Google slashes online storage pricing

Google has upped the ante in the online storage battle by taking the axe to its Drive service pricing today, dropping the cost to as little as one US cent per gigabyte per month.

While it hasn't changed the amount of space that's available for free - 15GB - Google Drive now charges substantially less per month for its paid plans:

• 100GB - US$1.99 
• 1TB - US$9.99 
• 10TB - US$99.99 

The 100GB and 1TB plans previously cost US$4.99 (AUD$5.51) and US$49.99 (AUD$55.20) before. Google Drive storage applies across the company's different products such as Gmail, and Google+ Photos. Creating Google Docs, Sheets or Slides does not use up Google Drive storage however.

Comparing online storage services is difficult due to the way they're set up with differing features, not always located at the same distance from users - factors that affect performance and bandwidth usage. 

On the face of it, Google Drive's competitors will have to shave their pricing severely to remain competitive when it comes to storage capacity.

Microsoft has not yet responded to Google's price drop, but currently, its OneDrive cloud storage offers 7GB for free, with 3GB of space for optional "camera roll" photos, and a maximum of 5GB bonus for referrals who sign up for the service.

OneDrive offers paid plans for individual users with less storage and higher monthly charge than Google:

• 20GB - US$10
• 50GB - US$25
• 100GB - US$50

Amazon's Cloud Drive by comparison comes with just 5GB for free. The Cloud Drive paid plans are charged annually:

• 20GB - US$10 (US$8.35 per month)
• 50GB - US$25 (US$2.08 per month)
• 100GB - US$50 (US$4.17 per month)
• 200GB - US$100 (US$8.33 per month)
• 500GB - US$250 (US$20.85 per month)
• 1TB - US$500 (US$41.17 per month)

Dropbox has a basic plan that is free, but offers a mere 2GB of storage. Its Pro plan has more capacious options charged monthly or annually, with the latter alternative providing a 17 percent discount:

• 100GB - US$9.99 (US$99.99/year)
• 200GB - US$19.99 (US$199/year)
• 500GB - US$49.99 (US$499/year)