All your memories, HD video collections and projects in one secure place for a lifetime.

Where have you been saving your files up till now?

(Word of advice, if you’ve been relying on your computer’s hard drive to save your data – it’s time to get on board and create a copy of your photos, work and other important files.)

While external drives are fast and you control your data, they are prone to hard drive failure, damage from natural disasters and theft. Meanwhile, cloud storage solutions are reliable and show extra perks but are subscription-based. The battle which solution is better has been long and difficult. However, today we have an answer, which combines the best of both worlds.

The Lifetime plan is something we’ve been looking forward to introducing for a while now and today is finally the moment. When you’re choosing what kind of pCloud plan is the right one for your needs, you’ll see and extra option – choosing a lifetime membership.

In order to explain, we compared both solutions with some data-driven discoveries and surprises:

#1 Cost

In the case of external drives, what you pay for is what you get. The pricing system is straight-forward: if you’re keen on investing more, you’re going to get more space and a few years extra of an insurance. Depending on your storage, the price ranges from 12 to 36 cents per GB. After that, provided your external drive fails by any reason, data recovery options vary from $200 to $1500.

With the Lifetime plan, the cost per GB is reduced significantly and spread in time – amounts to close to nothing due to its durability. You can also recover your data easily regardless of whether you spilled your coffee on your laptop or it fell off a cliff. With the Lifetime plan – this warranty lasts for a lifetime as part of your membership – without extra costs.

#2 Durability

External HDDs have a limited shelf life. You’ll get guaranteed around 3 years of storage after which the chance of failure roughly doubles, year after year.

On the other hand, your pCloud account is bullet-proof. You get 24/7 access to your files for well beyond 3 years and with a Lifetime plan – for a one-off payment.

Check pCloud Lifetime!

#3 Accessibility

Having a location-independent lifestyle is something most of us wish for. External drives come in different sizes and storage capabilities. However, you’ll still have to carry them around and take bigger luggage if you’re on the go. What’s more, if you want to check some files, and you’ll be able to access them only from your laptop.

Cloud storage solutions, on the other hand, are something that you can access from your phone, tablet and laptop in a snap. The only thing you need is Wi-Fi you can always add selective access.

#Bonus: Security

You can connect with your external drive by either plugging a usb cable, or using your wi-fi network. Once you do that, you can think of it as being a part of your computer itself. However, that also meas that your external drive is vulnerable to the same security issues as your computer’s internal drive.

You’ll have to add an antivirus system (which is always a good call, and recommended whether or not you’re using an external drive to access your data), and if your laptop happens to be infected, like we saw earlier this year with the WannaCry wave, you’ll lose all your files.

You can always restore your files in the cloud with pCloud Rewind, which gives you a snapshot if your account up to days in the past with the option to restore any file, instantly.


We believe that our users should have a location-independent lifestyle and still have their digital collection with them 24/7. The Lifetime pCloud plans are a first for any company in the market. They combine all perks cloud storage can offer – speed, reliability, security and usability, for a one-time purchase. However, what’s even more important is the fact that pCloud Lifetime eliminates one of the biggest risks external drives have – the risk of losing your files.

Ready to get a Lifetime plan?

Get pCloud Lifetime!