Head-to-head

MEGA vs Proton Drive

Two encrypted clouds with free tiers worth having: 20 GB of pragmatism against 5 GB of principle.

Our pick
Private
MEGA logoMEGA
MEGA Limited

MEGA

20 GB free, encrypted, on every platform you own.

Private
Proton Drive logoProton Drive
Proton AG

Proton Drive

Swiss zero-knowledge storage from the Proton Mail people.

MEGAProton Drive
Our score4.1 / 54.4 / 5
PriceFreeFree
Free plan
Best forFree encrypted storagePrivacy-first users
CategoryEncrypted & privateEncrypted & private
ProviderMEGA LimitedProton AG

Our verdict

MEGA wins the free fight outright: 20 GB against 5 GB, with clients for every platform including Linux. On paid plans the choice sharpens: Proton Drive buys you into an ecosystem (Mail, VPN, Pass) with a privacy-first institutional reputation, while MEGA gives more raw encrypted storage per dollar with chat and meetings attached. For a free encrypted dump of your documents folder, MEGA. For a paid, principled home for your digital life, Proton. Both keep your keys yours, which beats most of this market already.

The most generous free tier in the business (20 GB) with end-to-end encryption as standard. Paid plans are fair, apps cover every platform including Linux, and the colorful history is exactly that: history.Editorial team, on MEGA
The privacy ecosystem play: zero-knowledge encryption by default, Swiss jurisdiction, and it comes bundled with the best private email and a top-tier VPN. Still younger and leaner on features than the veterans, but maturing fast.Editorial team, on Proton Drive