Google One lets you store your data in the cloud.
Google/Screenshot by Gordon Gottsegen/CNET
Now Google One's cloud storage is open to all. Google One is the new way you'll buy online storage from Google, taking over from the company's previous Google Drive storage plans.
While Google One was announced back in May, it was previously only available to people with paid Google Drive plans. Google just announced that now anyone can sign up for a Google One plan, with or without a previous Google Drive account.
Right now Google One is available in the US, but Google says it'll roll out to more countries soon.
Does that mean Google Drive is going away? No — but the phrase "Google Drive" now only refers to the company's Dropbox-like service where you can upload files to a personal online vault.
Previously, Google Drive was also the company's name for the gigabytes of online storage you'd share between Drive, Gmail and Google Photos. Now, all of that is called Google One. You'll buy storage from Google One and manage it with a Google One app, the company confirmed to CNET.
The rebranding also brings a handful of new features. With Google One you'll be able to share that storage plan with up to five family members. Google says it'll also now include "one-tap" customer support for your other Google products — including Google hardware devices such as the Pixel phones and Google Home speakers.
Plus, Google says it may hand out free Google Play credits to buy apps, music and movies, and offer other sorts of deals as well. (Hotel room discounts were mentioned as one possibility.)
Google One will keep providing the same free 15GB of storage with every Google account as Drive did previously, according to the company's blog post. Paid storage options range from 100GB to 30TB. Some of the prices are listed on the new Google One signup page (see table below). That page further specifies that "existing 1TB Google Drive plans will be upgraded to 2TB at no extra cost."
Google One storage pricing
| Storage | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| 15GB | free |
| 100GB | $1.99 |
| 200GB | $2.99 |
| 2TB | $9.99 |
| 10TB | $99.99 |
| 20TB | $199.99 |
| 30TB | $299.99 |
Google says it will upgrade all of its paid consumer Google Drive plans to Google One over the next few months, starting in the US and rolling out globally. According to Google, this won't affect G Suite business customers.
Originally published May 14, 10:56 a.m. PT
Update, 12:01 p.m. PT: To clarify that only the paid storage plans, not the Google Drive online vault service, is being rebranded today.
Update, May 15, 2:11 p.m. PT: Added table listing current known Google One pricing tiers.
Update, Aug 15, 11:00 a.m. PT: Added info about Google One availability
