15GB free, from £1.35/mth for 100GB

GOOGLE DRIVE

If you're a Gmail user, you can sync Google Drive with your Google account to store and access files wherever you are. Google accounts are free to create. If you're storing photos of 16 megapixels or less, try Google Photos for unlimited free storage.

What you get for free: 15GB of free storage spread over three Google services: Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos (for photos of higher resolutions).

If you pay: Plans range from $1.99/month (£1.35) for 100GB to $299.99/month (£202) for 30TB. Full range on the Google Drive site; compare this with others.

Apps: iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows.

 

10GB free, £7/mth for 100GB

BOX

Although more geared towards businesses, Box does offer personal plans too. As with Dropbox and Copy, you can install the desktop app for syncing between your hard drive and the cloud.

What you get for free: 10GB, though this can be boosted by referring others to Dropbox. For every person who signs up via your referral link, you'll both get an extra 500MB, up to a maximum of 16GB.

If you pay: For £7/month you get 100GB of space, and an increased individual file size limit of 5GB. Compare this with others.

Apps: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, OS X and Windows. Box for Office also lets you access and edit your files from within Office programs.

 

5GB free (1TB for students), 1TB 'free' for Office 365 subscribers, or £1.99/mth for 50GB

ONEDRIVE

Popular with MoneySavingExpert.com's tech team, OneDrive (previously SkyDrive) is Microsoft's free online storage offering. You need to have a Hotmail or Live mail account, but as these email services are free, it's worth setting one up just for the free storage.

What you get for free: 5GB (though you'll still get 15GB if you opted to retain itbefore Sun 31 Jan). Students get 1TB of storage free.

If you pay: 50GB costs £1.99/month. Those who subscribe to Office 365, which typically costs £5.99/month (or £59.99/year), get 1TB storage. Compare this with others

Apps: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, OS X and Windows.

 

5GB free, from 79p/yr for 50GB

APPLE ICLOUD

If you're an iPhone or iPad user, you most likely use Apple iCloud to backup at least some of your data. It's well-integrated into iOS – though also runs on Macs and now Windows – and automatically updates and stores your files across all connected devices.

What you get for free: The free version comes with 5GB of storage which you can use to backup photos, videos, mail, notes, calendars, app data, contactand documents. If you're storing images or videos though you'll quickly run out of space, in which case we'd recommend one of the free photo storage services below.

If you pay: Plans available cost from 79p/month for 50GB; £2.49/month for 200GB; £6.99/month for 1TB. Compare this with others.

Apps: Integrated into iOS and OS X; Windows.

 

5GB free, from £6/yr for 20GB, unltd photo storage with Prime

AMAZON CLOUD DRIVE

Following in the footsteps of Google and Microsoft, online shopping giant Amazon runs a cloud-based storage service called, straightforwardly enough, Amazon Cloud Drive.

What you get for free: All Amazon customers (incl those without Prime) get 5GB of free storage for photos, videos and documents. Amazon Prime members also get free unlimited storage for just their photos; it's not worth forking out the £79 a year just for this service, but if you're already a member, it's a bonus.

If you pay: Customers of Amazon Prime (£79/year) get unlimited photo-only storage. Otherwise, prices range from 20GB for £6/year to 1TB for £320/year; see the full range on Amazon's site. Compare this with others.

Apps: For all files – iOS, Android, OS X and Windows. For photo backup – iOS and Android.

 

2GB free, up to 16GB via referrals, or £8/mth for 1TB

DROPBOX

Launched back in 2008, Dropbox is one of the biggest names in online storage. The easiest way to use it is by installing it on your machine/device, which allows for automatic backups via its mobile apps or (of folders) on desktop. There's also a web version you can use through your browser.

What you get for free: You get 2GB free, though this can be boosted by referring others to Dropbox. For every person who signs up via your referral link, you'll both get an extra 500MB, up to a maximum of 16GB.

If you pay: You can upgrade to Dropbox Pro for £7.99/month or £79/year, which gives 1TB of storage. Compare this with others.

Apps: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, OS X and Windows.

 

5GB or 50GB 'free' for BT b'band customers

BT CLOUD

All BT broadband customers – standard or Infinity – get some storage space with BT Cloud. Given that BT captures around a third of the UK's broadband market, that's a lot of customers with free storage to take advantage of (and many not know about it).

What you get for free: You get either 5GB or 50GB depending on your package. To find out, log into My BT and click on the "BT Cloud" button snd it should display your allowance on the top right-hand corner of the page.

If you pay: If your free allowance isn't enough, you can pay £3/month for an extra 50GB, or £9/month for an extra 500GB. Compare this with others before paying up though.

Apps: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, OS X and Windows. Full details on how to set up BT Cloud.

 

Unlimited free photo storage

GOOGLE PHOTOS

Whilst technically built in to Google Drive and accessible from within it, it's more convenient to go to Google Photos directly if you want to store just images and videos. It will also help organise your photos, and is full of nifty features for doing fun and useful things with them.

What you get for free: Unlimited storage of photos of 16 megapixels or less and videos of 1080p resolution or lower. Google Photos will compress files larger than this, if you want to keep the unlimited option.

If you pay: If you tend to take very high resolution photos or videos (such as 4K), then you store these on Google Photos, but they'll contribute to your free 15GB Google Drive allowance (which you can get more of, for a fee).

Apps: iOS, Android, OS X and Windows.

 

1TB free, for any resolution photos/videos

FLICKR

Owned by internet giant Yahoo, Flickr is probably the world's best-known photo-hosting site. More like a social network than a storage facility, its focus is on sorting and sharing your photos, though you can use it for just backing up if you so wish.

What you get for free: Anyone with a (free) Yahoo account gets 1TB of space. One benefit over Google Photos is there's no limit to the resolution of the images and videos you upload.

If you pay: There's no additional storage available – Flickr Pro, which costs $5.99/month (£4) or $49.99/year (£35), gives users advanced stats on their photos and ad-free browsing/sharing.

Apps: iOS, Android, Windows Phone (unofficial), Blackberry, OS X and Windows.

Whether it's your pics, your financial information or just your favourite funny cat videos you are storing online, you need to take steps to keep your data safe.

Here are some tips to keep you, and your info, safe from the hackers:

·         Keep your password secure. Change your password regularly and don't use the same password across multiple websites. If hackers crack one password it's a pain, but if they access all your online accounts it can be a nightmare. As many sites use your email as a login ID, using the same password increases your security risk.

·         Don't use predictable passwords. Using family or pets' names or dates of birth is common, but hackers can access some of this data from public sources such as Facebook. Break up passwords by using ranDoM capiTal leTTers or numb3rs. Or for a truly random password, use a password generator.

·         Use a password manager. If you struggle to remember large numbers of passwords, use a password safe or password manager to store them securely online. All you have to do is remember a master password and retrieve the others as and when you need them.

·         Disable auto-uploads. If you are concerned about sensitive info or pics, turn off the auto-upload function on services such as Dropbox or iCloud. These services automatically save a backup version of your documents in the cloud but don't distinguish between everyday photos and files and the ones you really don't want getting into the wrong hands.

·         Keep antivirus software up-to-date. Hackers are constantly developing nasty new computer bugs so you need to ensure that you've got decent antivirus and antispyware software in place and that it's up to date. Find out more in our Free Antivirus Guide.

·         Avoid phishing emails to keep out the nasties. Viruses and malware often sneak in disguised as other attachments, so ensure that any files you are downloading and opening come from a reliable source. See Phishing Emails.

Which services do you rate? We've only picked the big name online storage programs here, but there are loads more. Tell us which you like in the Free online storage discussion.