Two things decide whether switching providers is worth it: how long your files take to move, and what the destination costs once they are there. This answers both from 52 verified plans across 10 providers.
31.7 hours
That is a realistic sustained figure — 70% of your line rate, which is roughly what large uploads achieve once protocol overhead and client-side encryption are accounted for. At a perfect 50 Mbps with no overhead at all it would be 22.2 hours, and nothing achieves that for a day at a time. Leave the machine on and awake.
The same 500 GB at every common upload speed. This is why two people report wildly different experiences of the same provider.
| Upload speed | Time to move 500 GB |
|---|---|
| 5 Mbps | 13 days 5 hours |
| 10 Mbps | 6 days 15 hours |
| 25 Mbps | 2 days 15 hours |
| 50 Mbps | 31.7 hours |
| 100 Mbps | 15.9 hours |
| 300 Mbps | 5.3 hours |
| 1000 Mbps | 1.6 hours |
29 plans we track can hold 500 GB. The cheapest paid option over three years is Icedrive Pro at $108 (billed monthly). Ranked by what three years actually costs, because that is the only number that compares a one-time lifetime price against a subscription.
| Provider | Plan | Capacity | Room left | Monthly | 3-yr cost | Zero-knowledge | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icedrive | Pro | 2000 GB | 1500 GB | $3.00 | $108 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Filen | Pro II | 500 GB | 0 GB — tight | $3.99 | $144 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| pCloud | Premium | 500 GB | 0 GB — tight | $4.17 $199 once, spread over 24 mo |
$199 one-time |
Yes | |
| Proton Drive | Drive Professional | 1000 GB | 500 GB | $7.00 | $288 billed annually |
Yes | |
| Wasabi | Pay-As-You-Go | 1024 GB | 524 GB | $7.00 | $288 billed monthly |
No | |
| Sync | Solo Basic | 2048 GB | 1548 GB | $8.00 | $288 billed monthly |
No | |
| Icedrive | Pro Max | 6000 GB | 5500 GB | $8.00 | $292 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Filen | Pro III | 2048 GB | 1548 GB | $8.00 | $324 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Sync | Teams Standard | 1000 GB | 500 GB | $3.00 | $324 billed annually |
Yes | |
| MEGA | Pro I | 3000 GB | 2500 GB | $9.00 | $351 billed annually |
Yes | |
| pCloud | Premium Plus | 2000 GB | 1500 GB | $16.63 $399 once, spread over 24 mo |
$399 one-time |
No | |
| Tresorit | Personal Essential | 1024 GB | 524 GB | $11.99 | $432 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Sync | Solo Pro | 5000 GB | 4500 GB | $14.00 | $504 billed annually |
Yes | |
| Sync | Teams+ Unlimited | Unlimited | No limit | $15.00 | $540 billed monthly |
No | |
| Sync | Enterprise | Unlimited | No limit | $15.00 | $540 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Tresorit | Business Standard | 6000 GB | 5500 GB | $15.20 | $547 billed annually |
Yes | |
| pCloud | Family 2 TB | 2000 GB | 1500 GB | $24.79 $595 once, spread over 24 mo |
$595 one-time |
No | |
| Icedrive | Pro Plus | 5000 GB | 4500 GB | $15.00 $599 once, spread over 24 mo |
$599 one-time |
Yes | |
| MEGA | Pro Flexi | 3000 GB | 2500 GB | $17.00 | $631 billed annually |
Yes | |
| MEGA | Pro II | 10000 GB | 9500 GB | $19.00 | $701 billed annually |
Yes | |
| Tresorit | Personal Pro | 4000 GB | 3500 GB | $27.49 | $990 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| MEGA | Pro III | 20000 GB | 19500 GB | $29.00 | $1052 billed annually |
Yes | |
| NordLocker | Business | 2048 GB | 1548 GB | $29.99 | $1080 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| Filen | Pro X | 10000 GB | 9500 GB | $39.99 | $1440 billed monthly |
Yes | |
| pCloud | Family 10 TB | 10000 GB | 9500 GB | $62.46 $1499 once, spread over 24 mo |
$1499 one-time |
No | |
| Internxt | Essential | 1000 GB | 500 GB | $33.00 $1999 once, spread over 24 mo |
$1999 one-time |
Yes | |
| Internxt | Premium | 3000 GB | 2500 GB | $50.00 $2999 once, spread over 24 mo |
$2999 one-time |
Yes | |
| Internxt | Ultimate | 5000 GB | 4500 GB | $66.00 $3999 once, spread over 24 mo |
$3999 one-time |
Yes | |
| Wasabi | Reserved Capacity Storage | Unlimited | No limit | $7.99 | — | No |
This page gives you the numbers. These walk you through the move itself.
Prices and capacities come from our verified provider database, last updated Sep 14, 2026. Plans whose price fields currently contradict each other are left out of the results entirely rather than shown with a figure we cannot stand behind. Compare every plan side by side →