so far has been scattered at best. Like how iCloud was its answer to crazy-popular competitor Dropbox, Apollo is its answer to the current movement towards wanting to take control of ones own.

• Best Personal Cloud Storage Solutions
• Google Drive
• Best Free Cloud Storage
• Personal Cloud Storage Devices
• Best Cloud Storage For Mac

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

The Rundown

• Best Streaming: Western Digital My Cloud EX2 at Amazon, “Outstanding performance for both media streaming and file transfers.”
• Best Budget: Synology DS115J at Amazon, “Offers both sharp looks and good performance at a welcoming price tag.”
• Best Storage: Synology DiskStation DS918+ at Amazon, “Nine drives of storage..a smart option for NAS shoppers looking for a single solution to hold all their data.”
• Best Media: Qnap TS-251A at Newegg.com, “HDMI support on the rear of the box, which allows 1080p videos to play directly from the NAS to an HDTV.”
• Best for Small Businesses: Synology D216II+ at Amazon, “Allowing terabytes of data to fit neatly in your pocket over the cloud with Synology’s mobile app.”
• Best for Home: Western Digital My Cloud EX4100 at Amazon, “Its eight terabytes of storage space offers up a wide set of possibilities for home storage options.”
• Best Splurge:Netgear ReadyNAS 626XOO at Amazon, “The best NAS money can buy.”

Our Top Picks

Best Streaming: Western Digital My Cloud EX2

For personal use, the Western Digital My Cloud EX2 ultra network attached storage is the king of the hill. Available in a slew of storage options, the high-performance dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM combine to provide outstanding performance for both media streaming and file transfers. The two-bay unit creates a mirrored backup of all your personal computer files and folders utilizing RAID configuration. For a consumer box, the inclusion of RAID technology is both notable and welcomed and, when combined with Western Digital’s user-friendly operating system, it’s an overall enjoyable experience. Backups can be scheduled or synchronized across computers and My Cloud devices mean that even if you miss a manual backup, you’re still covered.

Additionally, the My Cloud makes it easy to share files publicly by creating a private link that can be user-limited or can allow full-access to anyone with the link. Streaming media fans will love the inclusion of Plex Media Server, which allows quick and easy support for sharing files directly to a PC, smartphone or gaming console in its original uploaded quality. Add in extras such as Mac and Windows compatibility and 256-AES encryption and you’ll find plenty of reasons to grab this backup device for all the peace of mind you need.

Best Budget: Synology DS115J

If you’re running on a lean budget, the Synology DS115j offers both sharp looks and good performance at a welcoming price tag. The DS115j provides both an easy way to automate simple tasks or backup your multimedia files for later playback all while accessing everything from Synology’s smartphone apps. Options such as Cloud Stations and Cloud Sync provide quick and easy access to files across multiple devices, including cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. Fortunately, once these files are loaded onto the NAS, Synology provides a simple backup solution with file protection to back up everything to another NAS, a cloud service or a separate external device for redundancy across the board. With capacity up to eight terabytes of space (hard drives sold separately), there’s still plenty of room on this budget all-star for added services such as 24/7 home surveillance with Surveillance Station, which allows an owner to view and monitor live streams on both desktop and mobile devices.

Best Storage: Synology DiskStation DS918+

With up to nine drives of storage available for data, the Synology DiskStation DS918+ is a smart option for NAS shoppers looking for a single solution to hold all their data. Whether it’s 4K video or thousands of photos or documents, external hard drives can only hold so much — a NAS can go well beyond for homes or small offices. Two large 120mm fans on the rear keep everything cool, and there are dual RJ-45 ethernet points with support for link aggregation. A rear eSATA port adds to the storage potential in the event the drive bays are used up. Inside the DS918+, the hot-swappable and easily removed trays can be removed to make room for even more RAM. Capable of supporting up to 48 TB in total, each drive bay can hold up to a 12TB drive which, when paired with the eSATA port, enables the DS918+ to support up to 108TB max on a single volume. Write speeds are handled at 225 MB/s for reading system files and 221 MB/s for writing files.

Best Media: Qnap TS-251A

The Qnap TS-251A is a dual-bay (front-accessible) box that features an Intel Celeron dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, twin Ethernet inputs, a slew of USB ports and an SD card slot for quickly copying files directly to the box. It also has HDMI support on the rear of the box, which allows 1080p videos to play directly from the NAS to an HDTV. There’s added support for HD video transcoding, plus DLNA and AirPlay (iTunes) streaming.

Popular services such as XBMC and Plex’s media server provide third-party support to help move media directly from the NAS to a media-playing device, including a smartphone or tablet. Additionally, the TS-251A supports the Roon streaming service (priced separately), which upscales nearly any type of audio file to near studio-quality. You can even attach a USB TV tuner and record cable shows or decode and transcode 4K H.264 videos. Beyond multimedia, the Qnap performs exceptionally well as a traditional NAS with good RAID recovery, remote access and powerful virtualization capabilities.

Best for Small Businesses: Synology D216II+

While this is a standout two-bay device, there’s no included storage out of the box on the Synology D216II+, allowing you to choose your own drive capacity and speed. The swappable drive tray design offers easy installation and care while allowing terabytes of data to fit neatly in your pocket over the cloud with Synology’s mobile app. With built-in 4K Ultra HD video transcoding, the DS216II+ is as much a multimedia machine as it is a 24/7 security solution with intelligent monitoring and video management tools. Extras include advanced file management between the NAS and your computer, Cloud Sync for connecting to a slew of popular cloud providers, as well as a well-designed software interface for managing all the above. The lack of Ethernet and HDMI ports is notable, but is easily overshadowed by its integration into a business environment with admin support for monitoring and controlling access to files and folders.

Best for Home: Western Digital My Cloud EX4100

Western Digital’s My Cloud EX4100 and its eight terabytes of storage space offers up a wide set of possibilities for home storage options. With plenty of room for photos, videos, music and files, the EX4100 helps protect your content with multiple RAID options all the way from RAID 0 to RAID 10. Powered by a Marvell Armada dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, transfer speeds are excellent at a maximum of 114 MB/s upload and 108 MB/s download. The speedy performance will come in extra handy with Plex’s Media Server, which allows EX4100 owners to stream videos, photos and music directly to a PC, smartphone, game console or other capable media player. Families can make use of collaborative sharing, where everyone can access all their most important files and folders in one place. In addition, the EX4100 is also ready to help protect the home with Milestone Arcus surveillance software that provides live feeds and records video with separately purchased cameras.

Best Splurge: Netgear ReadyNAS 626X00

Featuring unrivaled data protection, state-of-the-art backup recovery and the ability to support up to 120 users, the Netgear ReadyNAS 626X00 is the best NAS money can buy. With a maximum of six available bays for storage, the ReadyNAS can handle up to 60TBs of storage that can process at up to 20 gigabits per second for both business and media applications. It's powered by an Intel Xeon 2.2GHz Quad-core processor (the latest in 64-bit technology) and 8GB of RAM so the 626X00 can handle 4K streaming with ease and create virtualization desktops for secure office environments.

Safeguarded by five levels of data protection, business owners should feel secure against the loss of company files, databases or virtual images. The backup and recovery system is rock solid, allowing users to quickly restore from the latest backup and get back to work. With 10GbE Ethernet ports on the back of the hardware, there's support for a multitude of users all at once without any impact to data speeds.

Tested by

How We Tested

Our reviewers spent 10 hours testing one of the most popular NAS devices on the market. To really get the full experience, they set it up in their home offices, connected various devices, and analyzed its performance. We asked them to consider the most important features when using this NAS server, from its design to special features like encryption and additional drive bays. We've outlined the key points here so that you, too, know what to look for when shopping.

What to Look for in Network Attached Storage

Additional drive bays - Basic NAS devices come with a single built-in hard drive. If you want your NAS to last a long time — and to be as flexible and redundant as possible — look for one that has multiple drive bays. This allows you to store more data, add an additional backup, and even hot-swap out defective drives in some models.

Media streaming capabilities - Most NAS devices can be used to stream media, but some are better at it than others. Some NAS devices even include an HDMI port and a remote, so you can plug right into a television without using a media center PC or streaming device as a middleman.

Encryption - NAS devices that include hardware-level encryption are much faster than devices that rely on software. Encryption is mostly important if you use your NAS to back up sensitive data that you don’t want anyone to access. Even if you only access your NAS through your home network, encryption will protect you if the device is stolen.

Test Results: Western Digital My Cloud EX2 (Best Streaming)

What We Like

• Simple setup

• Lots of configuration options

• Great performance

What We Don't Like

• Instructions could be more detailed for different use cases

One of our testers was quick to sum up the benefits of this NAS server: “It's nice to have a network device that's easily accessible, simple to set up, and works as backup/extra HD space,” he noted. “I have a couple external hard drives for backup, and it's very nice to have something that I don't have to plug in, works across all my devices, and has a substantial amount of storage — and backup for that storage!” Although our testers loved that this device had many configuration options, they wished it had more detailed instructions for different use cases: “Basically, I wish that it came with ‘NAS for Dummies,’” one reviewer said.

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.

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.

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.

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pCloud

Best Personal Cloud Storage Solutions

What We Like

Google Drive

• More free storage than most services.

• Earn additional space.

• Multimedia streaming.

• No speed or file size limit.

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.

MediaFire

What We Like

• Upload large files.

• Zero bandwidth limitations.

• Upload public files to your account.

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.

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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.

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.

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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 GBBest warband mods for mac. 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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

You can upgrade to Yandex.Disk Pro to get 100 GB or 1 TB of space.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Degoo

What We Like

Best Free Cloud Storage

• 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.

Personal Cloud Storage Devices

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.

Best Cloud Storage For Mac

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