Proton Drive vs pCloud
Proton Drive and pCloud are both Swiss cloud storage services with client-side encryption, and they differ most in how you pay and how encryption is switched on. Proton Drive bundles end-to-end encryption into every plan, including a 5 GB free plan, and sits inside the Proton account. pCloud sells lifetime plans from EUR 219 and lets you choose Europe or the USA for your files.
Choose Proton Drive if
you want every file end-to-end encrypted by default, a free plan of 5 GB, online document and spreadsheet editors, and a long file version history (10 years on Drive Plus) inside one Proton account.
Read the Proton Drive reviewChoose pCloud if
you prefer to pay once for storage (lifetime plans from EUR 219 for 500 GB), want to choose between a European and a US data location, and are happy to put private files in a separate encrypted folder.
Read the pCloud reviewProton Drive and pCloud side by side
| Proton Drive | pCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Proton AG | pCloud AG |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland | Baar, Switzerland |
| Founded | 2014 | 2013 |
| Jurisdiction | Switzerland (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) | Switzerland (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| Where the data sits | Switzerland and Germany, on server hardware and network Proton owns | Luxembourg (EU) or Texas (US) — your choice |
| Pricing | Free 5GB / Drive Plus 200GB at €4.99/month or €47.88/year | From about €49.99/year or €199 lifetime (500GB) |
| Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 8 October 2026) | Free plan (5 GB); paid Drive Plus price not shown on the page when checked | Lifetime: 500 GB EUR 219, 2 TB EUR 499, 10 TB EUR 1,499 (one-off, 14-day money-back); subscription prices not shown when checked |
| Free tier or trial | Free 5GB tier; 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans | Free tier |
| Certifications and checks | ISO 27001 (stated for Proton for Business); Drive apps audited by Securitum, report published | Not stated in our data |
| Source code | Open source | Closed source |
| Usually replaces | Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive | Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud |
| Position in our Cloud Storage guide | #9 of 10 | #6 of 10 |
Both are listed in our European Cloud Storage guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.
Where Proton Drive and pCloud differ
Across the five points below, Proton Drive has the edge on 3 points and pCloud on 2 points. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.
Free plan
Proton's Drive page lists a free plan with 5 GB of storage for photos and documents, with end-to-end encryption and the online document and spreadsheet editors. The pCloud pages checked did not state the size of a free plan, so this round goes to Proton on what could be verified.
Edge: Proton Drive
How you pay
pCloud's pricing page lists lifetime plans: Premium 500 GB for EUR 219 (shown reduced from EUR 279), Premium Plus 2 TB for EUR 499 (from EUR 709) and Ultra 10 TB for EUR 1,499 (from EUR 2,799), with a 14-day money-back guarantee. It also shows a monthly and annual toggle, but those prices did not render when checked. Proton's pricing page lists Drive Plus at 200 GB, Proton Unlimited at 500 GB, Duo at 2 TB and Family at 3 TB with a 30-day money-back guarantee, but the amounts did not render when checked. A one-off lifetime option is something only pCloud offers here.
Edge: pCloud
Encryption
Proton says its storage is end-to-end encrypted on all plans, that the code is publicly available and that it is audited by independent experts. pCloud's encryption page says files dropped into the Crypto folder are client-side encrypted with zero-knowledge privacy, and that you turn on pCloud Encryption to activate that folder. The page shows a lifetime price for it (229 EUR and 150 EUR, one-time payment), so the extra cost and the separate folder are the difference: files outside Crypto are not covered by that claim.
Edge: Proton Drive
Documents and version history
Proton lists Docs and Sheets editors with real-time editing and, on Drive Plus, 10 years to recover previous file versions. pCloud says its lifetime plans include pCloud Photos and pCloud Docs, and that you can restore previous versions and recover data from up to 30 days ago. Proton's recovery window is far longer on the plan where it is stated.
Edge: Proton Drive
Data location
pCloud's home page says "You choose where your files live: Europe or USA" and describes the company as Swiss-based. Proton's Drive page says Proton is based in Switzerland, but the pages checked did not offer a choice of storage region. If choosing the region matters to you, pCloud is the one that says it lets you.
Edge: pCloud
When neither Proton Drive nor pCloud fits
If you want a European provider that is not Swiss, look at Filen, whose homepage says its apps are open source, that it is zero-knowledge client-side encrypted with AES 256-bit, made in Germany, with all servers located in Germany. Its plan prices were not shown on the page when checked.
Proton Drive vs pCloud: questions
Both are Swiss. Proton says all its storage is end-to-end encrypted on every plan. pCloud encrypts client-side only what you put in its Crypto folder, which you activate separately; outside that folder pCloud's own claim does not apply. If everything you store is sensitive, Proton's default is simpler.
Yes. Its pricing page lists Premium 500 GB for EUR 219, Premium Plus 2 TB for EUR 499 and Ultra 10 TB for EUR 1,499 as one-time payments, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Check the current price before buying, because the page shows them as reduced.
Yes. Proton's Drive page lists a free plan with 5 GB of storage. The paid plans listed are Drive Plus (200 GB), Proton Unlimited (500 GB), Duo (2 TB, up to 2 users) and Family (3 TB, up to 6 users). Their prices did not render when checked.
pCloud says you choose between Europe and the USA. The Proton pages checked state a Swiss base but did not describe a region choice.
Sources
Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.
- Proton Drive pricing: Proton plans and storage sizes, 5 GB free plan, 10-year versions on Drive Plus, 30-day money-back; prices not rendered (checked 8 October 2026)
- Proton Drive home page: End-to-end encryption, open code and audits, Swiss base, apps, Docs and Sheets, shared link controls (checked 8 October 2026)
- pCloud pricing plans: Lifetime plan prices, 30-day recovery, 14-day money-back (checked 8 October 2026)
- pCloud encryption: Crypto folder, client-side zero-knowledge encryption, encryption price (checked 8 October 2026)
- pCloud home page: Choice of Europe or USA for file location, Swiss-based (checked 8 October 2026)
- Filen home page: Filen zero-knowledge encryption, open-source apps, made in Germany, servers in Germany (checked 8 October 2026)