Google Drive appDataFolder
Hidden app-specific storage inside the user's Google Drive account.
- Card required
- No
Google Drive appDataFolder scores 3.5/10 for free value in Storage. The main constraint: Good for small config bundles; uses user's Google account storage model.
Free value score
3.5 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
Good for small config bundles; uses user's Google account storage model.
Per-user non-secret configs like 30 configs × 3 KB.
Gotchas
- API rate limit: 1M units/min per project
Each Google Cloud project is limited to 1,000,000 quota units per minute across all users; read=5 units, list=100, download=200, edit=50.
- Per-user API rate limit: 325K units/min
Any single user within a project is limited to 325,000 quota units per minute to ensure fair distribution.
- Egress billing threshold: 1 TB/day
Projects exceeding 1 TB of data egress per day may incur charges starting later in 2026; standard small-app usage will never approach this.
- No file sharing or moving
Files in appDataFolder cannot be shared with other users, moved between storage spaces, or trashed — only permanently deleted.
- Hidden from user — no UI access
The appDataFolder is invisible in Google Drive UI; users cannot browse, manage, or recover files through the Drive interface.
- App-isolated — no cross-app access
Only the app that created the data can access the appDataFolder; other Google Drive apps or the developer's own other apps cannot read it.
- Deleted on app uninstall
The entire appDataFolder and all its contents are permanently deleted when the user uninstalls the app from their Google Drive.
- Bound by user's Drive quota (15 GB free)
Storage used in appDataFolder counts against the end-user's Google Drive storage quota, which is 15 GB on a free Google account; app has no dedicated allocation.
- Requires user OAuth consent (drive.appdata scope)
Users must explicitly grant the app the drive.appdata OAuth scope; apps using sensitive scopes may require Google verification for large user bases.
- Frontend-visible — unsafe for secrets
Frontend-visible OAuth storage is inappropriate for secrets (API keys, tokens); the markdown explicitly warns against storing Notion/Telegram/LLM secrets here.
Sources
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"Per minute per project | 1,000,000 quota units ... Per minute per user per project | 325,000 quota units ... Per day per project | 1 TB"
https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/limits -
"Read items, such as files.get | 5 ... List items, such as files.list | 100 ... Download items, such as files.download | 200 ... Edit items, such as files.update | 50"
https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/limits -
"All standard use of the Google Drive API is available at no additional cost. Exceeding the quota request limits is planned to incur charges to your Google Cloud billing account later in 2026."
https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/limits -
"All Google accounts come with up to 15 GB of storage, which is included as part of the total storage offered in other Google One plans."
https://one.google.com/about/plans
Alternatives
Same category · similar quota
S3-compatible object storage with a no-time-limit free allotment of 20 GB across Standard, Infrequent Access, and Archive tiers plus 50,000 API requests per month.
