Google is today allowing users in the United States sign up for Google One, its new consumer storage service with a new name and pricing. Users with paid Google Drive plans may have already been upgraded.
If you’re not in the U.S., you’ll have to wait a bit. Google says that it will open up One to more countries in the coming weeks.
Google One plans start at $1.99 per month for 100GB, $2.99 for 200GB or $9.99 per month for 2TB. Users with 1TB plans are automatically upgraded to the 2TB plan, and the 200GB option is brand new. Of course, you still get 15GB of free space with Google services, but none of the extra benefits. One does not replace Drive, but rather allows for space across all the entirety of Google’s ecosystem.
| 15GB | Free |
| 100GB | $1.99 per month |
| 200GB | $2.99 per month |
| 2TB | $9.99 per month |
| 10TB | $99.99 per month |
| 20TB | $199.99 per month |
| 30TB | $299.99 per month |
Additionally, Google One allows for a family plan, so you can have as many as five people sharing storage on a single bill. This is similar to Microsoft’s Office 365, which provides 1TB of storage for up to five users (plus five Office installs).
But Google One’s plans are a bit cheaper than Microsoft’s OneDrive, which offers 5GB of storage free, 50GB for $1.99 per month, 1TB for $70 per month, which includes Office 365, and 5TB with Office 365 (5 installs) for $99.99 per year.
Google One also adds 24/7 customer service to answer user queries. I had a chance to go hands-on with it. A little after 6:30 p.m., I contacted support to ask about how to access Gmail offline. I had to be transferred to another representative, but despite the simple question, the Google rep never made me feel dumb (and even backtracked when I pretended to be confused).
Additionally, Google is adding rewards to Google One members using its services. The company states that it has begun by issuing Google Play credits and deals on hotels found through Google Search (another odd echo of Microsoft’s Bing Rewards). Google suggests that in the future, deals on Google Express and the Google Store could become available.
Again, if you’re not in the U.S., you’ll have to wait a bit. Google says that it will open up One to more countries in the coming weeks.
Users who want to join Google One can go to the website for more details.
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