If you’re in search of someplace to retailer your information within the cloud, there’s a brand new service to think about—alongside the various choices that you simply’ve already obtained. The builders behind Proton Mail have launched a Proton Drive service that promotes safety and privateness, so we’re going to weigh up its varied options towards one of many main incumbents it’ll be seeking to take customers away from.

It’s price saying proper on the outset that we’re not anticipating the just-out-of-beta Proton Drive to match up in each division to the 10-year-old Google Drive—nevertheless it may be helpful, if you happen to’re contemplating switching, to know in regards to the varied instruments and options which might be already out there within the new challenger.

Proton Drive vs Google Drive: the fundamentals

You solely get 500MB of house without cost with Proton Drive, so that you’re going to need to pay to make use of it significantly: Subscribe to Proton Unlimited for $12 a month, and that goes as much as 500GB (it’s cheaper if you happen to pay a 12 months or two upfront). It’s price noting that the Unlimited bundle does embrace perks throughout the opposite Proton merchandise, together with extra e-mail aliases in Proton Mail, and Proton VPN software program you need to use on as much as 10 gadgets.

Google provides its customers 15GB of space for storing without cost, however that’s break up throughout all Google merchandise, together with Gmail and Google Drive. For $10 a month, you get 2TB of house (it’s cheaper if you happen to pay a complete 12 months without delay), and Google’s plans go all the best way as much as 30TB if you really want that a lot—that may set you again a hefty $150 a month.

You can retailer information of all kinds in each Proton Drive and Google Drive, and arrange them into folders, however Proton Drive is a great distance behind Google Drive when it comes to its file previewing capabilities: It’s simply photos in the meanwhile, so you’ll be able to’t open up video information, audio information, and even PDFs in a browser tab. Proton Drive doesn’t provide the Docs, Sheets and Slides suite of on-line apps that Google does, both.

When it involves apps, it’s simply the online interface for Proton Drive in the intervening time—you don’t get the cellular apps and the desktop syncing software program of Google Drive. However, cellular and desktop apps are on the way, as is assist for previewing extra file varieties in your browser. Once these upgrades arrive, the Proton Drive expertise ought to be rather more complete.

Proton Drive vs Google Drive: options and interface

Proton Drive is eager to push the full end-to-end encryption of its product (utilizing elliptic curve cryptography and OpenPGP in order for you the main points). Proton Drive is even in a position to detect when it’s being censored at a excessive stage, and reroutes site visitors accordingly; it can be accessed by way of the Tor browser for much more privateness and safety. These additional options are clearly the most important purpose to choose Proton Drive over Google Drive proper now.

Google Drive actually isn’t missing relating to conserving information secure and personal, however they’re not totally encrypted in any respect phases—probably, they are often gotten at by way of an information breach, or a regulation enforcement request, or maybe a rogue Google worker. The threat is a slim one, nevertheless it’s one which Proton Drive nearly fully eliminates (making an allowance for that no digital safety system is ever totally one hundred pc secure).

File and folder sharing is one other function that Proton Drive does nicely with, nearly matching Google Drive in what it provides. Shared hyperlinks might be password protected and have an expiry date hooked up to them—it’s doable to arrange these choices in Google Drive, however proper now, Proton Drive does it in a extra intuitive and user-friendly means.

We’re additionally impressed with the Proton Drive interface on the net. As with the web-based e-mail consumer, it’s slick, quick, and nicely put collectively—you too can decide between seven tasteful themes for the look of the net app, which isn’t one thing that you are able to do in the meanwhile in Google Drive. Spend a couple of minutes utilizing the Proton Drive interface, and the Google Drive one appears to be like somewhat dated by comparability.

Again, although, there’s rather more performance and suppleness with Google Drive. Proton Drive’s search function is ok, however with Google Drive, you’ll be able to search inside information, put filters on file varieties and file dates, and lots extra apart from. It’s maybe no shock contemplating the historical past of the corporate, however Google Drive is forward in search.

For now, you’re restricted to importing information to Proton Drive by dragging and dropping them right into a browser window, or utilizing the add button within the net app. Based on our testing, file transfers and modifications are dealt with as shortly as they’re in Google Drive, and there aren’t any points when it comes to velocity and stability.

Proton Drive vs Google Drive: verdict

Google Drive is clearly the superior product right here in most classes, which—as we mentioned within the introduction—is to be anticipated. With a decade of improvement behind it, and a spread of associated apps like Docs, Sheets and Slides, it has a scope and a feature-set that Proton Drive can’t match as much as in the meanwhile. That mentioned, the brand new Proton service does have a certain quantity of potential.

Like Google Drive, Proton Drive is a part of a collection of apps, most notably Proton Mail. If you’re keen so as to add to your month-to-month subscriptions, then you definitely get a set of apps which might be all very safe and dependable—and which wean you off your reliance on a giant, advertising-driven firm like Google. You might be simply that little bit extra positive that your information is your information.

On the opposite hand, if you happen to’re already totally invested within the Google ecosystem—emails, photographs, movies, paperwork, notes and every thing else—then you definitely may contemplate the safety and privateness trade-off price it for every thing that Google provides. You get extra space for storing for much less cash, and also you actually get much more options.

Overall, Proton Drive is off to a fantastic state—and it’s actually going to attraction to those that prioritize consumer safety and privateness over every thing else. Right now, although, Google Drive has a variety of options that Proton Drive doesn’t, from extra superior search capabilities to file previewing and enhancing, so that you’re going to wish to fastidiously weigh up what you want out of your cloud storage product earlier than making the swap.