Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business – Which is Better Cloud Storage for You?

Find out where Google Drive and OneDrive for Business differ from one another. Get answers to which one is better for your particular scenario. Use this Google Drive vs OneDrive comparison guide to make up your mind on the cloud storage service to use in 2024. 

On-premise devices were not able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand as a result many cloud storage solutions came into the market. Out of the many, the ones that were able to satisfy most users were Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. 

Then out of the two behemoths which is the one that is truly the best? 

Before we understand the differences between Google Drive and OneDrive, it’s better to proceed with the introduction of the two storage agents.

Table of Content

• Introduction to Google Drive and OneDrive
• What is Common in Google Drive and OneDrive?
• OneDrive vs Google Drive Pricing Models
• Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business Cloud Storage Comparison with Price
• Which is Better Google Drive or OneDrive for Business in Terms of Features?
• Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business in Terms of Storage Allocation
• Aftermath of Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business Comparison
• Conclusion

Introduction to Google Drive and OneDrive

Google Drive

Like Google is for searching Drive is for storage. Considering that almost all Android devices have a pre-installed copy of Google Drive. It’s not surprising that many have their first cloud storage experience using Google Drive. Google Drive is a personal cloud storage that can be used to keep docs, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, and more. The Gmail account shares the same 15 GB storage limit with the rest of the Google services. Moreover, having web, mobile, and desktop versions G-Drive is available for users across formats. 

OneDrive

Microsoft didn’t spend much time staying behind its peers and quickly introduced SkyDrive later renamed to OneDrive. Based on the SharePoint infrastructure it had an added advantage of native compatibility with Microsoft’s other business productivity tools. However, a 5 GB storage ceiling (although that is not used to store Outlook emails) is one area where One Drive lags. Like its counterpart, it is also available on Windows, Apple, and Android devices. 

Both these services excel in certain spheres of cloud storage. Identifying that criteria is essential for choosing the service that best suits an individual or business needs. However, as both of them are cloud storage services they are bound to have certain similarities so let’s see what does are.

What is Common in Google Drive and OneDrive?

• Anytime Anywhere Availability:- One key aspect that both these solutions share is cross-platform compatibility. No matter, what browser, or operating system the G-Grive and OneDrive guarantee upwards of  99 % availability 24×7.
• Free Storage Provided:- The two services offer free storage space. Google Drive offers a single storage unit of 15 GB to each Google account holder in its free version. In comparison, Microsoft’s cloud storage OneDrive has a maximum capacity to hold 5 GB of data.
• Personal and Business Plans:- OneDrive and Google offer separate pricing and storage models designed to cater to the needs of individuals and professionals alike.
• Integration With Native Apps:- Other than acting as the primary storage for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 each of them has native compatibility with their productivity suites..
• Security:- Both of these utilize the latest AES 256 encryption to keep the data safe from intruders.
• Real-Time Collaboration:- Another advantage of using cloud-based storage is the real-time collaboration capability. No matter if you choose Google or Microsoft multiple users can contribute and work on a single project remotely. All the changes are synced in real time.
• Versioning:- Each one of them has an inbuilt versioning capability. This is useful in reverting to an old version of the file if any mistakes take place. 

This completes the major similarities of the two solutions now let us check what parameters they differ in.

OneDrive vs Google Drive Pricing Models

Below is a tabular comparison of what is available for the users at the different price points.
Per user

Personal Cloud Storage Comparison:

Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business Cloud Storage Comparison:

OneDrive has a more robust pricing model. These plans offer access to more Microsoft apps other than OneDrive. To counter this Google currently is offering a discounted price for the first three months on all plans making it effectively cheaper. However, pricing is just one piece of the puzzle. 

Which is Better Google Drive or OneDrive for Business in Terms of Features?

The increasing capabilities of mobiles have made them a workstation in itself. So having a near monopoly in the smartphone market Google is at an advantage in this region. This is visible in Google One. Which is a personal storage plan tailored towards individual needs. With specific features like Phone backup in its premium plan(only for Android users). In comparison, OneDrive has no such offering for mobile.

Google Drive is more open to accepting various file formats. While Onedrive is more strict in this regard. The naming convention of files and folders is also under less scrutiny in Google Drive when compared to its counterpart.

If your entire workflow utilizes Google’s browser-based productivity tools like Docs, Sheets, and Slides then you don’t need to worry about upload speed. Google syncs all of those in real time. However, if your work requires regular uploads to the cloud from mainly desktop-based sources then choose OneDrive.

It first splits a file into separate blocks and then uploads each block individually. Once uploading is complete all the chunks are combined to form the source file in the cloud. This uploading mechanism is more productive. 

Google has many more third-party integrations that add to its functionality. Some app types include photo editors, document viewers, etc.

OneDrive provides many pre-download features like password sharing, applying expiration dates, and setting download limits.

Searching for items within Google Drive is much more pleasant. This is not a surprise as Google got its big break as a search engine.

Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business in Terms of Storage

If we restrict our comparison to storage, there is no question about who the winner is. With almost 2 times more storage space than Google Workspace’s 30 GB storage, Microsoft has better storage offerings – 50GB for mailbox and 1 TB for Onerive for business. 

Not only this, but when we also need to consider that Google Drive also shares 30GB storage with other tools such as Gmail, and most Google Drive are directly integrated into Android phones which also use Google Photos. We know photos are data-hungry and as a result, take up a lot of digital storage real estate inside Google Drive. On the other hand, many users might not be aware that Outlook only uses OneDrive storage for attachments. All the text-based email data has a separate 50 GB storage all for free. This is the reason why Microsoft is a clear winner here.

Aftermath of Google Drive vs OneDrive for Business Comparison

So you figured out that your initial assumption was wrong and that either Google Drive or One Drive for Business is the better choice. You don’t need to move all files from one service to the other manually. Migrator Wizard OneDrive Migration Tool is the solution that automates all intercloud data transfers.

Use its industry-leading capacity and move your data to the service of your choice. Whether you want to shift from Google Drive to OneDrive or vice versa, the tool has the solution you need. Moreover, you can also migrate OneDrive for Business to another tenant using this utility. However, going through a comprehensive OneDrive for Business migration checklist is still suggested to ensure zero downtime. 

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The generalized steps for the utility are as follows:

• Step 1. Installation and endpoint selection 
• Step 2. Workload Selection and Date Filter Application
• Step 3. Admin Credential Validation for Source and Target
• Step 4. User Mapping via Fetch, Import, or Download Template
• Step 5. User Selection >> Prioritisation >> Validation >> Start Migration

Conclusion

In this in-depth discussion of Google Drive vs OneDrive, we covered everything from the basics to more advanced comparison metrics. Users now have complete insight on not only the price, security, and storage but other other key differences as well. With this users now know what all is where these two services are similar and where they differ from each other.