Dropbox vs Filen Comparison

• 2 TB, Plus monthly: $11.99 a month
• 2 TB, Plus for 1 year: $9.99 a month, billed yearly
• 3 TB, Standard monthly, per user: $18 per user a month
• 3 TB, Standard for 1 year, per user: $15 per user a month, billed yearly

• 100 GiB, Starter for 1 year: €11.99 billed yearly
• 200 GiB, Pro I for 1 year: €19.99 billed yearly
• 500 GiB, Pro II for 1 year: €39.99 billed yearly
• 2 TiB, Pro III for 1 year: €89.99 billed yearly
• 10 TiB, Pro X for 1 year: €399.99 billed yearly

Dropbox encrypts stored files with 256-bit AES and manages the keys itself, so its servers decrypt files to show previews and thumbnails, run search and text recognition, and check content against its rules. File names, types and sizes sit in a separate metadata database. End-to-end encrypted team folders exist only on the Advanced, Business Plus and Enterprise team plans; personal plans have no setting that keeps the keys away from Dropbox.

Filen says files are encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM, each file with its own key, and that file names, folder names and file metadata are encrypted with a key derived from your password. The web app at app.filen.io receives its encryption code from Filen each time it loads and keeps your keys in the browser's local storage. Filen still sees your email address, IP address, how much storage you use and payment references.

Users in the United States, Canada and Mexico contract with Dropbox, Inc. in San Francisco; everyone else with Dropbox International Unlimited Company in Ireland, which is the controller of their personal data. The terms are governed by California law unless local law requires otherwise. Dropbox runs its production systems in data centers in the United States and says it may store and process data in other countries as well.

Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is registered at the District Court of Recklinghausen, Germany, and its terms are governed by German law. Filen says all its servers are its own hardware in colocation data centers in Germany; payment data passes through PayPal, Stripe and Coinbase, which also process it in the US.

Listed on Nasdaq under DBX. Drew Houston co-founded Dropbox in 2007 and is now co-CEO.

A small German company represented by Jan Lenczyk, officially founded in May 2021. Filen says it has no outside investors and grew on sales of its earlier lifetime plans; its roadmap lists a planned change of legal form from UG to GmbH.

Earlier versions and deleted files can be restored for 30 days on Basic and Plus, 180 days on Standard and 365 days on Advanced. Google Docs, Paper docs and Office Online files are not covered.

Up to 100 versions per file, kept for as long as the file itself exists; versions count toward your storage and can be turned off. Deleted files stay in the trash for up to 30 days.