If you have multiple Apple devices and want to keep them all backed up, use iCloud Drive regularly, or have been building a substantial iCloud Photo Library, you'll likely need the 200GB plan for your iCloud storage needs.

Who should buy the $2.99/month 200GB plan? That said, you may still want Dropbox or Google if you plan to store a lot of content online or like the security of multiple backups. If you want to ensure that you can back up your iPhone and/or iPad without worry, save a few documents in iCloud Drive, and take a reasonable amount of images and video you'd like to sync to iCloud Photo Library, 50GB is a good starting point for most users. Who should buy the $0.99/month 50GB plan? Keep in mind that you'll likely need to back up your iPhone to your Mac, rather than iCloud, as 5GB probably won't be enough storage to back it up online. If you own only one iPhone or iPad and don't use many iCloud features, or if you're already heavily invested in a different cloud service like Dropbox or Google, you can stick with the free iCloud tier - at least for a while. Who should stick with the free iCloud option? If you plan to regularly use iCloud's various features, you'll likely need the storage space to match.

Do you plan to use iCloud's Desktop and Documents feature to sync multiple Macs?.

Do you use iCloud Photo Library to store your pictures and videos, or another cloud photo service like Google Photos or Dropbox?.

Do you use iCloud Drive to store your documents, or do you store files in another cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive?.

Are you running out of iCloud storage space due to your iPhone and iPad backups alone?.

When debating which iCloud storage plan to choose, you should ask yourself a few questions: Which is the best iCloud storage plan for you?

Any tracks you upload to your iCloud Music Library.

Photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library.

Contacts, calendar, mail, notes, and reminders data stored in iCloud.

Here's what counts toward your iCloud storage space: While you'll share the total space, everyone will have private iCloud accounts and private storage, and individual members can always buy their own space if necessary. Note: If you're on a Family Sharing plan and purchase the $2.99 or $9.99/month plans, you can share your storage space with up to five other family members.

Best online cloud storage for mac