Google Drive has been around for over 10 years. Proton Drive, meanwhile, is brand new. Still, this latest cloud storage service holds great promise. Little comparison.
If you are looking for a service to store your files in the cloud, you may know that the developers of Proton Mail have launched Proton Drive, which promises security and privacy. We compare it in this article to its main competitor, Google Drive. Obviously, we don’t expect the fledgling Proton Drive service to be able to compete in every segment with Google Drive, but let’s see how it performs.
Let’s look at the basics first
With Proton Drive, you only get 500MB of free storage. Proton Unlimited costs $12 per month and gives you up to 500GB. With this pack you also get benefits in other Proton products, email aliases in Proton Mail, and up to 10 devices for Proton VPN.
Google offers 15 GB of free storage to its users, but split between Google products, mainly Gmail and Google Drive. For $10 a month, you get 2TB of storage, and the deal goes up to 30TB ($150 a month).
You can store any type of file in Proton Drive and Google Drive, organize them in folders, but Proton Drive is very far from Google Drive when it comes to previewing. This only works on images at the moment. You cannot open video, audio, or even PDF files in a browser tab. And Proton Drive doesn’t offer a suite like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
In terms of apps, Proton Drive currently only has its web interface, no mobile or desktop apps for synchronization. However, the apps are under development, as is the Extended File Preview.
Features and interface
Proton Drive touts its product’s end-to-end encryption. Proton Drive is even able to detect when it’s being censored at a higher level and reroute traffic accordingly. The service is also accessible via the Tor browser for even more privacy. These features are the biggest reason that will make Proton Drive preferred over Google Drive.
Google Drive does not lack features for security, but encryption is not present at all stages. The risk remains slim, but Proton Drive goes so far as to eliminate it (almost) completely.
File and folder sharing is also very efficient on Proton Drive, at the same level as Google Drive. Shared links can be password protected and have an expiration date. Proton Drive offers a more intuitive setting than Google on these things.
Proton Drive’s web interface is also very well done, with lots of themes. Spend some time with both and you’ll find that Google Drive pales in comparison.
That being said, in terms of functionality and flexibility, Google Drive is the clear winner. The latter allows a search in the files, the implementation of filters on file types and dates, etc. Which isn’t surprising given the history of the company, but Google search is perfect.
Currently, you can only send and drag and drop files with Proton Drive. When it comes to file transfers and changes, Google Drive and Proton Drive are on an equal footing, these operations are handled equally quickly and very reliably on both sides.
Verdict?
Google Drive is clearly above in most categories, which was expected. With ten years of development and many dedicated applications, the field of possibilities is too wide for Proton Drive. That being said, Proton’s service shows enormous potential.
Like Google Drive, Proton Drive is part of a suite of apps, Proton Mail being the best known. If you are willing to pay a monthly subscription, you will have access to these very secure and reliable apps. And you will distance yourself from the giant Google, which generates its revenue from advertising, and your data.
On the other hand, if you’re already immersed in the Google ecosystem, you might consider it worth the effort, so to speak. More storage for less, and more features.
Overall, Proton Drive shows great promise, and should definitely appeal to those who value security and privacy above all else. For now, however, Google Drive has way more features than Proton Drive, from previewing and searching and editing. So many things to consider before choosing your cloud storage solution.
