What are the proposed plans and are they worthwhile?

Another source for cloud storage is your wireless provider, as many carriers offer their own storage services. The actual value of these plans will vary considerably, but shockingly Verizon seems to have one of the best options we’ve seen to date as it now offers Unlimited Cloud storage to individuals for just $14 a month.

Simply put, Verizon Cloud Storage is an optional cloud backup service for Verizon users. While it’s aimed at backing up your Android phone or iPhone, it can also be used to back up files on computers and tablets as well. There are several existing Verizon Cloud plans including a $5.99 plan for 600GB or an Unlimited Group plan for $19.99 a month that lets you share with up to four others, including non-Verizon users. But now Verizon is also adding an Unlimited Individual plan for $13.99 a month.

Carriers like Verizon love to toss around the word unlimited when talking about data, and yet there are often caveats involved like slow-downs after using a certain amount of data. What about Unlimited Cloud storage, what kind of restrictions does Verizon have in place? Well as it turns out this is a truly unlimited plan but there are still a few small catches. First, you can only upload 50GB of data per day and individual files or videos can’t be more than 10GB in size. If you upload more than 500GB in a month, your daily upload limit will be reduced to just 10GB for the rest of the month. Thankfully that’s it, there is no firm limit to how much space you can take in total — just how much you back up at a time. Honestly, these are all very reasonable limits to prevent server congestion, and aren’t too different from the restrictions offered by many of its competitors that don’t have unlimited data.

The biggest catch to Verizon Cloud Unlimited storage is that you have to be a Verizon member, but if you are, it’s a pretty solid value. Looking at the chart above, for that same $14 a month an individual could get around 2TB on average from most of the competition, though all these plans include family sharing except Dropbox, which requires a business account to share with other users. Nonetheless, you could store hundreds of TBs of data with Verizon for the same $14 a month and you can have up to four other users if you’re willing to pay just $20 for the Family version of Verizon Cloud storage. To store even close to that amount on iCloud you’d be paying $64.99 for 12TB, though Google is much more reasonable at $15 for 30TB. Of course, we have to point out that Microsoft OneDrive includes access to Microsoft 365 which adds a lot of additional value and makes it one of the easiest cloud storage services to recommend if you need Office, Excel, and other Microsoft productivity tools.

At the end of the day, yes, Verizon Unlimited Storage is worth the asking price for both its individual and family tiers. Just be aware carriers tend to be less consistent with plans and promotions, so there are no guarantees its current “unlimited” model will be available forever. As someone who has used Verizon’s Cloud solutions in the past, I can also say the user interface won’t be as good as some of the dedicated alternatives mentioned above. Even so, there’s so much value here that it’s almost a no-brainer for existing subscribers even if it might not be quite as user friendly. Really the only reason not to get it is if you don’t have Verizon or you need specific tools provided by Microsoft 365. The same would apply if you appreciate additions like the VPN on Google One and can’t live without them. If you don’t have Verizon already, is this enough to switch? Obviously not, but I want to point out that Verizon’s plans and general strategy recently have shifted a bit. It’s no longer the most expensive postpaid option out there (that honor goes to AT&T). If you are considering a switch to another carrier, this could help sweeten Verizon’s chances of being a good fit for you.