Best pCloud Alternatives

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IN THIS GUIDE, YOU’RE GOING TO READ THE 7 BEST pCloud ALTERNATIVES:

More than 20 million people use pCloud to share large files with friends, family, clients and other businesses. Based in Switzerland, the file storage and transfer service has built a reputation for quality, speed, and security. Yet while customers like the ease of use and the data protections afforded by having servers located in the EU and governed by Swiss laws, there are some considerable inconveniences associated with the service, too.

As people search for alternatives to pCloud, which should they choose? In this article we’ve selected seven file transfer service alternatives to pCloud and we’ll weight the pros and cons of each.

Why Should I Look for an Alternative to pCloud?

While users of pCloud appreciate its efficiency, there are a couple of significant roadblocks for regular users.

For one, pCloud puts some hard limits on the size of the files that can be transferred via pCloud. The lowest tier pCloud plan offers just 500GB of storage and 500GB of sharing traffic. For users that regularly transfer files, these limits can hit hard and fast and considerably restrict their capacity to get their files where they need to be.

For another, pCloud is expensive. The cheapest plan starts at €199 per year, with premium and ultra plans stretching to €399 and €1190 respectively. When sending even a single large file with pCloud demands spending hundreds of euros to open an account, it’s little wonder that users are seeking out alternatives.

Finally, pCloud doesn’t offer encryption as a standard feature. It’s an add-on so that even the lowest tier plan requires an additional €150 just to add client-side encryption. Encryption is a stock-standard feature for many other file transfer services as well as an expectation of small business and consumers alike.

Seven Alternatives to pCloud

It’s probably no surprise that, faced with such challenges, users are looking for alternatives to pCloud for sending large files. In a competitive market, there are several services that consumers and small businesses can embrace to transfer their files. In this article, we’ll consider seven leading alternatives to pCloud:

Smash

Dropbox

Sync.com

MEGA

Google Drive

Icedrive

Box.com

We can weigh these alternatives against each other with the following criteria based on the known issues with pCloud:

Cost: Do you have to pay to transfer files, to buy or rent a server, or pay a subscription to a company?

Speed: Is the transfer fast?

Encryption: Are the files that are transferred encrypted during the transfer and at rest on the server?

Environment: Is the service environmentally friendly?

Software: Does a user need to download special software or applications to transfer the file?

Size: Are there any limits to the size of the file that can be transferred with the service?

1. Smash

Smash is a file transfer service that is built from the ground up to send large files fast, securely, and with ease. It stands out from the competition by offering premium features for free: encryption, password protection, and no file size limits at all. Users can send a file for free, no matter how large, with market-leading encryption and lightning-fast delivery.

Premium tiers at Smash offer plugins or Microsoft Outlook and multi-user team accounts so that small businesses can coordinate their transfers and share at scale. There’s even an API so that Smash can be deeply integrated into the day-to-day workflows of creative enterprises. While there are dedicated iOS, Android, and Mac apps, Smash can be used in any browser and on any device – there’s never any software to download to transfer a large file with Smash.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Smash
                Free
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                No
                Unlimited
            

    

2. Dropbox

Dropbox is a file storage and transfer service that grew to fame after emerging from Silicon Valley and the yCombinator system. It enables users to sync files on folders on one machine with other machines, making it easy to move between devices and always stay up to date with the most current version of a file. Dropbox has also added the capacity to share or transfer files on a user’s Dropbox folder with others, and to store files in the Dropbox cloud.

While there is a free tier for Dropbox with some 2GB of storage, the lowest premium tier for transferring files is the €9.99 per month Plus plan. This enables users to transfer files of up to 50GB, with Business and Business Plus plans enabling sharing of 100GB and 250GB files. Transfers are end-to-end encrypted, and users will need to download Dropbox to their desktop or mobile device to get the most out of their subscription. Finally, as Dropbox has to maintain copies of files in multiple locations, it is far from an environmentally friendly option.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Dropbox
                From €120/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                50-250GB
            

    

3. Sync.com

Sync describes itself as a file storage, sharing, and collaboration platform. A direct competitor to Dropbox, it relies on a similar folder syncing technology and requires software to be downloaded to the user’s device. Available on Mac, Windows, Android and iOS, Sync is fully encrypted, and transfers can be of any size up to the size of the Sync folder.

Sync costs an individual user $8 each month for the 2TB plan or $20 per month for the 6TB plan. The maximum file transfer with each plan is unlimited up to the size of the storage, and the storage comes with an environmental cost because those servers retain copies of the files even when not being transferred. Interestingly, Sync is GDPR and PIPEDA compliant on even the cheapest tiers, and also HIPAA compliant for the more expensive tiers.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Sync.com
                From $96/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                2-6TB
            

    

4. MEGA

MEGA is an online platform focused on privacy. It includes file storage, file transfer, chat, meeting, and VPN components, though it is really the file storage and transfer elements that stands as a real alternative to pCloud. MEGA plans that include file transfers start at €99 per year and all transfers are fully encrypted both end-to-end during the transfer as when the file is at rest. Like Dropbox and Sync, MEGA stores files on their servers which comes at an environmental cost but MEGA accepts this trade-off to maintain the privacy of their users.

The maximum file transfer for the €99 plan is 24TB which is significantly larger than what pCloud offers, though it remains far behind the unlimited transfer size from Smash. For users seeking more than just a file transfer service, MEGA has a lot to offer, even if those additional elements come at a monthly or annual cost.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                MEGA
                From €99/yr
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                24TB
            

    

5. Google Drive

Google Drive is a file storage service that offers file transfers via a share function in the Drive. Sharing is relatively simple and, for around €20 per year, users can store up to 100GB of files including photos, audio, video, and documents. Sharing is fast and easy with just a couple of clicks required to share a file to any email address.

As a file storage service at base, Google Drive is not the most environmentally friendly way to transfer a large file. It stocks those files on servers and these servers come with a cost in terms of carbon emissions both before and after transfers are complete. While Google Drive can be accessed online through any browser, the syncing function of the Drive requires downloading software to a Mac, a Windows device, or a mobile device. Finally, while the number of transfers from a Google Drive is not limited, the size of the file that can be transferred is obviously limited by the size of the storage package (100Gb to 2TB, depending on the plan).

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Google Drive
                From €20/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                100GB-2TB
            

    

6. Icedrive

Icedrive is an emerging alternative to pCloud with a special focus on cryptography and user privacy. It is focused primarily on file storage rather than file sharing, with a free account offering 10GB of storage. The free account offers up to 50GB of monthly bandwidth which may cover the file transfer needs of its customers. Sharing files is relatively easy and shared files can have a ‘timeout’ attached so that they are not permanently available to others. However, while access to files for others can be timed out, the files do stay on the Icedrive server which comes with an environmental cost.

For heavy users, Icedrive also has tiers at €3.99 (100GB), €5.99 (1TB) and €10.99 (3TB) with their own increased bandwidth limits. With market leading encryption, this is an alternative to pCloud for the Web3 enthusiast.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Icedrive
                Free
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                From 50GB
            

    

7. Box.com

Box is a similar file syncing tool to Dropbox, though with its own features that help users to collaborate in teams, manage their content, and develop workflows for small businesses. Box offers different paid plans, with the lowest tier plan offering unlimited storage but a limit per file of 5GB. All files can be shared easily and without limits.

There are some downsides to Box, however. Targeted at small and large businesses, the service demands a minimum of 3 users for its plans which puts monthly costs over €40 and annual fees around €500. There’s also a significant environmental cost to hosting unlimited files on Box servers, something that a file transfer service does not suffer from. Encryption is end-to-end but Box recommends using their software for managing files on the various supported operating systems and devices.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Box.com
                From €486/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                5GB
            

    

Conclusion: Smash is the Best Alternative to pCloud in 2025

Comparing all of the seven alternatives to pCloud against each other and there is a clear leader: Smash.

While other services hit all the right notes on encryption, speed, and even cost, Smash is out in front when it comes to cost – free! – and environmental impact, and the size of the transfer allowed, too. Every other service limits the size of the transfer it enables and, while some of those constraints are large, the fact that Smash provides unlimited file size transfers on even its free tier plan is a major plus.

    
        
                Alternative
                Cost
                Speed
                Encryption
                Environment
                Software
                Size
            

        
                Smash
                Free
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                No
                Unlimited
            

                Dropbox
                From €120/yr
                ★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                50-250GB
            

                Sync.com
                From $96/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                2-6TB
            

                MEGA
                From €99/yr
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                24TB
            

                Google Drive
                From €20/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                100GB-2TB
            

                Icedrive
                Free
                ★★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                From 50GB
            

                Box.com
                From €486/yr
                ★★★★
                ★★★★★
                ★★★
                Yes
                5GB
            

    

Smash is available via any web browser, a dedicated Mac app, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and as an API for enterprise users. Try it today to send a large file that pCloud either can’t handle or won’t handle for free – you won’t look back from this pCloud alternative!

Time to Try Out a pCloud Alternative

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Frequently Asked Questions

Files that are shared via Smash don’t sit on servers for years. They are uploaded to servers and then, after being downloaded or after a short period of time, deleted from those servers. This means that Smash doesn’t store unnecessary data on carbon-intensive servers around the world, nor does it make a couple of copies of every attached file like with email. It’s cleaner, greener, and better for the world.
Smash is capable of handling files of every shape, size, and type. Businesses regularly use Smash to transfer PPT presentations, Word documents and Excel sheets, while creatives use Smash to share images, video, and original content. From a single photo for Grandma through to the raw footage for a future Hollywood film, Smash handles it all.
Yes! Sending a file on Smash is free as in beer. No cost, no charges, and no hidden fees. Of course, some Smash users choose to step up to one of the paid plans to take advantage of our Outlook Plugin or our API access, but sending a file on Smash has been and always will be free, no matter how large that file is.