Cloud storage services have been in use for many years to keep our most valuable data safe from hardware problems or malware on our computers. Thanks to cloud storage, we can have our files and folders synchronized on one or more computers and mobile devices, to access them from anywhere easily and quickly. pCloud is one of the best storage services in the Cloud, both for its compatibility with different operating systems, the capacity of the cloud storage, its price that is really competitive, and also the speed of uploading and downloading files. Today in this article we bring you a complete analysis on pCloud, a cloud storage service with up to 2TB of really interesting capacity.
Main features of pCloud
pCloud is a cloud storage service that has several data centers around the world, specifically, we have the possibility to choose Dallas and Texas in the US, and also in Luxembourg (European Union), although both data centers comply with the regulations of the GDPR to properly protect our data. The pCloud company is based in Switzerland, and therefore they follow very strict Swiss laws when it comes to personal data.
pCloud has been designed to greatly facilitate work in the cloud, we can synchronize files and folders on different operating systems such as Windows, Linux, macOS and also on mobile devices such as Android and iOS, all with client software that is very easy to install and configure In addition, it is really fast and consumes very few resources.
Finally, pCloud also has extensions for the Chrome, Firefox and Opera web browsers, this extension will allow us to save images, videos, audios and much more directly to our pCloud account, without having to download it manually and then upload or save it in the folder synced from pCloud.
Security
Regarding the security of our data, the first thing we should know is that we will have 256-bit AES encryption on the server side , that is, the best security that our data can currently have. The client devices will communicate with the cloud through secure protocols such as TLS, and when all the information arrives through this encrypted channel, the files will be hosted on the server with 256-bit AES.
In addition, we also have the possibility of contracting pCloud Encryption , a security feature that will allow us to encrypt the data on the client side (on our computer), with the aim that if someone is able to access the hard drive or SSD of our computer, they cannot read the data since it will also be protected by AES 256 bits, if we do not hire it, we would be in the same case of Dropbox or Google Drive, the files on our computer will not be encrypted, in addition, these two services do not provide us this functionality so important today.
Of course, not even pCloud administrators will be able to access our data on their servers, since communication with the servers at the time of synchronization is done via TLS, and the data when it arrives is encrypted instantly.
As for authentication, we have to authenticate in the service with our user account and password, but we can activate a two-step authentication easily and quickly. This two-factor authentication can be configured using SMS (not recommended to avoid SIM Swaping attacks), and also with an authenticator application such as Google Authenticator, Latch or another TOTP app to generate temporary single-use codes, this last option is the safest and most recommended.
Options for sharing files and folders
With our pCloud account, we can access all the files and folders in our account, but, in addition, we can easily share the files or folders that we want, we can generate personalized download links, configured to access only with a password, and even We can put an expiration date on these types of links, ideal to protect the information that we are sharing with other people. We also have the possibility to customize the download links with photos, ideal to give it a more professional touch if we are a company. We will also have a section to see all the folders we are sharing, and all the folders they are sharing with us.
Other features
Other characteristics of pCloud is that we will have an integrated PDF file viewer via the web, we will not need to download the PDF file to later view it, we will be able to see it directly without downloading it. The same happens with audio and video files, it incorporates an integrated player, so we will not need to download it before viewing it. We can also search for text within the content of the files, ideal for locating a specific file without having to navigate through dozens of folders until we find what we need.
Cloud storage services always have version control of files, and also the typical recycle bin. In the case of pCloud, we can see a history of the files and the trash for 15, 30, 180 and up to 365 days, depending on the plan you have chosen with the pCloud service, the 365-day plan requires an additional payment, for default is 30 days, the usual thing in this type of services.
Prices
pCloud has several types of account and storage, below, we detail the different accounts:
- Free account : allows us up to 10GB of storage by completing very simple steps to get storage.
- Premium : it allows us to have up to 500GB of cloud storage, if we pay monthly it is worth € 4.99, if we pay annually it is worth € 47.88, and if we pay the subscription “for life” it will cost us € 175.
- Premium Plus : allows us to have up to 2TB of cloud storage, if we pay monthly it is worth € 9.99, if we pay annually it is worth € 95.88, and if we pay the subscription “for life” it will cost us € 350.
- Family Premium Plus : it allows us to have up to 2TB of storage in the cloud, and shared with up to 5 family accounts. This plan is worth € 500 and is the subscription for life.
- Business : we finally have the business option that will allow us 1TB per user, and we have to have a minimum of 3 users in the company.
Without a doubt, the most recommended long-term payment is the “lifetime” payment, we pay it once and it would be like having a hard drive in the cloud, and we can use it for 99 years. Considering the prices, the “for life” plan is profitable compared to the annual plan after the fourth year of service. Finally, the technical support is in different languages, among which we have Spanish, English, German and also French.
If we want to buy the functionality of pCloud Encryption, the lifetime subscription is € 125, as you can see here:
Once we have seen the main features of pCloud, we will see in detail all the available options.