Amazon Offers Unlimited Cloud Storage

News
By Michael Justin Allen Sexton
published

For Amazon Prime members, Amazon has provided a photo storage service through its Amazon Cloud Drive for some time now. Looking to expand this and compete with other cloud services, Amazon has added unlimited storage for any content with the new Unlimited Everything service.

Prime members will continue to have the option of unlimited photo storage, as well as 5 GB of storage for videos, documents or other files. This service is free with the Amazon Prime account. Non-prime members can have this same service for $11.99 per year.

The Unlimited Everything storage option will cost $59.99 per year regardless if you have Amazon Prime or not. To give users a taste, Amazon is offering free 3-month trials.

The rates Amazon will charge for its Unlimited Everything storage plan may be attractive to many users who use large amounts of cloud-based storage. Both Dropbox and Google Drive (link only works when signed into Gmail) offer users 1 TB of storage for $9.99 per month, but Amazon's deal will cost half as much in a year while letting users store more data. (Technically speaking, infinitely more.)

The $15 per month unlimited plan from Dropbox that would cost you $180 over the course of a year only makes Amazon's rate of $59.99 a year look even better. Google Drive doesn't offer an unlimited plan, but its 10 TB for $99.99 a month, 20 TB for $199.99 a month, and 30 TB for $299.99 a month make Amazon's rate look better, too.

Dropbox and Google Drive start to make sense again if you are a business however, as Amazon limits its cloud storage service to personal use. It also makes more sense for users who don't require large amounts of storage, as both Dropbox and Google drive offer some storage free of charge to all users.

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Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • leevaq
    Worth noting that Microsoft OneDrive also provides unlimited cloud storage when you sign up for a personal Office365 account. 99/year, so its more than amazon, but you also get full Office licenses for that fee.
    Reply
  • mrmanishs
    www.fileapartment.com already provides unlimited storage for a much cheaper price
    Reply
  • jasonelmore
    Didn't mention Onedrive at all..

    Onedrive still has the best deal. Even if you dont guy office, your getting a lot of free space..

    Then you can buy office 365 if you need more. Onedrive is built into windows, which is where most power users will manage and upload their files.

    Amazon's Photo Prime storage is very convenient. I open the app on my iphone about once a week and all my photo's are uploaded. I wish they would bump up the video to 100GB at least tho.
    Reply
  • giantbucket
    sweet! I've always wanted my own private copy of the entire internet. now I know where to store it! :)
    Reply
  • Ragez234
    So you are telling me I can upload as much data as I can possibly get my hands on without a cap, I call BS.
    Reply
  • DasBoot
    Worth noting that Microsoft OneDrive also provides unlimited cloud storage when you sign up for a personal Office365 account. 99/year, so its more than amazon, but you also get full Office licenses for that fee.
    Not unlimited but 1TB of storage
    Reply
  • fixxxer113
    Worth noting that Microsoft OneDrive also provides unlimited cloud storage when you sign up for a personal Office365 account. 99/year, so its more than amazon, but you also get full Office licenses for that fee.
    Not unlimited but 1TB of storage

    It's actually 1TB for personal/home use editions and unlimited for business. Even so, I doubt many consumers will use all of 1TB and keeping in mind that Office 365 Home can be shared between 5 different people in the home (as opposed to 1 user - 5 devices for Business), you can have up to 5 different users all with genuine Office apps and 1TB of storage each. It's still the best deal by miles.
    Reply
  • dscott-sq
    I think the OneDrive comments need recalibration:
    - 15 GB for free with MS Account
    - Unlimited for Office 365 Accounts
    I currently have 10 TB allocated to my Home O 365 account as I started to approach 1TB and requested more.
    I think there are many options for cloud storage, but so far MS looks to have the most versatility and price.
    Reply
  • garth25
    I have unlimited on OneDrive. An initial "bucket" of 10tb expandable upon request.

    I'm currently using 6tb.

    The most notable thing was the upload speed. Very fast.

    I'll admit I was skeptical but the $69 I paid is being well served.
    Reply
  • rwinches
    Yeah, but ISP data caps still apply and so uploading 6TB or 1TB would take months for many. Sure if you are the only one using a data connection it would be better, but with streaming and gaming unless you can use your work access. How long do they keep your data around if you fail/forget to pay? I think a personal Cloud is best as you can load locally.
    Reply