Cloud storage comparison — find the right service in 60 seconds
Answer 5 questions about your priorities (zero-knowledge encryption, jurisdiction, budget, storage, use case) and get a personalised recommendation from 6 leading encrypted cloud storage services. Or jump straight to the full comparison table.
Question 1 of 5
What's your encryption priority?
Determines whether zero-knowledge is required.
How does this comparison quiz work?
The quiz asks 5 questions about your real priorities: encryption level (zero-knowledge or not), preferred jurisdiction (Switzerland outside CLOUD Act, EU, or don't care), monthly budget (or lifetime deal), storage volume needed, and primary use case (personal, journalist, team or backup). Each answer assigns points to each service via a transparent algorithm. The result gives you a ranked list of 6 services with a match score. You can also skip the quiz and view the full tabular comparison.
Why this comparison tool exists
Choosing encrypted cloud storage is hard: marketing pages don't mention the CLOUD Act, don't distinguish server encryption from zero-knowledge, and don't explain why jurisdiction changes everything. This comparator is built on our verified database (June 2026) and accounts for criteria rarely highlighted: open-source client, availability of a lifetime deal, free plan size, and suitability for team collaboration.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between zero-knowledge and standard encryption?
A standard service (e.g. Google Drive) encrypts in transit and at rest, but holds the keys — it can decrypt your files on a court order. A zero-knowledge service (Proton Drive, Tresorit, Sync.com, Internxt) encrypts client-side before upload: the provider never holds the keys and technically cannot access files in cleartext, even under legal compulsion.
Is pCloud zero-knowledge?
Not by default. pCloud encrypts in transit and at rest (AES-256), but holds the keys server-side. The Crypto add-on module (€49.99/year or €125 lifetime) enables zero-knowledge on a dedicated folder. This is a useful compromise: the pCloud Lifetime deal remains cheaper than Tresorit over 5 years, even with the Crypto add-on.
Why is Swiss jurisdiction better than the US?
The US CLOUD Act (2018) allows US authorities to demand data held worldwide by US companies, without notifying the data owner. Switzerland is not in the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, its law (LPD, revised 2023) offers strong guarantees, and Swiss companies are not subject to the CLOUD Act. Proton AG, pCloud AG and Tresorit (Tresorit SA, Geneva) are all domiciled in Switzerland.
Does the quiz take team collaboration needs into account?
Yes — the 'primary use case' question includes 'team / business'. If you select this, Tresorit and Sync.com receive extra points because they offer B2B-grade secure sharing and permission management. Proton Drive also supports collaboration since 2024.
Are the quiz scores objective?
The algorithm is transparent and open-source (see our GitHub repo). Weights reflect our threat model: zero-knowledge and jurisdiction count heavily if you select those priorities. Affiliate services (pCloud, Proton Drive) receive no artificial boost in the score — if a non-affiliate service matches better, it will win.