SugarSync drops beta, announces pricing

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Windows Mobile, Web services, Commercial, web 2.0

SugarSync drops beta, announces pricing

by Brad Linder Mar 17th 2008

File synchronization service SugarSync emerges from private beta on Thursday, March 20th. SugarSync lets you synchronize files between multiple computers and portable devices, with clients for Mac, PC, and Windows Mobile devices as well as a web-based interface. We gave away a few hundred invites when the service launched in private beta last month.

If you were one of the folks who signed up for the service, you can save some dough if you decide to sign up for the full service. Under SugarSync's new pricing plan, users can store up to 10GGB of data online for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. But users who sign up now get 50% off of that price for the first year. And if you're currently a beta tester, you can get the 50% off rate for 2 years.

Users who need a bit more space can also sign up for accounts with up to 250GB of storage for introductory prices of $25 per month or $250 per year. There are also a variety of options available between the 10GB and 250GB levels.

Tags: sugarsync, sync, synchronization

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Karthik Setty said 4:29PM on 3-17-2008

Is it similar to DropBox? Anyone done a comparison?

Gibu Thomas said 4:29PM on 3-17-2008

Karthik,

SugarSync works with any folder on your computer -- your Documents folder, Music folder, etc -- and not just the folders or files you remember to move to your Dropbox (there is a similar feature to DropBox in SugarSync called Magic Briefcase).

SugarSync also offers a sync mode called Lite-Sync, where you can sync files on-demand to another computer without taking up permanent disk space with full replication. This is useful if you are using a MacBook Air or similar device that doesn't have the storage to fit all your stuff, or you simply don't want to replicate certain things everywhere, but still want the benefits of automatic sync while you are remotely accessing files.

Lastly, SugarSync also has an optional mobile component that allows you to view and share files on the go.

On the other hand, DropBox offers some additional benefits over SugarSync like collaboration and pubic folders, which will SugarSync will plans to support in the next couple of months.

So, it really depends on what you are looking for. My recommendation is to give SugarSync (or both) a try and you'll figure it out in a few minutes what works best for you.

Cheers,

Gibu Thomas
gthomas [at] sharpcast [dot] com

Chris said 4:31PM on 3-17-2008

Gibu, great to see you respondinf here.

I've been testing SugarSync on my Windows Laptop and my GF's MacBook. I like it so far and my GF plans to do the 2 year 50% deal. However 95% of my computer use is on Ubuntu. Do you have a rough timetable for Linux support (I'm pretty sure that i read it was in the plans)? If it's soon enough it might be worth it for me to sign up as well.

Thanks

Tom said 4:31PM on 3-17-2008

Avg file size for pictures... 3 meg?

Gibu Thomas said 2:40AM on 3-18-2008

Chris, we can support Linux quite easily since the sync engine already runs on it. There is some amount of work around porting the basic UI, so my current guess is early Q3. We'll revisit after the launch based on how many folks like you are out there and how quickly we can get some more awesome developers. Help me help you ;)

Gibu

Chris said 8:07PM on 3-17-2008

Okay sounds great. But what is the best way to get you guys to support Linux? Sign up for you one service and request it; in which case you might say, "we've already got him as a customer, no need to spend money developing a linux version". Or not sign up and wait until you offer it; in which case you might say, "no linux users are signing up, let's not support it." You can see the quandary that us linux users are when choosing certain software.

BTW I am currently a very happy JungleDisk user but do wish I had folder syncing and better web access which is why I have been testing SugarSync.

Bruno said 6:37AM on 3-21-2008

I was in the beta, it's nice product. But when I asked support about Linux version I was replied :

"At this time, we do not have any concrete plans for a Linux client. However, I agree that this would be a wonderful addition to the suite of SugarSync capabilities and have added your vote for this on our feature list."

So I'm happy to heard than now it "could" be in Q3... But now I've big hesitation : SugarSync, with perhaps a linux version later, or SpiderOak, which have linux support, but synchronisation will come later ... arf ! very hard to decide.

Philip said 7:39AM on 3-28-2008

Does anyone know how Sugarsync handles the Entourage Database? For example, if you add one new email during the day, does SS have to re-sync the whole database, which may contain gigs of information?

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