IDrive vs Google Drive: A Full Cloud Storage Service Comparison in 2025

• Remote teams: Google Drive’s extensive collaboration tools allow teams to work together on different devices and in different locations. 
• Professionals: Google’s workspace apps, including Docs, Sheets and Slides, allow you to create work directly within Google Drive.
• Light users: Everyday users looking for a simple cloud service to back up photos, videos and other file types can enjoy 15GB of storage space on the free account.

• Hybrid users: Offering the best of both worlds, IDrive serves as a cloud backup solution as well as a standard cloud storage service.
• Privacy buffs: IDrive includes client-side encryption, giving users full control over their encryption keys and total privacy for their files. 
• Large companies: IDrive doesn’t impose any limits on the number of computers its users can back up, and it offers mobile and server backup options as well.

Let’s start with traditional cloud storage features, of which both providers have plenty. You can upload all your files from the web app, desktop app or mobile app. Regardless of which one you choose, you can access your files on all your devices and share them with other users.

Google Drive and IDrive support a range of file types, and they’re ideal options if you want to back up documents, photos and videos. They’re also suitable for users who work with large files like video. Google Drive lets you upload files up to 5TB in size, and IDrive has no file size limits. We consider both services to be among the best cloud storage for video.

Users can securely backup files on a range of desktop platforms, including macOS and Windows. IDrive goes a step further by offering its cloud storage app for Linux users as well. Using a feature called selective sync, Google lets users access files via desktop without taking up local hard drive space. Unfortunately, IDrive doesn’t offer this feature.

There are several options when it comes to mobile apps. Each provider has standard apps and dedicated photo apps. Google Photos and IDrive Photos can automatically back up photos and videos you take on your mobile device. You can also create a file management system for your content and share files with others.

Google goes a little further with its Photos app. You can order prints from within the app, create GIFs and use its powerful AI photo-editing tools to perform actions like removing items from your images — hence why Google is one of our picks for the best cloud storage for photos.

Previously, both services offered unlimited backup for photos and videos when you used their dedicated mobile apps. However, they’ve both scrapped this functionality, and now any files you back up on your mobile device eat away at your allocated storage space. 

Both IDrive and Google Drive are absolute speed demons. We’ve tested them regularly over the years and have seen continuous improvements in their speed performance. If speed is what you need, it’s also worth checking out the fastest cloud storage services.

We uploaded a 5GB folder containing mixed file types to each platform. Our tests took place in Dublin, Ireland, using a 1Gbps internet connection throttled down to 100 Mbps to ensure consistency. We carried out the uploads and downloads twice and calculated the average speed for each. We also ran tests on the full 1Gbps speed to determine which service makes better use of very fast connections.

Provider:	Average Upload*	Average Download*	Average Upload**	Average Download**
	0:06:45	0:06:58	0:05:00	0:04:57
	0:06:59	0:07:12	0:05:01	0:05:47

The services register differences in speed on paper, but they’re barely noticeable outside of a testing environment. Both services also displayed low to medium CPU usage, meaning we were able to continue with other tasks while testing the speed performance. 

Google Drive averaged upload speeds of just under seven minutes. IDrive was even quicker, coming in at an average of six minutes, 45 seconds. For downloads, IDrive averaged six minutes, 58 seconds, whereas Google Drive had an average of seven minutes, 12 seconds. These speeds are great, as the fastest possible result is six minutes and 40 seconds.

Unfortunately, neither service makes particularly good use of a super-fast connection like 1Gbps. They both spent around five minutes on the upload, and five to six minutes on the download. This is a very small speed increase considering that the connection is 10 times as fast, with the theoretical fastest transfer being just 40 seconds.

The free storage options are not identical, but there’s not much difference either. Google Drive offers 15GB and IDrive offers 10GB. If you need more free space or want more options, check out our selection of the best free cloud storage services.

There are plenty of affordable paid plans available for each service, though IDrive’s entry-level plan is considerably cheaper than Google’s. IDrive offers 100GB of storage space for $2.95 for a full year, whereas the Google Drive equivalent costs $19.99.

IDrive’s value shows up in its higher-tier storage plans. You can get 5TBof storage for around $5.81 per month if you pay for a year up front. Compare that to Google’s 2TB plan, which costs $8.33 per month on yearly billing. The difference in value is clear. 

The bottom line is that both services offer good value for the money — it just shows up in different areas of their pricing structure. 

Client-side encryption (marketed as zero-knowledge encryption) gives users full control over their encryption keys. This means only the user can access their files. You’d be forgiven for thinking this feature comes as standard — sadly, it doesn’t. Google Drive doesn’t offer this level of privacy, and its policy states that it scans user files, including Docs and Sheets.

IDrive, on the other hand, does offer client-side encryption. It’s an opt-in feature, but you’ll receive a prompt when you set up an account. You’ll have full control over your encryption key, and IDrive won’t be able to scan your files. However, IDrive also won’t be able to assist you with password recovery, so keep a secure copy of your password and encryption key.

Google Drive shares your data with “trusted persons or businesses.” It collects quite a lot of data too, including your profile photo and location information. IDrive collects standard user details, plus browser type and IP address. It may also share your data with third parties that help deliver its servers to users.

There’s little to compare in terms of collaboration tools. Google Drive is an industry leader in online collaboration, but IDrive isn’t necessarily trying to appeal to that market. IDrive doesn’t offer a native document creator, but it does integrate with Microsoft 365 online for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 

Google Drive, on the other hand, lets you do it all. You can create and share work from within your account, allowing other users to edit, comment on or simply view a document, spreadsheet or slide. In addition, if you share a video file from your Google Drive account, an editor can leave comments in places where the video may benefit from further edits. 

Because Google Drive is part of the larger Google Workspace platform, you can open Google Meet calls from directly within a document, making it easier to discuss any potential changes. Depending on your plan type, you can record the call and it will automatically save to your Google Drive account. 

We’ll preface this section by saying that both services are easy to use. The differences pertain to how to get each service up and running, with IDrive being slightly different in comparison to other cloud services.

With Google Drive, you simply create an account, download the apps, log in and you’re good to go. In contrast, because IDrive is a hybrid solution, you’ll need to connect the specific devices you want to back up. This requires minimal effort, but there are a few extra steps to take in order to back up your files, including selecting the folders to back up.

There’s also more functionality in the backend of IDrive’s desktop app. You can schedule backups for specific dates and times, and set them to recur within a certain time frame. Google backup capability is much more basic, backing up Drive files only when you add or change them in the dedicated sync folder on your computer.

Both services offer the industry-standard encryption for your files when you upload them and when they arrive on each company’s respective servers. IDrive, however, takes security a little further, especially when it comes to sharing your files with other users.

With IDrive, you can password-protect the files and folders you share. This means that no one will be able to access your files without the password, even if they have the shared link. You can also limit the number of times a file or folder can be downloaded, plus set expiry dates for the length of time a file or folder is accessible. Google doesn’t offer these features.

Encryption	In Transit	At Rest
	TLS	AES 256-bit
	AES 256-bit	AES 256-bit

The terms “online backup” and “cloud storage” can confuse some users. Our online backup vs cloud storage guide can help explain the differences more clearly. In short, they both provide online storage for your files, but they function in slightly different ways. Online backup can go far deeper than cloud storage, but it often lacks seamless access and sharing functionality.

At its core, online backup creates copies of files either when you back them up manually or when you create a scheduled backup. Most services won’t let you access or share files, instead giving you the option to restore them should something happen to your devices.

Of the two services, IDrive is the only one to offer an online backup feature, and it goes beyond files. You can also back up system images, entire servers and server configurations. This allows you to continue where you left off after you restore your backup.