I feel kind of dirty writing this since I am a major fan of the Dropbox cloud storage service. Nevertheless, as a “jack of ALL tech” as I feel compelled to inform our readers about the new YouSendIt cloud storage and file sharing service that’s sure to give people even more options as to where they store and share their files in the cloud.

If you’re not familiar with YouSendIt, it’s pretty much a Godsend when you absolutely need to send a large file, but get keep getting dissed by your email’s file size limits. You can login, add your email, the recipient’s email, the file you want to send, and Boom! it’s done. Now YouSendIt has stepped up its game to offer a free service that lets you permanently store files in your account and decide who you want to give access to your files via the web-interface or Windows client. Additionally, you can assign different levels of access for even more control. With Dropbox, you can share a folder with complete access, but the recipient needs a Dropbox account to do anything with the folder or its contents.

YouSendIt gives anyone you designate access now matter what service or software they’re using. Speaking of which, YouSendIt does offer an iPhone and iPad app, but [currently] lacks clients for Mac, Android…and any other mobile platform. Dropbox has you covered in just about all areas. Another feature Dropbox excels in is the ability to preview files via the web-interface. All you can do is download a YouSendIt file from the web.

That’s cool because YouSendIt has a MAJOR ace up its sleeve via the ability to sign documents via the Windows client and iOS apps. By dragging your mouse or using your finger, you can virtually sign, save, and download/share Word, Excel, and PDF documents. Another benefit is in pricing. Both offer 2 gigs of free storage, but after that, Dropbox offers 5 gigs at $9.99 per month, and 100 gigs at $19.99 per month. YouSendIt gives you truly unlimited cloud storage for $14.99 per month. In other words, you don’t have to watch your limits when you opt for the “all in” YouSendIt plan.

For easy access, productivity, and the security of online backups, I think you REALLY should invest in some kind of online storage. YouSendIt now offers a very attractive alternative to the more popular brands with a host of extra features that may make you go against the grain.

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