Picking the best cloud hosting provider could be a challenging task, especially if you do not know how to find one. Hence, we are here to discuss everything about cloud hosting and storage, including some of the top-notch options. Check the reviews and try one of the cheapest cloud service providers because cloud services eliminate a lot of hassles and ensure none of your data is lost accidentally.
We have included both free and premium hosting plans. So, you can go ahead as per the budget of your business. Even if you do not own an organization, you can buy a cloud server for your startup.
Best Cloud Service Providers for Your Business in 2023
1. DigitalOcean
- Price: Starts from $5
- Best for Startups and Entrepreneurs
DigitalOcean is one of the best cloud storage services because of its scalable infrastructure and developer-centric approach. Thanks to its cloud-based virtual machines, you can easily scale resources. Moreover, this cloud hosting and storage provider has a user-friendly interface.
DigitalOcean has a wide network of data centers to ensure high availability and minimal latency for all your applications based on the cloud. Plus, it has a support community and extensive documentation for your help in case you face any problems.
You need some experience to enjoy all the benefits of the cloud storage solutions by DigitalOcean. As it’s developer-oriented, new users might not be able to manage this cloud service. In addition, there are no pre-configured application stacks are available here.
Key features
- Cloud VMs for straightforward resource allocation
- Developer friendly
- Extensive documentation and community support
- Optimal performance and availability
- $200 free credit in managed hosting
2. Google Drive
- Price: $14.40 per month per user
- Best for: Working professionals, Content creators, Entrepreneurs, Startups
If you are looking for a feature-rich, yet affordable cloud storage service, try Google Drive. Its clean and simple interface is perfect for everyone, even if you do not have any knowledge about cloud storage. Moreover, there are multiple applications to boost your efficiency. Google Drive lets you use Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Photos, which all together make Google Workspace.
Google Drive works on all operating systems including Android, Windows, and Mac. So, you can access and modify your files using any of your devices. It also has smooth sharing features, which allow you to share files for editing and feedback.
Sign up for a new account on Google Drive to get 15GB of free storage. It’s a free forever plan. If you need more storage, upgrade yourself for only $14.40 per month.
Key features
- Built-in protections against malware, spam, and ransomware
- Integrated collaboration apps
- Google’s Search and AI technology
- Integrates with several third-party applications
3. Hostinger
- Price: Starts from $2.99 per month
- Best for: Entrepreneurs, Startups, Businesses, and Small to Medium-sized Organizations.
Hostinger is one of the best cloud hosting providers because of its scalability, high availability, incredible performance, and fast page loading. It lets you upgrade your resources as your website grows. Hence, you do not have to face any downtime.
Hostinger has cloud data centers across the globe. So, your website can easily handle high traffic. Moreover, its high-performance servers use SSD to ensure quick loading. Therefore, your website performs without any errors even during peak traffic.
Hostinger never compromises when it comes to security. It even gives free SSL certificates to keep your websites safe from hackers. Firewalls are always active and your data is also backup up regularly. Hence, this hosting provider is suitable for startups, businesses, and small to medium-sized organizations.
Key features
- Scalable hosting
- Servers use SSD for high performance
- Uptime guarantee of 99.99 percent
- User-friendly control panel for easy configuration and management
- 24/7 support function via email and chat
4. Icedrive
- Price: Starts from $1.67 per month
- Best for: Professionals, Photographers, Entrepreneurs
You might not have heard of Icedrive because it’s a new cloud storage service provider. Established in 2019, this brand gained popularity because of its useful features and reasonable prices. Moreover, Icedrive uses the Twofish algorithm for security instead of AES 256-bit encryption, which is the industry standard nowadays.
Icedrive comes with a wide range of cloud storage apps for multiple platforms. So, you can access it whenever you need. Plus, there is a showcase page that helps you to get comments and feedback on your projects.
One of the biggest benefits of using Icedrive is its affordable subscription plans. There are three premium plans and all of them have pocket-friendly pricing, especially if you buy the annual plan. You can also buy lifetime plans if you do not want to pay recurring subscription charges. If you want to try Icedrive, you get 10GB of storage free by creating an account on Icedrive.
Key features
- Twofish Encryption
- Zero-knowledge encryption
- Options to collaborate
5. IDrive
- Price: Starts from $2.95 per year per user
- Best for Startups, small to large businesses, enterprises
IDrive is one of the best cloud storage services because of its high security, reasonable prices, and multiple premium editions. It also has a free forever plan, which comes with 10 GB of storage. What’s more? You can enjoy the services of IDrive on any operating system, including Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac.
Continuous data backup is one of the best features of IDrive. You can also set up NAS or external hard drives to create external hard drives if required. Moreover, it lets you back up the files to any storage device and then mail them to your physical address.
IDrive is a rare storage solution, which offers backup for Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace. Moreover, it has a live chat support and contact phone number for your help. In addition, there are several tutorials on IDrive’s website.
Key features
- Multiple Device Backup
- Clone/Computer Backup
- Snapshots and Versioning
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Google Workspace and MS Office 365 backup
- Continuous Data Protection
6. SiteGround
- Price: Starts from $3.99
- Best for WordPress website owners, Entrepreneurs, and small to medium-sized businesses.
SiteGround is one of the best cloud hosting services for developers, WordPress website owners, and small to medium-sized businesses. Its prices are affordable. Furthermore, all its premium plans are featured with a wide range of features to make your website fast. Therefore, achieving better ranking in the search results is easy with SiteGround,
SiteGround is built on the premium Google Cloud infrastructure. Hence, it offers high-grade security and reliability. This hosting provider uses the fast network and SSD storage drives of Google to offer high redundancy levels and maximum site speed.
You should buy a cloud server like SiteGround if you have a WordPress website because it boosts the performance of WordPress websites. With the help of dynamic caching, this hosting provider makes your WordPress site 5 times faster. It also comes with a SiteGround Optimizer plugin to improve the performance of your websites.
Key features
- Advanced caching technology
- Beginner-friendly control panel
- Top-class support function
- High-grade security measures
7. Dreamhost
- Price: Starts from $2.95 per month
- Best for: Startups, Entrepreneurs, Small and medium businesses
Dreamhost is one of the best cloud hosting providers for small businesses. It’s scalable and hence, you can add the resources as you grow. Moreover, this hosting solution has a user-friendly control panel, which helps you manage your cloud hosting without any challenges.
Dreamhost does more than hosting. It has a lot of tools to make your business successful. Moreover, this hosting solution is fast and reliable. So, you never lose customers or search engine rankings due to downtime.
Dreamhost comes with a drag-and-drop website builder for your WordPress. So, you can design a website without any knowledge of coding. Moreover, it offers 24/7 support to help you if you are stuck.
Key features
- Scalable cloud hosting services
- SSD for high-grad performance
- Comes with hundreds of professional WordPress themes
- Guarantees 100% uptime
8. Sync
- Price: Starts from $6
- Best for Entrepreneurs, Startups, Small to Medium Businesses, Enterprises
If you want to buy cloud storage without investing a lot in subscription fees, then Sync could be the perfect choice. It is a highly secure hosting service. Moreover, this brand keeps improving its features from time to time.
Here comes the good news. Sync comprises zero-knowledge encryption. It ensures none of the intruders can access your data. If anyone breaches the security, the person sees only scrambled data, which looks more like a scrambled egg.
Sync is an affordable cloud storage service provider. Its premium plans start from only $6 per month. Moreover, this cloud storage solution comes with free storage of 5GB. Once you upgrade, the storage maximizes to 1 TB.
Key features
- Provides access to your files from all the devices
- Facilitates sharing and collaboration
- Provides file browsing from any browser
- Sync back up for easy file restoration
- Groundbreaking privacy protection features
9. Zoolz Cloud Backup
- Price: Starts from $99.99 per year
- Best for: Small to Medium Businesses, Enterprises
If you want to buy a high-quality cloud storage service with excellent security, try Zoolz. Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), it comes with full 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). This storage solution is also compliant with multiple frameworks including GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation), and HIPPA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
You can try Zoolz Cloud Backup for free, without even entering your credit card details. So, you can check its features without restriction and upgrade if you like them. The trial period is 14 days.
All the premium plans of Zoolz Cloud Backup support unlimited users, unlimited external drive connections, and endless backups. Also, its user interface is easy to understand. Moreover, you can also access 24/7 support.
Key features
- Effortless file management
- Safeguard file sharing
- Unrestricted upload and download speeds without any size limit
- Trusted by big brands like Dell, Acer, Canon
- Reasonable prices
10. PCloud
- Price: Starts from $199 (Lifetime payment)
- Best for Entrepreneurs, YouTubers, Small to Medium-sized Businesses
PCloud is a top-notch cloud storage service provider, which could be perfect if your business deals in media files. Using its audio and video player, you can watch the videos and songs as soon as you upload them. Moreover, it offers multiple file sharing through the web interface and PCloud applications.
PCloud uses TLS/SSL encryption to guarantee the safety of your files. Apart from that, it allows backups from multiple third-party applications including Google Photos, Google Drive, OneDrive, Facebook, and Dropbox. What’s more? This data storage solution is available for a one-time payment. In other words, you can enjoy world-class cloud storage services without paying a monthly subscription fee.
Key features:
- Easy file sharing
- Top class security
- Available for a one-time payment
Benefits of Cloud Storage
- Security: The best cloud storage service providers keep your data safe all the time. Whether you are uploading, downloading, or your data is stored in their servers, it’s end-to-end or zero-knowledge encrypted. The encryption and security ensure the complete safety of your files.
- Scalability and automation: A lot of cloud storage services are highly scalable. So, you can increase the storage resources as per your growth. In addition, cloud storage automates a lot of complex tasks and saves you time.
- Accessible for all: Multiple cloud storage services come with a simple interface and straightforward usage. Moreover, they support almost all devices. So, you can easily upload and download your files using your computer, tablet, or even smartphone.
- Affordable pricing: Cloud storage solutions are available at pocket-friendly subscription fees or one-time payment. So, not only enterprises, but entrepreneurs, working professionals, startups, and small organizations can also enjoy its benefits.
How to Choose the Best Cloud Service for Your Business?
Picking the best cloud hosting platform or storage service provider is crucial for the success of your business. So, consider the following factors to make an intelligent choice.
- Security: Make sure you buy a cloud server, which is safe and secure. Look for SSL, firewall, backups, and malware scanning while picking a hosting provider. On the other hand, consider AES 256-bit encryption, data protection, zero-knowledge encryption, SSL encryption, and other security measures when you look for a cloud storage solution.
- Performance: Prefer hosting and storage solutions that use SSD and high-speed servers. Keep in mind that fast page and data loading improves the overall experience of your customers. Moreover, a high-performance website can easily achieve better rankings in search engine results.
- Scalability: Buy a cloud server that’s scalable, so that you can upgrade your resources as your business grows. Scalable hosting makes sure your website can handle high traffic without any compromises on performance. Similarly, storage services should also be scalable.
- Reliability and uptime: A reputable hosting or storage provider guarantees 99.99 or even 100 percent uptime. Picking reliable hosting means your website remains accessible all the time. So, try a hosting service that offers high uptime and stable performance.
- User-friendliness: An easy-to-use control panel makes your work easy, even if you do not possess advanced technical knowledge. So, whether you pick a hosting solution or data storage, prefer an intuitive user interface, which has straightforward options to access everything.
- Support: You might have questions or you could face problems while using a cloud storage service or cloud hosting. A helpful and knowledgeable support function is vital in such situations. So, look for a provider with a 24 by 7 support system through multiple channels, including phone, email, and chat.
- Testimonials and reviews: Read the reviews about the brand you want to try. Checking the feedback helps you to understand the overall satisfaction of the current users of a particular provider. For instance, Digital Ocean has a rating of 5/5 on Gartner, 8.6/10 on Trustradius, and 4.2/5 on Trustpilot.
- Pricing and value: Check the prices of the cloud hosting and storage brands. Then, compare them to understand what you are getting in return. Review the amount of resources and features. Keep in mind that the cheapest cloud service provider might not be the best option always. So, it’s appropriate to buy a cloud server as per your requirements.
Cloud Storage vs. Online Backup
Before you pick one of the best cloud storage services, you should know what it means. Otherwise, you might end up trying or buying something that does not meet your expectations. So, you should know the difference between online backup and cloud storage.
Both solutions store your data in remote servers, which is one of the reasons why users are confused between these two services. But, there is a significant difference between them. The motive of online backup or cloud backup is disaster recovery.
On the other hand, cloud storage facilitates access to your files and helps you collaborate with your team. In other words, they act like a productivity application. A lot of cloud storage applications also come with inbuilt word processors to increase your efficiency.
FAQs
How does cloud storage work?
The process of storing your data on online servers is called cloud storage. It helps you to access your files anywhere using any device with internet connectivity because your data is stored on the servers of your service provider. Almost all the cloud storage brands give you a web interface, which lets you access your data.
Is cloud storage services safe?
Almost all cloud storage service providers keep your data encrypted. However, none of the storage servers are hack-proof. For example, Dropbox was breached in 2012, and around 68 million passwords were compromised.
Therefore, you should try a secure storage solution like DigitalOcean. It keeps all your files encrypted even during transit. Suppose a hacker breaches the security, you will not lose anything.
How much does the best cloud storage service cost?
A lot of cloud storage services come with free plans, which are suitable for individuals, professionals, and even small-scale entrepreneurs. However, if you own a small to medium business or an enterprise, you need a premium plan because only a paid version comes with advanced features.
DigitalOcean is a top-notch storage solution, which has a starting price of $5 per month. This edition comes with 250 GB storage and 1 TB of outbound transfer. You can try it and also get a credit of $200. You have to sign up to claim the credit.
Which is the best cloud storage service provider?
DigitalOcean is the best cloud storage service provider because of its scalability, reliability, and quick nature. It offers excellent performance and hence, could be a perfect solution for applications needing high requests per second (RPS). Moreover, this storage solution has a built-in content delivery network, which reduces web page loading times. Icedrive and Zoolz Cloud Backup are suitable alternatives to DigitalOcean.
Are free cloud storage plans worth it?
If you do not have a significant amount of data or if you are tight on budget, you can try one of the free cloud storage plans. They are suitable for small storage needs and are perfect for personal use. Upgrade when you need more space and features.
DigitalOcean gives you a free trial and also a free credit of $200. So, you can try it. You can also go for Google Drive, which gives 15GB of free storage. The Icedrive free plan comes with 10GB storage.
Conclusion
DigitalOcean is the best cloud storage service and hosting provider. Google Drive is a perfect storage platform if you want straightforward remote storage for multi-device usage and collaboration. Hostinger is one of the cheapest cloud service providers, which offers excellent uptime, free domain, 24/7 support, and free migration. But, if you need your hosting and storage in one place, then try DigitalOcean.
Do you use any of the products we discussed above? Or do you think we missed a shining option? Let us know in your comments below. Thank you for reading. Good luck finding the cheapest cloud service providers in 2023.
