Best iCloud Alternatives in 2026 for iPhone and Android

iCloud works best when every device in the house is made by Apple. Add an Android phone, and it becomes harder to use, because there’s no iCloud app for Android. Fill the free storage that comes with an iPhone, and the only way to add space is a monthly subscription.

Switching sounds simple, but iCloud does a few things on an iPhone that other services struggle to copy, from backing up the whole phone to keeping Live Photos intact. We’ve reviewed 20+ cloud services, and five iCloud alternatives handle iPhone photos, sharing, and deleted files well enough to replace iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos. Here’s what each one does better, and what you’d lose by leaving.

iCloud vs the Alternatives

Service	Free storage	Typical paid plan (US)	One-time payment	End-to-end encryption	Android app
iCloud+	5 GB	2 TB, $9.99 a month	No	Optional, with Advanced Data Protection	No
pCloud	Up to 10 GB	2 TB, $99.99 a year or $499 lifetime	Yes	Paid add-on	Yes
Internxt	1 GB	3 TB, €435 lifetime	Yes	Yes	Yes
NordLocker	3 GB	2 TB, $83.88 for the first year	No	Yes	Yes
Sync.com	5 GB	1 TB, $72 for the first year	No	Yes	Yes
MEGA	20 GB	3 TB, about $113 a year	No	Yes	Yes

Proton Drive, from the Swiss company behind Proton Mail, is another encrypted cloud service for iPhone users, with 5 GB free and automatic photo backup. We haven’t tested it yet, so it isn’t part of the ranking.

The 5 Best iCloud Alternatives

1. pCloud: Best iCloud Alternative Overall

pCloud covers what most iPhone users rely on iCloud for. During setup, its iPhone app offers to upload new photos and videos from the camera roll automatically, and it also shows up in the iOS Files app and creates share links. Its apps cover Android and Linux too, where iCloud has only a web version. In our October tests, pCloud used 96% of our upload speed while sending a 500 MB archive, and its download used 89% of our download speed.

The free plan starts at 2 GB and grows to 10 GB through setup tasks and invites, double iCloud’s 5 GB, and keeps deleted files for 15 days. Roughly four years of iCloud+ 2 TB payments cost about the same as pCloud’s Premium Plus lifetime plan, which covers 2 TB for good. Zero-knowledge protection, where only you have the key to your files, requires pCloud’s separate Encryption add-on, so budget for it if you store ID scans or tax records.

Free accounts can’t edit documents online, so edit files on your device and let sync upload the new version. Our pCloud vs iCloud comparison goes feature by feature, and the pCloud review covers every plan.

Visit pCloud

2. Internxt: Best for Privacy-Focused Apple Users

With Internxt, files are encrypted on your device before upload, so even the company can’t read them. On paid plans, its iPhone app also backs up the camera roll automatically. iCloud offers the same protection only after you enable Advanced Data Protection, and Apple withdrew that option in the UK in 2025. Internxt’s upload used 95% of our connection’s upload speed, so the extra encryption step cost almost no time.

Paid plans add a VPN and antivirus, though the VPN is basic next to the best VPN services. The Premium 3 TB lifetime plan costs about €435, charged in euros even in the US, so the final amount depends on the exchange rate. The free plan offers only 1 GB, enough for a few hundred photos, so treat it as a trial and keep your camera roll on a paid plan. Our Internxt review explains each plan.

Visit Internxt

3. NordLocker: Best for Sending Files From an iPhone

Built by the team behind NordVPN, NordLocker applies end-to-end encryption to every file, including on the free plan. Files sent from its iPhone app go out as links with an end date and an optional code, and the person receiving them doesn’t have to sign up. iCloud Drive’s shared links can’t be locked with a code. NordLocker sent our archive at 89% of our upload speed, about 15 seconds slower than pCloud and Internxt.

You’d notice that only on big uploads. There’s no automatic camera upload, though, so photos go in by hand, and pCloud is the better home for a growing camera roll. When I deleted the test file, it was gone immediately: NordLocker has no trash and no version history, while iCloud Drive keeps deleted files for 30 days.

Keep important files on a second drive as well. Two terabytes renew at about $180 a year after a first year near $84, so set a reminder before the renewal. Our NordLocker review goes through each app.

Visit NordLocker

4. Sync.com: Best for Version History

Sync.com keeps earlier versions of files for up to a year on its top plans, so a document you overwrote months ago can still come back. iCloud Drive doesn’t offer that for most files. Sync.com encrypts everything end to end by default, and its iPhone app has a camera upload option. It was the slowest service in our test, at 81% of our upload speed, about 40 seconds behind pCloud on our archive, so allow extra time for a large first upload.

Our deleted archive was restored from Sync.com’s trash. The Personal 1 TB plan renews at about $144 a year after a $72 first year, and Personal Unlimited at about $540 after a $270 first year. The desktop app syncs one folder and doesn’t back up the rest of the PC, so move files into that folder yourself. Sync.com also appears in our ranking of encrypted cloud storage.

5. MEGA: Best Free iCloud Alternative

A free MEGA account includes 20 GB, four times iCloud’s free storage, with end-to-end encryption on free accounts too. Camera Uploads in its iPhone app copies new photos and videos from the camera roll. MEGA’s upload used 85% of our connection’s upload speed, about 30 seconds behind pCloud, and only Sync.com was slower. Free users also face a download quota that resets over time, so a large download may have to wait.

The Pro I plan costs about $113 a year for 3 TB, compared to about $100 for pCloud’s yearly 2 TB plan, but MEGA has no lifetime option, so choose pCloud if you’d rather pay once. We compared the two in MEGA vs pCloud.

What iCloud Alternatives Can’t Replace

No third-party service backs up a whole iPhone. iCloud Backup saves apps, settings, and messages, and the only other way is a local backup to a Mac with Finder or to a Windows PC with the Apple Devices app. Live Photos don’t stay intact either. In our iPhone test, pCloud and Internxt saved each Live Photo as a separate photo and video file, while iCloud Photos keeps them together.

If you care about those short clips, leave them in iCloud Photos. Leaving iCloud+ also removes a few extras that come with the paid plans:

• iCloud Private Relay: hides your IP address in Safari.
• Hide My Email: creates random email addresses for signups.
• HomeKit Secure Video: stores recordings from compatible home cameras.
• Family Sharing: splits one plan with up to five other people.

How to Move Photos and Files Off iCloud

1. Download your originals. On iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, Photos, and choose Download and Keep Originals. On a computer, iCloud.com can download photos and files in batches.
2. Install the new service’s app. Enable its camera upload, which pCloud, Sync.com, and MEGA offer on iPhone, and Internxt offers on paid plans.
3. Move your iCloud Drive files. On a Mac, drag them from the iCloud Drive folder in Finder to the new service’s folder. On Windows, use the iCloud for Windows app.
4. Check that everything arrived. Then disable iCloud Photos and switch to a smaller iCloud+ plan or the free 5 GB.

Apple can also copy iCloud Photos straight to Google Photos through its Data and Privacy page. If you’re moving to Google, that saves the download step.

Our Test Method

In our October tests, we opened a free account with every service in our ranking. Every upload used the same 500 MB archive and each service’s desktop app, on a Windows 11 PC in Europe. We then downloaded the file, deleted it, and tried to restore it. Our fastest cloud storage ranking has the full results.

Summary

You can move most of what iCloud stores, though not all of it. For photos and everyday files, pCloud is the closest replacement: its iPhone app uploads new photos on its own, it works on Android and Windows too, and its lifetime 2 TB plan costs about as much as four years of iCloud+. For private documents, Internxt encrypts everything without extra settings, and NordLocker adds share links locked with a code, though it can’t undo a deletion.

Sync.com keeps the longest file history, and MEGA offers the most free cloud storage in our ranking. None of them can back up a whole iPhone, and pCloud and Internxt split Live Photos into separate files, so stay with iCloud if you rely on either. Otherwise, the simplest setup is iCloud’s free tier for phone backups, with photos and files moved to pCloud.

Switch to pCloud for Free

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