How to Choose an Encrypted Cloud Plan: Free Tiers, Version History, and Renewals

Name the job before you name the brand

Encrypted cloud is for files you do not want the host to read. Collaboration cloud is for files a team must hammer on together. Backup is for surviving a dead laptop. Those three jobs overlap in marketing and almost never in one SKU. If you skip this step, you will either overpay for a suite or underbuy GB and rage-upgrade during a vacation photo dump.

Write one sentence: 'I need a private place for tax PDFs and a camera roll, about X GB, on iPhone and Windows.' If the sentence includes 'twenty comments in a spreadsheet,' you are not shopping Proton first. If it includes 'hotel Wi-Fi,' that is a VPN sentence — nearby, not the same cart unless you want a bundle on purpose.

From the record

The plan page is a menu. Your sentence is the order. Do not let the menu rewrite the sentence.

GUIDEORA buying-guide rule

Size the gigabytes like a grown-up

Open the cloud you already use and read actual usage. Add 30% for a year of photos. If you cannot measure, assume stills are cheap and 4K video is not. Proton Free's 5 GB is a lab. Drive Plus's 200 GB is a personal archive for many stills-heavy people. Unlimited 500 GB and Duo 2 TB (as currently listed) are for video and two-person libraries. Confirm live.

Version history is part of the plan

Proton currently: Free keeps up to 10 versions for up to 7 days. Paid Drive plans can keep up to 200 versions for up to 10 years, configurable in settings. That is a real Plus feature if you overwrite files. It still uses quota. It is not an excuse to skip an offline copy of the deed or the novel.

Standalone Plus versus a Proton bundle

Drive Plus is the honest storage SKU. Unlimited adds Mail, VPN, Pass, Calendar, and 500 GB. Duo adds a second user and listed terabytes. Family is the larger household product when Proton is selling it. Buy Plus if Drive is the only tile. Buy a bundle if you will migrate mail or already wanted Proton VPN. See our Unlimited review on this topic for the longer version.

Renewal, currency, and refund windows

Annual prices look like monthly prices. They are not. Proton currently advertises a 30-day money-back window on paid Drive SKUs — that is Proton's term. Use the window to test desktop sync and photo backup. Put a reminder before renewal. GUIDEORA will not claim a discount lasts forever.

Applying the checklist to Proton Drive this week

• Create the free account and upload one sensitive folder as a test of apps and recovery.
• Measure camera-roll size; pick Plus vs Unlimited vs Duo from GB and seats, not from a banner.
• Turn on sharing expiry habits before you send the first real link.
• If you want VPN/Mail too, price Unlimited against bills you already pay.

A boring cart is a good cart

Encrypted cloud shopping should feel slightly dull: GB, seats, renewal, refund. Proton Drive's ladder is clear enough to use that way. Do not buy two encrypted clouds to feel twice as private.