Filen is a German-headquartered zero-knowledge end-to-end encrypted cloud-storage product operated by Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt), founded in mid-2021 in Recklinghausen, Germany by Jan Lenczyk (CEO + CTO), Jan Kulartz (COO + CMO), and Phil Hedrich (CDO + Customer Care). The product is structurally similar to Mega and Internxt (every file is encrypted on the user's device with AES-256 before it leaves the client, the encryption keys never reach Filen's servers, and the company mathematically cannot read uploaded content) and ships as Filen Drive, Filen Notes, Filen Chats, Filen Sync, and a network-drive client across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web. The applications are open source on GitHub for independent audit.
For an EU-sovereignty audit Filen is among the cleanest listings in the file-sharing category. All servers are located in Germany in Tier IV ISO 27001-certified high-security data centres across multiple regions for disaster-recovery redundancy. The vendor states explicitly that no data is stored in the United States, an unusually strong commitment for a product at this price point. German data-protection law (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) applies on top of GDPR, and the UG legal structure is a German limited-liability format. The ownership chain is clean: founder-led with no VC/PE investors on record. Customer keys, file content, file names, and metadata are all encrypted client-side: zero-knowledge end-to-end. Among the strong EU-owned file-sharing alternatives (Proton Drive, Tresorit, Internxt, Filen, Cryptee), Filen wins on price-to-performance for users who want German jurisdiction specifically.
Pricing is the most aggressive in the directory's encrypted-cloud category: free tier available with limited storage; Pro I starts at €1.99/month for 200 GiB; Pro II / III / IV scale up with more storage and higher upload caps; unlimited bandwidth, uploads, client-side encryption, syncing, and file sharing across all paid tiers. No lifetime plans (vendor explicitly opts out). Best fit: privacy-conscious individuals and small teams who want German jurisdiction, zero-knowledge encryption by default, open-source apps, and aggressive pricing; particularly relevant for journalists, NGOs, and SMBs in DACH.