What Is pCloud?
pCloud is a provider of online storage in the field of cloud technology. It provides storage for all your data; music, photos and videos, and also documents. PCloud can be used by anyone and can be your paramount online storage provider or as an alternative.
Technology in this century offers a lot regarding storage. With security issues, itâs a wise decision to have a backup of your data. Solid-state storage is becoming cumbersome to work with, and when it comes to increasing productivity, cloud storage is a must-have for everyone.
Learn more about the service in this pCloud Review.
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Pricing And Plans
pCloud delivers its services across its plans. It has three main plans;
- Free plan
- Premium plan
- Lifetime plan
It also has other additional subscriptions for business and also Crypto for enhanced security.
pCloud Monthly Plans
The plans below are for monthly.
*The download link traffic refers to the traffic generated from your public download links when other people download or stream content from the links.
Basic Free Plan
The platform allows you to test the service for free. Honestly, you cannot do much with a free account since it is very limited. However, the free plan can give you a real taste of the service.
- Up to 10 GB Storage
- 50GB Download link traffic
Premium Plan $ 3.99/month
- 500GB Storage
- 500GB Download link traffic*
Premium Plus $7.99/month
- 2TB Storage
- 2TB Download link traffic*
pCloud Review – Lifetime Plans & Pricing
pCloud has introduced even the lifetime plans. You will pay only one time and keep using the service forever. At the moment you can activate a lifetime plan saving 65%.
*The download link traffic refers to the traffic generated from your public download links when other people download or stream content from the links.
Premium Plus 2 TB Annual $ 350
- 2 TB storage
- 2 TB Download link traffic
- 30 days trash history
Premium 500 GB Annual $ 175
- 500 GB Storage
- 500 GB Download link traffic
- 30 days trash history
pCloud Crypto
pCloud offers even a solution to protect all your files and documents through encryption.
Crypto plans start at $ 4.99 if you buy a monthly plan. Otherwise, you can save 20% subscribing to the annual plan.
If you are planning to buy pCloud crypto, you should consider the lifetime plan that will cost you only $ 125.
If you are not sure about the crypto service, you may activate the 14-day free trial to test all the features that come with this tool.
Payments can be done through the major credit and debit card providers such as Visa, Master Card, and American Express, they also support PayPal.
pCloud payments have a 10-day money-back guarantee.
pCloud Features
There are structural entities that make pCloud a competitive player in the online storage providers industry.
Here are the key features.
File Management
The service offers you ways to manipulate data through its desktop client and web interface.
The management is similar to that of an operating system in its minimal form.
File Sharing
The sharing capabilities are incomparable.
Sharing is done through three ways;
- Invite to Folder â this option allows your friends, coworkers, and family to view and also modify the contents of the folder. They can also edit the files. This is also a native collaboration feature. Thereâs no way one can control which file to be modified and which is to be not.
- Share Upload Link â this involves sharing a link so that people can upload content to the shared folder.
- Share Download Link – itâs the vice versa of the upload link, an individual can download content from the shared folder. Changes made to the downloaded files donât affect the original files.
Read: How to Send Large Files using pCloud
File Tracking
More like versioning, pCloud allows you to keep an eye on files that are modified in the shared folder.
It also gives you the ability to maintain the original version of a file. You can also inspect activities and retrieve changes made to the initial file.
Synchronization
This feature allows syncing of files from the cloud server to your various clients such as desktop and mobile apps.
Backup is done regularly, and you can keep your social media accounts backed up. With this feature, you can never miss a file.
Integrations
Not only syncing but also integration. Using this service lets you increase the security of your photos on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Picasa.
You will be able to back up your special memories simply by clicking a button and keep your photos safe.
You can also integrate other different plugins into your account. A plugin like WordPress ensures that your WordPress database is backed up.
pCloud Player
Included in the service there is an audio player that lets you listen to and manage your music.
This player has a playlist and sorts out music according to artist or album. It further arranges the songs alphabetically.
Through the audio interface, you can download the music, play it, add to playlist or player, share it and also open its location.
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Security
Online storage deals with all kinds of information. This information is private and confidential and should not be seen by other people.
Also, this information should maintain its integrity when its stored in the cloud. Modifications done or facilitated by the user are allowed.
This information should also be available at all times.
pCloud ensures that the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) is observed.
To ensure this, the service offers top-notch security controls throughout their ecosystem.
pCloud uses TLS/SSL encryption to encrypt information during transmission from the userâs client to the cloud. Stored information is also encrypted.
Their data centers are also monitored to avoid potential attacks and infrastructure failure. For maximum security, it offers Crypto at an additional fee.
pCloud Crypto
Crypto is a security feature that facilitates client-side encryption.
With this feature, encryption is done from the userâs devices instead of the pCloud side.
This means the users have control over the encryption keys.
The plain text stays at the usersâ device while the cipher text â encrypted information is uploaded and stored in the pCloud servers.
Even pCloud itself will never know what kind of information you encrypted.
With these, Zero-Knowledge Privacy is accomplished.
Encryption and decryption is done using a crypto Pass. This feature is integrated in both the mobile and desktop app.
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Why Client-side Encryption?
Client side encryption means your information stored in the cloud is more secure even from the government.
Reason being, you are in possession of the decryption keys, unless you decide to give them to someone.
On the other side, server-side encryption means that encryption is done from the server and the vendors have access to your information. This means that the CIA triad can be breached at any time.
pCloud Rewind
To add an extra layer of protection, pCloud rewind protects you from external attacks. Ransomware attacks are increasing and it is very easy to become a victim, for instance, inadvertently opening a phishing email.
pCloud Rewind is a handy solution to protect yourself from these dangers.
Speed
Speed is essential for cloud storage. The faster the speeds, the better the service.
The service offers unlimited speeds with no throttling. Uploading and downloading should be as fluid as possible, other factors such as your internet connection may affect this speed. Other some instances, uploading maybe faster than downloading and vice versa, this also depends on the congestion of your ISP and internet connectivity.
It has super high speeds of 80mbps. This means a whopping 1GB file can be uploaded in approximately 59sec and downloaded in about 36sec.
This speeds may vary according to your internet connection. With these speeds, file access is nearly a desktop experience.
Compatibility
pCloud is accessible across all platform using its web interface. Platform wise, there are client applications for;
- Linux
- Mac
- Windows
To also cater for the mobile world, it has apps for both Android and iOS.
They also have an app for Windows 10 phones only, and maybe they will also cater to Blackberry users.
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Getting Started With pCloud
Signing Up
To sign up, open the pCloud official website and click free signup as shown.
A form will pop up where you will input the required details.
Alternatively, you can use your Facebook account to sign up. You will have to agree to terms and conditions before creating your account.
After clicking the create account button, another popup will show up; itâs a download link to pCloud Drive (desktop client.) you can download it or at later using links at the website and sign up via the client.
You are automatically awarded free 10GB of storage, and you can increase this to up to 20GB by doing tasks such as;
- inviting friends
- get free space
- share link on Facebook
- many more tasks as listed on their website.
pCloud Client
After installation and login in via the desktop client, Windows Explorer will pop up, and you will have an added cloud virtual drive, just like a hard disk.
Opening this drive via explorer reveals five folders;
- My Music
- My Pictures
- My Videos
- pCloud Help
- pCloud Sync.
Both the desktop client and Web have a pretty same interface except for the location of operation tabs. The desktop client has them on the upper part while in the web they are located on the left side.
Both interfaces are intuitive with an elegant, simple design for easier navigation.
Customer Support
Support to the client is provided in various ways.
Thereâs pCloud Help in the virtual drive where thereâs a get started PDF. This is a starter kit help of all you need to know and go about using the service.
Their website also has a knowledge base of frequently asked questions. This FAQ handles all queries about pCloud drive, mobile app, web and also crypto.
You can also request help if the FAQ is of no help. You only need to fill the contact form or send them an email displayed on the web page.
pCloud Pros and Cons
Pros
- Unlimited file size
- Easy file sorting
- Plays media files
- Share files with non-users
- Faster speeds
- Backup media from social media
- Enhanced encryption
Cons
- You have to pay for extra security after 14-day trial
- Password protect on files not yet available.
pCloud For Business
pCloud provides an optimized pCloud for business.
Itâs basically about safety of your business data. Only people who are acquainted with permissions will be able to access the files. Communication and collaboration for teams and users is done through its integrated file system.
This one offers you;
- Crypto
- Workflow user-friendly tools
- Cutting edge elements in line with business prerequisites.
Verdict
With its simple interface, pCloud is suitable for both novice and experienced users.
Users do not need to worry about failure due to data redundancy in their servers. Speeds are at its optimum, and so far no one has rivaled this; even the big giants in the industry.
Zero-knowledge privacy is an added advantage although the Crypto feature should be incorporated as a feature and users should not pay for it.
pCloud should also introduce file protection policies for individual files i.e. in the shared folder.
They have a responsive support system that we liked but it wouldnât hurt if they included a live chat.
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