Pros & Cons
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- Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- Useful administrative tools for sharing files with teams and departments
- GDPR and HIPAA compliant
- Mobile apps with OCR tech
- Flexible pricing tiers
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- Best privacy features are locked behind the Enterprise tier
- Lacks password protection for shared files
- Anyone with your email can place items in your account
Google Drive for Business Specs
| 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 |
The consumer version of Google Drive is an excellent tool for storing and sharing files in the cloud, but it becomes more complicated in the workplace. As more hands enter the pot from other companies and platforms, you need efficient, secure storage. Google’s solution is the business-focused Google Drive, part of its Google Workspace productivity suite. I found it great for fast syncing across desktop, browser, and mobile devices, and it includes helpful administrative tools and mobile apps. But Google Drive's best security tools are locked to the Enterprise tier, and it lacks file password protection. If your company requires data governance, check out Egnyte, and if you're a Microsoft shop, look at Microsoft OneDrive for Business, our two Editors' Choice winners for business cloud storage and file-sharing apps.
Google Drive vs. Google Drive for Business
There are a few key differences between the consumer and business Google Drive versions (available for the browser, macOS, and Windows), the chief among them being increased storage. Google Drive offers 15GB of cloud storage, while Workplace’s entry-level Business Starter tier doubles the storage to 30GB (and caps out at 5TB with the Enterprise tier). On top of that, the consumer Google Drive is free; the business Google Drive requires a Workspace subscription (more on Workspace plans in a bit).
(Credit: Google/PCMag)Google Workspace users can leverage an application marketplace featuring plug-ins that enhance productivity. For example, the Microsoft Office plug-in lets you use Microsoft Word within Google Drive. Need to make a digital signature? Install the DocuSign plug-in.
Plans and Prices: Satisfying Costs and Storage Capacities
The Google Workspace suite has several subscription tiers, but you can test it using a 14-day free trial. These tiers are segmented to match your business needs, from the self-employed to larger corporations. Every Google Workspace plan offers a 30%-50% sign-on discount for the first three months of activation. The following prices reflect what you'll pay monthly after those discounts expire when signing up annually.
The Starter tier ($8.40 per user per month or $7 per user per month with an annual contract) is the entry-level option. It includes 30GB of pooled storage per user, along with security and management controls. You can expect 24/7 tech support. Next up is the Standard plan ($16.80 per user per month or $14 per user per month with an annual contract), which increases the storage to 2TB and adds shared team drives, Google's Target Audience Sharing system, and Gemini. There's an option for enhanced tech support, too. The Plus package ($26.40 per user per month or $22 per user per month with an annual plan) builds on Standard with 5TB of storage and enhanced security. The Enterprise tier requires you to request a quote from a sales associate based on your business needs. It adds advanced security, management, and compliance controls.
These plans aren't specifically for Google Drive. As part of the Workspace suite, the subscriptions include video conferencing via Google Meet, appointment booking pages via Google Calendar, and custom business email addresses via Gmail. Google provides a Learning Center to help you get up to speed on the many features in Drive and other apps.
Google Drive is relatively low-cost compared with competing cloud storage and file-sharing services. The most comparable provider in terms of price is Microsoft OneDrive for Business, which costs $5 per user per month (paid annually). It includes 1TB of cloud storage and offers Microsoft 365 Copilot Business as an add-on ($21 per user per month, paid annually).
Egnyte's entry-level Business tier costs $22 per user per month, but it offers powerful data governance features that automatically classify documents based on selected rules and enforce those classifications with policies. Dropbox Business's entry-level Professional plan costs ($19.99 per month or $16.58 per month with an annual subscription) gives a single user 3TB of storage, PDF editing, and the ability to password-protect files (something Google Drive for Business lacks).
Navigation, Uploads, Sharing, and Desktop Apps
Google Drive's business and consumer interfaces are nearly identical, aside from the business ticker that displays the expanded storage. This applies to the entire Google Workplace suite; it lacks fancy badges or distinguishing icons to signal that you've upgraded. Although the "if it ain’t broke, don't fix it" mantra is applicable and welcome, it would be nice to see your dollars on-screen in a more business-specific interface. Microsoft OneDrive for Business went in that direction, with a folder color system that lets you differentiate folders at a glance (and enjoy some visual pizzazz).
Google Drive has an extremely user-friendly interface, with a navigation column on the left-hand side of the screen that houses the major actions. Like me, you'll likely spend most of your time in the My Drive tab, easily dragging files into folders or changing the layout from a list to a grid. You can upload files to the browser-based Google Drive by using the traditional Windows file tree or dragging files (or entire folders) from your desktop to My Drive. It worked flawlessly during the test period, when I synced documents and photos across devices. Sharing files was just as simple, letting me collaborate with others easily.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)The web interface is nearly identical to Dropbox Business and Microsoft OneDrive for Business, but it lags behind Egnyte. For example, Egnyte has a Task and Workflow tab, which is useful for files that are part of projects with multiple steps and teams. It ensures that the baton is passed from assignee to assignee as each workflow is completed. Egnyte also has a Potential Malware tab, another example of the company’s commitment to security and safety regarding your files and data. Finally, Egnyte has a more robust help tab, Egnyte University, designed to train users and teams on the software.
You can also sync files from your Mac or PC to Google Drive by downloading the desktop application for either platform. Note that the desktop applications do not have the same interface as the browser-based Google Drive, as they integrate into your computer's folder structure. Synced files and folders update across desktop, web, and mobile as you make changes; it's a helpful tool that unified my workflows.
In a nice touch, Google Drive offers two syncing options. Mirror Files stores documents in the cloud and on your computer, syncing just the changes across platforms. Stream Files is good for computers with low available storage, as it lets you edit cloud versions of your documents (the files don't live on your computer's drive). Dropbox Business has Streaming File Sync, a similar helpful feature.
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Target Audiences: An Alternative Way to Share Files
Target Audiences is a useful administrative feature that allows you to share Drives with specific teams or departments within your company. Think of Target Audiences as targeted Drives, useful for large companies where multiple teams must view specific files. You can add or remove specific Target Audiences from the Google Workspace administrator side. Once they're set up, employees can share files with those established Target Audiences.
I found sharing files from a Drive simple, as Target Audience is another option in the file window. Overall, it's a helpful tool for securing documents, organizing files, and uniting workflows between management and other workers.
Google Gemini for Drive: A Mixed Bag
Previously, Google Gemini was an add-on service; now, it's included in Google Workspace plans above the Standard tier. You can access Gemini in a couple of ways. In the upper-right corner of the Google Drive interface, next to your profile picture, you'll see a diamond-shaped icon representing the Gemini chatbot. With it, you can ask about your various files.
I do a lot of writing, from tech journalism to entertainment blogging to creative fiction. I would say my Google Drive is unorganized—messy even. Asking Gemini to find files based on keywords worked pretty well in my tests. When I asked it to "find files with the word 'update' in the title" (versus searching for the word "update" in the Drive search bar), Gemini gave me exactly what I wanted: a more specific, honed-in search. Likewise, when I asked Gemini to find files I hadn't opened since 2025, it returned files I opened an hour ago. Not good.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)I also asked Gemini to create a folder and add specific files to it. It made the folder, but didn't add the files. I write a lot about movies, so I tasked Gemini with summarizing the topic. All it did was spit my words back at me, but in bullet points. In a sense, it did exactly what was asked. But was it useful? Perhaps it would be in creating the words for a concise PowerPoint presentation.
Mobile Apps and Document Scanning
You never know when you'll need access to Google Drive, so, like its cloud storage competitors, there are mobile versions for Android and iOS.
Upon opening the Google Drive for Business mobile app, you'll see two categories: Suggested and Activity. The Suggested tab organizes your files into a single scrollable feed based on what you've recently opened. The Activity tab shows recent actions, such as edits or comments made by you or your collaborators. During testing, the app let me easily upload or download files to and from my phone.
Although helpful, the mobile apps aren't tools for heavy file management. Ultimately, the interface is too cramped for even the most organized Google Drive user.
That said, they have an incredibly useful feature: Scan Document. It takes an extremely clear, high-definition snapshot of an image or document. Before beaming the image to the cloud, you can explore options such as cropping, adjusting hue or color, and rotating the file. In testing, my scanned documents were crystal clear.
Likewise, optical character recognition (OCR) is an important feature for searching for files in your Drive using specific keywords. For Google Drive on mobile, it works immediately and seamlessly. Once my files were uploaded to Google Drive, I quickly found them by searching for names or titles in the document.
Encryption and Security: Highs and Lows
You want to ensure that every file you store and send is protected from prying eyes, whether you're part of a small business or a large corporation. Client-side encryption (CSE) is one way to ensure that the files in your Google Drive are safe from snoopers by providing data and privacy controls. Only account administrators can control, dole out, and manage Google Drive and Google Docs keys. They can also select an encryption service provider, such as Flowcrypt, FutureX, Thales, and Virtu. Google Drive's framework enables your company to set up data governance.
You can client-side encrypt Google Docs, Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, and other files. That said, you cannot use CSE for file titles, file metadata, and linked content outside of Google Drive if you subscribe to the Business Starter, Business Standard, or Business Plus tiers. Unfortunately, this security feature is available only to Enterprise tier subscribers. Another gripe: Google Drive lacks password protection for individual files or folders, unlike Egnyte. The service is compatible with GDPR and HIPAA, but not out of the box. Your admin must set it up.
Alternate security measures, such as two-step authentication, exist if you don't want to subscribe to the Enterprise plan. This is a fine method for verifying Google Workspace users, but it doesn't add much additional security to your Drive. On that note, there's another potential privacy issue: If someone has your email, they can post a file to your shared Drive without your permission. Google has antimalware tools, but it does not filter out disturbing or unwanted content that may be sent your way.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Google)
Google Drive for Business
Google Drive is an easy-to-use cloud storage platform that's core to the business-focused Workspace platform, but questionable security at its lower tiers prevents the service from being tops in the category.