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Independently verified · Quarterly re-audit
EU VETTED
Curated collection

Cloud storage without US sub-processors

European cloud-storage services verified to run with no US sub-processors, compared on ownership, hosting region, CLOUD Act exposure and sub-processor chain.

In short

The cloud-storage services listed here operate with no US sub-processors in the data path: an EU/EEA/Switzerland operator with no US parent and no US-incorporated processor handling file data. kDrive by Infomaniak (Switzerland, Geneva, own Swiss data centres, ISO 27001) and luckycloud (Germany, Berlin, zero-knowledge encryption on its own German hardware) are the strongest fully-managed options; Nextcloud (Germany, Stuttgart) is the open-source standard, clean as a managed EU service or self-hosted. In cloud storage the exposure usually re-enters through a US CDN in front of the service, an S3-compatible object layer or the operator's US parent, which is why each listing records the full chain, not just where the servers sit.

EU Vetted Editorial
Verified June 2026 How we verify

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Cloud storage without US sub-processors, as listed on this page, means the operating company is incorporated in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, has no US parent in its ownership chain, and routes no file data through a US-incorporated processor at any point in the stack. That is a chain of three facts (operator incorporation, ultimate ownership and the full sub-processor list) and all three must hold. A storage service that keeps files on German servers but fronts them with a US CDN, or an EU brand owned by a US group, does not clear the bar.

This page lists the cloud-storage services in our directory that meet this test, benchmarked on the criteria a buyer evaluates: hosting region, ownership signal, CLOUD Act exposure and the sub-processor chain. Cloud storage is one of the categories where genuinely clean European options exist at depth (operators running their own data centres in Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Slovenia), so the strict bar still leaves real choice, from consumer-friendly managed drives to self-hosted open-source platforms. Each listing is checked against the vendor's own published sub-processor list, re-confirmed on a quarterly cycle.

Why it matters

US jurisdiction reaches a company wherever its servers sit, which is the CLOUD Act in one sentence. Cloud storage splits the resulting exposure in two: the file bytes moving through the sync engine, and the metadata around them (folder trees, version history, share graphs, activity logs) that a different processor often handles. A vendor can keep the byte stream on European hardware while routing thumbnails, search indexing or share-notification email through a US-incorporated layer, and metadata alone is frequently enough to reconstruct who has access to what.

File storage also concentrates more raw, unprocessed business content than almost any other SaaS category (contracts, financials, HR documents, source material), so a single reachable processor in the chain exposes a wider cross-section of an organisation's data than, say, a scheduling tool. The directory records ownership and sub-processors as separate, evidenced signals rather than inferring one from the other, and several services here additionally offer zero-knowledge, client-side encryption: it narrows what any processor could hand over, though it leaves the metadata layer, and the jurisdictional analysis itself, untouched.

At a glance

Key facts per option, checked against each vendor's own documents.

  • Proton Drive

    hosted in Switzerland, zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €4/mo.

    Best for: Encrypted cloud storage for individuals and teams who want the strongest sovereignty story with a full Swiss privacy ecosystem (Mail, VPN, Pass).

  • kDrive (Infomaniak)

    hosted in Switzerland, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €4/mo.

    Best for: Encrypted cloud storage for teams wanting a low-friction Google-Workspace-style switch on Infomaniak's own Swiss data centres.

  • Nextcloud

    hosted in Germany, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €6/mo.

    Best for: organisations that want to self-host or use managed EU hosting with full control over their data, encryption keys, and sub-processors

  • luckycloud

    hosted in Germany, zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption, no CLOUD Act exposure.

    Best for: German and DACH SMBs that want zero-knowledge storage on a small founder-led provider's own German data centres

  • Koofr

    hosted in Germany, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €1/mo.

    Best for: privacy-conscious individuals and small teams who want German-hosted storage from an independent vendor, with optional client-side encryption via Koofr Vault for sensitive files

  • STRATO HiDrive

    hosted in Germany, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €6/mo.

    Best for: German SMBs and individuals who want an established large vendor with in-country data centres and an optional zero-knowledge encryption layer

  • leitzcloud

    hosted in Germany, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €8.8/mo.

    Best for: German and DACH SMBs and public-sector adjacencies that want German-only data residency on the operator's own infrastructure with a multilingual UI

  • Jottacloud

    hosted in Norway, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €7/mo.

    Best for: Encrypted cloud storage and backup for users who want Norway-hosted storage on renewable power with generous capacity.

  • Hetzner Storage Share

    hosted in Germany, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €4.29/mo.

    Best for: Buyers who want a cheap, no-frills managed Nextcloud instance hosted exclusively in Germany by the same certified operator as Hetzner's cloud and dedicated servers, and don't need default zero-knowledge encryption.

  • Leviia

    hosted in France, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €2.4/mo.

    Best for: French individuals, families, and SMBs who want a sovereign France-hosted Nextcloud-based drive plus S3-compatible object storage

  • Oodrive

    hosted in France, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure.

    Best for: regulated French organisations in public sector, finance, healthcare, and defence that need SecNumCloud-qualified file sharing and e-signature

  • Wimi

    hosted in France, encrypted at rest, no CLOUD Act exposure, from €3/mo.

    Best for: French teams who want a sovereign collaboration suite where file storage sits alongside project workspaces, messaging, and calendars

How to choose

Start with the deployment model. Fully-managed services (kDrive, luckycloud, Jottacloud, Koofr, STRATO HiDrive, leitzcloud) behave like the US incumbents (sync clients, sharing, web UI) and suit teams that want zero operations work; compare them on zero-knowledge encryption, own-hardware vs rented data centres, and the operator's country. Self-hosted or hybrid (Nextcloud) puts the operator role in your hands: run it on EU-incorporated infrastructure and the sub-processor question collapses to your own hosting choice, at the cost of running it.

For regulated buyers, any US-incorporated processor in the chain is typically a veto regardless of contractual safeguards, because the CLOUD Act operates independently of contract terms; open each profile and read the full chain, including the CDN and object-store layers, before shortlisting. For small teams and prosumers, what usually decides the choice is price per terabyte and client quality rather than the jurisdictional question; several services here are cost-competitive with the US incumbents at standard tiers. For enterprise procurement, cross-reference this page with the certification filters (ISO 27001, BSI C5) and check whether the vendor runs its own data centres or rents from a third party, since that third party is itself part of the chain. The filters above sort directly by hosting country, ownership or price.

SWITCHING GUIDES

Switching from US file sharing?

Side-by-side European alternatives (same hosting, ownership and CLOUD Act checks) for the US tools most often replaced in this category.

GUIDE

7 Best European Dropbox Alternatives (2026): Compliance-Verified

Seven European cloud-storage services that actually replace Dropbox, ranked from our verified dataset: Proton Drive and kDrive lead, Filen is the budget end-to-end-encrypted pick, Nextcloud the self-host standard. For each one we checked ownership, hosting region, sub-processors and CLOUD Act exposure against the vendor's own documents, not its marketing page.

Read the guide →
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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Where do US sub-processors usually hide in a cloud-storage stack?
In the layers around the file store rather than the file store itself: a US CDN terminating TLS in front of the service, an S3-compatible object-storage layer operated by a US-incorporated provider, the transactional email relay for sharing notifications, mobile push delivered through US app-platform channels, and product analytics. An EU-hosted storage front-end can still route file or usage data through one of those, which is why we record each sub-processor separately.
What counts as 'no US sub-processors' on this page?
The operating company is EU/EEA/Swiss, has no US parent, and uses no US-incorporated sub-processor in the data path: the directory's 'CLOUD Act exposure: none' bar, verified against each vendor's public sub-processor list and ownership records.
Is EU hosting alone enough to escape the CLOUD Act?
No. EU hosting addresses where data sits, not which jurisdiction can compel the operator. A US parent company or a US-incorporated processor in the chain keeps the data reachable under the CLOUD Act even with servers in Frankfurt or Paris. Location and jurisdiction are recorded as separate signals on every listing.
Do Swiss and Norwegian providers count as 'European' here?
Yes, with the distinction kept visible. The bar is an EU/EEA/Switzerland operator outside US jurisdiction: Norway is in the EEA and fully under the GDPR; Switzerland holds an EU adequacy decision and its own strong data-protection law. Each listing names the operator's actual country so buyers who need EU-member-state incorporation specifically can filter for it.
Can I migrate from Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive without losing structure?
Generally yes. Most services here support WebDAV and tools like rclone, and several offer native importers that preserve folder structure; what rarely transfers is share links and granular permissions, which need re-creating. Each profile notes the import paths the vendor documents.
Methodology

How we verified every listing here.

For each product we read the public DPA, sub-processors document, hosting region declaration, certifications, and corporate ownership records. Each is timestamped. Signals are editorial, re-verified quarterly. We never accept self-attestation.

Read methodology →