During this pCloud review, we examined what we believe is the best online storage overall. As files take up more and more space, upgrading physical storage is often more tedious. For this reason, people turned to cloud services, which revolutionized file storage and made it accessible to everyone, even those on a budget.
While Dropbox and Google Drive stayed expensive, there’s pCloud that quickly took over the market and became one of the most popular options. But what is pCloud, you may ask? How good is it really? Is pCloud safe and worth it? These are only some of the questions that we’ll address in this pCloud review for 2026.
It will be a long but interesting read, as we examine every nook and cranny, and deliver to you an in-depth and comprehensive test of pCloud. As long-term users, we’ll discuss all of its upsides and downsides that will help you figure out what kind of service pCloud is. Now, let’s proceed with our full pCloud review.
pCloud Review: Quick Overview
| 📋 Our Overall Score | 9.5/10 |
| 🆓 Free Storage | 10 GB |
| 🔶 Plan Types | Monthly, Annual, Lifetime |
| 💾 Storage Size | 500 GB, 2 TB, 10 TB |
| 🤑 Starting Price | $199 (500 GB Lifetime plan) |
| 📁 File Versioning | 15 days (free), 30 days (paid), 180 days (Business) |
| 🔐 Zero-Knowledge Encryption | Yes (paid additionally) |
| 📱 Supported Systems | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS |
| ⚡ Speed | Very fast |
| ⚙️ Ease of Use | Excellent |
| ☎️ Customer Support | Email, chatbot, Help Center, phone |
| 🪙 Money-Back Guarantee | 14 days |
What is pCloud?
pCloud started in 2013, and compared to some of its rivals, it’s a relatively fresh-baked company on the market. Furthermore, it offers cloud storage for individuals, families, and companies, making it quite a versatile option. Perhaps the best-known thing about pCloud is that it’s based in privacy-friendly Switzerland.
As you know, it has strict privacy laws, serving as an excellent backdrop for pCloud’s security. As we speak, more than 15 million users enjoy this service due to its fast transfer speeds, ease of use, and affordable prices. pCloud offers a free version and has servers in Europe and the US, covering a huge portion of the planet.
This service promises a lot, and in this pCloud review and test for 2026, we will see exactly how good it is.
Pros
- Very easy to set up and use
- Affordable Lifetime plans
- No max file size limit
- Client-side encryption
- Robust security
- Fast transfer speeds
- Convenient cloud backups
- 10 GB of free cloud storage
Cons
- No Office-like tools
- Support is slower to respond
pCloud Device Support & Accessibility
When using a cloud service, it’s really important to have access to it on all of your devices. With that said, we’re going to review pCloud and its device compatibility first, as well as ease of use and initial setup.
🎬 How to Get Started on pCloud?
When we first visited pCloud’s website, which was a long time ago, we were surprised at how easy it was to get into it. The first thing you’ll see is a beautiful-looking website that lets you join for free. We’ll discuss the free version later in the pCloud review. To get pCloud, simply download the app for your device.
Once installed, pCloud will ask you to sign up or sign in. Since you can do it via Google or Facebook, it’s dead simple. After that, pCloud Drive will be installed on your device, ready to use. The setup is the same on mobile devices, and if you want to access the web version, sign up through the site to open the pCloud interface.
🖥️ pCloud Desktop App
Let’s start with the pCloud review of its desktop app. Upon installation, you’ll be greeted by a simplistic yet functional application. You’ll also see that you get 5 GB of free storage from the get-go. However, pCloud lets you gain more storage (up to 10 GB) by verifying your email or inviting other people to the service.
On Windows or Mac, we found pCloud to be extremely easy to use, offering all the features we needed for safe and secure file sharing and storage. After a few years of use, we have found no problems with its app. For example, lets you back up files or add a pCloud sync folder for syncing the files between the cloud and your PC.
Moreover, each option is available from the right side of the window app, so you can access Sync, Crypto, Backup, Photos, and Settings with one click. The PC app even allows you to determine upload and download speed limits, upload screenshots, or make it run on system startup to start syncing from the get-go.
While not the most beautiful app, pCloud on desktop surely is one of the easiest to use.
📱 pCloud Mobile App
The pCloud review and test of its mobile app are also very similar. The app functions the same in both variations, with iOS and Android versions being basically the same. We like the convenience of a mobile app because it allows you to upload and access your files anywhere, as long as you have internet access.
When you install it, pCloud will give you the option to automatically back up photos and videos from your phone. These photos can later be accessed via your computer as well, eliminating the need to use a USB cable to transfer files between the two devices. Furthermore, the mobile app has an integrated media player.
This allows you to open photos, videos, and even music without using a third-party solution. We especially like pCloud’s ability to create playlists, letting you turn it into a full-fledged media player on your phone. All of this makes pCloud one of the most versatile and flexible cloud services on the market.
🌐 pCloud on the Web
If you prefer using pCloud through its beautiful web app, that is entirely possible. We prefer using applications, especially when it comes to mobile devices. However, pCloud offers a surprisingly uncluttered and clean web interface that you can see below. The main part is where you see your music, pictures, and videos folders.
On the left side, you have all the options you get within the app. You can access your Trash or Backup folders, add bookmarks, or preview audio files right then and there. Therefore, if you don’t want any apps on your phone or PC, it’s good to know that pCloud offers a phenomenal and very functional web version.
➕ pCloud Browser Extensions
Now that we mentioned the web version in this pCloud 2026 review, we should also mention its browser extension. During our review, we noticed that it’s unavailable on Chrome, so we tested it on Firefox. pCloud Save, as it’s called, lets you save text, images, and videos to pCloud. It’s not a full-fledged cloud storage app.
However, it does its job well and perfectly complements the already feature-rich experience you get from pCloud. That said, the overall impression is excellent. pCloud nails every aspect of ease of use, from setup to actual real-world use. But is pCloud safe, fast, and reliable? You can guess the answer, but still, let’s proceed.
Is pCloud Fast for Transfers?
Cloud services in the past were useful, almost like today’s solutions, but they had one bad downside: slow transfer speeds. We remember having to wait for an entire day to upload a few-gigabyte file, which drastically hindered our experience and made us abandon cloud services for a while. Nowadays, that’s not always the case.
There are still some really fast cloud storage services. In this pCloud transfer review, our task is to test how fast pCloud lets you upload and download a file. Note that the speed of your uploads and downloads will, of course, depend on your internet speeds. If you have a very slow internet, pCloud can’t overcome this limit.
In the image above, you can see our internet speed, which will be relevant for the pCloud transfer review. Nevertheless, for this pCloud test, we will use a RAR file we created that’s less than 3 GB in size. You can see it in the image below. Once we created the file, we went to our pCloud account and started uploading it.
With our internet speed, which is not the fastest, a file of around 3 GB will upload in about 31 minutes.
Compared to our upload speed, which isn’t great, pCloud is actually really fast and almost utilizes the full potential of the internet connection. If we compare it to, say, Google Drive, you will see that it’s slightly faster, a very pleasant surprise. But what if we downloaded the same file? Will pCloud be any better? Take a look at this.
As you can see, the same file will take about 5 minutes to download. Overall, this is a really good result in this pCloud review, which isn’t a surprise given its impressive performance that only gets better with age.
pCloud Review: Features & Functionalities
Our pCloud test and review in 2026 wouldn’t be complete without talking about its features. Despite its affordable price, this cloud service is as feature-rich as some of its more expensive competitors. Here’s what you can expect from your pCloud subscription (spoiler: a lot):
🗂️ Flexible File Management
One feature we like the most is the file management of pCloud. You’ll say that all cloud services offer this feature, and to a certain extent, you would be right. However, pCloud simplifies things more, letting you classify each file according to its type. Out of the box, pCloud gives you dedicated folders for music, photos, and videos.
This makes it easy to store the files accordingly, especially with the ability to create new folders and sub-folders. Additionally, pCloud offers separate folders for backups and file requests, and as such, they’ll never interfere with the other media-related files. Moreover, there’s the option to create RAR archives within the app.
Since we mentioned file management, it’s worth noting that all files are stored on servers in Europe and the US. You can choose the location of the server, though, and we recommend choosing the one closest to you to maximize the speed and performance. Be careful: this choice needs to be made when you create the account.
It’s technically doable after, but it’s a chargeable option that you would need to request from pCloud.
↪️ Easy File Sharing
What’s a great cloud service without the ability to effortlessly share files? During our tests, we found it incredibly easy to share files. You can do it on all apps. For instance, in the web app, right-click the file and press Share Link. To alter the link’s properties, go to the Shared option and select the Gear icon next to it.
As you can see, this also works in the desktop app. From there, you can add password protection, an expiration date, branding, and download permissions. We especially like the branding part useful for businesses that want to personalize their shared links. In terms of file sharing, it’s one of the best experiences we’ve had.
🔃 File Syncing
If you want your files to be accessible on all devices, you’ll need to use the Sync option that pCloud thankfully offers. What this means is that you can make all your files on the cloud available on every device. That way, you can access them wherever you are and whichever device you’re using; super convenient.
pCloud makes this process simple by making you do nothing. You just have to enable the option, and pCloud will do everything for you. If you download a file on your iPhone, say, pCloud will upload it to the cloud storage and sync it with other devices. So, when you get home and want to access it on your PC, it will be there.
♾️ Unlimited File Size
Did we mention the unlimited file size in this pCloud drive review? Well, now we did. pCloud puts no limits on the file size you’re allowed to upload and download. That is, if the file or group of files you’re trying to upload doesn’t exceed the size of your cloud storage.
With that in mind, you won’t have any issues uploading Blu-Ray movies, high-definition images, and FLAC songs that tend to take up quite a lot of space. By the way, the maximum storage is 10 TB, which should be enough even for users with gargantuan needs. During our review, we stayed with th 2 TB plan.
💾 pCloud Backups
Backups are another important factor in this pCloud review. Doing backups with pCloud is easy because it allows you to utilize third-party cloud services as well. Do you want to back up important files from your PC or phone? No problem. You can do so by selecting the folders you want and toggling backups ON.
Given pCloud’s huge storage space, you can effectively back up every important file from your operating system. Backups will last for up to 1 year, and in this period, you can access your files and folders with no issues. It’s worth mentioning that synchronization is done automatically in this case.
In other words, your backed-up files can be accessed from any device, in case the other device gets stolen or you lose it. As mentioned, you can use third-party cloud solutions. If you want to transfer your files from Dropbox, pCloud gives you its Third-Party section. Bear in mind, this is available only in the web app.
🔙 File History (Up to 365 Days)
You accidentally deleted a file and start panicking? Every file you delete from your cloud storage ends up in the Trash folder. This Trash folder is here for a reason, as it keeps all of your deleted files for 30 days if you’re using a premium plan. Free users, on the other hand, get a 15-day file restoration, which is still very good.
During this period, you can choose to restore the file you want if you make up your mind. It’s good to know, in this pCloud review, that it has your back, which is useful for accidental file deletions. If you need EFH or an Extended File History of 365 days, you can purchase it as an add-on, and we found this to be very convenient.
🔒 Crypto Folder (Encryption)
pCloud offers zero-knowledge, client-side encryption that we’ll discuss in this pCloud review. It’s paid additionally, which isn’t ideal compared to Internxt, which offers it out of the box. However, we can’t complain too much, as the Crypto folder lets you ramp up file protection and prevent access to anyone but yourself.
First, you sign up for encryption, although you can use a 15-day free trial without a credit card, as we did. Then, you create a strong password for it and add a hint if you forget it. From now on, only you have the password, and there’s no way to recover it. Better write it down, or you’ll lose your valuable files forever.
The key aspect of pCloud Encryption is that only you know your password, but for many, that’s a double-edged sword. Either way, it’s extremely simple to set up, and with drag and drop, you can secure any file you want.
📸 pCloud Photos
Finally, let’s address pCloud Photos, which the company recently added. It’s nothing revolutionary, but we believe it’s a good quality-of-life improvement. This feature is accessible on all devices, letting you browse your photos and videos, and even use a memory timeline that explores your life’s most precious moments.
During this pCloud review, we also found the option to edit photos by adjusting basic parameters and applying filters. Though pCloud only has a few basic filters, don’t expect anything fancy. The Crop option was particularly useful, letting us crop images to make them ready for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
In fact, there are special Crop presets for that. You can choose from Feed Square, Feed Portrait, Story, and Cover. While the feature can also reproduce videos, sadly, there’s no option to edit them in any way. At least applying a filter or cropping the video would be nice.
Is pCloud Safe? pCloud Security Review
Everything we said so far lays a good base for a very important pCloud security review. With breaches and hacker attacks happening daily, the cloud service you’re using must be as secure as possible. Given our long-lasting experience with pCloud, we’re fully aware of what exactly this cloud service is capable of.
The aforementioned Crypto Folder or zero-knowledge encryption plays a vital role here, despite being a bonus feature. Zero-knowledge encryption can be decrypted only by the user and not pCloud itself. In this case, even if pCloud gets hacked (which won’t happen), hackers won’t be able to access your files.
When it comes to uploading files, pCloud uses one important trick. It claims to duplicate uploaded content on at least three servers, which will protect you against unexpected server crashes. If one server crashes, the other two servers still contain your files, so it’s virtually impossible to lose them.
Moreover, each uploaded file is protected via 256-bit encryption, with TLS/SSL protocols used for preventing MITM attacks. If you want, you can also add 2FA (two-factor authentication) to your pCloud account, preventing any unwanted people from accessing it. Lastly, we should address the Swiss jurisdiction in this review.
It plays a vital role in your data’s privacy because Switzerland is one of the most stringent countries for data protection. With no part in the EU or US data-retention deals, Switzerland won’t conduct surveillance or force pCloud to collect user data. Your data on pCloud’s servers will stay private and not be sold to anyone.
Customer Support
Customer support of pCloud offers a satisfying experience in terms of asking questions and troubleshooting. If the FAQ section can’t provide enough help, contacting pCloud’s customer support can be done in two ways. First, you have a contact form (chatbot) where you need to enter your email and message.
The response time ranges from 24 to 72 hours, depending on how busy customer support is and the scope of your problem. Alternatively, pCloud has a phone number. While it’s not toll-free and is based in Switzerland, it’s nice that some users can get in touch this way. However, we mostly used its email support
In my experience, I’ve always used their email support with solid results. It’s not the most responsive, and waiting times can stretch, but on the other hand, we have never had serious issues with pCloud. No issues at all, actually. If you need priority support, you have to jump on the business plan, but it’s not for individuals.
pCloud Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?
Before concluding our pCloud 2026 review, we shall talk about the pricing. Throughout this review, we mentioned several times that pCloud is very affordable, and if you take a look at its prices, it’s perfectly reflected.
While the annual plan of pCloud is interesting, our recommendation is the Lifetime plan selection. It is exactly what it sounds like: A lifetime plan that lets you pay one time and enjoy the service for 99 years. For only $399, you get 2 TB, and for $1,190, you get 10 TB of storage for life. Think about that again.
pCloud even offers a 500 GB plan at $199 for casual users. What about annual plans? They’re paid upfront for a year, and while still not expensive, their value for money is questionable in comparison. For instance, 10 TB costs $299 per year, while 2 TB of storage costs $99. If you plan to use it long-term, it’s expensive.
What if you’re unsatisfied? Is there a way to rectify your mistake? Yes. You can do it with pCloud’s 14-day money-back guarantee. All in all, pCloud has good value for money, but if you want to save even more, check out our article on the best pCloud offers and prices to get the same quality for a lot less money.
🆓 pCloud Free Storage Review
We want to mention that there’s a forever-free version of pCloud. If you don’t want to buy it despite the money-back guarantee, this free version will give you a good glimpse at what the cloud service offers without spending a penny. Besides, with its free cloud storage that still offers many paid features, but with a caveat.
You’re limited to 10 GB of storage. If you don’t need to upload big files, it’s perfect for testing and getting used to it before going for the premium plan. Making an account gives you 5 GB, tu verifying it, downloading the mobile app, and inviting friends gives you 1 GB more, up to 10 GB in total.
🈺 Business Plans
pCloud users who want more possibilities can go for the Business plans. There are Business and Business Pro tiers at $29.97 and $44.94 per month per user, with at least three users on the plan. Each user gets up to 2 TB of storage, with free pCloud Encryption, access control, and 180 days of file versioning.
Only the Business Pro tier gets priority support, which responds more quickly and is generally more helpful. It’s a shame that pCloud doesn’t offer unlimited storage like recently tested Sync.com. It would’ve been nice for larger teams with more storage demands. But even like this, it offers plenty for mid-sized companies.
pCloud Review Summary: Is pCloud Good in 2026?
Everything we said in this pCloud review for 2026 leads us to one simple conclusion: It’s a high-quality storage service. pCloud impressed us with pretty much everything apart from its middling customer support and the lack of Office-like tools. But pCloud isn’t about productivity obsession like Dropbox or Google Drive.
pCloud is one of the safest, most secure cloud storage services with powerful encryption, ease of use, unrelenting speeds, and business plans that diversify its offers. So, after our full pCloud review for 2026, we conclude that pCloud offers exceptional value for money and is, therefore, absolutely worth getting.
pCloud
