An honest comparison
iCloud Drive, Dropbox and Google Drive are good services, and for many people they are the better choice. Here is where Nimbo is different, and where it is not.
Price for about 1 TB
- Nimbo
- $9.50/month (exactly 1 TB)
- iCloud Drive
- No 1 TB plan; the step after 200 GB is 2 TB
- Dropbox
- No 1 TB plan; personal plans start at 2 TB
- Google Drive
- No 1 TB plan in most countries; the next step is 2 TB
Price for 2 TB
- Nimbo
- $18.50/month
- iCloud Drive
- About US$10/month
- Dropbox
- About US$10–12/month
- Google Drive
- About US$10/month
How you choose the size
- Nimbo
- Blocks of 100 GB, any amount
- iCloud Drive
- Fixed plans (50 GB, 200 GB, 2 TB and up)
- Dropbox
- Fixed plans
- Google Drive
- Fixed plans
How it shows up on the Mac
- Nimbo
- A separate disk next to Macintosh HD
- iCloud Drive
- Built into the Finder, plus Desktop and Documents sync
- Dropbox
- A folder in the Finder sidebar
- Google Drive
- A location in the Finder sidebar
Files only download when opened
- Nimbo
- Yes, in pieces (videos stream)
- iCloud Drive
- Yes (Optimize Mac Storage)
- Dropbox
- Yes (online-only files)
- Google Drive
- Yes (streaming mode)
Apps for Windows, iPhone and Android
- Nimbo
- No apps yet; the web works on any device
- iCloud Drive
- iPhone and Windows; Android only through the web
- Dropbox
- All of them
- Google Drive
- All of them
Editing documents together
- Nimbo
- No
- iCloud Drive
- Yes, with Pages, Numbers and Keynote
- Dropbox
- Yes, with Microsoft Office and others
- Google Drive
- Yes, with Docs, Sheets and Slides
Share by link
- Nimbo
- Yes, with optional password and expiry
- iCloud Drive
- Yes
- Dropbox
- Yes
- Google Drive
- Yes
Receive files from people without an account
- Nimbo
- Yes, with a page to receive files
- iCloud Drive
- No
- Dropbox
- Yes (file requests)
- Google Drive
- Not built in
End-to-end encryption
- Nimbo
- Optional, coming soon
- iCloud Drive
- Optional (Advanced Data Protection)
- Dropbox
- Not on personal plans
- Google Drive
- Not on personal accounts
Prices of the other services are approximate, in US dollars, as of October 2026, and change by country and over time. Check the official sites before deciding.
When the others are the better choice
- If you need 2 TB or more, iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive cost less than Nimbo for the same space, and the gap grows with size.
- If you use Windows, Android or an iPhone as much as the Mac, they have native apps everywhere; Nimbo has only the web outside the Mac.
- If you edit documents with other people at the same time, Google Docs, iWork and Office do that; Nimbo only stores files.
- If you want end-to-end encryption today, iCloud with Advanced Data Protection has it now; ours is still coming.
- They have been around for many years. Nimbo is new and run by a small team.
When Nimbo makes sense
- Your Mac is full and you want the space back without changing how you work in the Finder.
- You need an amount that falls between their plans, like 300 GB or 1 TB, and want to pay only for that instead of jumping to 2 TB.
- You work with big files, like video, and want them to open from the cloud on demand.
- You want to receive files from clients without asking them to create an account.