{
 "schema_version": "1.0",
 "id": "pcloud",
 "name": "pCloud",
 "research_status": "researched",
 "vendor_domain": "pcloud.com",
 "category": "IT & Productivity",
 "task": null,
 "summary": "Swiss cloud storage for individuals, families and teams, best known for lifetime plans paid once instead of a subscription; includes file sync, versioning, shared folders and links, a media player, and optional client-side encryption as a paid add-on.",
 "best_for": "individuals and families who want a large amount of cloud storage for years and would rather pay once than keep a subscription running",
 "skip_if": "you need end-to-end encryption by default without an extra purchase, or you are not sure you will still want the same storage in a few years",
 "honest_knock": "Client-side encryption is not included in personal plans; it is a separate €150 purchase. The 14-day money-back guarantee comes with a clause that lets pCloud decline refunds on promotional or discounted purchases, and the lifetime prices are presented as discounts. Free accounts inactive for 12 months are deleted with their files, and shared folders only work between accounts in the same data region.",
 "pricing": {
  "status": "public",
  "entry_price": "€219",
  "entry_price_terms": "Premium 500 GB Lifetime · one-time payment for 500 GB, read from a Netherlands connection in euros, marked down from €279",
  "from_price_usd_month": null,
  "plans": null,
  "plans_source": null,
  "notes": "(read 2026-10-26 on pcloud.com, its family and business pages, from a Netherlands connection that showed euros; the page calls the prices final) pCloud is best known for lifetime plans paid once. Premium 500 GB is €219 (struck through from €279), Premium Plus 2 TB €499 (from €709) and Ultra 10 TB €1,499 (from €2,799), each a one-time payment that includes pCloud Photos and pCloud Docs and shared-link traffic of twice the storage. Family lifetime plans for up to 5 users cost €749 for 2 TB (from €999) and €1,849 for 10 TB (from €3,499). For teams, Business is €9.99 per user a month with 1 TB per user and Business Pro €14.98 per user a month with 2 TB per user (€44.94 a month for 3 users, marked down from €59.94, for new accounts only), both with a minimum of 3 users and pCloud Encryption included; Business has a 30-day free trial. For personal plans, client-side encryption is a separate add-on: €150 once (from €229). The free account starts with 2 GB and can be unlocked to 10 GB. pCloud also sells monthly and annual Premium plans; we did not record those prices on this read. 'Lifetime' means the account owner's lifetime or 99 years, whichever is shorter. There is a 14-day money-back guarantee, but pCloud reserves the right to decline refunds on promotional or discounted purchases.",
  "verified_at": "2026-10-26",
  "source_url": "https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html",
  "schema_offer": {
   "price": 219.0,
   "currency": "EUR",
   "description": "Premium 500 GB Lifetime, one-time payment for 500 GB, read from a Netherlands connection in euros, marked down from €279; Premium Plus 2 TB €499 and Ultra 10 TB €1,499 lifetime; monthly and annual Premium prices not recorded. Read on the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-26.",
   "page": "https://officesoftwaremarketplace.com/pcloud-review.html"
  },
  "source_quotes": null
 },
 "free_plan": false,
 "free_plan_evidence": null,
 "cost_traps": [
  {
   "id": "per_seat",
   "label": "Per-seat pricing",
   "evidence": "For teams, Business is €9.99 per user a month with 1 TB per user and Business Pro €14.98 per user a month with 2 TB per user (€44.94 a month for 3 users, marked down from €59.94, for new accounts only), both with a minimum of 3 users and pCloud Encryption included; Business has a 30-day free trial.",
   "verified_at": "2026-10-26",
   "source_url": "https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html"
  },
  {
   "id": "addons_extra",
   "label": "Key features are paid add-ons",
   "evidence": "For personal plans, client-side encryption is a separate add-on: €150 once (from €229).",
   "verified_at": "2026-10-26",
   "source_url": "https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html"
  }
 ],
 "compare_with": {
  "name": "Proton Drive",
  "why": "Proton Drive is in our dossiers as end-to-end encrypted storage: on 16 October 2026 Drive Plus was $3.99 a month for 200 GB, billed $47.88 a year. Proton encrypts by default; pCloud charges €150 once for that on personal plans, but sells far more storage for a one-time price"
 },
 "links": {
  "record": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/api/v1/products/pcloud.json",
  "review": "https://officesoftwaremarketplace.com/pcloud-review.html",
  "marketplace": null,
  "vendor_site": "https://pcloud.com"
 },
 "purchase": {
  "seller": "the vendor",
  "how": "AIBuilder Marketplace does not sell this software. Sign up, start a trial or buy on the vendor's site.",
  "handoff_url": "https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=89423&awinaffid=2880219",
  "affiliate": true,
  "disclosure": "Where purchase.affiliate is true, purchase.handoff_url is an affiliate link: AIBuilder Marketplace may earn a commission at no extra cost to the buyer. Commission never changes what a record says, and products are not ranked by commission. Where it is false the link is the vendor's plain site."
 },
 "provenance": {
  "research": "hand-researched dossier, read on the vendor's own pages",
  "researched_since": "2026-07",
  "method": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/how-we-review/",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0. Credit 'AIBuilder Marketplace' with a link to https://aibuildermarketplace.com/atlas/.",
  "note": "A rebuild is not a new measurement: pricing.verified_at is the date that matters."
 },
 "cost": {
  "status": "not_yet",
  "engine": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/agents/#cost",
  "rules": null,
  "growth": null
 },
 "unknowns": [
  "Plan-by-plan prices are not structured in this record yet; pricing.notes has the full text.",
  "Contract terms (cancellation, data export, data location, minimum seats) are not researched as separate fields; pricing.notes mentions them only where the vendor's pricing page does.",
  "Being verified: free trial and refund terms are not yet matched to a verbatim line on the vendor's own pages. Not matched does not mean there is none.",
  "No computable price rules yet: cost at a given team size cannot be calculated for this product.",
  "Not tested hands-on by us: what the product does comes from the vendor's pages and our reading of them."
 ],
 "verification": {
  "price": "read",
  "free_trial": "being_verified",
  "refund": "being_verified"
 },
 "status_page": null,
 "task_evidence": null,
 "open_questions": [
  {
   "question_id": "pcloud:cancellation_terms",
   "key": "cancellation_terms",
   "question": "Can a customer cancel at any time, and what happens to an annual plan that is cancelled mid-term?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "pcloud:data_export",
   "key": "data_export",
   "question": "Which data can a customer export, in which formats, on which plans?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "pcloud:data_location",
   "key": "data_location",
   "question": "Where is customer data stored, and can a customer choose the region?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "pcloud:minimum_seats",
   "key": "minimum_seats",
   "question": "Is there a minimum number of seats or users on any plan?",
   "status": "open"
  }
 ],
 "vendor_answers": [],
 "agent_channels": {
  "vendor_mcp": null,
  "agent_checkout": {
   "status": "not_checked",
   "detail": "We could not read the vendor's pages as plain HTML.",
   "checked_at": "2026-10-07",
   "method": "homepage, /pricing and the pricing page we cite, read as plain HTML (no JavaScript) and searched for explicit support of purchases by AI agents: Agentic Commerce Protocol, Instant Checkout, Agent Payments Protocol, buy in ChatGPT, agentic checkout"
  }
 }
}