OneDrive vs iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive comes out ahead of OneDrive on 4 of the 7 things that decide this, going by what each company publishes and what independent review sites report. The one that matters for you may be one the leader loses.
The verdict
iCloud Drive takes it, 4–2 on rounds.
On the published figures and the independent review sites, iCloud Drive takes 4 of 7 rounds. Treat that as a starting point and check the current figures on both pages, because prices and plans move.
Choose OneDrive if…
- • You want OneDrive's edge on storage on the cheapest paid plan and biggest single file you can upload
Choose iCloud Drive if…
- • You want iCloud Drive's edge on what the cheapest paid plan costs and who can read your files
Round by round
- Round 1What the cheapest paid plan costsiCloud Drive wins
iCloud Drive wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 2Who can read your filesiCloud Drive winsOneDrive5/10
Not zero-knowledge
Microsoft can read files on its servers
- Not zero-knowledge, against Optional
Source: cloudslinker.com ↗
iCloud Drive8/10Optional
end-to-end encryption needs Advanced Data Protection to be switched on
Source: cloudwards.net ↗
iCloud Drive wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 3How easy it is to useiCloud Drive winsOneDrive5/10
4.4 out of 5
ease-of-use rating from Capterra reviewers
- 4.4 out of 5, against 4.6 out of 5
Source: capterra.com ↗
iCloud Drive wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 4How much you get freeTie
Nothing to separate them here.
- Round 5Storage on the cheapest paid planOneDrive winsOneDrive8/10
100 GB
Microsoft 365 Basic (100 GB), monthly ('Or buy at ... per month'); Microsoft 365 Family for 2 TB
Source: microsoft.com ↗
iCloud Drive5/1050 GB
iCloud+ 50 GB (iCloud+ 2 TB for the 2 TB price), billed monthly
- 50 GB, against 100 GB
Source: apple.com ↗
OneDrive wins this round on what the published sources say.
- Round 6What 2 TB costsiCloud Drive winsOneDrive5/10
$12.99/mo (Family, 2 TB shared)
Microsoft 365 Basic (100 GB), monthly ('Or buy at ... per month'); Microsoft 365 Family for 2 TB
- $12.99/mo (Family, 2 TB shared), against $9.99/mo (iCloud+ 2 TB)
Source: microsoft.com ↗
iCloud Drive8/10$9.99/mo (iCloud+ 2 TB)
iCloud+ 50 GB (iCloud+ 2 TB for the 2 TB price), billed monthly
Source: apple.com ↗
iCloud Drive wins this round on what the published sources say.
- Round 7Biggest single file you can uploadOneDrive winsOneDrive8/10
250 GB per file
Microsoft 365 Basic (100 GB), monthly ('Or buy at ... per month'); Microsoft 365 Family for 2 TB
Source: support.microsoft.com ↗
iCloud Drive5/1050 GB per file
iCloud+ 50 GB (iCloud+ 2 TB for the 2 TB price), billed monthly
- 50 GB per file, against 250 GB per file
Source: support.apple.com ↗
OneDrive wins this round on what the published sources say.
Side by side
- 5 GB, against 15 GB
- 4.4 out of 5, against 4.7 out of 5
- $12.99/mo (Family, 2 TB shared), against $9.99/mo (AI Plus 2 TB)
- 250 GB per file, against Up to 5 TB per file
- 5 GB, against 15 GB
- $9.99, against $8.33
- 1.3 out of 5, against 2.3 out of 5
- 50 GB, against 100 GB