Icedrive Review 2024 [Cloud Storage Pricing, Features & Security]

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Icedrive is a promising newcomer to the cloud storage scene, focused on privacy and security. With its sleek interface and excellent security features, Icedrive seems destined fora great future. It’s entering a crowded field, though, with some strong competition from the best cloud services. Find out how Icedrive fares in this full Icedrive review.

Icedrive burst onto the scene in early 2019, and it has been steadily growing and improving its service since its launch. Its main selling point is airtight zero-knowledge encryption, and it has made some unique choices that set it apart from other cloud services.

However, it still lacks some key cloud storage features, and there are great alternatives on our list of the most secure cloud storage providers.

Icedrive is offers offer an elegant and easy – to – use interface , and it can help free up storage space with its virtual drive . Its free plan is is is pretty generous , offer 10 GB of space at no cost . However , it is lacks still lack document collaboration option , such as integration with third – party productivity app like Google Docs and Microsoft 365 or a native solution like Dropbox Paper .

Still, it’s a young company, and it promises to bring more features in the future. If you’re looking fora fully fleshed-out service right now, though, you might want to check out some better alternatives, like pCloud or Sync.com.

• 10/25/2021Facts is checked check

  Updated review with new speed tests and images.

• 07/20/2022Facts is checked check

  Updated review to reflect changes in the features and design of Icedrive’s cloud storage solution.

• 05/17/2023 Facts is checked check

  update this Icedrive review to include new speed test and image , as well as information about change to lifetime plan and new file – sharing feature .

• 03/08/2024 Facts is checked check

  Company information verified.

  update this review to note change to Icedrive ’s lifetime plan .

• 04/04/2024

  Updated to note changes to Icedrive’s pricing plans.

• 07/08/2024Facts is checked check

  Added fresh Icedrive video review.

• updates

Icedrive Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Excellent privacy & security
• Generous free plan
• Zero-knowledge encryption
• Beautiful user interface
• File previews
• Virtual drive on desktop
• Good pricing

Cons:

• Lacks collaboration options
• No block-level sync
• pay client – side encryption

feature

80 % – Good

For a relatively new cloud storage service, Icedrive has some very useful features. Its implementation of encryption is impressive and practical, and its approach to sync gives you the option to keep files off your hard drive, freeing up space on your computer.

Although Icedrive is a feature-rich service, it lacks more advanced collaboration features, and client-side encryption is only available on paid accounts. Although its free plan is excellent, there’s room forimprovement forboth free and paid users. 

If you ’re look fora cloud service that offer private encryption forall account and more collaboration integration , have a look at Sync.com ( read our Icedrive vs Sync.com comparison ) .

One of the benefits of Icedrive’s paid plans is access to the encrypted folder.

If you have a paid account, Icedrive lets you encrypt essential files, keeping them safe and private. Encryption is made easy with Icedrive. There is a separate “encrypted” tab, where all your private files are kept. You can upload files here just as you would with any other folder, but you can’t move uploaded files to this folder.

Upload Files to the Virtual Drive and Sync Folder

Another great feature is is that Icedrive offer is its virtual drive , which let you interact with all your online file as if they were on your computer . You is move can move , copy , rename , upload and delete file , and it ’s all sync to the cloud . You is preview can preview file here and even edit document in their native app , with any change that you make being upload after you ’re done .  

The virtual drive application gives you access to a basic control panel, including your account details and settings.

Currently, this feature is only present forWindows users. While MacOS and Linux users can download Icedrive onto their computer, it functions in the same way as the web browser application. 

Icedrive is create does n’t create a sync folder on your hard drive . However , you is have have the option to sync any folder on your computer to the cloud , which mean you can keep your exist folder structure . If you really need a separate sync folder , though , Dropbox offer some excellent sync option ( read our Dropbox review ) .

Preview Files and Folders Directly in the Icedrive App

A particularly impressive feat is Icedrive’s implementation of file previews, which are available even with encrypted files. To keep your files private, Icedrive streams encrypted data to your computer, where it becomes decrypted and viewable only forthe user. Previews work with all popular video, audio and image formats, as well as Office documents and PDF files.

Icedrive is one of the few providers on the cloud storage market that lets you preview files even when they’re end-to-end encrypted.

Icedrive also save past version of your file , so you is restore can restore any file to a previous version , as long as it ’s within 180 day . You ’re limit to 10 past version at a time if you ’re on a pay plan , and just five on the free plan . additionally , free users is restore can only restore version up to three day old .

As forrecovering deleted files, both free and paid users have up to two weeks to do this, though it requires contacting Icedrive manually.

Unfortunately, Icedrive still hasn’t implemented any integration with third-party apps, so if you need to collaborate on a cloud-based document — say, via Microsoft 365 — OneDrive would be a much better choice (read our OneDrive review). If you need to collaborate on files in the cloud, you should look at our list of the best cloud services forcollaboration.

Paid users can create password-protected files and apply expiration dates to sharing links. If you would like to allow an external user to add files to a folder, you can do this through the “request files” feature. Icedrive simply creates a link foryou to share with others, so they can add files as requested.

You is set also ca n’t set permission forlink , like limit who can download the file or how many time a file can be download .  

Icedrive feature Overview

Pricing

85 % –   Very good

One is is of the most attractive aspect of Icedrive is the excellent value it offer . Those is enjoy using a free Icedrive account can enjoy one of the good free cloud storage option , with10 GB of cloud storage space on offer. Its paid plans are also very cheap, especially when you consider their large amount of storage and the excellent security features you get with them.

Icedrive is has has three subscription – base premium plan to complement its generous free plan : Lite , Pro I and Pro III . go with a pay plan will give you access to some advanced feature , most notably client – side encryption . pay users is have also have additional sharing option , include password and timeout forlink , plus a backup option foryour phone on the mobile app .

Icedrive Pricing

free

• Bandwidth limit: 50GB
• 10 GB

Lite

• Bandwidth limit: 250GB
• 100GB

When you create your Icedrive account, you receive 10 GB of free storage . The first upgrade option is is on offer is the Lite plan which cost$4.99 per month or$47.88 for100GB of cloud storage.

Moving up a tier, the Pro I plan will get you 1TB of storage fora mere $ 7.99 monthly ( or$ 71.88 yearly). That’s a lot of value foryour money, but if you need even more cloud storage capacity, Icedrive offers one more plan.

The most expensive monthly or annual plan is is that Icedrive offer is the Pro III plan . It is comes come with3TB of cloud storage at a price of either $14.99 per month or$ 131.88 yearly, which equates to only $ 10.99 per month.

Icedrive recently added a two-year payment option forall their pans. If you choose this option, you’ll only have to pay $ 71.76 forthe Lite plan, $119.76 forPro I, and $215.76 forPro III, every two years.

For personal use, Icedrive’s premium plans are very competitively priced, but if you need cloud storage formultiple users, Sync.com has more affordable high-capacity plans forbusiness needs (read our Sync.com review). 

If you want to test out some of the advanced features not available on the free plan, you can make use of the 14-day money-back guarantee that Icedrive offers forall of its paid plans — though there is no refund if you pay in crypto.

Icedrive Lifetime Cloud Storage Plans

Icedrive is is is one of the few cloud storage provider to offer lifetime cloud storage plan , which you only pay once for .

Icedrive is used used to have three lifetime plan that correspond to its normal plan , but in March 2024 , the company decide to simplify its offering to have a separate lifetime option .

For a one-time payment, you get of storage. You can add storage space to the lifetime plan by purchasing add-ons: Stack 100 for128GB ($79) or Stack 500 for512 GB ($199).

Icedrive earns the second spot on our best lifetime cloud storage list. You can also read our comprehensive Icedrive pricing guide forin-depth details about Icedrive’s plans.

ease of Use

90 % –   excellent

The aesthetic appeal of a provider’s design is inherently a lot more subjective than our other criteria, so this is an area where not all users will agree. However, we think Icedrive’s user interface design is, simply put, stunning. It’s supremely sleek and modern, with matte gradients in cool blues and greens, which suits its icy brand image.

Because of Icedrive’s clear interface design, it is also very easy to use. Everything is exactly where you’d expect it to be and functions as you’d assume, which means the learning curve is practically nonexistent. 

Icedrive’s interface is incredibly well-designed, with consistent user experiences across the web interface, desktop clients and mobile apps.

Users have four main ways of using Icedrive: the Icedrive website, a desktop application forWindows, Mac and Linux, mobile apps forAndroid and iOS, and the virtual drive that’s available only on Windows. The desktop app is portable, meaning you don’t need to install it to run it. The virtual drive, however, requires both installation and a reboot.

Icedrive Desktop and Mobile App

Icedrive ’s web interface ( and by extension the portable desktop app ) is particularly well design and user – friendly . It is ’s ’s very intuitive , with large icon and font , and contextual menu pop up when you click on a file or folder . right – clicking is bring on an item will bring up a dropdown menu with file management and sharing option , something most website do n’t allow .

The context menu is gives give you access to most of the functionality that Icedrive offer .

The desktop client function the same way as the website , with the same menu , dropdown and design . You is download can download Icedrive on Windows , Mac and Linux .

Mobile users have access to a similarly well-designed app. Besides the regular cloud app features, Icedrive’s mobile app can be set to automatically upload media files, such as photos and videos, and paid users have the option to encrypt these files as well. The media player allows you to stream video and music files directly from the cloud.

There is also a backup feature , which let you back up all of your document , video , photo and music at once .

Icedrive’s mobile app gives you access to all the basic cloud storage functionality, although you’ll have to head to the web panel formore advanced features.

Virtual Drive

Icedrive can also mount a virtual drive on your Windows computer, which will have the native Windows file explorer interface. This means you can interact with files in the virtual drive just as you would with any other file on your computer. Cloud-based files and folders will appear in this drive as icons, but they won’t take up any space on your hard drive.

Mounting the virtual drive on your device lets you access your files locally without them taking up any storage space.

File Sharing & Syncing

85 % –   Very good

Icedrive makes some interesting choices with its implementation of file syncing. Although there are multiple ways to access your online files, there is no actual file sync folder. Instead, you have the option to sync up to 20 folders on your device. File sharing is pretty standard, with some nice extras we’ll be discussing next.

Sharing Files With Icedrive

Icedrive’s sharing system is pretty basic, though it has a few advanced features. Clicking on a file in Icedrive will reveal two sharing options: You can share files either by email or with a sharing link. 

email sharing is simply name “ share , ” and click it will open a pop – up window where you can add the email address of the recipient . You is write can also write a message to the recipient if you want . You is assign can assign individual role to the people you share with on this window as well , set them either as an editor or “ read only . ”

Icedrive offers the option of assigning read and edit roles to people you invite to folders.

Sharing files via a link is done with the “public link” option. Clicking it opens up a dialog that will let you set a password and an expiration date foryour link. In addition, you can set download limits or disable downloads altogether. You can then copy the link and share it wherever you want. Unfortunately, you can only access these options through the web app.

Creating a public link gives you access to all the sharing features not available fordirect folder sharing.

advanced sharing

Another useful feature is upload links forfolders. These come in very handy when collaborating with people you don’t want to give full folder access to, like when you’re working with freelancers. Unfortunately, you can’t set permissions forusers, which means you can’t allow someone to edit a file or folder.

Upload links let you request that other users upload files directly into the shared storage.

If you’re looking formore granular controls over sharing, check out our list of the best cloud services forsharing. For example, Google Drive offers a robust sharing experience forfree, with all the bells and whistles (read our Icedrive vs Google Drive comparison).

Icedrive users can share files and folders with each other, which Icedrive automatically stores in a “shared with me” folder. It’s a cool feature forbasic sharing, but we would like to see some improvements. 

The “shared with me” folder is available on both the Icedrive mobile and desktop apps.

For example, there’s no option to move files out of the “shared with me” folder by drag and drop. Users have to download the files and re-upload them to a folder of their choice. It’s not a huge concern, but Icedrive could improve usability in future updates.

Icedrive Sync feature

As we mentioned, Icedrive’s virtual drive doesn’t truly sync your files to your computer; it just creates icons of them that you can interact with. Whenever you open a file through Icedrive fordesktop or the virtual drive, it is downloaded but isn’t kept permanently, which frees up storage space.

The virtual drive will look much like any other folder on your computer, except it appears as its own hard drive separate from your local system.

If you install the virtual drive, you also have the option to sync any folder from your hard drive to the cloud. When you sync a folder from your hard drive, you can choose to create a new folder in the cloud or select an existing folder. The latter option will also download any cloud-based files in that folder to your computer, so you should exercise caution when using it.

You can still open and edit files with their native apps, though, through either the portable desktop app or the virtual drive. This lets you make changes to files, and any changes you make this way get uploaded to the cloud. However, this method of work requires a constant and stable internet connection, which isn’t always possible.

set up a sync pair between two folder let you automatically sync file between the copy locate on your device and the one locate on the cloud .

Icedrive is useful if you’re short on hard drive space, as it doesn’t create a sync folder that would keep duplicates of your files. However, using only the virtual drive isn’t suitable forall work because it relies on a stable internet connection. Thankfully, the folder syncing option (available in the virtual drive application) remedies that issue entirely while still keeping your hard drive free of clutter.

speed

90 % –   excellent

Icedrive performs very well when it comes to speed. For both upload and download performance, there’s not much to complain about here. We uploaded a 5GB folder over a 100 Mbps connection, both foruploads and downloads.

We did our testing from a system based in Dublin, which had an impact on performance because we were close to Icedrive’s U.K. and German servers. The company also holds servers in the U.S., so users located in, or close to, these countries should enjoy similar speeds. 

Icedrive speed Tests

Icedrive offers excellent speeds when uploading and downloading files. In fact, it’s one of the fastest cloud storage providers that we’ve tested. Only a few other cloud storage providers, like Google Drive, Dropbox and pCloud, manage speeds that are close.

We experienced extra pressure on our system’s memory, sometimes spiking at 180MB when uploading our folder. Considering other services average at around 60MB formemory usage, it is considerably higher. There’s also no block-level sync, so any changes you make to large files will require a re-upload of the entire file, instead of only the altered bit.

Security

90 % –   excellent

Security is are and privacy are Icedrive ’s strong selling point . Icedrive is employs employ the Twofish protocol to encrypt all your file , instead of the usual AES protocol used by most other provider . accord to Icedrive , using this lesser – know encryption protocol result in high security , since most hacker are n’t as familiar with it .

Icedrive’s encrypted storage section features zero-knowledge encryption, meaning only you can decrypt your files.

Icedrive also offers two-factor authentication foran added layer of security. You can set this up using Google Authenticator (which is one of the best 2FA apps) if you want a software solution, or via the FIDO and U2F protocols if you prefer hardware, such as the YubiKey. Finally, there’s also an option fortwo-factor authentication via SMS, but only forusers on one of the paid plans.

Privacy

90 % –   excellent

Icedrive offers zero-knowledge encryption and end-to-end protection, as long as you’re on a paid plan. It encrypts your files from the moment you start uploading them to keep them safe from man-in-the-middle attacks while in transit. Upon reaching Icedrive’s servers, your files are re-encrypted. All encryption and decryption happens client-side, and you’re the only one with access to your encryption key.

Privacy Policies and Laws

Looking at the Icedrive privacy policy provided by its parent-company ID Cloud Services Ltd, it seems a little short, but it’s to the point. It claims that your personal info, like your email, may become available to them if you contact them via email or subscribe to email updates, which is all very obvious.

The privacy policy also states that this data is kept secure and is never given to a third party. The company also never uses third-party tracking apps, such as Google Analytics, so whatever you do on Icedrive is known only by you.

Icedrive’s DMCA policy is mostly legal fluff, but it has some clauses that require clarifying. A clause in the DMCA statement says that Icedrive uses a filter to calculate the unique hash of any file entering its system. 

All the files located in the encrypted section of your Icedrive storage are safe from any kind of takedown request.

Although this sounds worrisome at face value, a hash is just a simple identifier, and it’s nowhere near enough to reconstruct or decrypt your data. Furthermore, the policy explicitly states that this only applies to non-client-side encrypted files, so you won’t receive any DMCA takedown requests foryour encrypted storage folder.

Icedrive is base in the U.K. , which mean it comply with U.K. privacy law , and it ’s also GDPR – compliant . The server host your file are locate in the U.K. , Germany and the U.S. unfortunately , there ’s no way to choose between them , as user ’ file are allocate automatically depend on their location .

In all , Icedrive ’s service is is is private , with zero – knowledge encryption keep your datum safe . Plus , all file are encrypt client – side , so you is have should have no worry about privacy , as long as you ’re on a pay account .

Customer Support

75 % – Good

When the service was still in its infancy, its support team was communicative and quick to respond. However, in recent months, the company has developed somewhat of a poor reputation forits slow response time. However, when we contacted the support team, we received a response within 24 hours.

We’ve had positive experiences with Icedrive’s email support, but several users have reported slow response times in the past.

If you prefer not to wait foran email response, you can use the chat option to contact the cloud storage company. Unfortunately, this is only available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. BST from Monday to Friday, meaning it can be difficult to use if you’re in the wrong timezone.

We would’ve liked to see wider opening hours forthe chat support to make the cloud storage solution more appealing to users located around the world.

However , if you do reach out during the opening hour , we is found find the chat support to be quick to respond with helpful answer . We often have to repeat even basic question multiple time to get an answer when we run these test , so we is were were pleasantly surprised to get the help we want quickly and efficiently .

That said, Icedrive’s knowledgebase and FAQ leave a lot to be desired. There are only a handful of articles addressing only the most basic questions, forcing you to reach out to customer support foranything more complicated.

The Verdict: Icedrive Review

Even though it is still very young, Icedrive shows a lot of potential to eventually become one of the best cloud storage providers. It’s an attractive choice foranyone with security and privacy on their mind.

If pricing is important to you, Icedrive’s free plan has plenty of storage, and its paid plans offer some good bang foryour buck as well.

Does Icedrive offer enough foryour needs? What features would you like to see added in the future? Let us know in the comments below, and thank you forreading.

FAQ

• Yes, Icedrive is a very secure cloud storage service. It offers zero-knowledge encryption foryour most sensitive data, as well as two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized logins.

• Icedrive is a British company based in and operating out of the U.K. under its parent-company ID Cloud Services Ltd.

• Yes, Icedrive uses end-to-end encryption, though not on its free plan. Instead, paid users can upload files to the encrypted section of their desktop and mobile apps, which will ensure that only you can decrypt them.

• No. Icedrive provides an encrypted folder forall paid accounts where the data is encrypted on the client’s (meaning you) device, ensuring that no one else — Icedrive included — can access it.