Although Icedrive is a relative newcomer to the cloud storage scene, it’s constantly offering innovative features to rival the best cloud services, as we discovered during our Icedrive review. For instance, Icedrive uses Twofish encryption and allows users to mount a virtual drive, which is rare in the cloud storage industry.
In this Icedrive review, we evaluate all of its features, including its security capabilities, ease of use of its user interface, and customer support. Keep reading to find out if this cloud storage provider is a good fit for you.
Icedrive: A Short Review
What We Like
- 10GB of storage for free
- Twofish encryption
- Affordable lifetime plans
- Two-factor authentication
- Apps are beginner-friendly
What We Don't Like
- Lacks integrations
- Limited syncing feature
- There is no 24/7 customer support
After putting Icedrive under the microscope, we have concluded that it’s a useful tool for personal use for various reasons. First of all, it’s secure, thanks to its robust and rare Twofish encryption. It’s also user-friendly and enables you to upload and download files in minutes. Plus, you can share files with multiple users.
That said, Icedrive lacks syncing features like block-level sync, which can make the syncing process between two devices faster. It also doesn’t offer specific sharing controls the way some of the best cloud storage providers like Mega do. Plus, the service lacks integrations, making it a tricky choice if you use many other apps alongside your cloud storage space.
This is just a sneak peek of all that Icedrive is about. Below we offer you a detailed breakdown of all of Icedrive’s features and how well they work.
Icedrive Membership and Pricing
We’ve summarized Icedrive’s free and paid plans for you in the table below, along with the specific features offered for each subscription option.
| Feature | Free | Lite | Pro | Pro+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | From $1.67/month ($99 lifetime) | From $4.17/month ($499 lifetime) | From $15/month ($999 lifetime) |
| Storage | 10GB | 150GB | 1TB | 5TB |
| Monthly bandwidth | 25GB | 250GB | 2TB | 8TB |
| Two-factor authentication | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Password protection for shared links | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| End-to-end encryption | No client-side encryption | Client-side encryption | Client-side encryption | Client-side encryption |
| Sharing and collaboration | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Folder sharing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Selective sync option | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| 24/7 customer support | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Download Link | Get Icedrive Free | Get Icedrive Lite | Get Icedrive Pro | Get Icedrive Pro+ |
If you need free cloud storage for casual use, Icedrive is a good choice, thanks to its 10GB free storage. For perspective, top cloud storage services, including Sync and Dropbox, offer much less. However, Mega is more generous with its free storage, as it provides 20GB. Note that Icedrive’s free version doesn’t come with client-side encryption, which we’ll explain in the next section.
If you need more storage capacity for a short period, the monthly plans are worth a shot. You can either get the Pro plan (1TB for $4.99) or the Pro+ plan (5TB for $17.99). However, you may find yearly subscriptions more affordable. The annual Pro plan works out to $4.17/month, while the Pro+ plan costs $15/month. We recommend these plans to professionals and freelancers who work with loads of data and files.
There’s also an annual Lite plan ($1.67/month), which is ideal if you’re on a budget and only need to store a handful of files.
Moreover, you can purchase Icedrive forever with a one-time payment. This offer is useful if you don’t like paying recurring fees and want to save money in the long run. Icedrive offers three lifetime plans: Lite (150GB for $99), Pro III (3TB for $499), and Pro X (10TB for $999).
Icedrive’s lifetime plans are cheaper than that of pCloud, which is the only other cloud storage company with lifetime plans. For instance, for 10TB, Icedrive asks for $999, while pCloud asks for $1,190.
Icedrive offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on all plans. This means you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of making a purchase.
Security: How Safe Is Icedrive?
During this Icedrive review, we concluded that Icedrive is a secure cloud storage service that can keep your files safe from prying eyes. It scored an 8/10 in our security testing circuit. Here’s a sneak peek of our findings:
- Icedrive uses Twofish encryption to keep hackers at bay.
- Icedrive allows you to add two-factor authentication to your account in multiple ways.
Encryption
Icedrive encrypts your data using the Twofish encryption algorithm. Although it’s less popular than AES, Twofish is just as secure. In terms of its composition, Twofish is a 128-encryption cipher with key lengths of up to 256 bits.
Twofish encrypts your data in a way that makes it immune to brute-force attacks, which essentially means it is very difficult for hackers to guess your username and password. Hence, you don’t have to worry about anyone breaking into your account, whether you’re saving or transferring files.
Icedrive is the only cloud storage service so far that uses Twofish encryption. All the other providers use AES encryption, which is also virtually unbreakable.
Furthermore, Icedrive implements client-side encryption. During our testing circuit, our folders and files were encrypted before leaving our device and network and ending up on Icedrive’s servers. That way, no third parties could get hold of and decipher our data.
Icedrive also has zero-knowledge encryption. This means that you’re the only one who can decrypt your files. Not even Icedrive employees can view and modify your files.
Two-factor authentication
You can add an extra layer of security to your Icedrive account through two-factor authentication. Through this feature, we had to verify our identity twice. Thankfully, Icedrive offers multiple ways for you to add two-factor authentication, as we discovered during our review.
The first is by using Google Authenticator. We recommend this option since it lets you receive verification codes in a secure box that other apps can’t access. Plus, it uses the TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) to create a new code every 30 seconds.
If you deal with high-level sensitive information, we recommend using the second option: hardware authentication. For example, you can use Yubikey. It’s a USB drive of sorts that you can insert into your computer or mobile device’s USB port and verify your identity. Without this device, you won’t be able to access Icedrive.
The last way to set up two-factor authentication is through SMS or text. Unfortunately, this is only available for paid users.
We’d like to see Icedrive have two-factor authentication set up by default. Plus, it would be a plus to be able to set up passwords on specific files the way WeTransfer does it, as we highlighted in our WeTransfer review.
Privacy: Does Icedrive Take Good Care of Your Data?
Icedrive takes great care of your data and considers user privacy seriously, so it’s no surprise that it earned an 8/10 in our Icerdrive review. Here are the discoveries we made as we examined Icedrive’s privacy credentials:
- Icedrive is owned by ID Cloud Services LTD, a Swansea-based company.
- Icedrive collects minimal customer data and complies with DMCA and GPDR regulations.
- There is no online record of any Icedrive data breaches or controversies.
Who’s behind Icedrive?
ID Cloud Services LTD is the company behind Icedrive. There’s very little information about the company online, except that it’s based in Swansea (Wales, U.K.).
After scouring the internet, we found out that the company had not been mentioned in any data leaks, scandals, or shady activity. This is reassuring and should give you a measure of trust in Icedrive.
Privacy policy
Checking the privacy policy of every cloud storage service is crucial because it lets you in on how the service stores and handles your data.
We thoroughly evaluated this provider’s privacy during this Icedrive review and noticed that depending on your actions, different information is collected:
- Icedrive’s website: Your interaction and engagement with Icedrive’s website
- Creating an account: Your first name, last name, and email address when signing up
- Using the Android app: Usage and log information, including information about when you upload, download, and delete files
Icedrive collects information about your use of their website through cookies. This is standard practice for many websites these days, but you can opt out by clicking “Reject All Cookies” the first time you visit the website. You can also prevent your browser from saving cookies. That option should be available in your browser’s settings.
Icedrive doesn’t use tracking and analytics services like Google Analytics. This reduces the chances of your data ending up in the hands of third parties. This is a commendable move since many cloud storage providers use Google Analytics for tracking and marketing. Our Internxt review, for example, revealed to us that this provider is one of them.
Going over Icedrive’s privacy policy, we saw that it complies with the following regulations and acts:
- The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): Icedrive will suspend any of your copyright-protected or trademarked works on its platform when you report a copyright infringement.
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): This law covers EU residents and allows users several rights, including asking for Icedrive to show you the data it has on you, requesting that your data be deleted, and removing your account forever.
If you notice any issues with your data privacy on Icedrive, fill out the Report Abuse form or send an email to dmca.agent@icedrive.net for DCMA-specific concerns.
If you’re concerned about Icedrive or any other company having your data, you can contact a data removal service to help remove your information. Based on our Incogni review, we recommend trying this service, as it will contact thousands of data brokers on your behalf and provides regular reports.
Ease of Use: Is Icedrive User-Friendly?
We found Icedrive to be exceptionally easy to use and navigate. That’s why we gave it an 8/10 regarding usability for our Icedrive review. Here’s a quick look at our findings:
- Signing up for, downloading, and installing Icedrive is a breeze.
- The apps are aesthetically pleasing and well-organized.
- Icedrive offers a virtual drive that can be mounted locally.
- The cloud storage provider uploads and downloads files fast.
- There is a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Icedrive’s knowledge base offers slim pickings, but you can get help from support agents through email or live chat.
Icedrive’s website and installation process
We found Icedrive’s website very simple and clutter-free, with all the important buttons easy to find. You should have no problem finding your way around the website.
Regarding native apps, Icedrive has apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. You can use the web app if you don’t want to use any of these options.
How to install Icedrive on Windows
In our experience, Icedrive is easy to install across all platforms. Case-in-point the Windows app. We were able to download and install it in minutes without any hiccups. Here are the steps to follow:
- Go to Icedrive’s homepage and click on the “Sign Up” button at the top right corner of your screen.
- Choose your plan and click “Get Started.”
- If you don’t want to pay immediately, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button labeled “Get a Free Account.”
- Fill in your name, email address, and password.
- Go to Icedrive’s website, and click on “Apps.”
- Scroll down to find and click on the download button for Windows.
- Follow the installation prompts to set up Icedrive on your device.
- Reboot your device to complete the process once the installation is done.
Working with Icedrive
Overall, while conducting our Icedrive review, we found the service straightforward to use. When we opened the app, we were welcomed by a sleek, well-designed interface that placed all the important buttons at our fingertips.
If you’re new to the app, you’ll likely use the “Add new” button at the top right corner of the dashboard. With that button, you can upload files and folders. It also lets you create new folders to organize your files. We uploaded several files and folders without any hassle.
At the right-hand-side of the Icedrive app dashboard, you’ll find the following menus:
- My Icedrive: Icedrive’s home screen
- Encrypted: A collection of your encrypted files
- Collaborate: A chronicle of your collaboration activities
- Favorites: Your favorite files and folders
- Recent: The most recent files you’ve worked on
- Trash: Contains files you have discarded
The left-hand side of the web interface has vital buttons, including the “Account Settings” button, where you can change your avatar (picture), update personal details, and decide which emails to receive from Icedrive.
On the left side, you’ll also find a button that allows you to set up two-factor authentication, review your account statistics, and reach out to customer support.
Overall, we found Icedrive’s software easy to navigate and pleasant to use.
File sharing
There are two ways to share files on Icedrive, either through email or a link.
To share a file through email, we right-clicked on our file and selected “Sharing Options.”
A popup screen appeared, asking us to enter the email of the recipient. Here, you can set permissions to either “Read Only” or “Editor.” There’s also an option to add a message to the email. This is reminiscent of Google Drive’s link file-sharing through email.
The next option for file sharing was for us to create a shareable link to the file. To do that, we right-clicked on the file and selected “Public Link.” Again, you’ll see a popup window with the option to enable public link access. We clicked on “Enable,” and it automatically created a shareable link to our file.
You can add an expiration date, download cap, download restriction, and password to the link. This is handy if you don’t want unauthorized persons to access the file. Note that the public sharing link is only available after you’ve had your Icedrive account for at least a day.
Advanced file sharing
Icedrive allows you to create a folder and invite collaborators to upload files. This is useful if you want a way for your workers to submit files. Let’s say you’re working on a proposal for a project; your coworkers can upload all related files to a specified folder so that everything can be in one place.
To set up such a folder, click on “Add New” and “New Folder” to create the folder you want. As you can see below, we created ours and called it “Teamwork.”
Next, right-click on the folder and select “Request Files.” A new window will appear with an option to enter the expiry date for users to add files.
After you add the expiry date, another window will appear with the link you can share with your team. Copy that link and send it to your team members.
Although Icedrive’s link-sharing options are nifty, it’s not as comprehensive as the likes of Google Drive. Google Drive offers specific controls, such as editing files in real time. That’s why it’s the better option for collaboration. We’ve done a deep dive into Google Drive in our Google One review to help you decide if it’s better suited to your needs.
Collaboration
When someone shares a file with you via email, it automatically appears in the “Collaborate” tab of your Icedrive desktop app.
That tab gives you an update on every action taken on your files. As shown below, a small round green button will appear by “Collaborate” whenever someone does something to a file you have access to.
Virtual drive
During our Icedrive review, we discovered that the service lets you mount your cloud storage as a virtual drive on your computer. This means that your Icedrive cloud storage solution will appear just as your computer’s local drive or as a USB stick. However, it doesn’t take up space on your device.
This feature is great if your computer doesn’t have much storage capacity and needs more local storage. You can access and edit files without waiting for your cloud to sync. Its intelligent cache ensures that you can access your files immediately after you install the app. Unfortunately, it’s only available on the Windows app.
Syncing
Icedrive’s Sync feature allowed us to sync specific folders. To create a sync pair, we selected a remote folder in Icedrive’s cloud and the local folder we wanted to sync automatically.
We tested out the feature using our picture folder during this Icedrive review. We first selected a remote folder on Icedrive and left it empty. Next, we selected the picture folder as our local folder. Within minutes, our content in the picture folder was synced to the remote folder on Icedrive.
You can have multiple sync pairs, and you can set them up in three ways:
- Two-way: Changes reflect on your computer and the cloud folders.
- One way to local: Changes in your cloud are shown in your local folder.
- One way to cloud: Changes made on your local folder can be seen in the cloud.
Going forward, we’d like to see specific file-syncing options like selective sync, block-level sync, and even a dedicated sync folder.
Versioning and file recovery
Icedrive lets you restore versions of files within 180 days. You can restore up to 10 past versions of any file on the paid plan. However, on the free plan, you’re only allowed five past versions.
We tested Icedrive’s versioning by making changes to an uploaded Word document and trying to restore the previous version. It worked seamlessly, and we didn’t lose any content.
If you delete a file, you can find it in Icedrive’s Trash folder.
Speed
Another aspect we found worthy of investigating during this Icedrive review was the speed of uploading and downloading files. This is especially important if you upload files to your cloud frequently.
We tested Icedrive’s upload and download ability by uploading a 1GB folder containing video and audio files, pictures, and documents. We started with a download speed of 97.38 Mbps and an upload speed of 34.70 Mbps.
Here’s a summary of how long it took Icedrive to download and upload the folder.
| Icedrive | First attempt | Second attempt | Third attempt | Average time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download time | 2 minutes and 3 seconds | 2 minutes and 19 seconds | 3 minutes and 4 seconds | 2 minutes and 28 seconds |
| Upload time | 6 minutes and 13 seconds | 6 minutes and 44 seconds | 7 minutes and 10 seconds | 6 minutes and 42 seconds |
To place the results in context, we run the same tests for Mega, the best cloud storage service. Mega was able to upload the same folder in an average of 5 minutes and 45 seconds. We downloaded the file in an average of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Clearly, Icedrive offers just as good speeds as the top cloud storage providers.
In terms of impact on our device memory, Icedrive had minimal impact on our memory. It didn’t slow down our device or cause it to overwork.
Does Icedrive have a money-back guarantee?
Icedrive offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. This means you can request a full refund within 14 days of making a purchase. We have reviewed Sync, which offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and other providers like Google One that don’t offer a free trial at all, so 14 days, in this case, gives you a good amount of time to test Icedrive’s features.
To get an Icedrive refund, create a ticket from your Dashboard, and one of Icedrive’s agents will process it for you. We were able to get a refund within two days of making a purchase.
Customer service
If you have a question on your mind about Icedrive, you can look through its knowledge base. It consists mostly of FAQs around your account, billing, encryption, and apps. The answers are typically short and precise.
That said, the knowledge base could be more comprehensive. For instance, it would be better off with setup guides replete with screenshots and video tutorials.
If Icedrive’s knowledge base doesn’t provide the help you need, you can reach out to agents by sending a ticket. You can send a ticket through your Icedrive Dashboard or directly send an email to: support@icedrive.net.
We tested this feature during our Icedrive review and received a helpful response within five minutes. Considering that Icedrive intends to respond within 24-48 hours of getting a ticket, the promptness of the response was impressive.
Icedrive also offers a live chat feature, but it’s only available between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM GMT.
Final Verdict: Is Icedrive Worth Purchasing?
Based on our extensive Icedrive review, we found that this service is worth purchasing if you want a beginner-friendly, secure cloud storage service. It’s also a good option if you want to purchase cloud storage for life.
However, Icedrive offers basic collaboration and file-sharing features. It’s also not quite as flexible and feature-rich as the likes of other providers in the cloud storage market, like Mega and Google One. Hence, we hesitate to recommend it to teams.
Nevertheless, Icedrive is a sure bet if you want a cloud storage service for personal use. It’s easy to use and uploads and downloads files incredibly fast.
If you’re looking to learn more about cloud storage options, here are a few useful articles:
- iCloud Security: How Safe Is Your Data on Apple’s iCloud?
- The Best Dropbox Alternatives (Free and Paid)
- The Best Alternatives to WeTransfer
Do you still have a question about Icedrive after reading this article? Check the questions below to see if we’ve answered your query.
You can trust Icedrive with your information to a large extent. Icedrive has not experienced any data breaches so far. Plus, the service encrypts your data using Twofish encryption, which is hard for hackers to crack. If you want to dig deeper into Icedrive’s privacy and security features, read our Icedrive review.
Icedrive is worth buying if you need a cloud storage service for personal use. It’s easy to use and you can upload and download files in minutes. You can also share files with your friends and family.
All your files are protected by Twofish encryption and you can protect your account using two-factor authentication. There’s more information about what Icedrive offers in our Icedrive review.
Icedrive is better than Google Drive if you need a cloud storage for personal use because it’s more user-friendly and doesn’t violate user privacy.
However, if you intend to use the cloud service to work with team members, we recommend Google Drive, thanks to its advanced file sharing and collaboration features. Read our Google One review to discover how Google Drive can help your team.
