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The report highlights that though the initial cost might throw off some users, pCloud’s yearly and lifetime plans are affordable in the long run and the service offers several ways to store and sync data via its versatile client programs.
In a fresh development, this value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined.
In a fresh development, that said, it’s also a bit easier to get up to speed with than those others. PCloud is also touted as uber-secure. PCloud greatly resembles services like Dropbox and OneDrive in its implementation, with Windows Explorer integration and full web-browser functionality.
According to the latest update, let’s cover that first. I even like its lifetime pricing, as opposed to the usual monthly rate.
Industry observers note that read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best online backup for comparison.
As part of the ongoing story, not amazing bargains, but competitive. After our original review, pCloud added yearly rates to their lifetime plans which are less likely to daunt fresh buyers: $50 for 500GB, $100 for 2TB, and $200 for 10TB.
As part of the ongoing story, note that those are discounts from the standard rates of $300, $600, and $1,890 at the time of this writing. The single-user lifetime plans, if you don’t do the division, might seem daunting at first: $199 for 500GB, $399 for 2TB, and $1,190 for 10TB.
As part of the ongoing story, not bad, and of course, the longer you go, the cheaper it gets. However, if you break down those discounted prices over, say, a mere five years, it’s roughly $80 per terabyte per year for the 500GB plan, $40 per TB per year for the 2TB option, and approximately $24 per TB per year annually for the 10TB/$1,190 tier.
According to the latest update, there’s no way for us to guarantee any publisher’s survival, but pCloud has been around for 12 years and is based in Switzerland — a country with a long history of safe-guarding valuables. PCloud also explained that it has a refund policy in place, as well as contingency plans for a force majeure. If you opt for a lifetime plan, you must believe that the publisher will remain in business.
Industry observers note that happily, there’s also a free 10GB plan so you can try pCloud without risk.
Industry observers note that if you break down pCloud’s discounted 10TB plan over, say, five years, it comes to less than $24 yearly per-TB.
The report highlights that to upload and sync your data, the publisher provides clients for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS, as well as a very well thought-out and capable web interface with some neat tricks up its sleeve. PCloud’s primary capability is, of course, its online storage.
Industry observers note that pCloud is unique in my experience by virtue of providing access to your online files via a virtual drive (pDrive with the drive letter P: — get it?!) rather than the dedicated-folder metaphor that Dropbox, Google and others use.
In a fresh development, pCloud sync is two-way, so the standard caveat applies — you need to be careful about what you delete online as that will be reflected in the local folder. The Windows and macOS clients let you sync any folder you wish to your online storage, and cleverly/automatically create a suitable folder name for the online half (assuming you need a fresh folder).
As part of the ongoing story, changes aren’t reflected. Sync files are mirrored, and files backed up with the client programs exist only in their original location and online. Files dragged to the P: drive exist both in that drive locally and online, but aren’t mirrored, i.e.
The report highlights that after a complete uninstall, which entailed finding and deleting the sync folder manually, it then decided to ask. PCloud could be a bit smarter about that. My only real problem with pCloud was that when I reinstalled it for my most recent look, it automatically started downloading files to the P: drive without asking.
As part of the ongoing story, it’s not as comprehensive in that regard as Arq 7, but the list will cover most end users: Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Dropbox Business, Google Photos, Instagram, and Facebook. The first four are manually invoked operations, while the last three are ongoing. One of my favorite pCloud tricks is backing up the data from other online storage services.
According to the latest update, note that the online storage backups are true backup, not sync. The pCloud Windows client has a backup tab, but it’s misleading as I’ll discuss in depth below. You must sign in to the services for pCloud to back them up as per usual.
Industry observers note that this is a folder with a secondary password for even stronger protection. If there’s stuff you really don’t want anyone to see, this will interest you. Not that people are likely to stumble on to your non-crypto data if you use a suitably strong primary password. Another useful pCloud capability is the Crypto folder.
In a fresh development, pCloud offers several ancillary services including: the pCloud Transfer file-transfer portal, which works with files up to 5GB; and the pCloud Save extension for browsers. The latter is supposed to save images and other files to a pCloud Save folder, but I had only moderate success with it. Finally, there’s pCloud Password, a password manager service. Other functions include file sharing and file requests (i.e., let someone ask and upload something to your account).
The report highlights that in my tests, the pCloud viewing was fine with photos, decent with Word files and PDFs, but Excel files were displayed as one column per page. Trying to view an MP4 video stalled as well. PCloud allows you to view many types of files, but it’s hardly the equal of say OneDrive or Google Drive in that regard.
In a fresh development, if you want granular word processing, PDF, spreadsheet, etc. Editing, Google Drive or OneDrive might suit you better. Editing of files is available, but it’s rudimentary, of the overlay type normally associated with images.
The report highlights that is it for sync, or backup? I’d like to know. Another thing I was a bit annoyed with was the feedback at the bottom of the program window: It tells you something’s happening, but it’s not specific enough.
As part of the ongoing story, however, it’s not backup, it’s two-way sync of pre-selected (documents, pictures, etc.) and user-selected folders where changes at either end are duplicated at the other. Before I tried it, I was going to bestow upon pCloud major kudos for including a discrete Windows backup function.
Industry observers note that unlike Backblaze thfere is no option for permanent retention, but you can extend the period. This is, however, somewhat mitigated by 15 to 180 day retention of revisions and deleted files, which are available in the recently implemented Rewind function (shown below) when you access a backup via the web portal.
Industry observers note that your guess is as good as mine as to the reason for this vocabulary faux pas, but it came darn close to costing an otherwise excellent service half a star. As pCloud’s backups of your phone and online services are true immutable backups, the publisher is obviously aware of the difference.
According to the latest update, it didn’t slow down my system, and the backup proceeded largely in line with the speed of my 2.5Gbps network and 7.5MBps/2.5MBps download/upload speed of local Bay Area broadband provider Monkeybrains. In uploading around 100GB of data, I had no issues with pCloud.
The report highlights that the unique functions are also quite handy, so for the most part, color me impressed and consider the answer to this question yes. At the very least, sign up for the free incarnation. Who couldn’t use 10GB of free storage to mirror one or more of your other online data repositories? PCloud might appear expensive at first glance, but it’s actually very affordable if you plan to back up your data online for any significant period of time.
Industry observers note that just remember that the Window’s client’s backup function is actually sync.
The report highlights that this article was edited on May 1, 2026 for clarity and additional info, then again on August 1 to add more information and more recent images.
Industry observers note that any changes to text will be noted above this notice and changed conclusions at the top. Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining fresh functions and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service.
The report highlights that he writes reviews on TVs, SSDs, dash cams, remote access programs, Bluetooth speakers, and sundry other consumer-tech devices and programs. Jon Jacobi is a musician, former x86/6800 programmer, and long-time computer enthusiast.