pCloud Review

The possibility of your digital files being wiped and lost forever is a constant threat should your hardware break. This is why it’s always worth considering backing up your information on an online cloud. We’ve put together this pCloud review to help you decide if it’s the right storage system for you.

USB sticks are still used by many people today, but there is always the chance of them being lost, stolen, or damaged. By taking a look into what storing your data in a secure online storage facility can do, you are setting yourself up to truly secure your precious memories, meaningful work, and just about anything else you find valuable.

By figuring out the best cloud storage service for you, everything on your phone or computer that you hold dear can be secured for a lifetime. 

What Is PCloud?

PCloud is an online storage space where users can upload, save, and protect their files. The company started in 2013, and it now has more than 10 million members using its services.

PCloud is not as well-known as generally trusted online storage programs such as iCloud and Google Drive, so it needs to be investigated carefully to see if it matches up to the rest of the best online file storage systems. By understanding what it has to offer, you’ll be in a better position to decide whether it’s the right fit for you or not.

PCloud Features

We’ll take a quick pCloud review of the platform’s features. PCloud includes all of the essential features you’d expect from a legitimate online storage platform. It’s exceptionally straightforward in terms of navigation. You can easily share files and folders, large or small, as long as they fit within the size limits of your pCloud subscription plan.

PCloud Rewind

One of the features we had to include in our pCloud review is the Rewind feature. If any of your files get deleted or corrupted, they can be recovered up to 30 days later. You can extend this for up to a year of recovery time for an extra charge of $39. This is an excellent addition to the program. Rest assured that should anything happen to your files; they can be successfully recovered and returned to their original format, making pCloud one of the safest cloud storage platforms on the market. The only drawback is that it doesn’t automatically put them back to the position they were in before, so you must manually place them back into the order that suits you. 

PCloud Save

This pCloud extension allows you to save photos at the click of a button. If you’re browsing your computer and see an image that you like, simply right-click it, and it’ll automatically be saved to your pCloud drive. This feature takes away a fair bit of the hassle that comes with saving images as it excludes the steps of firstly saving the image to your device and then uploading it to your pCloud account. 

PCloud Music

PCloud also offers some of the best cloud storage for music as it features the pCloud audio player. Most other cloud platforms don’t provide music-saving options that are as good as pCloud. Not only can you save your music to it, but it also features a music playing system setup just like any other general music player where you can create playlists. You can also download the music to your device, and you can play it when you’re offline. Our pCloud review certainly gives a big thumbs up to the service for this great bonus feature.

PCloud Security

When it comes to saving your files on an online cloud platform, security is of the utmost importance. Luckily, pCloud is based in Switzerland, which has some of the world’s strongest data security laws. This means that your data will be protected by Swiss law, giving you an extra dosage of security and protection. This guarantees that pCloud is one of the safest cloud storage systems out there. 

When you upload files to pCloud, they are protected by 256-bit AES encryption. PCloud splits these files among five servers, giving them secure protection. PCloud Crypto is also an excellent add-on security service. For an additional $3.99 (if you have an annual subscription), you can get an extra layer of security by having client-side encryption. This is when your files are also encrypted on your device, keeping your pCloud safe to an extra level. The parts of your files that are encrypted are sent to the pCloud servers, and the plain text files don’t leave your device.

PCloud even had a “come hack us” challenge where a $100,000 prize was up for grabs if someone could successfully hack its system. There was a six-month time limit to complete the challenge, yet nobody was able to do so - although more than 2,800 individuals, 613 hacking organizations, and 21 tech universities tried. With pCloud happy to put its money where its mouth is, it goes to show the confidence the company has in being one of the top cloud storage operators in the world. 

User Experience

You can access pCloud through various programs on your devices. The pCloud desktop app is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This doesn’t mean your files will take up space on your computer’s hard drive as they’ll be saved to the pCloud internet storage system. You will instead feel like you have a lot more space on your computer! (Up to 2 TB, depending on your package.) 

You can also access the service through the pCloud app on your iOS or Android mobile device. It can be frustrating when your phone’s memory is always full. This is primarily due to the number of photos and videos people store on a regular basis. But with this easy-to-use app, you won’t face these issues anymore - all of your mobile files can be uploaded onto your pCloud account, making it seem like your phone has an infinite capacity of storage space. 

The app is smooth and easy to handle, with the only apparent drawback being the lack of a drag-and-drop feature that appears on the desktop app. Nevertheless, pCloud offers the best cloud storage for Android and iOS.

Customer Support

We’ve also put pCloud’s customer support to the test to see how it fared. In general, not a great deal of customer support situations can arise when using the pCloud program, and if any do, your best bet is to first check out the website’s in-depth FAQ page. 

Should you have an urgent query, bear in mind that pCloud’s offices are based in Switzerland - a few hours ahead of the United States. If you need to make a phone call for pCloud to review your problem, you’ll need to rise early to get through to them. Because of the time difference - which ranges from six to nine hours depending on where you live in the US - you might have to wait until the next morning before you get a response.

Unfortunately, pCloud support still doesn’t have a live chat, which has improved customer service immensely for many companies around the world. 

The fact that its offices are located in Switzerland is a shame for US users when it comes to communication. On the other hand, it means you get stronger privacy laws. Given that we are reviewing a cloud storage system, extended privacy should take priority over customer service.

PCloud specializes in offering large amounts of storage space. If you don’t need more than 100 GB, then perhaps it is worth looking at other options. If, however, you need high quantities of storage, you’ll find that pCloud’s prices are quite reasonable when sized up against the competition.

PCloud premium cloud storage is priced at $49.99 per year. This package gives you 500 GB of storage space, 500 GB of shared link traffic, fair share links, the ability to brand your links, as well as 30 days of trash history so that you can recover deleted items. 

For $99.99, you can upgrade the pCloud storage limit from 500 GB to 2 TB of storage space with the Premium Plus package. 

For some long-term value, you can get a pCloud lifetime subscription with Premium costing a one-off $175 (discounted from $500) and Premium Plus $350 (discounted from $980). With the lifetime deal, you’ll have access to all of that memory and file protection space forever, unless, of course, pCloud as a company folds. 

If you’re looking for a family membership, the affordable pCloud cost of the company’s Family plan is a great plus. This consists of a one-off payment of $500 (heavily discounted from $1,400) for a lifetime membership to pCloud. It gives yourself and four other family members access to 2 TB of storage space. This space can be divided up into separate amounts for each family member with a pCloud review of distribution available. Say one person needs more space; they can take 1 TB, whilst the other four may only need 250 GB each. Also, each family member will be entitled to their own personal and private space, meaning they’ll have their own account and password to access their content.

You can also sign up for the pCloud business plan. PCloud business pricing is dependent on how many employees you plan to sign up. Each employee signed up for the program costs $7.99 per month on a yearly subscription or $9.99 on a monthly subscription. Each employee is assigned 1 TB of space for files, which is sufficient for most companies.

Conclusion

Despite being relatively new to the industry and not having the same power as Microsoft or Google, pCloud puts up a great fight, earning the title as one of the best cloud-based storage systems out there.

Its security is top-notch: 256-bit AES encryption, files backed over five servers, and an extra pCloud Crypto option are there to ensure your data is never compromised. Your privacy rights are enshrined in Swiss law, meaning it’s tough for corporate and state institutions to snoop. Overall, we review pCloud security as just about as good as you’re going to get.  

Additionally, pCloud can be used over various devices and platforms, including Windows, iOS, and Android. Both its desktop and mobile applications are straightforward to use, and you should be able to get the hang of them in no time, even if online cloud backups are something completely new to you.

Its pricing structure is also a match with its competitors. If you need large amounts of cloud storage space, pCloud is hard to beat. With various big discounts going on, you can find yourself with one of the most affordable cloud storage systems on the market. When you throw in some of its excellent features, it really does offer great value for your money. The only pricing drawback is that a couple of those features, such as extra encryption, come with an added price. Nevertheless, when you compare the cloud storage features of other providers, some of them don’t even offer the add-ons that pCloud offers.

The one other drawback that comes with pCloud is its customer support. It doesn’t have a live chat option, can be slow to respond, and can be hard to reach due to the time difference. The site does have a great FAQ section, however, and that alone should be enough to answer most inquiries. 

To conclude our pCloud review, we say that if you need a large quantity of secure cloud storage space, you should absolutely sign up for pCloud!