Is 'Total Drive' a legitimate service to add more iCloud storage?

Have new iPad and wondering if Total Drive as legit company that can charge me $1.99 to add more storage to iCloud. Would I want that done every month?




[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPad, iPadOS 18

Posted on Apr 30, 2025 10:42 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 30, 2025 12:39 PM

I'm not that familiar with Total Drive, but it seems completely distinct and different from iCloud Drive.


Total Drive is, at heart, a backup storage solution. You designate content on your device(s) to get backed up, and Total Drive backs them up. End of story. As a separate service, it does not appear to affect your iCloud Storage in any way.


It also costs $99/year, or $11.99 a month, so I'm not sure where the $1.99 price tag you're referring to comes from - that's an optional charge to add more capacity to your iCloud Storage plan from Apple.

iCloud Storage can also act as a backup repository, and synch across devices. The main advantage of iCloud Storage is its integration into the OS for things like application/data offload (so the OS automatically offloads idle or little-used applications and data (photos, music, documents, etc) and seamlessly download them any time you try to open them (compared to manually having to download the content that you want).


Either way, both Total Drive and iCloud Storage offer certain advantages. It's up to you to determine which one (if any) offers you the most value.

52 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 30, 2025 12:39 PM in response to 4670snowbird

I'm not that familiar with Total Drive, but it seems completely distinct and different from iCloud Drive.


Total Drive is, at heart, a backup storage solution. You designate content on your device(s) to get backed up, and Total Drive backs them up. End of story. As a separate service, it does not appear to affect your iCloud Storage in any way.


It also costs $99/year, or $11.99 a month, so I'm not sure where the $1.99 price tag you're referring to comes from - that's an optional charge to add more capacity to your iCloud Storage plan from Apple.

iCloud Storage can also act as a backup repository, and synch across devices. The main advantage of iCloud Storage is its integration into the OS for things like application/data offload (so the OS automatically offloads idle or little-used applications and data (photos, music, documents, etc) and seamlessly download them any time you try to open them (compared to manually having to download the content that you want).


Either way, both Total Drive and iCloud Storage offer certain advantages. It's up to you to determine which one (if any) offers you the most value.

Apr 30, 2025 1:07 PM in response to 4670snowbird

Does it add more storage to iCloud?

No, not in any way. It is a completely different service that does not work with iCloud.


Is it legitimate?

That is a vague question, although the ratings are good with some mixed reviews in the App Store. The main factor would be if it makes more sense for you to pay for that service as opposed to iCloud with the built in integration. In my opinion it would not make sense to pay for 2 services and some apps are specifically designed to store content in iCloud.

Oct 20, 2025 7:01 AM in response to Ginger005s

Ginger005s wrote:

I got charged $9.99 throughPayPal which I was not aware of because I pay $2.99 a month what is this for?


Did you perhaps sign up for a Total Drive subscription?!?


Total Drive has nothing to do with iCloud.


The word "cloud" is a generic term which people use to refer to servers and services on computers located on a network (especially on the Internet), "in the cloud". The image of the cloud saying that we aren't as interested in the gory details of how all the networks are connected, as in the fact that a service lives "out there somewhere."


iCloud (note the leading "i") is a trademarked name that Apple uses to refer to the "Apple cloud", to services that live on Apple's data centers. But there are many other private clouds. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Adobe … among many others … all have their own clouds.


This Total Drive app is for accessing a private cloud associated with the Total Drive people. They may be hoping that when you see the word "cloud", you'lll think of "iCloud" (Apple's service). Or not. But if you're paying Apple $2.99/month for iCloud+, and you then pay Total Drive $9.99/month (?) for whatever they are offering, that's as if you rented two different storage units from two different companies.

Sep 15, 2025 8:20 AM in response to JDsmother

JDsmother wrote:

I received a message about needing to get my storage upped or I could loose everything. It was from Total Drive and it was for $1.99. I am not really that familiar with this stuff but I didn’t want to loose my photos and all. It really made it sounded like I had to have it. So for $1.99 I did it. But then It was actually $1.99 twice a month and I just discovered they changed it to $9.99 twice a month. I would never have agreed to that!!!! I feel totally scammed and am requesting a refund and cancelation.

Did you read any of this thread before posting? 1) This is a user-to-user forum, and no one here can refund or cancel anything, and 2) Total Drive is not an Apple product. There have been links provided in earlier posts for contacting them.

Sep 17, 2025 5:01 PM in response to vichai129

I was just duped into this product when I saved a file on my phone. It said they were unable to process my iCloud auto renewal until I updated my payment information. it seemed totally legit—I have an auto renewal on my iCloud storage. Moments after I unfortunately gave them access to my iPay, I got an email thanking me for purchasing Total Drive. I tried to get to the cancellation link but they wanted more personal information to access it. What a nightmare

Jul 12, 2025 7:35 AM in response to Overagedusers

Overagedusers wrote:

I don’t want total drive.please cancel it. Joanne Kurina

Total Drive is not an Apple product, so cancelling depends on how the subscription was started. I you signed up on their website, you can cancel by following the instructions they provide here after choosing the "Card" option.

https://help.totaldrive.com/en/billing/-/how-do-i-cancel-my-subscription


It you downloaded the app first and made an in-app purchase that is managed by Apple, you cancel those the same way you would with any other in-app purchase.

View or cancel app subscriptions on iPhone - Apple Support


Oct 18, 2025 11:34 AM in response to 4670snowbird

I was told $1.99 payment to get more storage space in the cloud.

Afterwards, it did not sound right to me. So I called the company & told them to cancel this policy & refund my money. The person said “Sure no problem. Ok it's canceled .

I went to my account the next day - sure enough they charged me $1.99 PLUS $3.99!!!!!

Screw this!! THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!

I called my bank & put in a claim.

I told my bank this was a SCAM. I TOLD THEM TO REFUND MY MONEY &

BAN THIS COMPANY FROM EVER BILLING ME AGAIN. SO THIS COMPANY IS ON MY BANNED LIST- IT WONT GET MY MONEY.

IF THIS HAPPENED TO YOU- CALL YOUR BANK & HAVE THIS COMPANY BANNED FROM YOUR ACCOUNT.

Is 'Total Drive' a legitimate service to add more iCloud storage?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.