Avis Icedrive

Established in 2019, Icedrive is a new entrant in the online storage market. Thanks to its excellent security and respect for confidentiality and privacy at no extra cost, Icedrive nevertheless appears to be one of the best online storage services.

However, the service still lacks some features, especially in the context of data sharing, which prevents it from being the best solution for most people. For that, you should rather look at its main competitor pCloud.

Icedrive is gaining a lot of maturity and reputation, and it will be able to attract many users for its very affordable rates, as well as its excellent privacy and security policy.

Logo Icedrive
Icedrive

BENEFITS

  • Very low prices, especially in lifetime payment
  • Very good security and privacy (private encryption included)
  • Satisfied or your money back for 14 days
  • 10 GB of free cloud space

DISADVANTAGES

  • Website and applications in English only
  • Some missing features compared to pCloud or Sync.com

File synchronization

Unlike many other online storage providers, Icedrive does not offer a central synchronized folder on your hard drive (like the Dropbox folder for example). Here, you will be able to select certain folders on your hard drive that will be automatically synchronized with your online space.

The virtual drive to save space on your hard drive

Among its file synchronization features, Icedrive offers a virtual drive. The files in this drive are not stored on your hard drive, but are actually synchronized directly from the cloud space when you browse or consult them. Thus, the virtual drive allows you to save disk space on your hard drive.

Unfortunately, this feature is currently only available to Windows users. Mac or Linux users, for example, will only be able to use the more traditional Icedrive features.

File sharing

It is probably in the field of data sharing that Icedrive lacks the most to become excellent. Icedrive is still a young company that promises to improve its services and add features to its online storage to make it even closer to the best cloud storage.

We particularly regret the absence of Claude’s links. These are very useful, especially in a professional context, to let another person upload files directly to our online space.

Icedrive still has the most usual file sharing features:

  • File sharing by email.
  • Generate a sharinglink to access the desired file or folder
  • Set a deadline after which the files will no longer be accessible.
  • Set a password to protect access to your files.

Security and privacy

Icedrive Web App
Icedrive’s web interface is modern and pleasant.

The private encryption “Zero-knowledge

We put a lot of emphasis in our tests on the importance of security and privacy of data on the cloud. In the context of online storage, this is achieved through encryption, which makes the data unreadable to anyone who does not have the necessary keys to decrypt it.

Private encryption, or client-side encryption, involves using a key that is in your sole possession. The data is then encrypted on your machine, even before leaving it to be transferred to the Icedrive servers. The huge advantage of this method is to ensure the secrecy of your files: even Icedrive could not read your files since they do not have the key necessary to decrypt it.

Icedrive therefore offers this private encryption (except for the free offer which does not use client-side encryption), which makes it a preferred option in this area. This even makes Icedrive preferable on this point to services like Google Drive or Dropbox, which do not offer this feature and therefore have full access to your files.

Data encryption

The encryption algorithm used by Icedrive differs from those of their competitors. It is the Twofish algorithm that encrypts the data. This one has many qualities that make it as secure as other algorithms.

Prices and packages offered

Icedrive’s prices are very low. Much lower than its competitors for the amount of data offered. This pricing policy alone justifies a closer look at Icedrive as a cloud storage solution.

Icedrive’s packages are very similar to what pCloud offers:

  • A free 10GB cloud storage plan.
  • Paid packages of 150GB, 1TB and 5TB with various billing options: monthly, annual or single (for lifetime online storage with a single payment).
  • A 14-day trial period during which it is possible to get a refund.

Icedrive’s free online storage

Like most of its competitors, Icedrive offers to try its cloud storage service via a free package. This one is at the top of the list, with 10 GB totally free.

Note, however, that Icedrive’s free offer does not include private encryption (or client-side encryption), which is built into all paid offers.

Icedrive’s paid online storage

Pricing of Icedrive

Icedrive offers 3 paid packages: Lite (150 GB), Pro (1 TB) or Pro + (5 TB). The range of different disk spaces is therefore very wide, up to 5TB, which few competitors offer or exceed.

Let’s take a look at the prices for monthly and annual subscriptions, or “lifetime” offers:

  • The Lite offer for 150GB is available with two billing plans:
    • Annual subscription at 21,99€ per year, or 1,83€ per month. Note that it is not possible to have a monthly subscription for this formula. Only the annual billing is proposed.
    • The one-time payment for a lifetime access is 89€, which corresponds to about 4 years of annual subscription.
  • The 1TB Pro offer is available in three versions:
    • Monthly subscription at 4,99€ per month.
    • Annual subscription at 49,99€ per year (10€ less than a monthly subscription).
    • The lifetime offer is only 199€ (about 4 years of annual subscription).
  • The 5Tb Pro + offer is also available in three versions:
    • Monthly subscription at 17,99€ per month.
    • Annual subscription at €179.99 per year (about €36 savings compared to a monthly subscription).
    • The one-time payment for lifetime access is only €499, which is less than 3 years of annual subscription!

Online storage for life according to Icedrive: the cheapest offer on the market

It was pCloud that got us used to the very advantageous formula of online storage for life. In other words, you pay once to buy online storage space that can then be used for life.

Here, “lifetime” means of course as long as Icedrive exists. Icedrive is still young in the cloud storage market, but given how quickly they manage to find their footing and their very good reputation, it doesn’t seem too risky to bet on them in the long run.

Time to pay for lifetime online storage

Icedrive’s subscriptions have pretty standard rates, similar to other cheaper competitors. What allows Icedrive to position itself as the cheapest cloud storage is its “lifetime” offers at the extremely low prices of 89€ for 150 GB, 199€ for 1 TB, and 499€ for 5 TB.

This price may seem too high, but to evaluate it properly you have to consider its interest in the medium or long term. And in this case, it is an unbeatable offer.

5Tb for 499€: the cheapest online storage on the market

A quick calculation is all it takes to realize this. Here, the price of 499€ for 5Tb corresponds to less than 3 years of annual subscription at 179,99€. In other words, the price of the one-time payment is amortized in less than 3 years. Once these 3 years have passed, you have made your payment profitable because the use then becomes “free”: the online space belongs to you and you can continue to use it, but you have already paid for it.

Let’s compare with pCloud which is the only real competitor of Icedrive in the field of lifetime storage, pCloud offers its 2TB plan at 350€. This offer is already considered incredibly economical in the long run. And yet, in terms of pricing alone, it is no match for Icedrive.

For the smaller cloud storage offered by Icedrive (150GB or 1TB), the rates offered by pCloud on its lifetime offers are more attractive.

For cloud storage of 150 GB and 1 TB, it is true that the offer is slightly less interesting since it pays for itself in about 4 years.

Icedrive and its competitors

Icedrive vs pCloud

When you take a closer look at the online storage offers, it is not difficult to see that Icedrive is encroaching on pCloud’s turf. The lifetime offers are clearly inspired by what pCloud has been doing for years already. This is a very good thing, because pCloud is probably the best online storage today. The fact that Icedrive aims to surpass pCloud on its own ground.

Thus, Icedrive even manages to surpass pCloud on some points.

Advantages of Icedrive

  • Lower prices than pCloud, even for lifetime offers.
  • Private encryption, on the client side, included by default, where pCloud makes it a paid option.
  • Icedrive offers a 5TB online storage package, where the largest space offered by pCloud is 2TB.

Advantages of pCloud

  • pCloud has been around longer and thus has a more stable position in the long run.
  • PCloud’s service is more complete in functionality and better polished (for example, Icedrive is only available in English).

Icedrive or pCloud: our opinion

Icedrive is an extremely important challenger on the online storage market, and could well quickly surpass its elders as the best cloud for the general public.

The service has for him its extremely aggressive policy that allows him to surpass even pCloud on this field. In addition to this, it has client-side encryption that guarantees the secrecy of all files stored online. This feature makes Icedrive even more secure and confidential than pCloud.

In conclusion, pCloud will stay ahead for its more complete features which will make it more suitable for professional use for example. On the other hand, if you are looking for a large online storage (1TB or 5TB) that respects the confidentiality of all your files and especially for a very low price, Icedrive could be the gem.

Icedrive vs Google Drive or Dropbox

Faced with the two giants of Cloud storage, Google and Dropbox, Icedrive is positioned as a challenger. However, it has certain qualities that the two behemoths do not. Its prices and its policy on security and privacy make even Google and Dropbox pale in comparison.

Advantages of Icedrive

  • Its private encryption perfectly respects the privacy of its users (the content of files placed in encrypted folders can only be known by you, not even by Icedrive).
  • Unbeatable prices, especially when you consider lifetime online storage offers.

Advantages of Dropbox and Google Drive

  • Google Drive and Dropbox have better integration with external tools (especially Google Drive, which is part of the Google ecosystem).
  • They have a more complete range of features than Icedrive.

Who should use Icedrive?

Is Icedrive suitable for the general public? Without a doubt, the general public will be able to take advantage of Icedrive’s most important qualities, which are the lifetime offers at extremely attractive prices, and the features that guarantee security and the confidentiality of personal data.

However, we should not forget its shortcomings and the lack of certain features, but these should not bother the majority of users.

The main argument: the lifetime plan prices

Icedrive’s single-payment plans are clearly the most attractive on the market if we weigh them against the quality of the service offered. Even pCloud, which is the forerunner in this field, cannot offer better.

In particular, the 5TB cloud storage space at 500€ is incredibly low. To convince yourself of this, you only need to calculate that it pays for itself in just 3 years compared to a traditional annual subscription. This represents impressive savings once these 3 years have passed.

In conclusion

In short, Icedrive is perfectly suited if you are looking for an online storage space to synchronize your data and access it from anywhere. If the few limitations of the file sharing system (no possibility to send to a contact so that he can upload files directly to your online space) do not seem essential to you, then you can try Icedrive without regret. For this, thefree 10 GB offer or simply the possibility of getting your money back within 14 days of a purchase will be very useful.

Logo Icedrive
Icedrive

BENEFITS

  • Very low prices, especially in lifetime payment
  • Very good security and privacy (private encryption included)
  • Satisfied or your money back for 14 days
  • 10 GB of free cloud space

DISADVANTAGES

  • Website and applications in English only
  • Some missing features compared to pCloud or Sync.com

Try Icedrive with 10 GB free