You want encrypted storage that just works, today
Use Proton Drive. It does the encryption part as well as we intend to, it has been audited, it has apps on every platform, and it is a finished product. We are not, yet.
Comparison
How it compares to what you're probably using.
Proton Drive, Google Drive and iCloud Drive are all good products with far more behind them than we have. This page is about where the designs actually differ, including the several rows where we come off worse.
| Flamenet Files | Proton Drive | Google Drive | iCloud Drive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider can read your files | No — encrypted in your browser | No — end-to-end encrypted | Yes by default. Client-side encryption exists on some Workspace plans, with keys you hold elsewhere | Depends. Only if you turn on Advanced Data Protection; otherwise Apple holds a key |
| Filenames hidden from the provider | Yes | Yes | No | No — filenames stay readable even with Advanced Data Protection on |
| Built-in sensitivity levels, enforced by the encryption | Yes. The reason this exists | No | Labels and policy rules on business plans, enforced by the service rather than by keys | No |
| Need-to-know separate from seniority | Yes. A top-level clearance still won't open a project you weren't brought into | No | No | No |
| Run it on your own server | Yes. Two containers | No | No | No |
| Source you can read | All of it, MIT | Apps are open source | No | No |
| Phone and desktop apps | None yet. Browser only | Yes | Yes | Yes, built into the OS |
| Independent security audit | Not yet | Published audits | Compliance certifications — a different kind of assurance | Compliance certifications — a different kind of assurance |
| Sharing with other people | Not yet. Single-account use today | Yes, including links | Yes, extensively | Yes |
| If you forget your password | A one-time recovery code. Lose both and the files are gone | Recovery phrase or file. Lose both and the files are gone | Account recovery works — because Google holds a key | Account recovery works, unless Advanced Data Protection is on |
| Maturity | Early. Not released, and not somewhere to put anything you cannot lose | Mature, years in production | Mature, enormous scale | Mature, enormous scale |
Compiled from the vendors' own published documentation. Their products change often and ours will too, so check anything here that matters to your decision rather than taking our word for it. Corrections are welcome at security@extant2000.com.
Straight answers
When you should pick something else.
A comparison page that concluded "use ours" in every case would not be worth reading.
You need to collaborate, or you live in the ecosystem
Google Drive and iCloud Drive are built around sharing, real-time editing and deep OS integration. We deliberately trade all of that away, and the trade is only worth it if you actually need what it buys.
Different sensitivities, one place, and it must hold
This is the case we are built for: material that shouldn't sit in one undifferentiated pile, where "who can see this" has to be enforced by the encryption and not only by a setting. Nobody else on this page does that.
How that's enforced