Pros & Cons
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- All files are fully encrypted
- Data protected by Swiss privacy laws
- Mobile apps have OCR functionality
- Flexible sharing options
- Free tier available
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- Not the best value per gigabyte
- Somewhat slow upload speeds
- Lacks a Linux app
Proton Drive Specs
| Android App | |
| Emphasis | Privacy |
| File Size Limit | Unlimited |
| File Versioning | |
| Free Storage | 5GB |
| iOS App | |
| Online Editing | |
| Windows App |
Proton's mission is to provide secure and private alternatives to common web services. Proton Drive brings that vision to the consumer-end cloud storage and file-sharing space. It delivers the same privacy and security that Proton users have come to expect from other Proton apps, like Proton Mail and Proton VPN. No one at the company can access your uploaded files—and the encryption that protects them makes Proton Drive one of the most secure cloud storage platforms I've tested. That comes at a cost, in both price and upload speeds. Still, if privacy is what you value most, then Proton Drive should be the first cloud storage service you try. If not, explore one of our Editors' Choice winners: Microsoft OneDrive, which is best overall; IDrive for value; or Google Drive if you're primarily a Google user.
Prices and Plans
Proton Drive has several consumer plans for individual use. The Free tier gives you 5GB of storage, which is about average in the cloud storage and file-sharing category. For context, Apple iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive provide 5GB of no-cost storage. IDrive serves up 10GB for free. Google Drive comes with 15GB for free, though it's shared with Gmail and Google Photos.
(Credit: Proton/PCMag)If you want more storage, move up to the next tier. Proton Drive Plus costs $4.99 per month or $47.88 per year, and it increases the storage to 200GB. You can get 500GB with Proton Unlimited, a package that costs $12.99 per month or $118.88 per year and includes Proton Calendar, Proton Mail, Proton Pass, and the excellent Proton VPN. That said, the 500GB of storage is shared with Proton Mail.
Need to move beyond individual plans? Proto Duo supports two users and includes 2TB of storage for $19.99 per month or $179.88 per year. Proton Family covers five people and includes 3TB of shared storage for $29.99 per month or $287.88 per year.
These rates are considerably higher per gigabyte than most competitors'. IDrive has one of the best deals around, at $99.50 per year for 5TB. Google One, which expands Google Drive's storage and adds online discounts and photo editing tools, charges $9.99 per month (or $99.99 per year) for 2TB of storage. Likewise, Apple iCloud+ charges $9.99 per month for 2TB of storage, but it includes a faux VPN called Private Relay that only works in Safari. Microsoft charges $99.99 per year for a Microsoft 365 Personal account, which includes 1TB of OneDrive storage (plus the Excel, Outlook, and Word productivity apps).
Proton Drive cannot compete with those rivals on a price-per-gigabyte value. However, Proton's aim isn't to win on price; it's to provide an alternative to other cloud storage services by focusing on privacy and security.
A Strong Security Focus
Proton Drive's core feature is security. Files are encrypted before being uploaded to Proton Drive, and the encryption keys are generated on your device. This means the company can't access your files. It also means that any hacker who breaks into the Proton Drive server (or any individual with server access) can't view your files or even see the filenames.
You can read more about Proton Drive's encryption procedures on its website. The TLDR? Everything is truly locked down. Proton highlights that it's headquartered in Switzerland and, therefore, protected by the country's strong privacy laws. Proton customers have legal protections in Switzerland that prevent law enforcement from requesting access to their data without first going through the courts. Proton Drive makes a compelling case if security and privacy are your top priorities.
(Credit: Proton/PCMag)Most other cloud storage and syncing services I've tested don't secure data to this extent, though SpiderOak One is an exception. IDrive and Sync let you enable private encryption keys, but they're not activated by default.
Another way Proton helps you stay private is by allowing you to pay for your account in cash by sending dollars, euros, or Swiss francs to a mailing address on Proton's website. You can pay with bitcoin or by bank if you prefer, or the more traditional way with a credit or debit card.
It's worth noting that Proton's protection, while considerable, isn't absolute. The company recently identified an American protester to the FBI. It's worth pointing out that the company only handed over the protestor's name and payment details, not their encrypted data. So paying with cash could, in theory, better hide your identity in cases like this.
Account Creation, Platforms, and File Encryption
Before you can use Proton Drive, you must create an account. If you already use Proton Mail or Proton VPN, the same account works with Proton Drive. Note that you do not need to enter payment details if you opt for the free version.
Next, you choose a username that doubles as your email address if you use Proton Mail. Then, you create a password and provide some recovery details. Finally, the app asks you to choose a color scheme for its web version. The company recommends using a privacy-centric browser such as Brave, Firefox, or Tor, though Proton Drive is also compatible with more mainstream browsers, including Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Safari. Perfer to use a dedicated desktop app? You can download Proton Drive on macOS or Windows. There is no Linux client.
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(Credit: Proton/PCMag)On the web-based side, I effortlessly uploaded files—either individual files or entire folders—by dragging them into my browser or clicking New Upload. On the desktop side, the Windows app asked whether I wanted to back up my desktop, documents, and other folders. It also integrates Proton Drive files in Windows Explorer for easy access. The Mac app, likely due to Apple's security policies, only allows access to your Proton Drive files from Finder. In a nice touch, Proton Drive let me choose whether particular files were available for offline access.
Files are encrypted locally before they're sent to Proton's servers, which can make the uploading process slower than with other file-sharing services. This is particularly true if your machine has a slow processor. That's been a consistent pattern in my many years of testing Proton Drive, but it's a somewhat acceptable trade-off for the enhanced security.
Office Apps, File Editing, Versioning, and Previews
Proton Drive has offered online document editing for a few years, and recently added spreadsheets. Using these features, I created new documents and spreadsheets for collaboration purposes. In addition, I uploaded and converted Word and Excel files into Proton's privacy-focused office formats.
The online document and spreadsheet editors are the only options you have for editing in Proton Drive’s web version. If you want to edit anything else—say, an image or an audio file—you must download the file, edit it, and then reupload it. It's a lot easier if you install the macOS or Windows apps, since you can open and edit files with the appropriate desktop software.
Proton Drive supports file versioning, so you can quickly recover past copies of updated files. If you use the Proton Free plan, Proton Drive automatically saves 10 versions of each file for up to seven days. You cannot alter those settings. To customize versioning, you need a paid Proton Drive plan. With one, you can save up to 200 versions of each file for up to 10 years, and adjust the version history.
(Credit: Proton/PCMag)Proton Drive lets you collaborate with other Proton Drive users by sharing a folder, but aside from the document editing feature, there are no other collaboration tools. You can't comment on a file the way you can in other cloud services, like Dropbox or Google Drive.
A limitation of the web version is the preview functionality. You get previews for images, videos, audio files, and PDFs, but not proprietary formats like Microsoft Office documents, as you do in Google Drive and, of course, Microsoft OneDrive. On the upside, you can play MP3 and FLAC files in the web app.
Sharing Files: Private Links vs. Public Links
Proton Drive gives you two ways of sharing files: directly with other Proton users or indirectly using a public link. In the Proton Drive web version, right-click any file or folder, then select Share to view the collaboration options. When you share directly with another Proton user, you can assign roles, which means you control whether they can edit files. With Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and the web apps related to them (Google Docs, Word Online, and so forth), you can collaborate with anyone. They are much more open systems in that way. Proton Drive, however, is more restrictive, but that's fitting given its emphasis on privacy.
(Proton/PCMag)Another way you can share files in Proton Drive is to create a public link and send it to anyone, as all cloud storage services do. Optionally, you can password-protect your shared files and set an expiration date for the link. Again, that's a fairly standard feature, though in some apps, like Dropbox, you must be a paying subscriber to use it. Note that the Proton Drive desktop apps do not have sharing features. You must log in to the web version to share a file.
Mobile Apps, Now With OCR Functionality
As mentioned, you can install the Proton Drive mobile app for Android, iPhone, and iPad. I tested it on an iPhone. The app is useful for both browsing files you've already uploaded and uploading new files. You can sync any files or folders so they are available on your device offline. It's also possible to lock down application access using either a PIN or biometric tools, such as a fingerprint scanner or Face ID.
The mobile app also supports backing up photos, meaning you could use Proton Drive as an encrypted alternative to Apple or Google's photo backup service. Dropbox, Google Drive, IDrive, and other competing apps all have an option to automatically back up photos and videos from your mobile devices, so it’s great to see that Proton Drive does, too.
The mobile apps have integrated document scanners, which let me snap photos of multiple files and combine them into a single PDF. In addition, their optical character recognition (OCR) tech made my PDFs searchable by keywords—a great addition to already good mobile apps.