pCloud

[wraith808]

Basic Info

App Name	pCloud
App URL	http://www.pcloud.com/ if you wish to go direct, or https://partner.pcloud.com/r/8393 (referral link) or https://my.pcloud.com/#page=register&invite=6zq6ZvuMJ5k (Get a free GB if signing up free)
App Version Reviewed	3.5.8
Requirements	Windows XP-Windows 10 (Tested on Windows 10), MacOS (doesn't say which versions), Linux (64/32-bit), Microsoft Store, iOS, Google Play, Download the APK
Support Methods	https://www.pcloud.com/help/general-help-center/ and https://www.pcloud.com/request-help.html
Pricing Scheme	Free for 10-20GB.  Currently have a lifetime plan $175 for Premium, or $350 for premium plus.  $4.99/mo or $9.99/mo respectively normally. https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html

Intro:

With the largest players removing the ability to have personal folders and share easily, I've been wondering the options.  I like Project Send (which I reviewed), but I don't want to go through setting that up in all instances.  Someone whom I support via Patreon sent me a link, and I was impressed at how transparent it all was.  So I looked into pCloud.  Still not totally sold, but I'm willing to give it a try because of the cool features.


Who is this app designed for:
Basically anyone who needs to share files in a secure and convenient way, but doesn't want to rely on public or expensive services.

Review

After creating an account, it showed the obligatory "take these steps to get more space".  I did, and am now at 14GB.  I downloaded and installed the client as a part of this process, and encountered the one thing that immediately set it apart to me.  It created a drive on my machine- a virtual drive that does not store files locally.  From the FAQ:

By installing pCloud on your computer (through its desktop application pCloud Drive), the app creates a secure virtual drive which expands your local storage space. Every change you make in your pCloud can be seen immediately on your computer, phone or tablet. All your devices are instantly synchronized and you have direct file access to any update you make.

So the 14GB that I have from pCloud shows up as a drive on my PC, but doesn't take up space on my PC.  There are positives and negatives to this for sure, but personally, given my use case, the positives far outweigh the negatives.  I imagine it's not immediate like the propaganda says- there is a cache folder maintained on your PC where these files are cached and uploaded, I'm sure.  It does appear pretty quick in uploading and downloading however.

You can also pay an additional amount to encrypt everything client side with zero knowledge if you want.

It's promising as I said.  My concerns are towards not knowing the company, or anything about where they store things other than the company is in Switzerland.


Why I think you should use this product

If you have to share files with others- either on a regular basis or in groups, this makes it pretty simple, without having to go through setting up any services to do so.  It also does the same thing as Dropbox, Onedrive, etc, and you can host a file in the public folder on your own account, as you used to be able to with Dropbox.

How does it compare to similar apps

So far, favorably.  All of the same functionality, and a little bit more.

[Deozaan]

I [...] encountered the one thing that immediately set it apart to me.  It created a drive on my machine- a virtual drive that does not store files locally.

[...]

So the 14GB that I have from pCloud shows up as a drive on my PC, but doesn't take up space on my PC.

Isn't this what OneDrive used to do, then Microsoft removed that feature, and now they've just added it back again last month in the latest version (Fall Creators Update) of Windows 10?

[wraith808]

I [...] encountered the one thing that immediately set it apart to me.  It created a drive on my machine- a virtual drive that does not store files locally.

[...]

So the 14GB that I have from pCloud shows up as a drive on my PC, but doesn't take up space on my PC.

Isn't this what OneDrive used to do, then Microsoft removed that feature, and now they've just added it back again last month in the latest version (Fall Creators Update) of Windows 10?

I don't know; I've never had a virtual drive installed by OneDrive. A couple of others had the feature but they weren't sync clients exactly. I use OneDrive pretty extensively, and haven't seen that option, but then again, I haven't gone looking for it.

How would you do that in Windows 10?

[Stoic Joker]

I [...] encountered the one thing that immediately set it apart to me.  It created a drive on my machine- a virtual drive that does not store files locally.

[...]

So the 14GB that I have from pCloud shows up as a drive on my PC, but doesn't take up space on my PC.

Isn't this what OneDrive used to do, then Microsoft removed that feature, and now they've just added it back again last month in the latest version (Fall Creators Update) of Windows 10?

I don't know; I've never had a virtual drive installed by OneDrive. A couple of others had the feature but they weren't sync clients exactly. I use OneDrive pretty extensively, and haven't seen that option, but then again, I haven't gone looking for it.

How would you do that in Windows 10?

A virtual drive I've not seen in OneDrive, but it does act as a virtual folder that will let you pick and choose how much of what (if anything) will get synced to the local machine (Account tab--> Choose folders button).

The lack of encryption with OneDrive makes me a bit nervous ... I've been thinking of scrapping mine.

[wraith808]

A virtual drive I've not seen in OneDrive, but it does act as a virtual folder that will let you pick and choose how much of what (if anything) will get synced to the local machine (Account tab--> Choose folders button).

The lack of encryption with OneDrive makes me a bit nervous ... I've been thinking of scrapping mine.

I've seen and make use of that feature- some things I want to sync to the cloud, but don't want to sync to other machines, and I use this to facilitate that use case.  As for the encryption bit, most of my use of it doesn't have sensitive information.  PDFs, ePubs, Media, and such.  For encrypted things that should be secured, I use s3 and encrypt it client side, though it seems like 3.99 a month for pCloud client side encryption would be a more seamless and less manual approach.

And I think Deo was referring to OneDrive Files-on-demand.  That's been in there a while, and I've tried using it before, especially because of integration with O365.  It seems to use a uri to the file to manipulate it directly in the place you sync to on the server.  I've had problems with reconciliation that requires a manual fix, and documents that were supposed to be there and synced, but I can't find anywhere for extended periods of time from another computer. 

I haven't tried pCloud on another machine, so maybe it has similar issues.  I did use JungleDisk in this manner before they discontinued it for consumers, and it worked flawlessly, so hopefully pCloud will also.

[tomos]

https://my.pcloud.com/#page=register&invite=6zq6ZvuMJ5k
if you want to give me a free GB and score a free GB for yourself by referral link.

went for this: got 12GB (havent installed yet)

[Deozaan]

And I think Deo was referring to OneDrive Files-on-demand.

Yes, it seems I was:

Windows 10 was a big improvement over Windows 8.1 in most important ways, but it made a big change to the way OneDrive syncing worked. In Windows 8.1, you could see all the files you had stored in OneDrive, but the operating system would only actually download and open the file when you needed to open it. At least for PCs that usually have Internet connections, this was a neat way to offer cloud file syncing without consuming gigabytes of space for infrequently used files on every computer you were signed into.

But the behavior could be error-prone—apps could attempt to open the placeholder files created by OneDrive rather than the files themselves—and it could create confusion about which files were actually available offline. So in the initial releases of Windows 10, Microsoft changed the behavior to be more Dropbox-esque. All OneDrive files are now downloaded to your PC when you sign in, though as with Dropbox you can choose to only sync selected folders based on what you need to have available at all times.

In the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, OneDrive will change yet again. "OneDrive Files On-Demand" restores the old "placeholder" concept from Windows 8.1, but with improved handling of placeholder files and tweaked Windows Explorer integration that makes it clearer what's going on. Because downloading and opening those placeholder files is now handled by the filesystem driver rather than a shell extension, you should no longer run into problems where apps try to open the placeholders instead of the actual files—any app, including the command line, will be able to trigger a file download, making the experience more seamless and reliable.

[tomos]

They're doing an offer at the moment: 'Lifetime' one-time-payment (in euros) -- 500GB/€125 or 2TB/€250
https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html?

Not of interest to me personally, but it's an interesting idea, a one-off payment. Course it is a bit of a gamble...
I'd be curious btw what that offer is in other currencies, especially $US ?

[rgdot]

When I click on it it says

$125/$250

[wraith808]

This is what I see when I click on it, then when I click through.





That's for the special offer.  I see the 500GB/$125 or 2TB/$250.  So I guess they change it depending on your local currency?

[tomos]

So I guess they change it depending on your local currency?

Yes,
I was curious what they were charging over there :-)

[wraith808]

pCloud is having a sale on lifetime storage.  They say 75%, but I think that's in comparison to the monthly cost.  It's really about 30% off normal lifetime costs.

$122.5 for 500GB or $245 for 2TB.  Comes with a similar amount of download traffic.  I've been happy with it.

https://partner.pcloud.com/r/8433 (referral link) or https://www.pcloud.com/black-friday (non-referral)

[c.gingerich]

I have a lifetime account with pCloiud and it's the best thing I have done with respect to cloud storage. It's so much better than anything I have used before.