What’s the best cloud storage app for Mac users in 2025?
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Making the most out of your Mac often means investing in cloud storage. It is especially useful when you need to move files between devices, or you simply need more space than your Mac currently has.
Cloud storage started off as a way of “backing up” everything on your computer — in case it crashed or something disastrous happened — but now these services offer so much more. With the right cloud storage you can keep your Mac tidy, more efficient, and ensure you have everything you need on any device that you are using at the time.
As someone who has been writing about Apple apps for over 3 years, I’ve tested the most popular cloud storage services to find the best options for Mac users. In this article, I share my honest opinions after trying each app’s features, usability, and overall performance.
Massive benefits of cloud storage
The advantages of using cloud storage apps over keeping everything on your hard drive are multifold. First, cloud storage apps help people work with more flexibility, as they can store and sync documents, videos, and other collaborative tools. Second, although using a cloud storage app sometimes comes at a cost, it’s usually way cheaper than trying to buy a laptop with a high-capacity hard drive.
Best cloud storage apps for Mac
As with any tool and app, you need to decide the exact features that would be most useful for what you need. To start, let’s look at the most popular cloud storage platforms:
App | Best for | Free tier | Price starting from | Pros | Cons |
iCloud | Apple users | 5GB | $0.99/month (50GB) | Seamless Apple integration, automatic sync | Limited free storage, cross-platform sharing |
Google Drive | Collaboration & Google users | 15GB | $1.99/month (100GB) | Collaboration tools, affordable upgrades | Less native Mac integration |
OneDrive | Office & Windows users | 5GB | $99.99/year (1TB) + Office Apps | Good Office integration, family plans | Less native Mac experience |
Dropbox | Speed & simplicity | 2GB | $9.99/month (1TB) | Fast sync, clean interface | Limited free tier, costlier for high storage |
Enhance your workflow with these extra tools
App | Best for | Price (Available on Setapp) | Free trial |
Fast file transfer & server management | Included with Setapp (over 260 apps available) at $9.99/mo + tax. | Yes | |
Mounting cloud services as local drives | Included with Setapp (over 260 apps available) at $9.99/mo + tax. | Yes | |
Secure file sharing and link management | Included with Setapp (over 260 apps available) at $9.99/mo + tax. | Yes |
Setapp is a platform with 250+ apps for macOS, iOS, and web for almost any task. Try it free for 7 days, then starting at $9.99/month + tax.
1. iCloud: Best for Apple users
If every device you own is an Apple product, then iCloud storage could be the perfect solution. It is native, syncs across every device, and starts with 5GB for free, automatically built-in. After the first 5GB, you can start to pay $0.99 per month for 50GB, $2.99 for 200GB, and $9.99 if you need up to 2TB of storage.
However, if you need to share and sync documents with Windows or Android devices, it can get a little more difficult to work collaboratively. There are no native Windows or Android alternatives for popular Apple apps, such as iWork, which means you need to update documents using a web interface.
Pros: Seamless integration with all Apple devices, automatic sync, native app support.
Cons: Limited free storage (5GB), less effective for cross-platform collaboration, higher costs for large storage plans.
Price: Starts free with 5GB, paid plans from $0.99/month for 50GB up to $9.99/month for 2TB.
2. Google Drive: Best for collaboration & Google users
Google Drive is the storage that everyone gets when they open a Gmail account. It starts with 15GB of free storage (which includes every email and attachment in your Gmail account). After that, you need to pay $1.99 to upgrade that to 100GB.
Google is also introducing a 200GB plan for $2.99, and it has a 1TB plan for $9.99, that is doubling to 2TB for the same price once Google One is released everywhere. Drive also includes a suite of collaborative web tools, such as Docs and Slides, that are invaluable for many who work collaboratively.
For those who often switch between Mac devices and Windows, or who work with others further away, Google Drive is an affordable no-brainer service.
Pros: Generous free storage (15GB, shared with Gmail), excellent collaborative tools, affordable upgrades.
Cons: Less native integration with Mac, dependent on web interface for some features.
Price: Free with 15GB, paid plans from $1.99/month for 100GB to $9.99/month for 2TB.
3. OneDrive: Best for Office & Windows users
Equally useful when working between devices and platforms, Microsoft OneDrive works very well with macOS and iOS devices.
It starts with a free 5GB worth of storage, or $1.99 for 50GB. But where OneDrive really shines for businesses and professionals working with others around the world is the $9.99 tier for 1TB (or $99.99 per year). At this price point, you can provide 5 users with their own 1TB of storage, plus full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote that can be installed on up to 5 laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
OneDrive could be perfect as a family package or for a small team in a company, or a startup crew. Especially if people are switching between macOS, iOS, and Windows devices. It makes collaborative work far easier to manage.
Pros: Good integration with Office apps, affordable family plans, 1TB per user with Office suite.
Cons: Less seamless on Mac than on Windows, limited free storage (5GB).
Price: Free with 5GB, paid plans from $1.99/month for 50GB.
4. Dropbox: Best for speed and simplicity
Unlike other platforms mentioned above, Dropbox is primarily a storage rather than collaborative solution. By far, the largest benefit of Dropbox is its synchronization speed and straightforward, folder-based interface. You can start with a free 2GB worth of storage and then upgrade to 1TB for $9.99.
But as MacWorld has mentioned in a review, “Dropbox was the go-to cloud storage and sync service eight years ago, but has since been surpassed by more robust, flexible, and affordable offerings from its competitors.”
Pros: Fast sync, simple folder-based interface, easy to use.
Cons: Limited free storage (2GB), more expensive for higher tiers.
Price: Free with 2GB, paid plans from $9.99/month for 1TB.
Alongside these, there are numerous other services, such as Box and Amazon Web Services (AWS), with multiple storage and hosting solutions. All these platforms are market leaders for consumer cloud storage and all of them integrate with the variety of apps for effective collaboration and sharing.
Additional tools I discovered
While exploring cloud storage app options, I came across a few extra apps that can enhance your workflow.
1. ForkLift: Best for file transfer & server management
ForkLift is like Finder, which lets you organize files on your Mac. It also acts as a file transfer client, connecting to Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon S3, and other cloud storage providers.
2. CloudMounter: Best for mounting and managing multiple cloud storage services
Another tool that allows you access cloud storage like a local drive on your desktop is CloudMounter. The app is one of the best tools for mounting all your cloud storage to a Mac and using them as network drives. CloudMounter lets me directly access all files and folders in my cloud storage accounts (like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, and others) from my MacBook. Also, I can quickly access each cloud storage drive from Finder. Simply search, drag, drop, and access files faster than ever.
3. Dropshare: Best for connecting extra cloud storage
Dropshare is a secure platform, which brilliantly works with your favorite cloud hosting providers, such as Google, Microsoft, and AWS. With its powerful ecosystem, this robust file sharing app is what you need if you work with different files online and often need to limit shared links access. Upload files with the drag-and-drop functionality in bulk and share files or images with family, friends, customers, and colleagues in a secure way by setting a password to your links.
Best cloud storage app for Mac user: Final words
Still not sure which cloud storage solution is right for you? Try them all! Fortunately, all of them offer free tiers that you can explore before committing. Similarly, Forklift, CloudMounter, and Dropshare are available for a free seven-day trial on Setapp, a curated collection of over 250 high-quality Mac, iOS, and web apps.
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