pCloud Review (2026)Lifetime Cloud Storage From €219 Once
By Daan Haket · Researched and written with an AI assistant · who does what
Client-side encryption is not included in personal plans; it is a separate €150 purchase.
individuals and families who want a large amount of cloud storage for years and would rather pay once than keep a subscription running.
you need end-to-end encryption by default without an extra purchase, or you are not sure you will still want the same storage in a few years.
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Pricing (2026)
✓ Pricing re-verified 26 Oct 2026
pCloud is best known for lifetime plans paid once. Premium 500 GB is €219 (struck through from €279), Premium Plus 2 TB €499 (from €709) and Ultra 10 TB €1,499 (from €2,799), each a one-time payment that includes pCloud Photos and pCloud Docs and shared-link traffic of twice the storage. Family lifetime plans for up to 5 users cost €749 for 2 TB (from €999) and €1,849 for 10 TB (from €3,499).
For teams, Business is €9.99 per user a month with 1 TB per user and Business Pro €14.98 per user a month with 2 TB per user (€44.94 a month for 3 users, marked down from €59.94, for new accounts only), both with a minimum of 3 users and pCloud Encryption included; Business has a 30-day free trial. For personal plans, client-side encryption is a separate add-on: €150 once (from €229).
The free account starts with 2 GB and can be unlocked to 10 GB. pCloud also sells monthly and annual Premium plans; we did not record those prices on this read. 'Lifetime' means the account owner's lifetime or 99 years, whichever is shorter. There is a 14-day money-back guarantee, but pCloud reserves the right to decline refunds on promotional or discounted purchases. Plans change — always verify the live price on their site.
Category context: IT & Productivity. Across the 39 tools in this category that we researched with a public US-dollar price, the median entry price is $15 a month (lowest paid plan as listed, per seat where the vendor prices per seat). Compare pricing conditions in the Software Cost Atlas →
What the pricing page doesn’t say
The 14-day money-back guarantee comes with a clause that lets pCloud decline refunds on promotional or discounted purchases, and the lifetime prices are presented as discounts. Free accounts inactive for 12 months are deleted with their files, and shared folders only work between accounts in the same data region.
What pCloud does
Swiss cloud storage for individuals, families and teams, best known for lifetime plans paid once instead of a subscription; includes file sync, versioning, shared folders and links, a media player, and optional client-side encryption as a paid add-on.
Lifetime pays off only if you stay for years
A lifetime plan is a bet that pCloud and your storage needs will last: €499 for 2 TB only beats a subscription if you keep it for years. We did not record pCloud's own monthly and annual Premium prices on this read, so compare them at checkout before you pay once. You also cannot downgrade a one-time purchase, so choose the size you will need, not the one you need today.
If privacy is the reason you are buying, budget for the Encryption add-on (€150 once on personal plans): without it, files are encrypted on pCloud's servers but not client-side. Business plans include it.
How to actually use pCloud
Create a free account first (2 GB, up to 10 GB once unlocked) and try the desktop app, which lets you work on cloud files without taking up local storage space, and the phone gallery backup. To upload in the browser, sign in at my.pcloud.com, open the destination folder, click Add in the top-right corner, choose File Upload and confirm. Check which data region (EU or US) your account uses: shared folders only work between accounts on the same region.
Note the purchase date if you buy, because the money-back guarantee runs 14 days from payment, and discounted purchases may be refused.
Distilled from pCloud's own pages: the pricing, family, business and encryption pages, read on 26 October 2026 and 16 October 2026; the terms and conditions and help-centre articles on plans, folder sharing, billing and uploads, read on 16 October 2026. pCloud is an affiliate partner of ours through Awin. We have not used the software ourselves.
pCloud vs Proton Drive, side by side
Each column shows the vendor’s own published entry price, read on the date shown. Entry prices can cover different services or units, so check what each one buys. We do not average them into a score.
Both names above are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. Neither changes what this table says.
The natural comparison is Proton Drive — Proton Drive is in our dossiers as end-to-end encrypted storage: on 16 October 2026 Drive Plus was $3.99 a month for 200 GB, billed $47.88 a year. Proton encrypts by default; pCloud charges €150 once for that on personal plans, but sells far more storage for a one-time price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does pCloud cost?
Read on 26 October 2026 in euros: lifetime Premium 500 GB €219, Premium Plus 2 TB €499 and Ultra 10 TB €1,499, each paid once. Business is €9.99 per user a month with at least 3 users.
What does lifetime mean?
pCloud's terms define it as the account owner's lifetime or 99 years, whichever is shorter.
Is pCloud end-to-end encrypted?
Only with pCloud Encryption, which encrypts files on your device before upload. On personal plans it is a separate €150 one-time purchase; Business plans include it.
Can I get a refund?
pCloud has a 14-day money-back guarantee from the day you pay, but its terms reserve the right to decline refunds on purchases made in a promotion or with a discount.
Is this a hands-on review of pCloud?
This is a researched assessment, not a hands-on test — where we've used a tool ourselves, we say so explicitly. We name what each tool is good and bad at, and we earn a commission only if you sign up, at no cost to you.
- Read 2026-10-26 on pcloud.com, its family and business pages, from a Netherlands connection that showed euros; the page calls the prices final.
- A dated screenshot of that pricing page, kept on this site as the receipt.
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