Abstract

• Proton Drive nails the fundamentals, however there are minor points with usability.
• There are lots of fascinating options, however virtually all are unfinished.
• Proton Drive’s pricing scheme steers clients towards the combo plans with different Proton merchandise.

Proton Drive is the Switzerland-based safety firm’s foray into cloud storage. It’s simply as bold as its siblings Proton Mail and Proton Cross, however regardless of some fascinating options, falls wanting its personal guarantees, by no means thoughts the competitors.

Utilizing Proton Drive

Proton Drive is a safe cloud storage resolution that provides many of the widespread options you’d count on—storing your information, sync, versioning, amongst others—and does a fairly good job. It misses out on a spot among the many best cloud storage services, although as a result of, as a lot as I wish to prefer it, it lacks a number of issues.

One of many larger points with Proton Drive is that it guarantees so much and doesn’t ship. instance is its app: for desktop it has apps for Home windows and macOS, plus a browser consumer, whereas cell customers can use Proton Drive on iOS and Android. You could find all apps on the Proton Drive downloads page.

You’ll discover there is not a Linux app, which is okay, as only a few companies provide it. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped Proton Drive from promising a Linux consumer for the previous two years, regardless of no seen progress on it.

This sample of constructing guarantees however not following up canine lots of software program, so not less than Proton Drive isn’t alone, however it does damage its status. With out the wild expectations, Proton Drive could be a good—if barely underwhelming—service. With them, you continuously really feel prefer it could possibly be one thing extra.

File Administration

It’s a disgrace, too, as a result of Proton Drive does a good job with the fundamentals. instance is the primary display within the internet app, which is the one solution to immediately work together together with your information. It seems good, and I like how all the pieces has been squared away. The information you add are on the primary display, and you may hop between modes within the left-hand-pane.

I just like the simplicity of this, however there are some points. For one, opening folders is bizarre. First it appears to pick out the folder, and solely on the second click on does it open. It’s not an actual difficulty, however it’s a bit odd, particularly when in comparison with the competitors.

In addition to importing information immediately, you may as well sync them out of your units, so that you assign a folder and all its contents get despatched to the cloud. It really works properly, however I discover it a bit annoying that solely the Home windows and Mac apps can do that. To work together with information, you have to swap to the online app. It’s an odd alternative, and when you’re organizing information you continuously really feel such as you’re switching between applications.

Accessing synced information can be completely different. You need to go to the tab labeled “Computer systems” and from there discover the pc you synced from. You possibly can then manually obtain information to your present gadget, however not transfer them to the primary storage. Different companies merely deal with this higher, and I’m undecided why sync and storage have this division between them.

Misplaced on the Street Map

Proton Drive additionally likes to tout its Pictures characteristic, which is meant to be a direct competitor to Google Photos however simply isn’t. Sharing is clunky, preview acts oddly, and there are not any enhancing features—not even primary stuff.

The result’s that I solely use Pictures for chilly storage, so footage that I wish to preserve however don’t need cluttering up my fundamental picture app—I primarily use Ente. It’s a disgrace, too, as a result of the potential is there, however like all the pieces else, there have been no main updates since Pictures launched greater than a 12 months in the past.

One other thrilling characteristic is the Proton Drive doc editor, which we tried out in the summertime of 2024. Then it appeared like a very cool characteristic and a fantastic various to Google Docs, one thing lots of people are crying out for. Once more, although, little or no headway appears to have been made since, and the doc editor remains to be very primary.

If Proton might develop these options into what they have been promised to be, there’s little question in my thoughts that Proton Drive could possibly be an actual challenger to Google and different cloud storage companies. Because it stands, although, it’s primarily an fascinating further bolted onto Proton’s different, extra profitable merchandise.

Proton Drive Pricing

Proton Drive’s pricing is a bit advanced. There are six completely different plans, however solely two are only for one individual utilizing solely storage. The others are both geared toward a number of folks, or embrace different Proton merchandise. This implies Proton Drive is nice in case you are trying to switch from Google to Proton, or wish to share storage with others, however when you simply need lots of storage in your lonesome, it’s not a fantastic choose.

The free plan, which misses out on our best free cloud storage roundup by a hair, is fairly good. It presents 5GB at no cost, and also you get to make use of the doc editor, too. The following tier is Drive Plus, which presents 200GB for just below $50 per 12 months, and provides versioning as a characteristic, which is fairly good. The value is okay; you often pay a bit extra for that quantity of storage.

If you happen to want extra storage than that, although, the choices get difficult. The following tier, Proton Final, offers you 500GB, however prices $120 per 12 months, because it’s the bundle with all of Proton’s different merchandise. Personally, I like this bundle as I like Proton Mail and Proton Cross (when you learn my Proton VPN review you’ll see I’m not as obsessed with it), and I don’t want an excessive amount of storage. If you happen to’re in want of much more area, although, and don’t want the opposite companies, it’s a little bit of a dud.

The following tier is Proton Duo, which is similar as Final however for 2 folks at a lowered value, which can be fascinating for {couples}. There’s additionally a Household plan, which is like Final however for as much as six customers. It’s a fantastic deal, however not for those that simply want lots of storage.

The one actual possibility for digital pack rats is Drive Skilled, which is $72 per 1TB per 12 months. You get some good extras with it, like person entry and the like, however in a market the place IceDrive offers 2TB for a similar value per 12 months, it’s not that nice—learn my IceDrive review to see how IceDrive’s pricing scales.

The upshot is that price-wise, Proton Drive is a good choose when you don’t want an excessive amount of storage or need safe storage. It turns into even higher when you additionally want any of Proton’s different merchandise (learn my Proton Pass review for one which I feel is very good), during which case it can save you large on storage and different vital safety software program. If you happen to want bulk storage, although, Proton Drive shouldn’t be your first alternative.

Safety and Privateness

With regards to safety and privateness, you’re counting on the Proton model, which isn’t a nasty factor. In addition to being based mostly in Switzerland and its privacy-friendly laws (one thing that the corporate plasters throughout virtually each web page on its web site), there’s additionally a robust technical foundation for its claims of safety and privateness.

Like all Proton merchandise, Drive presents end-to-end encryption (E2EE), that means that if you add information they’re encrypted in your gadget and never decrypted till you obtain them once more. This can be a essential a part of secure cloud storage, and one which’s too usually ignored by different suppliers. E2EE retains information secure each from outdoors assaults and from tampering makes an attempt whereas they’re saved.

The encryption protocols used are state-of-the-art, and are regularly audited by a 3rd celebration, a safety agency known as Securitum. I additionally like how Proton has a bug bounty program arrange, which at all times evokes confidence.

All this encryption means Proton is non-public. That mentioned, there’s one caveat: Proton depends on Swiss legal guidelines, that are strict, however don’t cowl all the pieces. One Proton Mail person discovered that out when their details were handed over to French police after a warrant was discovered to be authorized. To be clear, this was a Mail difficulty, not a Drive one, and your information could be encrypted. Nevertheless, it is best to remember the fact that Proton Drive doesn’t assure anonymity, solely safety.

Ought to You Subscribe to Proton Drive?

As a standalone cloud storage service, Proton Drive has E2EE as its fundamental draw, and that’s about it. There are different companies that do extra and higher. Nevertheless, as a bit of additional storage tacked onto Proton’s different merchandise, it’s completely okay—it’s how I exploit it myself.

If you happen to want a comparatively small quantity of storage and like Proton Mail or the VPN or password supervisor, then I might look no additional. If you happen to want devoted storage, although, you are able to do higher.