Best Free Cloud Storage in 2026: Top Cloud Storage Free Plans Ranked

Free cloud storage plans range from 1 GB to 1 TB, but in our November tests, the size of a plan told us little about how well it protects files. pCloud‘s free account, which grows to 10 GB, backed up PC folders and kept deleted files for 15 days. A fresh MEGA account came with 20 GB, the most encrypted free space we found, but its upload was among the slowest.

We signed up for eight free plans with an email address alone and repeated the same upload, download, and recovery checks on each one. Payment details and phone numbers weren’t part of any signup.

Free Online Storage Compared

Service	Free space	Encrypted before upload	Trash period	PC folder backup	500 MB upload
pCloud	Up to 10 GB	No	15 days	Yes	3:32
Internxt	1 GB	Yes, with post-quantum encryption	2 days	No	3:34
NordLocker	3 GB	Yes	None	No	3:48
MEGA	20 GB	Yes	30 days	Yes	4:00
Google Drive	15 GB, shared with Gmail	No	30 days	Yes	3:33

Free Online Storage Services Reviewed

1. pCloud: Best Free Plan for Backups (Up to 10 GB)

Each setup step on pCloud, such as confirming the email address or installing the phone app, adds a gigabyte to the starting 2 GB, and friend invites cover the rest, up to 10 GB. The free tier keeps the desktop backup tool, Rewind, and a 15-day trash, so files deleted by mistake can still be recovered. Our 500 MB archive took 3 minutes 32 seconds to upload over pCloud’s US region from Europe and 24 seconds to download.

Deleting the archive and restoring it from the trash worked. The limits show up in privacy and sharing. Files aren’t encrypted on your device unless you buy the Encryption add-on, and free share links have no password or expiry option. Paid plans start at around $50 a year, and our pCloud review covers them.

Visit pCloud

2. Internxt: Best Free Plan for Sensitive Files (1 GB)

Internxt‘s free account is small at 1 GB, but it has the same protection as the paid plans. Files are encrypted on your device with post-quantum encryption, Kyber-512 alongside AES-256, before they leave for Internxt’s servers, and only the account holder has the keys. Speed was close to pCloud’s: the archive went up in 3 minutes 34 seconds and came back in 24. The trash restore worked too, but the free trash keeps files for only two days.

On the free account, Internxt locks link passwords, computer backups, its antivirus, and the Cleaner behind an upgrade. That leaves 1 GB of well-protected space for documents and a few photos. Its lifetime plans rank among the cheapest cloud storage deals, and our pCloud vs Internxt comparison weighs the two.

Visit Internxt

3. NordLocker: Best Free Plan for Sending Files (3 GB)

NordLocker is made by Nord Security, which also develops NordVPN, and it encrypts every file end to end on its 3 GB free plan. Its sharing is the most careful of the free plans we tested. Links last two weeks unless you set a later date, up to about a year ahead. NordLocker can also generate a security code for the recipient, and the person downloading the file doesn’t require an account. The upload took 3 minutes 48 seconds, slower than pCloud and Internxt, and the download 27 seconds.

Then we deleted the archive and found no trash and no version history: the file was gone for good. Without a folder backup tool, every file has to be dragged into the NordLocker drive manually. Keep originals on another drive and use NordLocker for encrypted copies and sharing. Our detailed NordLocker test covers the paid plans.

Visit NordLocker

4. MEGA: Most Free Space With Encryption (20 GB)

MEGA starts new users at 20 GB, encrypted end to end. Our own account dates from MEGA’s 50 GB era and kept that allowance, but a fresh signup in our tests received 20 GB, with no extra storage offered. MEGA uploaded the archive in 4 minutes, slower than pCloud, Google Drive, and Internxt, and downloaded it in 25 seconds. The desktop app backs up chosen folders, and deleted files stay in the rubbish bin for 30 days.

The phone apps upload new pictures on their own. That makes MEGA a sensible free home for photos and videos from your phone. MEGA can send a link’s decryption key separately, but passwords and expiry dates on links require a Pro plan. Free accounts left untouched for 10 months or more lose their files, although MEGA sends warning emails first.

5. Google Drive: Best Free Plan for Shared Documents (15 GB)

The 15 GB that comes with a Google account covers Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos together. Docs, Sheets, and Slides are part of the free plan, so a team can edit the same spreadsheet at once without Microsoft Office. The upload through Google’s desktop app finished at 3 minutes 33 seconds, and the download at 24. Its trash keeps deleted files for 30 days, compared to 15 on pCloud’s free plan.

Google encrypts stored files but keeps the keys, and free share links can’t have a password or an expiry date. Drive is a better fit for shared work files than for private documents, and our list of Google Drive alternatives covers more private services.

Is TeraBox’s 1 TB Free Storage Lifetime?

Not for life. A new TeraBox account showed the full 1,024 GB as soon as we signed up, but TeraBox’s own plan comparison labels that allowance limited-time. The company behind it, Flextech Inc., is based in Tokyo, and TeraBox launched under the name Dubox. The free plan has strict limits. Uploads top out at 4 GB per file, deleted items are kept for 10 days, video streams at 480p, and the private vault offers 200 MB locked with a four-digit PIN.

Nothing is encrypted end to end, and removing ads requires a paid plan. The browser version was ad-free during our test, while the desktop app pushed WPS Office and a $2.50 weekly plan. Moving our archive up through the browser took 4 minutes 5 seconds, one of the slowest results, and bringing it back took 34 seconds. Links can be locked with a four-character password and set to expire in a week, a month, or never.

TeraBox is fine for large files you wouldn’t mind others seeing, such as installers or old video projects. IDs and contracts belong on an encrypted service.

Is Unlimited Storage Ever Free?

No. Every free plan has a cap, from Internxt’s 1 GB to TeraBox’s 1 TB. Paying is the only way to get it: Sync.com’s Personal Unlimited plan costs about $270 for the first year. Our ranking of the top premium online storage services compares paid options.

How to Get 50 GB or More for Free

Combining accounts is the only reliable method. pCloud, Internxt, NordLocker, MEGA, and Google Drive add up to 49 GB. Adding Icedrive’s 10 GB or Proton Drive’s 5 GB pushes past 50 GB. No reputable service offers 500 GB for free.

Beyond 50 GB, the choices are TeraBox’s limited-time terabyte or a paid plan, and pCloud’s 500 GB lifetime plan costs about $220 once. Splitting files across services adds overhead: separate apps, passwords, and trash rules. It works best for archives you rarely touch.

Free Cloud Backup Options

Only Internxt and NordLocker leave free users without folder backup; the other three in our top five include it. Internxt keeps backups for paying users, and NordLocker has no backup tool. These backups follow your folders, so a file removed from the PC is moved to the trash online.

From there, pCloud allows 15 days to get it back, and MEGA and Google Drive allow 30. For a backup-first service, IDrive’s free plan includes 10 GB and can back up whole folders on a schedule. Our IDrive review explains its paid plans.

Other Free Cloud Storage Plans

Service	Free storage	Main limit
Icedrive	10 GB	Monthly bandwidth limit
Microsoft OneDrive	5 GB	Outlook.com mail uses the same space
Sync.com	5 GB	Uploads and downloads were slow in our tests
Proton Drive	5 GB	2 GB at first, 5 GB after three setup tasks
Apple iCloud	5 GB	iPhone backups count against it
Dropbox	2 GB	Limited to three linked devices

Apple users short on space can look at our iCloud alternatives.

Which Free Plans Encrypt Your Files?

Four services encrypt files on your PC before upload: Internxt, NordLocker, MEGA, and Sync.com. With pCloud’s free plan, Google Drive, Dropbox, and TeraBox, encryption happens on the company’s servers, and the company keeps the keys. For tax documents, ID scans, or medical files, a zero-knowledge service is the safer free choice. Our guides to encrypted cloud storage and the most secure cloud storage cover paid options too.

Our Free Plan Tests

In our November tests, every free account handled the same 500 MB archive of music and video on a Windows 11 PC in Europe. We uploaded it through each service’s desktop app, or the browser for TeraBox, downloaded it to a new folder, deleted it, and tried to recover it. Download speed on that connection was 187.95 Mbps, with 19.69 Mbps for uploads.

Free account	Upload	Download
Dropbox	3:31	0:26
pCloud	3:32	0:24
Google Drive	3:33	0:24
Internxt	3:34	0:24
NordLocker	3:48	0:27
MEGA	4:00	0:25
TeraBox	4:05	0:34
Sync.com	4:11	0:29

Free accounts weren’t throttled: the four quickest uploads were no more than three seconds apart. Our fastest cloud storage ranking looks at paid plans.

Conclusion

For one free account that protects files from mistakes, pCloud is the choice: backup, Rewind, and file recovery come with its free account. Internxt and NordLocker fit private files, Internxt for storing them and NordLocker for sending them, as long as NordLocker never stores the only copy.

MEGA offers the most encrypted space, and Google Drive is where shared documents belong. TeraBox’s terabyte is large but temporary and unencrypted. Past 50 GB, a paid plan makes more sense, and pCloud’s lifetime plans avoid a monthly bill.

Get Up to 10 GB Free With pCloud

---

Frequently Asked Questions