Best Cloud Storage for Linux in 2024: Personal File Storage Compared
Though tiny in terms of market share, Linux is still a favorite among power users. However, too many cloud storage services don’t have a native Linux app, or any support for Linux whatsoever. To help you pick the best cloud storage for Linux, we’ve reviewed five excellent options.
Written by Andrej Hadji-Vasilev (Writer)
Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Jasna Mishevska (Lead Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-08-31T19:52:15+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
To say that Linux isn’t the most popular desktop operating system would be an understatement — in the last year, only 1.77% of desktop and laptop users used Linux as their primary OS. That being said, it’s still a favorite for power users who have more advanced computer skills and like to tinker with their devices — that is, until they need to choose a cloud storage service. Plenty of services don’t support Linux, which makes picking the best cloud storage for Linux difficult.
While Linux may crash less often than its competitors’ operating systems, incidents such as hard drive failure still make a strong case for cloud storage. That’s before we get into acts of nature such as floods or fires, which could spell disaster for your data.
Key Takeaways:
- Not many cloud storage providers offer native Linux apps, which makes picking the best cloud storage for Linux difficult.
- pCloud is currently the best premium cloud storage provider for Linux. Dropbox has the best speeds.
- MEGA offers excellent security, and Icedrive is a very affordable pick for budget-conscious users.
- Cozy is not just a cloud storage provider, but also a data aggregator that gathers plenty of useful personal data in one neat dashboard.
Cloud storage services build their data centers in a way that keeps your data safe. They implement fail-safe protocols such as data redundancy, which stores your data in multiple separate locations. This is much safer than keeping said data exclusively on your hard drive (or solid-state drive).
Of the services that offer native Linux clients, pCloud is the best. That said, there are plenty of other good options, so let’s take a look at our criteria.
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09/25/2022 Facts checked
Since our last article, some of the services on our list have changed their prices, and we’ve added a new provider to the list.
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04/03/2024
Updated to reflect changes in Icedrive’s pricing plans and storage offers.
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08/31/2024
Added video reviews for cloud storage providers in the list.
What Makes the Best Cloud Storage Service for Linux?
When picking the best cloud storage for Linux, we considered native support for Linux, a good user experience, speed, security and whether the service is a good value for the price.
- pCloud — Affordable cloud storage with strong security
- Icedrive — Budget-oriented cloud storage with a simple user interface
- MEGA — Secure cloud storage with zero-knowledge encryption
- Dropbox — Premium cloud storage service with excellent speeds
- Cozy — Versatile cloud storage solution that aggregates data
Our main criterion was for the cloud storage services to have a native Linux app, preferably with a graphical user interface (GUI) rather than a command-line interface (CLI). It’s true that many Linux users are comfortable using a CLI, but having an easy-to-use graphical client doesn’t hurt.
Next, we considered speed and security. Both play a huge role in users’ decision to opt for Linux instead of another OS. The cloud storage solution should have fast servers, so you don’t have to wait long for transfers to finish, and the data centers should be secure and use a high level of encryption for both storage and transfer.
Last but not least, we considered pricing and how much storage space each cloud storage solution provides. We made sure you get good value from the providers, but we also looked at how many plans they offer — more plans make it easier to find a plan that meets your needs.
The 5 Best Cloud Storage Services for Linux
Now that we’ve defined our criteria, let’s start with our list of cloud storage providers for Linux users. First up: pCloud.
1. pCloud
More details about pCloud:
- Pricing: Free plan, 2TB for $99.99 (one-year plan)
- Provider website: pcloud.com
Pros:
- Easy-to-use app
- Solid speeds
- Lifetime plans available
Cons:
- Difficult to install
- Extra charge for zero-knowledge encryption
pCloud is our top pick for a cloud backup solution with a good Linux client. Although it’s more difficult to install than both MEGA and Dropbox, and zero-knowledge encryption is a paid add-on, it’s otherwise a strong Linux cloud storage solution. You can find out more in our pCloud review.
The app is installed via AppImage, making the process more difficult than a conventional installation. There’s a web interface if that’s more your cup of tea, though we prefer the official native Linux client. If you want encryption, you’ll need to pay an extra $4.17 per month on top of your subscription.
Extensive Backup Options
pCloud doesn’t want to close you off in its own cloud. You can back up all your files from other providers such as Dropbox, Facebook, OneDrive, Google Drive and Google Photos. This is perfect if you’ve been using more than one cloud storage location in the past few years.
pCloud offers a free storage plan with 10GB of storage, which you can expand by getting others to register via your referral link. There are also two yearly subscription plans with different features, and three lifetime plans. Unless you’re absolutely certain you won’t be switching from pCloud anytime soon, or you need 10TB of storage, we’d suggest you stick to the annual plans.
- 10GB
- 500GB
- 2TB
More plans
- + FREE Encryption
- 2TB
- + FREE Encryption
- 10TB
- Price per user (minimum 3)
- 1TB
- Price per user (minimum 3)
- 2TB
- Encryption for pCloud Drive
2. Icedrive
![Ultimate Icedrive Review [2024 Pros and Cons Revealed]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iVGsDxYVV-Y/maxresdefault.jpg)
More details about Icedrive:
- Pricing: Free plan, $7.99 (one-month plan) for 1TB
- Provider website: icedrive.net
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Lifetime plans available
- Zero-knowledge encryption
Cons:
- No block-level sync
- Lacks third-party integrations
Icedrive is the most affordable offering on our list, with a monthly subscription that costs less than a third of some of its competitors. Despite the low price, Icedrive is one of the best cloud services for Linux, with excellent security and an easy-to-use native app with a beautiful interface. You can find out more in our Icedrive review.
Icedrive works a bit differently from other cloud backup services — rather than creating its own backup folder, it lets you choose to sync any folder on your device to the cloud. This adds a bit of versatility, especially if you already have a file structure you’re comfortable with. While there is no block-level sync, Icedrive was fairly fast in our testing.
Security Features Galore
Icedrive’s specialty is security. The cloud service offers strong end-to-end encryption via the Twofish protocol, which, according to Icedrive, is a lesser-known protocol hackers are less likely to be familiar with. To add to this, you can set up two-factor authentication with both hardware and software solutions.
Icedrive is as affordable as they come. There is a free storage plan with 10GB of storage, as well as yearly or lifetime plans that go up to of storage. If you’re confident you won’t need more than 100GB, the Lite plan is an absolute bargain.
- Bandwidth limit: 50GB
- 10GB
- Bandwidth limit: 250GB
- 100GB
- Bandwidth limit: 2TB
- 1TB
More plans
- Bandwidth limit: 8TB
- 3TB
- 512GB
- 2TB
- 10TB
- Additional 128GB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan
- 128GB
- Additional 512GB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan
- 512GB
- Additional 2TB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan
- 2TB
3. MEGA
More details about MEGA:
- Pricing: Free plan, $10.86 (one-month plan) for 2TB
- Provider website: mega.io
Pros:
- Excellent user experience
- Zero-knowledge encryption
- Large storage plans
Cons:
- Not the fastest service
MEGA hasn’t been around for long compared to Dropbox, as it was founded in 2013, but in less than 10 years it’s become an excellent cloud storage option for Linux. It’s fast, it’s secure, and it has plans to cover everyone’s needs. It also comes with an easy-to-use desktop client, which you can find out more about in our MEGA review.
MEGA puts a strong focus on security, with both client- and server-side data encryption recently upgraded from AES 128-bit to AES 256-bit. MEGA is also open source, so you can take a look at the source code if you aren’t confident about its security. Unfortunately, it doesn’t use block-level sync and the speeds can be erratic at times.
Enormous Amounts of Storage
Mega offers two types of plans: individual and business. The individual plans start with the free tier, which gets you 20GB of free cloud storage, which can be extended to 35GB for the first year by completing a few simple actions. On a business plan, you can reach up to 10PB of data (yes, that’s petabytes). This is the most data storage you can get from any provider.
MEGA’s pricing tiers offer something for everyone. Its free storage plan is extremely generous at 20GB, and its most affordable plan gets you of data storage. The business plans can reach insane prices, but it’s worth it if you want all your data to be stored in a managed cloud service that doesn’t compromise on security.
- 20GB
- File transfer: 2TB (Monthly plan) 24TB (yearly plan)
- 2TB
- File transfer: (monthly plan) 96TB (yearly plan)
- 8TB
More plans
- File transfer: 16TB (monthly plan) 192TB (yearly plan)
- 16TB
- Price per user (minimum 3) 3TB Transfer quota
- 100TB
4. Dropbox
![Should You Still Use Dropbox in 2024? [Updated Review]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bwy8HZ1Uvnk/maxresdefault.jpg)
More details about Dropbox:
- Pricing: Free plan; $11.99 (one-month plan) for 2TB
- Provider website: dropbox.com
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Solid speeds
- Block-level sync
Cons:
- Expensive
- No zero-knowledge security
Dropbox is a household name in the cloud storage industry, and it’s a popular choice due to its remarkable ease of use and large plan selection. It has a minimalist desktop client that works great with Linux, and offers integration with other cloud services and tools like Google Workspace and Office 365. You can find out more in our Dropbox review.
Dropbox is one of the best cloud storage with sync for a good reason. It has solid speeds as well as block-level sync, which means that you won’t waste time uploading files that are already in the cloud when you need to sync data. Block-level sync transfers only the parts of a file that have changed, rather than the complete file, greatly reducing transfer times.
The biggest downside with Dropbox is the lack of client-side encryption, which means you’ll need to use third-party apps if you want solid security. Client-side encryption means that your data is encrypted on your device before it’s sent to Dropbox’s servers, for added security.
Minimalist Desktop Client
Dropbox’s official desktop client is not much more than a sync folder and a tray icon. This is a model that Dropbox actually invented back in 2007. It’s remarkably simple to use, allowing you to just move files into the folder like any other and have them sync in the cloud. There is nothing special about the Linux app — it simply does its job, and does it well.
Dropbox is far from cheap, but even the cheapest plan offers 2TB of storage, which is plenty. There is also a free plan with 2GB of storage, and plans for the enterprise world with unlimited storage.
- 1 user
- 2GB
- 1 user
- 2TB
- up to 6 users
- 2TB
More plans
- (Formerly Dropbox One) 1 user Signature requests and eSignature templates
- 3TB
- 3 users minimum
- 5TB
- 3 users minimum
5. Cozy
More details about Cozy:
- Pricing: Free plan; $2.99 per month on the Comfort plan
- Provider website: cozy.io
Pros:
- Aggregates data from third-party services
- Solid speeds
- Affordable pricing
Cons:
- Doesn’t encrypt your data
- Not enough storage plans
- Difficult to install
Cozy’s cloud service is only one of the things the company offers, and it’s a solid and affordable solution that combines a native Linux app and a more extensive web interface. Cozy aims to be an all-in-one backup and cloud storage solution that also aggregates banking data and acts as a password manager and generator.
Cozy’s cloud storage service has a Linux client that is not the easiest to install, due to the fact you need to download an AppImage file, but it’s very simple to use once you have it up and running. The speeds are solid, but Cozy doesn’t offer any kind of encryption, which is why it comes in dead last on our list. Learn more in our Cozy Cloud review.
Complete Data Integration
Cozy goes one step further than your typical cloud provider and aims to integrate as much of your data as possible in the cloud. You can gather banking data, as well as data from shopping services and other online services you use. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re after an all-in-one solution, it goes a long way.
Cozy doesn’t offer much when it comes to plan options. There’s a free storage plan with 5GB that you can upgrade to either 50GB or 1TB of storage, but that’s pretty much it. Note that the prices are always given in Euros, which means that the numbers below are estimates based on current conversion rates.
| Plan: | Price (Monthly) |
|---|---|
| Free | $0.00 |
| 50GB | $2.90 |
| 1000GB | $9.67 |
Honorable Mention
To make your choice easier, we decided to limit our list to only five options. However, Koofr is certainly worth consideration for a select few users, so we’ve added it as an honorable mention.
Koofr
Koofr is a cloud storage service from Slovenia, with a web client and a native Linux client that are both very clear and intuitive. It offers several pricing plans, from the 10GB free storage plan to the 10TB plan that costs the equivalent of $60 per month. You can find out more in our Koofr review.
Unfortunately, Koofr is only fast if you’re physically close to their data centers in Slovenia. For anyone else, the speeds are going to be mediocre at best. To add to this, there is no zero-knowledge encryption.
- 10GB
- *Prices in Euro
- 10GB
- *Prices in Euro
- 25GB
More plans
- *Prices in Euro
- 100GB
- *Prices in Euro
- 250GB
- *Prices in Euro
- 1TB
- *Prices in Euro
- 3TB
- *Prices in Euro
- 5TB
- *Prices in Euro
- 10TB
- *Prices in Euro
- 20TB
Final Thoughts
Even though there are plenty of cloud services that offer a web-based interface, very few of them offer a native Linux app. If you’re a Linux user, picking the best cloud storage service can be a bit of a chore. Dropbox offers plenty of storage, but it comes at a price. MEGA and pCloud put a strong emphasis on security, and Icedrive and Cozy are both affordable options.
Are you looking for as much storage space as possible for a low price, or are things like end-to-end encryption and secure data centers more important to you? Do you pay a premium and go with the household name that is Dropbox, or do you save a bit and opt for Icedrive or Cozy? Let us know in the comments, and as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ
Yes, there are cloud storage providers that offer native Linux apps for Ubuntu.
Most of the cloud services offer free storage space as part of their lowest tier subscriptions. How much storage you get depends on the specific cloud service.
The best cloud storage provider for Linux users at the moment is pCloud.