Sync.com vs Google Drive Review in 2024: Which Is a Better Cloud Storage Solution?

In our opinion, Sync.com wins in this Sync.com vs Google Drive comparison. Sync.com’s focus on privacy through zero-knowledge encryption is a big plus for anyone who values privacy. The fact that Sync.com does not share your data with third parties is another advantage. You can also set passwords and expiration dates and disable shared-link downloads.

However, we would be remiss not to mention that Sync.com also has some downsides. It has limited third-party app integrations, and the 5GB storage on the free plan is significantly less than Google Drive’s 15GB. That said, Sync.com is by far the better choice for most overall.

You don’t need to be a techie to use Sync.com or Google Drive. Both platforms are accessible through the web, desktop and mobile apps. The desktop apps allow you to drag and drop files for storage in the cloud. Both services have simple-to-use interfaces where you can access different features with a few clicks. 

You can use the “+” button on each platform to create a new document file or upload one from your computer. The color palette on each platform makes it easy to locate different icons and perform various tasks. However, Google Drive has better search functionality, which makes it easier to locate various files. 

Both platforms have extensive documentation to help if you get stuck. Google Drive Help is a resource center with hundreds of articles and guides covering various topics. Sync.com also has a help center with tons of articles covering various topics, from sharing links to restoring deleted files. You’ll have no issues learning and using either platform.

Sync.com and Google Drive keep data encrypted on their servers, which gives users a little more peace of mind. Google Drive and Sync.com use TLS (Transport Layer Security) for data in transit and AES 256-bit encryption for data at rest.

Both platforms also have a two-factor authentication (2FA) feature available to protect your accounts from unauthorized logins. 

Google Drive’s excellent user interface makes uploading and sharing files easy, and gives collaborators permissions at varying levels. Create a new file by clicking the “new” button in the top-left corner. You can then set permissions for recipients as viewers, commenters or editors. 

Sync.com has a smooth UI that allows you to share files by creating new ones or uploading files from your computer. Use the “+” icon in the bottom right to get started. Sync.com allows you to add passwords to shared links. You can also disable downloads or set expiration dates on shared documents.

The “selective sync” feature on Sync.com allows you to save space by letting you decide which files to store locally and which will stay on the cloud. The “Sync vault” is another feature that provides a cloud-only storage location for backups. 

As you can see, both platforms have similar core features. Both let you upload and share files with others without much fuss and protect your data thanks to robust encryption methods. Sync.com and Google Drive are also very user-friendly and are supported on multiple platforms.

Google Drive offers more flexibility in terms of its cloud storage options than Sync.com. Google Drive has seven paid plans, while Sync.com has five, so you’re more likely to find a Google plan that meets your individual or business requirements. 

The most limited paid plan on Sync.com provides 2TB of storage for $8 per month, billed annually. On the other hand, Google Drive has a 100GB plan for $1.99 per month. 

Both platforms offer free plans, with Google Drive providing 15GB of storage and Sync.com offering 5GB. Both cloud storage platforms have personal and business (team) plans for users to choose from. However, there are major differences between the plans. 

Personal Plans

The cheapest plan on Google Drive is the Basic package, at $1.99 per month for 100GB of storage. Premium, offering 2TB of storage, is the next cheapest plan, at $8.33 per month. AI Premium Advanced Gemini provides 2TB of storage for $19.99 per month.

Opting for an annual plan will save you 16% — you’d pay $19.99 per year for Basic or $99.99 per year for Premium. AI Premium only offers monthly plans. 

Sync has two plans for individuals. Solo Basic gives users 2TB of storage for $8 per month, billed annually. The Solo Professional plan provides 6TB of secure storage for $20 per month, billed annually. 

Provider:	Plan	Cost (Monthly)	Cost (Yearly)	Storage/User
	Basic Premium AI Premium	$1.99 $8.33 $19.99	$19.99 $99.99	100GB 2TB 2TB
	Solo Basic Teams+ Unlimited	$8 $20	$240	2TB 6TB

Business/Team Plans

Google Drive’s cheapest business plan is Business Starter, with 30GB of pooled storage per user for $6 per user per month. Business Standard offers 2TB of pooled storage per user for $12 per user per month. Business Plus has 5TB of pooled storage per user for $18 per user per month. Contact Google for an Enterprise plan quote. These plans have a one-year commitment. 

Sync.com’s cheapest business plan is Teams Standard. It comes with 1TB of storage at $6 per user per month, billed annually. Teams+ Unlimited is the second cheapest plan, with unlimited storage at $15 per user per month, billed annually, or $18 per user, billed monthly. Last is the Enterprise plan, which has custom pricing for organizations with teams of at least 100 people. 

Provider	Plan	Cost/User/Month	Storage/User
	Business Starter Business Standard Business Plus	$6 $12 $18	30GB 2TB 5TB
	Teams Standard Teams+ Unlimited	$6 $15	1TB Unlimited GB

Sync.com has an outstanding reputation for privacy. The service implements zero-knowledge encryption, which means not even Sync.com employees can read the content of your files, as it does not store decryption keys on its servers. Instead, the keys stay on your local machine. 

Sync.com’s privacy policy promises that it does not distribute, sell or rent your personal data or data usage information to third parties or advertisers without your direct consent. The platform also processes your data according to international standards like the GDPR. 

Google Drive has a poor reputation for user privacy based on several incidents. For instance, Google admitted in 2019 that one of its partners leaked more than 1,000 private conversations of people using the Google Assistant tool.

Google collects a lot of data from personal information and Google app usage. Though its privacy policy claims that it does not sell your data, it highlights that it can share it with “trusted third parties” for external processing. 

Google collects unique identifiers, like the browser and type of device you are using, to help “maintain” your preferences across browsing sessions. Google Drive scans all the files you upload, share and receive for “viruses” and to ensure you aren’t violating its terms of use. Simply put, this means that Google reads everything you store, share and receive.

Google Drive is known for its selection of native and third-party integrations, which are available on its free plan and up. You can create other Google product files like Docs, Sheets, Forms and Slides through its integrated applications. Additionally, you can use the “connect more apps” feature to access hundreds of third-party apps from the Google Workspace Marketplace. 

Sync.com’s focus on security leaves little room for collaboration. Sync integrates with just a handful of third-party applications, like Slack, Microsoft Office 365 and the Adobe Creative Cloud, which somewhat limits collaboration options. 

However, you can create files in the form of Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel worksheets and text files. Editing or previewing files is available through Microsoft Office Online. However, this is a paid feature.

Google Drive proved to be faster than Sync.com on both uploads and downloads. We tested both services multiple times and averaged the result. Google Drive offers blazing fast speeds in both directions, while Sync.com is slower, with a particularly sluggish download speed.

Service:	Upload	Download
	0:10:04	0:15:06
	0:07:09	0:07:25

We’ve been running regular tests on these services for years, and the results for both services have been remarkably consistent.

For our tests, we used a Windows virtual machine hosted in Dublin, Ireland. Our virtual machine was connected to a 1 Gbps internet connection throttled to 100 Mbps. The 5GB folder contained various file types, ranging from raw text files to 4K videos and audio to images.