Is it worth paying extra for iCloud storage?

Upgrading your online storage is easy, but choosing the right plan is key.

Most Apple devices these days come with 256GB of storage out of the box, but iCloud is a different story. Apple's online platform has been around since 2011, and the company has never increased the 5GB of free space it offers . That wasn't a lot even a decade ago.

Now that everything has seemingly moved to the cloud, it's even easier to fill up all that space quickly. We store backups, messages, passwords, notes and even emails remotely. If you've found yourself needing that extra bit of storage, Apple offers many iCloud upgrade options. However, choosing the right one can raise some questions.

The truth is that the 5GB free tier is almost like a trial version of iCloud. You can get a glimpse of how it works, but you won't really get to take full advantage of it. Chances are your photo library alone takes up more than 5GB, unless you don't take many photos and videos. Apple mainly offers two iCloud+ plans: One with 50GB of storage and another with 200GB.

Maybe you're still unsure about paying for iCloud, or you're not a heavy user. If that's the case, start with 50GB, which costs just $0.99 per month. It's a solid plan for keeping your contacts, app settings, messages and documents synced across all your devices. Over time, that might not be enough — especially if you sync thousands of photos and videos to the cloud. This is when you'd go for the 200GB plan. It's the plan most people sign up for and it costs $2.99 a month.

There are plenty of benefits to using the smaller iCloud tiers, especially if you've tied yourself into the Apple ecosystem. Your apps, settings and media get synced across devices easily, so you don't have to worry when it's time to transfer your data to a new iPhone .

If you're shooting RAW photos, 4K video or backing up large Mac files to the cloud, 200GB can run out fast. Apple has taken that into consideration and offers 2TB, 6TB and 12TB iCloud+ plans, too. These are all options for heavy users, but it's worth knowing that they exist. Having that amount of extra storage is generally a good idea when you're bouncing between three or more Apple devices.

Subscribing to iCloud+ also gives you some extra perks. You can get extra protection with Private Relay, which ensures websites can't track your browsing, and Hide My Email, which generates random email addresses to keep your existing one secure. It's also a base requirement to use HomeKit Secure Video. The more storage you pay for, the more security cameras you can sync to your account. It's worth the extra cost if you have HomeKit cameras.