Sync.com Review: What You Actually Get on the Free Plan
Sync's free plan is real — 5 GB, end-to-end encrypted, no credit card. You reach it by declining the trial the free-storage page offers first. It gives you three share links, 20 downloads a day on each, and no Linux app.
Sync.com's free plan is real, it is end-to-end encrypted, and it does not need a credit card. The reason people believe otherwise is that Sync's own free-storage page offers a paid trial first, and the free plan is the link underneath it that says no thanks.
This review is what the free plan actually gives you, checked against Sync's own pages in September 2026.
Does Sync.com's free plan need a credit card?
No. But the page that advertises it will ask you for one if you take the obvious route.
sync.com/free-cloud-storage is the page you land on searching for Sync's free storage. Both of its calls to action read "Activate free trial" — one for Solo 1 TB, one for Teams 10 TB — and the note beside them says "Your credit card won't be charged during your free trial". Not charged, but still collected.
Underneath that box is a link: "I don't want to try Pro. Get 5 GB of free personal storage instead." It goes to sync.com/free-cloud-storage-from-trial, headed "Start with 5 GB free", and the form there is an email address, a password and a confirmation. There is no card field on that page at all.
Sync's individual pricing page does not help either: its columns are Personal 150GB, Personal 1TB and Pro Solo 5TB. The free plan is not sold there as a plan, which is why the trial looks like the only door.
How many share links does the free Sync plan allow?
Three. Sync's help centre puts it plainly in General limits when using Sync: "Free Sync Starter customers can create up to three (3) links with limited data transfer." Sync Starter is the free plan's name in the help centre; the marketing pages just call it Free.
Three is the total, not three at a time, and the same page caps free accounts at three Team Shared Folders.
The links themselves can be password-protected, which is worth more than it sounds — a password on a share link is the feature most free plans reserve for paying customers. Sync gives it away and then limits how many links you get. That is an unusual trade, and for occasional sharing it is a good one.
What are the download limits on a free Sync link?
Twenty downloads per day, per link, resetting every 24 hours. Sync's help centre again: "The free Sync Starter plan allows up to 20 downloads per day, per link."
That is fine for sending a document to a colleague or a client. It is not a way to distribute a file to a mailing list, and it is the limit you will hit first if you try.
Is there a Sync client for Linux?
Not yet. Asked directly — "Can I install Sync on Linux?" — the help centre answers: "We are currently working on a Linux WebDAV client." There are desktop apps for Windows and macOS and mobile apps for iOS and Android, and the web panel works anywhere, but there is no Linux desktop client today on the free plan or any paid one.
Is the free Sync plan worth opening?
For a small amount of genuinely private storage, yes. The encryption is not a paid add-on the way it is at some providers — it applies to free accounts, and Sync holds no key it could hand over. Five gigabytes is small, but it is five gigabytes the company cannot read.
Go in knowing the shape of it: three share links, twenty downloads a day on each, and no Linux app. And know that reaching it means turning down a trial first — the free plan is findable, not hidden, but Sync does not make it the easy path.
| Plan | Price | Storage | Zero-knowledge | E2EE | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MEGA Free
|
Free | 20 GB | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | Visit | |
Filen Free
|
Free | 10 GB | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | Visit | |
Icedrive Free
|
Free | 10 GB | — | — | Visit | |
pCloud Free
|
Free | Up to 10 GB | — | ✓ Yes | Visit | |
Proton Drive Free
|
Free | 5 GB | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | Visit | |
Sync Free
|
Free | 5 GB | — | ✓ Yes | Visit |
Full video transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,433
Sync's free plan is real.
2
00:00:01,473 --> 00:00:05,735
Five gigabytes, end to end encrypted,
and it does not need a credit card.
3
00:00:05,775 --> 00:00:09,035
But the page that sells it
opens with a trial that does,
4
00:00:09,075 --> 00:00:12,847
and the free plan is the small
link underneath saying no thanks.
5
00:00:14,542 --> 00:00:17,337
This is Sync's own free
cloud storage page.
6
00:00:17,775 --> 00:00:23,382
Both buttons on it say the same thing.
Activate free trial. Not sign up free.
7
00:00:23,422 --> 00:00:25,256
A trial of the paid plan.
8
00:00:26,426 --> 00:00:30,081
And the line beside them tells
you what a trial means here.
9
00:00:30,121 --> 00:00:35,153
Your credit card will not be charged during
your free trial. Will not be charged.
10
00:00:35,193 --> 00:00:37,197
You still have to hand one over.
11
00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:42,407
Now read the bottom of that
box. I don't want to try Pro.
12
00:00:42,447 --> 00:00:47,619
Get five gigabytes of free personal storage
instead. That sentence is the free plan.
13
00:00:47,659 --> 00:00:51,257
It is a link, and from this
page it is the only way to it.
14
00:00:53,067 --> 00:00:54,403
So take it.
15
00:00:55,499 --> 00:00:57,470
Start with five gigabytes free.
16
00:00:57,510 --> 00:01:01,427
An email, a password, confirm
it, and that is the whole form.
17
00:01:01,467 --> 00:01:04,346
There is no card field
anywhere on this page.
18
00:01:04,386 --> 00:01:07,525
This is the free account
every review recommends,
19
00:01:07,565 --> 00:01:09,900
and this is where it actually lives.
20
00:01:11,931 --> 00:01:14,304
The same page says what free gets you.
21
00:01:14,344 --> 00:01:18,241
Three password protected links,
and three team shared folders.
22
00:01:18,281 --> 00:01:22,876
A password on a share link is the
thing most free plans make you pay for,
23
00:01:22,916 --> 00:01:25,289
so getting it here is worth something.
24
00:01:25,329 --> 00:01:27,043
Three of them is the catch.
25
00:01:29,186 --> 00:01:32,309
Their pricing page for
individuals is a different story.
26
00:01:32,725 --> 00:01:33,603
Three columns.
27
00:01:33,643 --> 00:01:38,652
Personal one fifty gigabytes, Personal
one terabyte, Pro Solo five terabytes.
28
00:01:38,692 --> 00:01:40,816
The free plan is not one of them.
29
00:01:40,856 --> 00:01:43,111
It is not sold on this page at all,
30
00:01:43,151 --> 00:01:47,348
which is why so many people assume
the trial is the only way in.
31
00:01:49,325 --> 00:01:52,614
The limits themselves are written
down in Sync's help centre.
32
00:01:53,205 --> 00:01:58,409
Free Sync Starter customers can create up
to three links with limited data transfer.
33
00:01:58,449 --> 00:02:00,781
Starter is the free plan's other name.
34
00:02:00,821 --> 00:02:05,191
So three is the number, and it is
three in total, not three at a time.
35
00:02:06,974 --> 00:02:09,071
And each link carries its own cap.
36
00:02:09,111 --> 00:02:14,162
Twenty downloads per day, per link, and
the limit resets every twenty four hours.
37
00:02:14,202 --> 00:02:17,242
That is plenty for sending
a file to a colleague.
38
00:02:17,282 --> 00:02:20,375
It is not a way to hand
something to a hundred people.
39
00:02:20,415 --> 00:02:25,604
One more thing worth knowing before you
sign up. Can I install Sync on Linux.
40
00:02:25,644 --> 00:02:29,000
We are currently working
on a Linux WebDAV client.
41
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,251
So today there is no Linux app,
on the free plan or any other.
42
00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,229
So the free plan is real. Five gigabytes,
end to end encrypted, no card.
43
00:02:40,269 --> 00:02:43,135
You just have to turn
down a trial to find it.
44
00:02:43,175 --> 00:02:47,937
Three share links, twenty downloads a
day on each one, and no Linux app yet.
45
00:02:47,977 --> 00:02:52,968
If that fits what you need, it is one of
the better free accounts you can open.