{
  "id": 14545158,
  "title": "Why I Stopped Using Google Drive and What I Use Instead",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/why-i-stopped-using-google-drive-and-what-i-use-instead",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-14T22:06:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/scsoi/why-i-stopped-using-google-drive-and-what-i-use-instead-4cab"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "After ten years of using Google Drive, the author reached a breaking point when the price of the 2TB plan increased from $99/year to $119/year in their country, a 20% rise for the same storage. This prompted the author to explore alternatives to Google Drive.\n\nTwo competing options were considered: Microsoft 365 1TB OneDrive, which is included with Office for $99.99/year (Personal), or iCloud+ 2TB for $119.99/year. Both options were found to be more expensive in the long run compared to Google Drive.\n\nThe author then looked into self-hosting as an alternative. They opted for a Synology DS223 (2-bay NAS) for $300 with two 4TB drives. They installed Synology DSM, which includes built-in cloud software (Synology Drive) that supports WebDAV. The author then installed ScsDriver on their Windows desktop and MacBook, configuring the WebDAV endpoint from Synology. This setup allowed the files to appear as a local drive on both machines.\n\nThe cost breakdown for the first year was $320.5 (hardware + domain + ScsDriver), while subsequent years cost only $15 for the domain. Compared to Google Drive, the cost for the first year was $119, and after five years, it would amount to $595. Over ten years, the savings would be $874.5.\n\nThe author acknowledges that self-hosting requires giving up certain conveniences, such as cross-device sync without manual setup, built-in OCR for scanned documents, automatic phone photo backup, and superior search capabilities. However, the author emphasizes the benefits of privacy, cost savings, vendor lock-in avoidance, full control over hardware, and faster local access with a gigabit network.\n\nFor users with 1-2TB of files and using mostly one or two devices, the author considers self-hosting a feasible option. The setup can be completed within a weekend. The author provides hardware recommendations for various storage capacities and mentions RAID-6 for redundancy. They also stress the importance of using a UPS for added protection.",
  "summary": "The breaking point I'd been a Google Drive user for ten years. 2TB of family photos, work documents, side project code, tax returns, school records — everything was there. Then the price increase hit. The 2TB plan went from $99/year to $119/year in my country. That's a 20% jump for the same storage. I started looking at alternatives. What I considered Microsoft 365 1TB OneDrive included with…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}