On Monday, Google announced updates to its paid storage plans under Google Drive. Called Google One, customers will have access to expanded storage at lower price points, plus a bevy of other benefits.
With Google One, consumers can get 100GB and 200 GB of storage for monthly fees of $1.99 and $2.99, respectively. The 2TB plan was priced at $19.99 previously but will now cost $9.99 a month after the 1TB plan gets discontinued. And for heavy users, the rates for 10TB, 20TB, and 30TB will remain unchanged.
But, why the need for increased storage? Google pointed that users nowadays have more mobile devices, shoot more 4K videos, and take high-resolution photographs, requiring more storage and easier sharing of files online.
With more space, smarter options, access to experts and more, Google One is a simple plan for expanded storage with extra benefits to help you get more out of Google → https://t.co/65IdUJmn5Z pic.twitter.com/hJTXvvAWkZ
— Google (@Google) May 14, 2018
Following public clamor, paid consumers can now share their storage limit with up to five family members. Each will have their own private storage space, aside from the extra benefits that come with Google One. Users, even with the basic storage account, will have ‘one-tap’ access to round-the-clock support with live experts onboard, and not just AI-powered chatbots to answer queries.
Google promises to add more benefits to its available plans, but for now, users can look forward to credits on Google Play, discounts on select hotels discovered in Google Search, or premium rates on other services. After all, the tech giant noticed that people with paid storage plans are often heavy users of Google products.
Despite the exciting announcement, rollout will happen gradually over the next few months so users should look out for email confirmation regarding the update. Existing storage plans in the US will be upgraded to Google One first before they are made available worldwide. The tech giant revealed that it will launch an Android app to help users in managing their accounts, and not their files.
On the other hand, Google assured that G Suite business customers will not be affected by the upgrade. The free 15GB storage quota under Google Drive will also remain available to all accounts.
Google’s latest storage plans will most likely be extended to include other services and packaged under a single subscription offering. It will be poised to compete with OneDrive, a subscription worth $99.99 annually or $9.99 monthly through the Microsoft Store. Similar to Google One, it has 1TB storage quota that can be shared with five users. There are, however, no options to modify storage space or plans for over 1TB. The subscription comes with access to Office suite apps, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as a monthly allocation of 60 minutes of Skype calls per user.