Proton Drive

Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted cloud storage from the Swiss makers of Proton Mail. It's used for storing, syncing and sharing files with zero-knowledge privacy — not even Proton can read them — so it suits documents you'd never want scanned or exposed: finances, IDs, contracts, private photos. Because it's part of the wider Proton ecosystem (Mail, VPN, Pass, Calendar), it's the natural storage choice if you already use those, giving you one privacy-first account across everything.

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Paid storage on the Drive Plus plan starts from US$3.99/mo, billed annually, and there's a genuine free tier with up to 5 GB to begin. If you want more, Proton Unlimited bundles a much larger storage allowance together with Mail, VPN and Pass premium features for a single higher price — better value for anyone who'll use the whole ecosystem. A money-back guarantee covers you if you change your mind. Free users get exactly the same end-to-end encryption as paying ones, which is the whole point of Proton.

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Yes. Proton AG is one of the most reputable privacy companies in the world — founded by scientists at CERN in 2014, based in Geneva under strict Swiss privacy law and structured around a non-profit foundation. Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted by default, open source and has been independently audited, so its zero-knowledge claims are verifiable rather than just marketing. The main caveat is youth: Drive launched in 2022, so some sync and sharing features are still catching up to older rivals. On trust and encryption pedigree, though, very little in this category matches it.

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Yes — there's a real free tier with up to 5 GB of end-to-end encrypted storage, with no ads and no data mining; it's funded by Proton's paid plans rather than by monetising your files. That's enough for documents and a modest photo backup. If you outgrow it, Drive Plus starts from US$3.99/mo, or Proton Unlimited adds far more space plus the rest of the Proton suite. Free users keep the same encryption as everyone else.

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For privacy, unequivocally: Proton genuinely can't read your files, whereas Google can and scans content to power its services. For features, Google still leads — real-time document co-editing, 15 GB free, and deep Android integration that Proton doesn't try to match. The sensible split most people land on: keep collaborative documents you're actively editing in Google if you must, and put anything private — finances, IDs, medical records, business files — in Proton Drive. If privacy is the priority rather than collaboration, Proton is the better home; if you live in Google Docs all day, you'll miss the editing tools.

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Its youth is the main one: Drive launched in 2022, so the sync clients and sharing features are still maturing, and there's no real-time document co-editing suite. Speeds are decent rather than class-leading, and per dollar you get less raw storage than MEGA or Internxt. There's no Canadian data region either — files sit under Swiss jurisdiction. What you're paying for is the strongest privacy pedigree in the category, which is worth it precisely when privacy is the point; if you want maximum gigabytes or heavy collaboration, other options stretch further.

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