Cloud services have largely replaced physical media for securely storing company data and sharing files among coworkers, clients, and partners. The trend has been accelerated by the distributed nature of modern work, with many staffers working from home. It isn't practical to expect a small business's IT staff to maintain an entire workforce's data on local storage when so much of it is stored on the internet. Cloud storage and file-sharing providers offer robust data centers, advanced data protection, and security measures. It's a lot to take in, but we can point you in the right direction. Egnyte and Microsoft OneDrive, our Editors' Choice winners, are terrific starting points. However, be sure to check out our other highlighted picks as well.
Overview
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![Egnyte]()
Best for Advanced Storage NeedsEgnyte
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![Microsoft OneDrive for Business]()
Best for Microsoft 365 CustomersMicrosoft OneDrive for Business
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![Backblaze Business Backup]()
Best for Unlimited BackupsBackblaze Business Backup
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![Dropbox Business]()
Best for Advanced SyncingDropbox Business
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![IDrive Team]()
Best for Small TeamsIDrive Team
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![Box (for Business)]()
Best for E-SignaturesBox (for Business)
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![Google Drive for Business]()
Best for Google Workspace CustomersGoogle Drive for Business
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![Livedrive (for Business)]()
Best for EU and UK BusinessesLivedrive (for Business)
You Can Trust Our Reviews
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
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Credit: Egnyte
![Egnyte]()
Best for Advanced Storage NeedsEgnyte
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Egnyte's offering has evolved from a standard cloud storage service to a full-fledged data governance solution. It provides enterprise-grade data security and strong tools for compliance with GDPR, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other regulations. It works across file servers, including Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. In addition, Egnyte automatically scans and classifies documents based on industry-specific rules and applies the policies accordingly.
Who It's For
Businesses handling complex data: Do you have a challenging file storage scenario in a heavily regulated industry where mishandling data has serious consequences? Egnyte's suite should meet your needs with its data governance tools and strong security compliance.
Big companies with big files: Egnyte's Enterprise tier offers unlimited backups, which proves especially useful when your team handles large files.
Specs & Configurations
Authenticated External Sharing Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync Digital Rights Management File Conflict Management Group Permissions Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Remote Wipe Team Folders White Label Branding Learn More Egnyte Review -
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Credit: Microsoft
![Microsoft OneDrive for Business]()
Best for Microsoft 365 CustomersMicrosoft OneDrive for Business
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
OneDrive for Business is more than just Microsoft's answer to competing cloud storage services. Although it best integrates with Microsoft's own products, it is also compatible with various OS and productivity solutions, including Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft 365, and Office 365. OneDrive's ubiquity makes it a viable choice for any business that needs a flexible and reliable cloud storage service. What's more, it regularly adds new features that enhance collaboration, security, and AI-backed file organization.
Who It's For
Microsoft shops: By now, everyone who has used Windows should be at least familiar with OneDrive. That makes OneDrive for Business a particularly strong choice for Microsoft-based offices, especially if you're already a Microsoft 365 customer. Even if your environment is a mix of Microsoft and other platforms, OneDrive for Business is affordable and offers a lot of functionality.
Workflow managers: With OneDrive, you can automate file or folder backups by adding them to a Power Automate workflow. This lets you stay on top of matters by approving each file change. The tool also lets you convert a Microsoft Word doc to a PDF without opening and exporting the file.
Specs & Configurations
Authenticated External Sharing Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync Digital Rights Management File Conflict Management Group Permissions Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Remote Wipe Team Folders Learn More Microsoft OneDrive for Business Review -
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![Backblaze Business Backup]()
Best for Unlimited BackupsBackblaze Business Backup
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Whether you're accessing data or restoring it, Backblaze gives you a robust set of options, including downloading from the cloud, saving to or copying from cloud storage, or having the company send you an external hard drive. We like the Backblaze USB or hard drive backup options because, as long as you return the drive, it's basically free—and even if you don't, it's not terribly expensive.
Who It's For
Freelancers and solopreneurs handling large files: A Backblaze license covers just one PC but includes unlimited data backup. That makes it a good pick for extremely small businesses, particularly those that deal with multimedia.
Smaller teams within a company: Need more protection? Backblaze's team-based Group system lets you create backups for specific employees and set the version history length (30 days to 1 year). Each group can contain up to 5,000 accounts, and each account can manage up to 1,000 Backblaze backups. In a nice touch, you get unlimited backups.
Specs & Configurations
Apple macOS Client Audit Logs Business Continuity Features Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync Encryption At Rest (Provider Managed Private Key) Encryption At Rest (User Managed Private Key) File Conflict Management Group Permissions HIPAA Compliance ISO 27001 Compliance Local File System Sync Partial / Differential Sync SOX Compliance Support (Audit Trail) System Image Backup Team Folders Learn More Backblaze Business Backup Review -
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Credit: Dropbox
![Dropbox Business]()
Best for Advanced SyncingDropbox Business
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Dropbox Business is a powerful cloud storage solution that offers advanced security features, unlimited storage, and flexible user management. It has grown beyond simple storage and is versatile enough to serve as a document management tool. Dropbox Business also houses customer data in its own data centers for added security and offers a robust remote wipe feature.
Who It's For
Power syncers: Dropbox Business has many syncing tools, including Selective Sync (a feature that saves hard drive space by designating certain files and folders as available locally, online, or in a mixed state) and Smart Sync (which works similarly, except that Dropbox makes the file and folder decisions based on your usage patterns).
Collaborators in a rush: The Streaming File Sync feature lets you share a file with a collaborator before it's fully uploaded. The tech lets you stream a file to another device, which can be useful when you're pinched for time.
Specs & Configurations
Authenticated External Sharing Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync File Conflict Management Group Permissions Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Remote Wipe Team Folders White Label Branding Learn More Dropbox Business Review -
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Credit: IDrive
![IDrive Team]()
Best for Small TeamsIDrive Team
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
In bang for the buck, it's hard to beat IDrive Team. The backup service makes managing a team or micro-business a breeze. It backs up macOS and Windows computers, Android or iOS mobile devices, and network-attached storage (NAS) drives. All this is managed via a centralized web console that IT staff can access from anywhere.
Who It's For
SMBs: Part of a relatively small crew? Check out IDrive Team, a dedicated backup solution you can quickly deploy. After all, not every company needs a backup solution that scales to enterprise levels. However, larger and growing companies should investigate the IDrive Business tier.
People pressed for time: IDrive Team lets you preview documents without downloading them, saving you precious time during a busy workday.
Specs & Configurations
Apple macOS Client Audit Logs Encryption At Rest (Provider Managed Private Key) Encryption At Rest (User Managed Private Key) HIPAA Compliance ISO 27001 Compliance Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync SOX Compliance Support (Audit Trail) System Image Backup Team Folders Learn More IDrive Team Review -
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Credit: Box
![Box (for Business)]()
Best for E-SignaturesBox (for Business)
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Box is a mature cloud storage and file-sharing provider for businesses of all sizes. In addition to secure storage, it offers syncing, collaboration, workflow automation, password policy enforcement, and tools for regulatory compliance. It integrates with a wide variety of software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms and Microsoft Office. Box also stands out by offering unlimited storage and unlimited users for most of its plans, making it a scalable and cost-effective option.
Who It's For
Brainstormers: Does your team regularly brainstorm ideas? Box has a virtual whiteboard that lets people markup the board, either in real time or asynchronously. It leverages Box AI to create meeting agendas or action items.
Workers who sign lots of documents: Box comes with an unexpected bonus: unlimited e-signatures at every tier. This makes Box one of the most affordable options for electronic document signing.
Specs & Configurations
Authenticated External Sharing Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync File Conflict Management Group Permissions Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Remote Wipe Team Folders White Label Branding Learn More Box (for Business) Review -
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Credit: Google
![Google Drive for Business]()
Best for Google Workspace CustomersGoogle Drive for Business
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Google Drive offers advanced data backup and sync, file collaboration, and productivity features. It is designed for SMBs and enterprises that want to integrate Google Cloud storage with productivity services they already use, such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365. Google Drive Enterprise uses AI to manage files and workflows, and it provides flexible storage options, powerful search and organizational features, security, sharing, and encryption protocols for business use.
Who It's For
Google Workspace shops: If your business already uses other Google software, consider the business-focused Drive a no-brainer addition to your productivity tools. It enables real-time collaboration with documents in the cloud while integrating Google AI file management.
Security-focused collaborators: Google Drive has a useful administrative feature called Target Audiences that lets you share a Drive with specific teams or departments within your company. It restricts access, preventing unauthorized sharing.
Specs & Configurations
Authenticated External Sharing Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync Digital Rights Management File Conflict Management Group Permissions Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Remote Wipe Team Folders White Label Branding Learn More Google Drive for Business Review -
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unknown
![Livedrive (for Business)]()
Best for EU and UK BusinessesLivedrive (for Business)
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Despite being a cloud solution theoretically capable of global reach, Livedrive is focused on data protection in the UK and EU. The EU regions it currently supports include France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, although it is expanding into more countries. An intuitive UI across the desktop and mobile platforms makes backup and recovery a snap.
(Note: Livedrive is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Who It's For
Companies that require GDPR: Livedrive supports strict compliance with the EU's data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Specs & Configurations
Apple macOS Client Authenticated External Sharing Business Continuity Features Cloud Storage Without Local File System Sync Encryption At Rest (Provider Managed Private Key) File Conflict Management ISO 27001 Compliance Local File System Sync Mobile Apps Partial / Differential Sync Public Sharing Team Folders White Label Branding Learn More Livedrive (for Business) Review -
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Best For | Best for Advanced Storage Needs | Best for Microsoft 365 Customers | Best for Unlimited Backups | Best for Advanced Syncing | Best for Small Teams | Best for E-Signatures | Best for Google Workspace Customers | Best for EU and UK Businesses | Best for Advanced Storage Needs | Best for Microsoft 365 Customers | Best for Unlimited Backups |
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Buying Guide: The Best Business Cloud Storage and File-Sharing Providers for 2026
What Does Business-Grade File Sharing Do?
A good cloud storage service gives you the flexibility to use it as your organization demands. For example, you can focus on collaboration and file-sharing features, allowing employees to edit the same files in a team space while protecting their work with versioning. Alternately, you can tweak a service to act as a lightweight document management system or even a workflow manager that controls how your company's data flows through a user chain.
Customization is more important now than ever, given the rise of remote work. The rub is that effective customization requires planning, especially when it involves important workflows. A cloud storage and file-sharing service may have a long list of features, but that doesn't mean you'll automatically take advantage of them all. Knowing the features that will work best and in what combination is planning that only you, your IT staff, and your front-line business managers can do.
Focus your planning efforts on key workflows initially and start small. Attention to core abilities, especially reliable accessibility, effective backups, secure storage, and user and group management. Once you understand how you want all that to work with your workers being so widely distributed, you can expand into automated workflows, collaboration, and third-party app integrations. Sometimes, core app integrations should be considered earlier—for example, if your business has standardized on a particular productivity platform. (i.e., Google Workspace shops will choose Google Drive, while Microsoft 365 outfits will likely select Microsoft OneDrive).
Integrating Third-Party Cloud Storage Tools
If you don't have an obvious integration target, such as Google Workspace, the cloud has made it easier for different services to communicate with each other using open standards. These days, you can mix and match cloud storage solutions with a long list of current productivity and document management systems. If you need custom coding, most vendors provide REST APIs that allow you to exchange data and call functions across different app services. IFTTT or Zapier will let you build cross-app automation with a fairly low learning curve if you need better automation.
Cloud companies also see the value of interoperability, though they primarily address it in high-value customer categories and verticals. For example, Microsoft and Salesforce have huge partner ecosystems with large catalogs of targeted service offerings. A partner takes the company's core products, such as Microsoft 365, and builds integrations and workflow features using those products and one or more third-party cloud services. Those solutions are built to attract specific kinds of businesses or verticals. Of course, the more third-party services you need, the higher the monthly price per user.
So, if you're looking to use a cloud storage service in a particular way, be sure to plan the steps you'll need to understand exactly which custom tweaks and workflows you'll need. But once that's done, don't assume you'll need to build everything yourself. Instead, explore the integration and value-added app marketplaces offered by your key app providers, as well as those provided by the storage service. Someone may have already built the perfect end-to-end solution for you, and that's cheaper and easier than rolling your own.
How Much File Storage Do You Need?
Many companies focus mainly on a cloud storage and file-sharing service's storage capacity and how much they'll get for the price. That's still something to consider, but overall, storage space is now more affordable than ever and available in high volume. Multiple terabytes (TB) are commonplace, and no longer a big differentiator between services (especially now that adding storage capacity is easy and cheap).
If you suddenly need an extra 100GB of space for a fast project, most cloud storage vendors make adding that capacity a simple matter of clicking a few buttons. That won't only give you the new space, but also automatically increase your subscription charge. Even better, once the project is complete, you can easily adjust both capacity and price back down again. This elastic capacity is easy for a cloud storage vendor, and almost impossible for an on-premises resource.
Of course, all this freedom makes things complicated, especially in a larger company. If storage capacity and subscription rates change because department managers constantly alter their requirements, that can play havoc with a long-term budget. Be sure to set up controls around who gets to adjust the capacity (your IT department is key here), how new capacities should be reported, what the minimal security and permission requirements are, which backup policies need to apply, and how often this can happen in a given time slice (quarterly, annually, etc.).
Finding a Cloud Data Center
All this paints a rosy picture when designing your customized and highly distributed storage service. Still, several devils lurk in the details. A key consideration is determining exactly where your data resides. Some providers maintain their own data centers, while others outsource their storage to a third-party cloud, often Amazon Web Services (AWS) or a similar Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider.
That's an important point to consider: Are you signing a service-level agreement (SLA) with a cloud provider directly responsible for the infrastructure, or is the provider beholden to another party? Investigate that firm and examine its track record if it's a third party. Then, look at the levels of service it offers. All the major players offer some uptime guarantee, but it's worth noting that location is also an important factor.
How many data centers does the third party have? How many are local or in a different location? If you're a US company, purchasing a storage resource with servers only in Europe makes little sense.
Finally, is your data distributed among them for better reliability? You should be able to determine those answers easily from a target vendor and designate where you want your data stored, allowing you to optimize your storage for access speed and redundancy.
Determine How Workers Will Access Files
How your employees access their files is critical and can widely vary among vendors. Data-sharing functionality should involve a sync client or other desktop software that ensures files in the cloud are synced with local replicas. However, some vendors can have other points of access. For example, all cloud storage companies provide a web client, but some might also make this the primary client. It's something you need to test before committing.
Mobile devices are also an issue. Many newly distributed employees are trying to use personal devices for work, and many are mobile. Does your cloud storage and file-sharing service have mobile clients? If so, you need to determine which platforms are supported and test how those clients work. Syncing, for example, needs to function differently for mobile versus desktop since device CPU and storage resources are so different. Security and user access also work differently, especially if user credentials incorporate device types.
Another thing to remember is that you won't always be accessing your data directly through the storage vendor. For instance, Microsoft OneDrive for Business can sync with Microsoft Teams, its team messaging platform, and the team sites that are part of its popular SharePoint Online collaboration platform. So your users might work on files in those apps and then see them automatically saved to an associated cloud storage service, in this case, OneDrive.
By comparison, Box (for Business) provides a fully functional web client with drag-and-drop support. Shared data can be stored in folders created by individuals or in team folders created and controlled by team leads or administrators. But it all happens in a browser window. Making it happen inside another app will take more work unless Box pre-builds the integration for you.
For most workflows, you'll need some version of team folders. How that works must be carefully considered before purchase. Working with potential users to determine what they like best and how they currently get work done can go a long way toward making your buying decision easier.
Is Cloud Data Storage Secure?
Keeping data safe is a more significant challenge today than ever. Features once considered advanced are now simply baseline capabilities. Enterprise-grade identity management, for example, is something every storage vendor should offer. That means not only matching an individual user's credentials against what files and folders they're allowed to access, but adding multi-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) features.
Secure storage means protecting data from more than prying eyes. Redundant storage layers mean you should be able to map which data centers house not just the primary copy of your data but also the first backup tier. So, if you have 500GB of data with Service X, you should be able to store the files your employees access most frequently in data centers near their workplaces. Then, Service X should also allow you to sync those files with a copy located in another data center, one still operated by the company. So if your primary instance goes down, another data copy can be made available immediately. Service X should also regularly back up both sites and store the data in a separate location. Finally, you need integration with a third-party cloud backup provider so you can automatically perform another backup on your own and store it on servers from an entirely different vendor, or even on your on-premises server or network-attached storage (NAS) device.
That may sound like overkill, but the beauty of a managed cloud service is that this kind of tiered architecture is relatively easy to build from the customer's standpoint and fairly automatic once it's established. As long as you test it periodically, you can rest assured that your data will remain safe and accessible, regardless of what happens.
Encryption is another bedrock security feature. All the tested services support this to varying degrees, but if you encounter one that doesn't, simply continue your search. Encryption is a must-have feature, and you need it while the data is being transmitted between your users and the cloud (as well as when it reaches those cloud servers and stops moving). Testing these capabilities means understanding the encryption schemes being used and their impact on data retrieval performance.
Cloud storage providers work diligently to enhance security and keep your data safe. To such an extent that most IT professionals trust cloud security as much as, or even more than, what's available on-premises. The logic is fairly simple: Most IT professionals don't have the budget to research, deploy, and manage the advanced security capabilities that cloud services offer.
What About Data Privacy Regulations?
Aside from simply keeping customer data safe, another factor that has significantly bolstered cloud security is the need to comply with important regulatory standards, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and ISO 27001. Livedrive for Business is somewhat unique in this regard because it's focused on European customers. It's built around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is why its servers are located in the EU and UK.
Your legal staff generally determines the regulatory requirements that you'll need to factor into your planning. Cloud storage providers typically have several built-in features to address compliance issues.
For example, every file and folder must have an audit trail. This highlights when it was first stored on the system, how and when it has been modified, who accessed it, and what kinds of operations were performed, such as copying, deleting, or moving. This is paramount for the more heavily regulated or security-conscious verticals. Due to mistakes or misconduct, losing mission-critical files can often cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in reparations or lost capital.
File retention is another common legal requirement. You need to control how long data lives on the system, its accessibility, and when it can be deleted or archived. Your cloud storage provider should make these features easy to use. Having the right information can often mean the difference between being in or out of compliance with federal or industry-specific regulations in heavily regulated industries.
The most sophisticated cloud storage systems, such as Egnyte Enterprise, offer full data governance capabilities. These systems can automatically categorize documents and apply controls in accordance with industry-specific or custom policies.
This means that before purchasing any cloud-based file-sharing service, you should sit down with your IT staff and compliance expert to understand exactly where data and apps need to be located and what they must support to meet the compliance regulations essential to your business.
(Getty Images/Teera Konakan)Ready to Move to the Best Cloud Storage?
Choosing a cloud storage and file-sharing service for your organization can seem daunting when considering the numerous variables. Not only do different businesses have varying requirements, but they also demand security for that data. Striking a balance between usability, security, and customization must ultimately be driven by business requirements. However, understanding those requirements is a serious task that requires real work; it's not something you want to address with a snap decision.
Although some of the services we reviewed make it easier to migrate your data to their services, not all are as thoughtful. Once you've signed up and moved your data onto a particular service, it's generally not trivial to move it to another, so it's a good idea to do your homework thoroughly before committing to any one provider.
Planning is key, so sit down with business leads, IT managers, and, if possible, a representative from the cloud provider. It'll take some time and effort, but mapping out the features your organization needs now and in the future will make finding the right solution much easier.