Having a hard time trying to choose the right iCloud storage plan for you? You’ve come to the right place. There are a lot of options available, especially now that Apple offers a catch-all service called Apple One.
Fear not: here’s everything you need to know about each iCloud storage plan and which one is the best for you.
50GB Plan: Great for Light Users
This is the lowest-tier paid iCloud plan available. For $0.99 per month, you get access to 50GB of storage on your iCloud account. It’s the lowest amount up the free 5GB plan.
What’s great about this plan is that it offers enough space for a lot of people. 50GB isn’t too easy to fill up if you’re a casual user. You’ll have enough space to create a few backups of your iOS devices, while still having room to use some of the best iCloud features like being able to instantly see your pictures across all your devices.
Of course, there’s a downside to limited storage. Eventually, you’ll need to manage your space if you’re not careful. Since many apps and services make use of iCloud, you could eventually fill up your storage without realizing it. Also, if you have many Apple devices that create backups on iCloud, you’ll run out of space pretty quickly.
Fortunately, you can try alternative solutions to offload some data, like using Google Photos over iCloud Photos.
This individual plan is ideal for people who aren’t in a family of Apple users. 50GB of storage is more than enough to store a few backups, as well as your pictures, videos, and other files. Of course, you’ll need to clean out your storage every now and then to make sure you don’t hit the limit.
This plan is also great for people on a budget. Just by using an Apple Gift Card of $25, you’ll have enough to pay for this iCloud storage plan for two years. If you can make 50GB of storage work, you shouldn’t have any issues with this plan.
200GB Plan: Best for Small Families or Heavy Users
The 200GB storage plan for $2.99 per month is a better choice for families and power users. You’ll have a generous amount of space for a few dollars per month, which is still a great deal for cloud storage.
Another major benefit of this iCloud plan is that it supports Apple’s Family Sharing feature. With one subscription, you can share your 200GB of storage with up to five other family members. This means a total of six people share your 200GB of iCloud storage. Each family member’s storage is private, though. So you won’t be able to see other people’s files or pictures, and they can’t see yours either.
You should choose this plan if you consider yourself a heavy user. If you have several Apple devices, and you use many apps that require an iCloud account to work across all your devices, 200GB will come in handy. Also, if you’re a parent or part of a big family, being able to share 200GB with every member of your family is convenient and better than everyone paying $1/month for 50GB individually.
2TB Plan: Only for Cloud Storage Fanatics
This is by far the most expensive iCloud storage plan there is. For $9.99 per month, you get 2TB of iCloud storage.
For all but the most hardcore of users, 2TB of storage will last quite a long time. You’ll have more than enough to back up all your Apple devices, plus lots of extra room to upload loads of files, pictures, and videos.
Plus, the 2TB Plan also works with Family Sharing. This means you can share it with five other family members just like the 200GB plan.
The biggest downside is the price. Paying $10 per month is a waste if you don’t use the full 2TB of storage. If you split the subscription cost with others, it becomes a better deal.
Granted, this isn’t the most ideal plan for regular users. Light users just don’t need this much storage in the cloud. But if you juggle many devices, are a professional who keeps large files in the cloud, or need to back up hundreds of gigabytes worth of files, 2TB of storage will be right for you.
About iCloud and Apple One
In 2020, Apple introduced a new subscription-based bundle called Apple One. This plan is a one-stop-shop for every subscription service Apple offers, including Apple Fitness+.
We won’t get into the specifics of Apple One here, but since it offers iCloud storage as part of the package, it’s worth mentioning in this discussion.
Apple One offers three different plans:
- The Individual plan, which includes 50GB of iCloud storage for $14.95 per month
- The Family plan, with 200GB of storage for $19.95 per month
- The Premier Plan, which offers 2TB of storage for $29.95 per month.
Remember that the Premier Plan is only available in some regions, including the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. This is because services like Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+ are only available in these countries.
These plans offer a bunch of other services, like Apple Arcade and Apple Music. If you already use those services, you can save by bundling them all together. However, if you’re primarily looking to buy iCloud storage, Apple One isn’t worth it for you.
Say you use Apple Music (normally $10/month) and Apple Arcade (normally $5/month). In this case, the Individual Apple One plan throws in 50GB of iCloud space for no additional cost, so it’s worth it even if you don’t use Apple TV+.
Keep in mind that if you aren’t dead-set on using iCloud, there are other cheap cloud storage options to try, too.
Which iCloud Storage Plan Will You Get?
Now that you know everything about the iCloud Storage plans, you’re ready to make your own choice.
Most light users will do fine with the 50GB storage plan. If you need a lot of cloud storage, 200GB should be more than enough for you and your family.
The 2TB plan is overkill for most, but power users will find the extra storage handy. Now that you’ve made your choice, the next step is to actually upgrade your plan.