You Can Really Get Free Unlimited Cloud Storage From Telegram
Free unlimited cloud storage is usually a myth. If someone sells it to you, it usually comes with a lot of caveats—usually for privacy reasons. But there is actually absolutely free unlimited cloud storage that is completely legal as long as it lasts. And this is via Telegram.
Telegram is a popular private messaging service known for, among other things, unlimited file sharing. It turns out that Telegram also has an API that gives developers access to the cloud storage feature. And the developers from TeleDrive used this Telegram API to create a cloud storage service using this feature.
It’s pretty simple: you sign in with your Telegram account, link it to TeleDrive, and you can download as many files as you want for free. You are only limited by bandwidth. The daily bandwidth is 1.5 GB and the upload and download limit is 2 GB. Both can be removed by paying $10 per year if you wish.
TeleDrive has also sorted out the privacy part: it uses Telegram’s own storage, so it’s private by default, and it will also be available in the Saved Messages section of your Telegram app.
All this sounds good. So what’s the catch? We have tested the service with several files and it works. You can even preview video and audio files in the browser. The only real limitation is that this service depends on the Telegram API. If Telegram decides to restrict or stop using its cloud storage APIs, this service will disappear. And while the TeleDrive website is free to use, it still has its own server and development costs.
It is currently backed by sponsors and they plan to advertise on the website (not on the dashboard). As long as TeleDrive has enough money to keep the light going, it’s fine. If you plan on using TeleDrive to upload large files, we recommend you fork out for their $10/year plan (which is pretty reasonable, by and large).
By default, all files uploaded to TeleDrive are private, but you can make them public and create a URL that anyone can use to download the file, or you can use Telegram and share it with any Telegram user as long as you know their name user. There’s no real collaboration here, but you do get a messaging feature for shared files.
So how should you use this service? It can be a good way to share a lot of large files, or serve as a good secondary or tertiary backup service. But given its volatile nature, we don’t recommend using it as your primary backup. The best way to do this is to pay for iCloud, Google One, or OneDrive. If you want to know more about how the service works, read their FAQ page .