How to Cancel pCloud in 2026 (The Lifetime Plan Trap)

Updated February 2026 • 4 min read

pCloud charges $49.99/year for 500GB or $99.99/year for 2TB. They also offer "lifetime" plans at $199 for 500GB or $399 for 2TB (one-time payment). If you're on the annual plan, here's how to cancel. If you bought lifetime — read the fine print.

How to Cancel pCloud (Annual Plans)

The "Lifetime" Plan Reality

pCloud's lifetime plan is their biggest selling point. But "lifetime" has caveats:

• "Lifetime" means the lifetime of pCloud, not yours — if the company folds, your storage disappears
• No refunds after 10 days on lifetime plans
• pCloud is Swiss-based — enforcing refund claims internationally is difficult
• The math works IF pCloud survives 4+ years — $399 one-time vs $100/year means break-even at year 4
• Companies offering "lifetime" deals sometimes sunset the plans or get acquired

Free and Cheaper Alternatives

• Google Drive (15GB free) — The standard. Enough for documents and some photos
• Proton Drive (free, 1GB) — End-to-end encrypted, Swiss privacy (like pCloud)
• Sync.com (5GB free) — Zero-knowledge encryption, Canadian privacy laws
• MEGA (20GB free) — Encrypted, generous free tier
• External hard drive ($50-80 one-time) — 2TB portable drive. No monthly fees, no company risk, always accessible

The Hard Drive vs Cloud Math

A 2TB external hard drive costs $60-80 one-time. pCloud 2TB costs $99/year or $399 lifetime. Over 5 years, the hard drive costs $60-80 total while pCloud costs $399-499. Get two hard drives (one backup) for $160 and you have safer, faster, offline-accessible storage for 60% less. Cloud is convenient but not always economical.