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.
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How we built this list
Most "best Dropbox alternatives" round-ups paraphrase each vendor's marketing page. We started from EU Vetted's verified dataset instead: for every service we recorded who actually owns the operating company, where the data physically sits, which sub-processors touch it, and whether any link in that chain is reachable under the US CLOUD Act. What follows are the seven strongest European options we could stand behind as of June 2026, ranked on that evidence.
The full side-by-side table, with every signal per tool, lives on our Dropbox alternatives comparison. If your requirement is strictly "no US sub-processors anywhere in the chain", the filtered list is at cloud storage without US sub-processors.
The picks, side by side
| Signal | Proton Drive | kDrive (Infomaniak) | Filen | Nextcloud | luckycloud | Jottacloud | Koofr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | |||||||
| EU / adequacy hosting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EU / adequacy operator | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No US CLOUD Act exposure | Not assessed | Yes | Not assessed | Yes | Yes | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Card-free payment available | Yes Accepts Bitcoin and cash by mail alongside cards. | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Transparency | |||||||
| Public DPA | Yes | Yes | No | Not assessed | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sub-processors disclosed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open-source clients | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Third-party certification | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
1. Proton Drive: best overall
Swiss, controlled by the non-profit Proton Foundation, and zero-knowledge end-to-end encrypted, so the operator cannot read your files even under legal compulsion. Storage runs on Proton's own Swiss infrastructure; pricing starts at €4/month, with a workable free tier. Its US touchpoints are ancillary, support and billing, and never reach the end-to-end-encrypted file data, which keeps CLOUD Act exposure at Minor. Full E2E does cost you server-side content search and a thinner integration ecosystem than Dropbox. Full profile
Swiss zero-knowledge encrypted cloud (Proton AG, non-profit-foundation-controlled), 11,496 owned servers, ISO 27001 + SOC 2, 5 GB free.
- From
- €4/mo
- CLOUD Act
- Minor
2. kDrive (Infomaniak): best like-for-like switch
If you want Dropbox's workflow without Dropbox's jurisdiction, kDrive is the closest match: desktop sync, shared drives, office-document editing, from €4/month. Infomaniak has run its own Geneva data centres since 1994 (ISO 27001, B Corp), and the data path contains no US sub-processor, so we rate exposure None. This is the pragmatic choice for teams that need the move to be boring. Full profile
Swiss kDrive cloud (Infomaniak, Geneva, since 1994), own Swiss DCs, ISO 27001 + B Corp 2025, district-heating heat recycling.
- From
- €4/mo
- CLOUD Act
- None
3. Filen: best budget end-to-end encryption
A young German service (Recklinghausen, 2021) offering true zero-knowledge E2E from €2/month, the lowest price for client-side encryption in this list. Data sits in a Tier IV ISO 27001 German data centre, and a single transient US item outside the file path leaves exposure at Minor. The product is leaner than Dropbox, with fewer collaboration features, which is about all most private users switching for privacy actually need. Full profile
German zero-knowledge E2E cloud (Filen Cloud Dienste UG, Recklinghausen, 2021), Tier IV ISO 27001 DCs, no US data, open source apps.
- From
- €2/mo
- CLOUD Act
- Minor
4. Nextcloud: best self-hosted / sovereignty-maximal
The German open-source standard. Run it yourself (or via a European hoster) and the sub-processor question disappears, because you are the operator: exposure None. Managed offerings start around €6/month per user. It is a content-collaboration platform rather than just storage, covering files, calendars, office editing and video calls, and European public administrations deploy it for exactly that reach. It is also the most work of anything here. Full profile
German open-source content-collaboration platform (Nextcloud GmbH, Stuttgart, 2016); fully self-hostable + managed Nextcloud One hosted in DE.
- From
- €6/mo
- CLOUD Act
- None
5. luckycloud: strictest German zero-knowledge
Berlin-based, running its own data centres in Berlin, Nuremberg and Frankfurt, with zero-knowledge encryption and no US sub-processor in the chain: exposure None. This is the profile that satisfies the strictest German procurement reading: German owner, German hardware, German law, encrypted so the operator cannot look. The apps are less polished than Proton or kDrive; the paperwork is stronger than either. Full profile
Berlin-based German zero-knowledge cloud (luckycloud GmbH, 2015), own DCs in Berlin/Nuremberg/Frankfurt, ISO 27001 BSI.
- From
- —
- CLOUD Act
- None
6. Jottacloud: best for backup volume
Norwegian (EEA, so fully under the GDPR), hosted exclusively in Norway on renewable power, but its 2026 sub-processor list names seven processors of which six are US-owned, including Microsoft Office Online for document editing: exposure Minor. Its unlimited-storage personal plan (€12.90/month) makes it the volume pick for photo archives, machine backups and media libraries, where the per-terabyte price beats everyone else here. Sync works well, but the product's centre of gravity is backup rather than team collaboration. Full profile
Norwegian cloud storage & backup (Jotta Group AS, est. 2008), 100% Norway-hosted on renewable power, server-side AES-256, public DPA, files stay in Norway.
- From
- €8/mo
- CLOUD Act
- Minor
7. Koofr: cheapest entry into EU storage
Slovenian, storing data in German ISO 27001 data centres, with optional client-side encryption and one US item outside the file path, since payments run through Braintree, part of PayPal: exposure Minor. Paid plans start at €0.50/month billed annually, and it has a useful trick: it connects your existing Dropbox, Drive or OneDrive accounts into one interface, which makes it a practical bridge while you migrate rather than a single leap. The budget pick, with a payment processor as its only US link. Full profile
Slovenian cloud storage (Koofr d.o.o., est. 2013), German ISO 27001 data centres, optional client-side encryption via the open-source Koofr Vault, 10 GB free.
- From
- €0.50/mo
- CLOUD Act
- Minor
How to choose between them
Decide on two axes. Encryption model: if "the operator must not be able to read my files" is the requirement, that points to Proton Drive, Filen or luckycloud (zero-knowledge), or self-hosted Nextcloud. If standard server-side encryption is acceptable, kDrive, Jottacloud and Koofr behave most like the service you are leaving. Jurisdictional strictness: all seven are European-owned and European-hosted; four run an entirely EU/EEA/Swiss chain end-to-end, while Filen, Koofr and Jottacloud each keep storage in Europe with US sub-processors around it. Each profile documents the chain, so you can apply your own bar.
Prices and feature matrices move, so this page is re-verified quarterly against vendor disclosures. The complete comparison with every compliance signal sits at alternatives to Dropbox, and each profile above links the vendor's DPA and sub-processor list so you can check our work.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best European alternative to Dropbox in 2026?
- Proton Drive is the strongest overall pick: Swiss, foundation-controlled, zero-knowledge end-to-end encrypted, from €4/month. If you want the lowest-friction switch for a team, kDrive by Infomaniak matches Dropbox's workflow at a comparable price on the operator's own Swiss data centres, with no US sub-processors in the data path.
- Are these alternatives actually free of the US CLOUD Act?
- Four of the seven (Proton Drive, kDrive, Nextcloud and luckycloud) run an entirely EU/EEA/Swiss chain in our assessment: no US parent, and no US sub-processor in the data path. Filen and Koofr carry a transient US item outside the file path, a CDN in one case and a payment processor in the other. Jottacloud keeps every file in Norway but published a sub-processor list in 2026 naming seven processors, six of them US-owned, including Microsoft Office Online for document editing, which can reach file content on request. Each listing's profile shows the exact chain and the level we assigned it.
- Which is the cheapest European Dropbox alternative?
- Koofr (Slovenia) starts at €0.50/month for 25 GB billed annually, and Filen (Germany) offers zero-knowledge encryption from €2/month. Both undercut Dropbox's paid entry point, so the old assumption that European storage costs more no longer holds.
- Can I keep working the way I do in Dropbox?
- Mostly yes. kDrive and Jottacloud are the closest behavioural matches, with desktop sync, sharing links and mobile apps. Zero-knowledge services like Proton Drive and Filen ask you to give up a little convenience (no server-side search inside encrypted content, fewer third-party integrations) in return for the guarantee that the operator cannot read your files.
- How was this list verified?
- We read each vendor's own DPA, sub-processor list and imprint, cross-checked ownership records, and dated the result on the listing. We re-run that check every quarter. Placement is editorial and never paid for, and the method we use is published in full.
Methodology
For every product we read the public DPA, sub-processors document, hosting region declaration, and corporate ownership records. Each is timestamped. Signals are editorial, re-verified quarterly. We never accept self-attestation.