We all want something for free, and in the case of online file storage we’ve come to expect it as standard. You only need an email account to get a few gigabytes of space from platforms like DropBox, and in most cases the email account itself throws in some too, if you’re using a common platform like Google Drive or Outlook. 

That being the case, if you’re looking at the benefits of cloud storage for your business, you might be understandably tempted to do the same. In most cases the files themselves aren’t notably different to the ones you’re accumulating in your iCloud or Google Drive allocation, and it’s very easy to share or edit them. The security settings are increasingly robust, particularly if you’re a diligent user of things like two-step verification - what could go wrong? Alas, there are many answers to that question, and as is so often the case in corporate IT, they come with an escalating price tag.

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1. Accidental data leaks

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Free cloud storage services are overpoweringly designed for easy sharing, not easy security. That’s not to say they’re fundamentally insecure, but once you’ve granted access to something - or worse yet, left it visible to anybody on the internet - many free platforms will happily leave it available for ever more. Unless you’re scrupulous about controlling access to every file, for every user, you’re leaving yourself wide open to data leaks. 

A recent study revealed a hair-raising amount of corporate data left publicly available on Google Drive, which is due in part to the fact you can’t actually view what’s been shared after the fact. The only way to unshare is home-brew fixes or picking through every file by hand. The potential risk here is huge, with significant penalties if you’re found sharing data that should be kept secure.

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2. Limited storage space or maximum file size

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We mentioned this at the top of the article, but it stands repeating: the free cloud storage is free because there’s not all that much of it, either in terms of total storage or individual file size. When you run out of space, it stops dead and your workflow pauses along with it. At best this is inconvenient, forcing you purge the old files or plod through an account upgrade to get things moving again. At worst, it can stop your business in its tracks, or cause major annoyance for your customers. Business cloud storage like Workiro includes unlimited cloud storage for business files, so it can scale as your business grows.

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3. Doesn’t work with your other apps

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The scale of this problem varies depending on individual platforms, and the tools you need to use. Some platforms are simple file repositories that you need to shuffle files in and out of, others integrate with certain web-based productivity apps: OneDrive plugs into Microsoft Office apps, and the free version of Google Drive works closely with Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. Box has limited integration with additional platforms like Slack and Salesforce - but only up a miserly 250MB file size limit, which quickly becomes frustrating. 

The real benefits come from direct integration with business tools like TaxCalc or NetSuite, and those are locked behind the paid tier if they’re available at all. You can eke out basic functionality with the free versions, but it’s a fractured and frustrating experience that can quickly remove the benefits of using a document management system in the first place.

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4. Slow or non-existent customer support

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This is one of the many situations in life where you get what you pay for. If you’re not paying for your storage, you don’t get a lot of help when things go wrong: you’ll be referred to a series of support articles and perhaps an email or live-chat prompt that will only give very basic answers, if any. 

Paid cloud storage for business will come with a clear and often contractual commitment to customer service. Up-to-the-minute protection against vulnerabilities and 24-hour tech support costs money, and if you aren’t paying you’re getting secondary priority at best.

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5. Poor collaboration tools

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Free tools let you share files with other users, and often collaborate on them using tools from the same provider. They rarely offer granular security settings, like detailed access control, and the level of collaboration is quite basic: things like straightforward editing or leaving comments, which can be almost as slow as email when it comes to back-and-forth collaboration, and it’s not great for tracking who’s responsible for individual changes. 

Business tools like Workiro include integrated instant messaging and the full collaboration features within Office365, as well as more advanced features like user management and digital contract signing. 

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6. Limited or non-existent audit trail

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Most free cloud storage platforms include basic version tracking, but rarely to a degree that will satisfy an auditor, and too many companies end up with workflows that are howlingly non-compliant. If it’s easier to mark a file as “public” than it is to set up user access, somebody’s inevitably going to opt for that, and you’ll be left with a document that gives no clue as to who’s changed it or why. This is another situation where things can get really, really expensive - either from relying on dud data, or being caught by the auditor or ICO. The best document management systems offer robust audit trails, almost entirely automatically. 

If you want to learn more about cloud storage for business, check out our comparison of cloud storage for business vs consumer cloud storage. If you’re looking for a primer on how you can manage your files in the cloud, head over to our 2025 guide to document management systems. And if that’s all too much reading and you want to talk to a human, have a chat with one of our specialists.