Best Cloud Storage for Videos in 2026: Free Plans Included

Every service we timed used at least 89% of our 19.69 Mbps upload speed. Our 2 GB test file took between 15 and 16.5 minutes on each, and pCloud finished first, at 15 minutes 14 seconds. Per-file limits differed much more. NordLocker stops at 10 GB per file on Windows, under an hour of 4K iPhone recording, while pCloud has no limit. Without paying, you can store 20 GB on MEGA, with every upload encrypted end to end.

File Limits, Encryption, and Recovery Compared

Service	Largest single file	Who has the encryption keys	One-time payment	Deleted files kept	Free storage
pCloud	No limit	pCloud, or you with the Encryption add-on	Yes, up to 10 TB	30 days, 15 on free accounts	Up to 10 GB
Internxt	10 GB to 100 GB, by plan	You	Yes, up to 5 TB	2 to 30 days, by plan	1 GB
NordLocker	Windows: 10 GB; web and phone: 8 GB	You	No	Not kept	3 GB
Dropbox	2 TB	Dropbox	No	30 days on Plus, 180 on Standard	2 GB
Sync.com	No hard limit	You	No	60 to 365 days, by plan	5 GB

2 GB Upload and Download Times

All timings come from our November tests on a Windows 11 PC in Europe. The 2.16 GB file went up and came back down through each service’s desktop app. Our connection’s baseline was 187.95 Mbps for downloads and 19.69 Mbps for uploads, measured with Speedtest.

Service	Upload time	Average upload speed	Download time
pCloud	15:14	18.9 Mbps	1:45
Dropbox	15:16	18.8 Mbps	1:48
Google Drive	15:27	18.6 Mbps	1:46
Internxt	15:28	18.6 Mbps	1:51
NordLocker	15:58	18.0 Mbps	2:00
MEGA	16:01	18.0 Mbps	1:50
Sync.com	16:21	17.6 Mbps	2:09

The wait depends mostly on the connection. At our upload speed, a 10 GB recording takes over an hour to upload to any of these services, and under ten minutes to download. For a ranking by speed alone, see our fastest cloud storage guide.

Findings for Each Service

1. pCloud: Best for Large Video Files

pCloud kept an average of 18.9 Mbps through our 2 GB upload, near the 19.69 Mbps our connection allows. File size isn’t capped, so a full-length recording or a finished project export goes up as one file. The only monthly cap applies to shared links: the 10 TB plan allows 20 TB of downloads by other people. Its phone app can back up new recordings automatically, and a setting limits the upload to videos, photos, or both. Clips stream in the browser and the phone apps, so you can watch without saving the file locally.

An existing library can come over from Google Photos, Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox through pCloud’s import tool. A 2 TB lifetime license is about $500, paid once, and yearly billing is about $100. Zero-knowledge protection, which pCloud can’t decrypt, is an add-on of about $150. Every plan is broken down in our pCloud review, and current discounts are in our guide to the best price on pCloud.

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2. Internxt: Best Low-Cost Lifetime Storage for Footage

Internxt applies its encryption on your computer or phone before a clip leaves it, and only your account can decrypt the footage. It took 15 minutes 28 seconds to upload our 2 GB file and 1 minute 51 seconds to download it, close behind pCloud on both. Internxt’s per-file limit is 10 GB on the 1 TB Essential plan, 50 GB on 3 TB Premium, and 100 GB on 5 TB Ultimate.

Internxt’s lifetime prices are roughly €285 for 1 TB and €435 for 3 TB, paid once. It charges in euros, including for US buyers. Our pCloud vs Internxt comparison covers how the two differ beyond video. Microsoft 365 subscribers already have 1 TB of OneDrive storage, though Microsoft keeps the encryption keys.

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3. NordLocker: Best for Secure Video Sharing

NordLocker‘s sharing tools are built for sending finished footage to clients, and its end-to-end encryption covers every file, including on free accounts. Each link we created came with its own security code, and its expiry could be set up to 14 days ahead. The person downloading the video doesn’t sign up for NordLocker. Its 2 GB download finished in exactly 2 minutes, the second-longest wait after Sync.com. The desktop app is Windows-only, so Mac users upload in the browser.

In that case, single files are capped at 8 GB, as on phones. Long 4K recordings require splitting. A deleted video disappears for good. NordLocker keeps no trash or older versions, so store the originals on another drive. The 500 GB plan is about $36 in year one, then about $60 a year. NordLocker also appears in our cloud storage for photos rankings, and our NordLocker review explains its apps.

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4. Dropbox: Best for Editing Teams and Client Review

Dropbox accepts files of up to 2 TB. For files over 375 GB, it advises the desktop app, since browser uploads that large can stall. It averaged 18.8 Mbps on the 2 GB upload, 0.1 Mbps below pCloud. With the 500 MB file, it beat pCloud by one second. For editing work, online-only files keep a whole project visible on the computer without using local disk space. Clients can review a cut in the Replay add-on and pin comments to individual frames.

For deliveries, Standard subscribers can send up to 100 GB at a time with Dropbox Transfer and protect the link with a password. Dropbox isn’t among the best-value cloud storage services. Plus, with 2 TB, is about $120 a year. The Standard plan adds a terabyte and six months of file recovery for $180 a year for one person. The encryption keys stay with Dropbox, while Internxt, NordLocker, and Sync.com encrypt unreleased footage end to end. Our Dropbox vs pCloud article compares their prices and privacy.

5. Sync.com: Best Unlimited Plan for Videographers

Sync.com recorded our slowest transfers. Its upload averaged 17.6 Mbps, and the 2 GB download took 2 minutes 9 seconds, 24 seconds longer than pCloud. In return, its Personal Unlimited plan has no storage cap for one user. The first year costs about $270, and renewals cost about $540. Sync.com sets no hard file size limit, though its desktop app can slow down with single files over 40 GB.

The Vault folder stores finished projects in the cloud without syncing them to your computer, so archived footage doesn’t fill the local drive. Files stay encrypted end to end on every plan. For less storage, 1 TB costs about $72 in year one. Every plan is detailed in our Sync.com review, and pCloud vs Sync.com puts the two side by side.

How Much Video Fits in Each Plan

File sizes depend on resolution, frame rate, and format. Apple lists these per-minute sizes for iPhone video:

iPhone format	Size per minute	2 TB fits	5 TB fits	10 TB fits
1080p at 30 fps	About 60 MB	About 555 hours	About 1,390 hours	About 2,780 hours
4K at 30 fps	170 to 190 MB	About 175 hours	About 440 hours	About 875 hours
4K at 60 fps	400 to 440 MB	About 75 hours	About 190 hours	About 380 hours
ProRes 1080p (Pro models)	About 1.7 GB	About 20 hours	About 49 hours	About 98 hours
ProRes 4K (Pro models)	About 6 GB	About 5.5 hours	About 14 hours	About 28 hours

Standard formats vary slightly by iPhone model, and the hours use the larger figure. At about 6 GB a minute, a 4K ProRes clip outgrows NordLocker’s 10 GB Windows limit in under two minutes. It passes Internxt’s 50 GB Premium limit in under nine. pCloud, Dropbox, and Sync.com accept files that large.

Free Video Cloud Storage: What Each Plan Includes

Free plans work for phone clips and short projects. The table lists free storage at signup and the limits that affect video.

Service	Free storage	Limits for video	End-to-end encryption
MEGA	20 GB	Download quota on free accounts	Yes
Google Photos and Drive	15 GB, shared with Gmail	Storage saver setting resizes video above 1080p	No
pCloud	2 GB, up to 10 GB through tasks and invites	Deleted files kept 15 days	No, paid add-on
Sync.com	5 GB	Slowest transfers in our tests	Yes
NordLocker	3 GB	8 to 10 GB per file, no trash	Yes
Dropbox	2 GB	Three devices at most	No
Internxt	1 GB	100 MB per file, deleted files kept 2 days	Yes
TeraBox	1 TB, as a limited-time offer	4 GB per file, 480p playback, ads	No

Beyond video, our free cloud storage ranking rates these plans for everyday files.

MEGA: Largest Encrypted Free Plan

Our new MEGA account came with 20 GB, and an older one of ours still has 50 GB from an earlier offer. New signups receive no bonus storage. MEGA streams videos in its web and phone apps, and the built-in chat supports video calls.

Free accounts have a transfer quota that limits downloads, and MEGA can delete a free account’s files after at least 10 months without activity. Its 2 GB upload took 16 minutes 1 second, the second-slowest result after Sync.com.

Google Photos: 15 GB With Phone Backup and Editing

Google Photos backs up phone videos automatically and includes trimming, stabilization, and filters. Its 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Google Drive. Storage saver resizes videos above 1080p to 1080p, and Express goes down to 480p, so keep Original quality for 4K footage.

Google Drive, which shares that storage, took 15 minutes 27 seconds for our 2 GB upload. Files aren’t encrypted end to end, and 2 TB costs about $10 a month through Google One. Our Google Drive vs pCloud comparison covers the paid plans.

Where to Store Videos: Cloud, Drive, or Hosting Platform?

Cloud storage is one of four common homes for a video library:

Option	Keeps the original file	Access from other devices	Main weakness	Cost
Cloud storage	Yes	Yes	Recovery tools vary by service	Yearly or one-time fee
External SSD or hard drive	Yes	No, unless plugged in	Theft, damage, and drive failure	One-time purchase
NAS at home	Yes	Yes, after remote access setup	Owner manages updates and security	Device and drives
Video hosting (YouTube, Vimeo)	No, uploads are re-encoded	Yes	Not a backup of the original	Free or subscription

Video cloud hosting describes platforms built to stream to an audience. They compress uploads for playback, so the copy viewers see differs from the camera original. A common setup keeps three copies: working files on a computer, a second copy on an external drive, and a third in cloud storage. That off-site copy protects against a fire or a stolen laptop. Our definition of online storage explains how a cloud copy works.

Conclusion

The right service depends on how much footage you keep and who sees it. For a growing personal library, pCloud has no per-file cap, finished our 2 GB upload first, and sells storage once instead of every year. Internxt costs less per terabyte on a lifetime plan, and only you can decrypt the footage.

NordLocker is built for sending finished clips to clients through code-locked links, and Dropbox adds review tools for editing teams. Sync.com offers one user unlimited space, if slower transfers are acceptable. If the budget is zero, begin with MEGA. Our ranking of the most reliable cloud storage services covers storage beyond video.

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