Proton Drive’s Encrypted Cloud Storage Service Launches on Mac and Expands to All Major Platforms

By Rudy Daniels

Swiss privacy-centric company Proton has introduced its end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) cloud storage service for Mac users, marking the extension of its platform support four months after the Windows release.

Originally concentrating on its primary product, Proton Mail, Proton, established nine years ago, has since diversified into VPNs, a password manager, calendar, and, most notably, cloud storage. Proton Drive made its debut on the web in September, followed by native mobile apps in December, and the Windows version in July. With this recent launch on Mac, Proton Drive is now fully cross-platform, offering users seamless synchronization across all their devices.

As part of Proton’s broader strategy to provide secure, privacy-focused alternatives to Google’s products, Proton Drive aims to compete with Apple’s iCloud, particularly for Mac users. Promising default full encryption for files and folders, Proton Drive distinguishes itself from iCloud, where end-to-end encryption must be manually activated by users, and only applies to certain data types.

Proton Drive’s complimentary tier includes 1GB of storage, while paid plans start at $4 per month, offering 200GB of storage and additional features, such as automatic storage of previous file versions for up to a decade.

Initially, Proton Drive for Mac will only sync files within the Proton Drive folder to the cloud. However, Proton is actively working to extend synchronization capabilities to any local folder.

While Proton has a track record of open-sourcing its applications, fostering transparency and third-party scrutiny, the Mac app for Proton Drive is not open source at present. The company, however, assures that it intends to open-source it in the future. Linux users can anticipate Proton Drive support, but it remains a long-term goal on the company’s roadmap.