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SugarSync Cutting Off Free Users Feb 8
After a nice run as the go-to file syncing service for many users, free-loading SugarSync customers must pay up or get out starting February 8, 2014. The service sent out an email to customers yesterday stating that on that date, SugarSync will end their free service. That means people who don’t want to pay will need to turn to Google Drive, DropBox, Box or some other file synchronization service to backup and sync their files across devices.
We’ve recommended SugarSync for years after a review, where we found it easier to use than the more popular DropBox. SugarSync offers 5GB of free storage, but when that ends it will cost users $75/year for 60GB of service, if prices remain the same. That’s more than most will want to pay, so we suggest finding one of the many other free services listed below.
Here’s the text of the letter sent out.
Dear SugarSync Subscriber,
Thanks for being part of the SugarSync family. We hope you’ve been getting the most out of our service and appreciate your support.
We wanted to let you know that as of February 8th, 2014, we will transition to a paid-only service. Since you are already a valued customer you don’t have to make any changes or updates. Your service will continue as you expect. If you have shared a folder with someone, they will continue to be able to view and edit files in that folder.
Thanks for your support. We look forward to continuing to serve you.
To learn more please read our press release.
Best regards,
The SugarSync Team
Free Alternatives to SugarSync
Here’s the best alternatives to SugarSync with their storage capacity and cost for upgrades to higher capacity.
- Google Drive – 15GB free with upgrades available as low as $2.50/month for 50GB
- Amazon Cloud Drive – 5GB free with upgrades as low as $10/year for 20GB
- Box – 10GB free with upgrades as low as $5/month for 100GB
- DropBox – 2GB free with upgrades as low as $10/month for 100GB
- iDriveSync – 5GB free with upgrades as low as $35/year for 150GB
- Microsoft SkyDrive – 7GB free with upgrades as low as $10/month for 27GB
All of these come with mobile apps for various devices. Google offers the most storage for free and the best paid upgrade deal, but the sync software doesn’t work as easily as others. Still, that’s the one to beat so try it first. Then take a look at Amazon’s option and finally iDriveSync, a lesser known service but on that offers a good option and a nice upgrade price.
James Hansen
12/13/2013 at 4:04 pm
I have switched from sugarsync to copy.com – it is far better than sugarsync! To get 20gb of free space for life on copy.com, click on my referral link:
https://copy.com?r=l4892G
Rick
12/14/2013 at 7:19 pm
need 20 gb of space. I found a good replacement for SugarSync. Copy.com will give you a total of 15GB + free 5GB when you signup with this link:
https://copy.com?r=VHgAbW
That’s more than Dropbox’s 2GB or SugarSync’s 5GB
Bob Smith
12/14/2013 at 8:47 pm
Yeah, Copy is a much better service and it offers 15Gb for free and an extra 5Gb just by using this referral link: https://copy.com/?r=vj4AjA
Steve
01/16/2014 at 6:18 am
I moved over to Copy a month ago after Sugarsync announced they were stopping all free accounts. My honest opinion of Copy is that it’s a great cloud service if you want at least 20GB of storage for free and just need it as a cloud backup and basic sync between your PCs.
You can backup and sync folders outside of the Copy folder but this is done by creating a link or dropping a shortcut for the folder into the Copy folder. This all seemed a bit too hectic for me so I just moved the folders I wanted to sync into the Copy folder and put shortcuts to them on my desktop. Not as good as Sugarsync but also no big deal for most of us. You also choose which folders you want to sync on each PC so you can have everything synced in the cloud but only certain folders synced locally.
I find that their website looks good but doesn’t give you much information. This maybe because there’s not much to give, like I said, it’s pretty basic. For instance, I don’t think it would be very good for those that want to collaborate with shared files as I don’t see any reference to file versions being saved. There’s also an undelete folder in the app (which they don’t mention at all) which is great if someone deletes a file or folder on another PC and that’s synced but I can’t see a way to permanently delete those files…..
The app for IOS is awesome and much better than Sugarsync. I’ve also found the upload and download speeds better but more important for me, they don’t bring my broadband to a grinding slow like Sugarsync did. They also use the best encryption and security systems out there for your data, which is good to know.
Bottom line, I think if you are using your cloud provider for doing a lot of group collaborating, then you would be better off going with something like Dropbox, Box, Sugarsync etc and paying for that service. If you’re a small business or private user like me and just want to have everything synced across all your PCs and know you have a backup in the cloud, then I can’t find a better option than Copy. I’ve also used Google Drive and Skydrive but they are no match either and you also can’t build up more storage for free by referring friends etc.
If you have found this useful and want to give Copy a try, please use my referral link so we can both get an extra 5GB of storage https://copy.com?r=IEP9eg and if you have any questions, ask here and i’ll try to answer them from what I’ve learned over the past month or so…..
Daniel
02/05/2014 at 3:17 pm
CloudMe.com is exactly as SugarSync with same mirror capabilities (sync multiple folders), WebDAV support, and support for several smart TV’s like Samsung SmartTV, WD TV Live and Google TV. 3 GB is offered for free (up to 19 GB with referral program), premium accounts up to 5 TB is available.