📁 Cloud storage & office Privacy ★★★★
pCloud
Feature-rich cloud with optional lifetime plans
Overview
pCloud AG (Switzerland) is known for large affordable plans and streaming-friendly media handling.
Standard storage is Dropbox-like; only Crypto folders are client-side E2EE.
Popular for media backups when you accept mixed encryption models.
Scores
Privacy 4/5
Ease of use 4/5
Features 4/5
Value 5/5
Google Drive / Docs — comparison
Better media storage value than Drive for many users—but without Crypto you have a Google-like plaintext cloud; put secrets in Crypto vault only.
Pros
- ✓ Lifetime licenses are listed on the official pricing page
- ✓ Lifetime license options
- ✓ Family and business plans
Cons & caveats
- − Full E2EE requires paid Crypto add-on
- − Non-Crypto data is server-accessible like Google Drive
- − No Docs replacement
Best for
- Large media backups
- Users who E2EE only sensitive folders
- People preferring one-time purchase options
Not ideal for
- Default E2EE for all data required
- Google Docs–style workflows
Specs
- Pricing
- Free + paid — Lifetime prices shown on the official page (confirmed 2026-11-11, Black Friday display): 500 GB $159 (usually $279), 2 TB $379 (usually $709), 10 TB $1,099 (usually $2,799), 3-in-1 $579 (usually $1,517). Monthly and annual prices are taken from official JSON-LD (schema.org Offer) on the same page, confirmed 2026-11-11: Premium 500 GB is $4.99/month or $49.99/year; Premium Plus 2 TB is $9.99/month or $99.99/year; Ultra 10 TB is $29.99/month or $299.99/year. The page defaults to the Lifetime tab, and the monthly/annual cards did not render after a tab click in this environment, so those figures come from the embedded official structured data. Source: https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Data location
- Switzerland (company) plus US/EU DCs (user choice). Crypto vault is zero-knowledge.
- Platforms
- Web · Windows · macOS · Linux · Android · iOS
pCloud Crypto E2EE生涯プランメディアプレビュースイス法域
Migration from Google Drive / Docs
- 1 Takeout or Drive Desktop → pCloud Drive mount
- 2 Move sensitive data into Crypto vault
- 3 Plan separate photo migration (Immich, etc.) for Google Photos
- 4 Review which folders stay non-Crypto vs encrypted
Setup steps
- 1 Create pCloud account
- 2 Install pCloud Drive desktop app
- 3 Purchase Crypto add-on and set Crypto Pass
- 4 Configure camera roll auto-upload if desired