Google just slashed the prices off of Drive’s paid cloud storage plans. In the process, it also introduced a new storage product that just makes the whole shindig more confusing. Say hello to Google One.
Up until now, Google Drive represented your available storage across your Google account, including Photos, Gmail, and whathaveyou. Google gives you 15GB of storage for free, but if you want more space, you have to pay up. Current Google Drive plans are as follows:
- 100 GB: $1.99/mo
- 1 TB: $9.99/mo
- 10 tB: $99.99/mo
- 20 TB: $199.99/mo
- 30 TB: $299.99/mo
Now those paid storage plans are covered under a new ‘Google One’ moniker, with more flexible pricing. The $9.99 option – the most popular plan – will now net you 2 TB of storage. Meanwhile, Google is also adding a $2.99 plan that gives you 200 GB of storage, which might be a solid option for people who are simply running out of space but don’t feel like shelling out $120 a year.
The new plans give users more options for every budget, but you’re also getting more for your money. The company says Google One will give you “one-tap access” to customer service, as well as deals on hotels and credits on Google Play. You’ll also be able to share the plan with up five family members.
The idea behind Google One seems to simplifying shared storage across Google products, but I’m really not sure why Google couldn’t have made all these changes to Drive without adding yet another product to keep track of. Google could’ve even renamed Drive if it was looking for a way to market the new features.
But I guess I can’t complain too much about getting more storage for my money. Google says Drive users will be automatically be updated to Google One “over the coming months,” starting with the US. If you’re not already paying for storage, you’ll have to wait until later in the year.
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