Internxt

What Is Internxt?

The uncomfortable truth about Google Drive is that Google can read every file you store on it. The company's terms of service and privacy policy grant it broad rights to scan, index, and process your content. Your business documents, personal photos, tax returns, and medical records are stored in plaintext on Google's servers, accessible to Google's systems and, under legal compulsion, to government agencies. Dropbox operates under similar terms. OneDrive is marginally better but still stores your files in a format that Microsoft can access.

Internxt was founded in Valencia, Spain in 2020 on the premise that this model is broken. The company offers cloud storage where every file is encrypted on your device before it is uploaded, using zero-knowledge encryption that ensures Internxt cannot access your content even if it wanted to. The encryption keys never leave your device. The server stores only encrypted data. A court order served to Internxt would yield nothing but encrypted blobs without the corresponding keys.

This is not a marketing claim about policy -- it is a property of the cryptographic architecture. The same mathematical guarantee that protects your bank card's PIN ensures that your files on Internxt are private. Combined with open-source clients published on GitHub and EU-based data storage, Internxt provides a fundamentally different storage model from the surveillance-compatible architecture of US cloud providers.

The platform is young -- founded in 2020 with a team of 11-50 employees -- and the feature set reflects that youth. Internxt does not match Google Drive's collaboration capabilities, Dropbox's integration ecosystem, or iCloud's Apple device synergy. What it offers instead is a clear privacy guarantee that none of those services can structurally provide. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends on whether you view cloud storage as a collaboration platform or as a secure vault for your digital life.

Key Features

Zero-Knowledge Encrypted File Storage

Every file uploaded to Internxt is encrypted on your device using AES-256 encryption before transmission. The encryption keys are derived from your password and never leave your device. Internxt's servers store only encrypted data and cannot decrypt it -- they never possess the keys. This zero-knowledge architecture means your files are private not just by policy but by design.

The practical implication is significant. If Internxt's servers were breached, attackers would obtain encrypted blobs without the keys to decrypt them. If a government agency served Internxt with a data access order, the company could not comply with the content request because it is technically incapable of accessing your files. For users storing sensitive personal documents, business contracts, financial records, or medical information, this provides a level of protection that standard cloud storage cannot offer.

The trade-off is that zero-knowledge encryption prevents certain server-side features. Internxt cannot offer server-side search across file contents, AI-powered photo categorisation, or automatic thumbnail generation for documents. These features require the server to read your files, which is precisely what zero-knowledge encryption prevents.

Cross-Platform Sync and Access

Internxt provides native clients for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, plus a web application for browser-based access. Files sync across all connected devices through the encrypted cloud. The desktop clients integrate with your file system, allowing drag-and-drop uploads and providing a sync folder that mirrors your cloud storage locally.

The sync experience is functional but not as polished as Dropbox's, which has had over a decade to optimise file synchronisation. Users report that Internxt's sync can be slower than Dropbox or Google Drive, particularly for large numbers of small files. The encryption and decryption overhead adds processing time that does not exist in plaintext cloud storage. For batch-uploading thousands of files, expect the initial sync to take meaningfully longer than you would experience with established competitors.

Photo Backup and Gallery

Internxt Photos provides encrypted photo backup from mobile devices with a gallery interface for browsing your library. Photos are encrypted before upload, stored in Internxt's EU infrastructure, and viewable only by you. The gallery supports basic browsing, timeline view, and favourites.

The photo management experience is basic compared to Google Photos or Apple Photos -- there is no AI-powered search, no face recognition, no automatic album creation. These features all require server-side access to your photos, which zero-knowledge encryption prevents. For users who want a private photo backup that no one else can access, Internxt Photos delivers that promise. For users who rely heavily on AI-powered photo organisation, the lack of these features is a genuine limitation.

Encrypted File Sharing

Internxt allows you to share files and folders via password-protected links. Shared links can be configured with passwords and access permissions. Recipients can download shared files without needing an Internxt account.

The sharing model is simpler than Dropbox's or Google Drive's collaborative sharing. There are no real-time collaboration features, no commenting, no simultaneous editing. Internxt treats sharing as secure distribution rather than collaboration -- you send someone a file securely, rather than working on it together. This aligns with the privacy-first architecture but limits Internxt's usefulness for team workflows that depend on collaborative file access.

Lifetime Storage Plans

Internxt offers lifetime storage plans that allow you to pay once for permanent access to a storage allocation. These plans, frequently discounted during promotions, provide 2 TB or 5 TB of encrypted storage with no recurring fees. For users planning to use cloud storage for years, the lifetime pricing can represent significant savings compared to monthly subscriptions from competitors.

The business model risk is inherent to lifetime plans: you are betting that the company will continue operating and maintaining the service indefinitely. For a young company like Internxt, this bet carries more uncertainty than it would for an established provider. The lifetime plans are attractive for users willing to accept this risk in exchange for eliminating recurring costs.

Pricing

Internxt offers a free tier with 10 GB of encrypted storage, which is generous for a privacy-focused service and sufficient for testing the platform and storing essential documents. The Essential plan at EUR 4.49 per month provides 200 GB. The Premium plan at EUR 9.99 per month offers 2 TB. The Ultimate plan at EUR 14.99 per month provides 5 TB.

Annual billing reduces these prices by approximately 25%. Lifetime plans, when available, offer one-time purchase options that eliminate recurring costs entirely.

Our value assessment scores Internxt 8.0 out of 10. The pricing is competitive with mainstream cloud storage providers while offering zero-knowledge encryption that those providers do not include. The 10 GB free tier is larger than many privacy-focused alternatives. The lifetime plans provide exceptional value for long-term users willing to accept the associated business model risk. The pricing is less favourable only when compared to Google Drive's 15 GB free tier or the aggressive promotional pricing of established providers -- but those services do not offer zero-knowledge encryption.

EU Compliance & Privacy

Internxt earns a strong 9.0 out of 10 for EU compliance. As a Spanish company based in Valencia, Internxt operates under EU jurisdiction and GDPR. Data is stored in EU-based infrastructure. The zero-knowledge encryption architecture means that Internxt's GDPR obligations regarding personal data are fundamentally simplified: since the company cannot access the content of stored files, the scope of personal data it processes is limited to account information rather than file contents.

The open-source clients on GitHub allow independent security audits of the encryption implementation, providing transparency that proprietary cloud storage services cannot offer. This is important for users who take "trust but verify" seriously -- you do not need to take Internxt's word for the encryption; you can read the code.

There is no tracking, no data mining, and no advertising. Internxt does not monetise user data because it structurally cannot access user data. This alignment of business model with privacy architecture -- the company makes money from subscriptions, not from data exploitation -- is a stronger guarantee than any privacy policy.

Who It's Best For

Privacy-conscious individuals who want cloud storage where no one -- not the provider, not hackers, not government agencies -- can access their files.

European professionals storing sensitive documents (contracts, financial records, medical information) who need zero-knowledge encryption with EU data hosting.

Users leaving Google Drive or Dropbox who are willing to trade collaboration features and AI-powered organisation for genuine file privacy.

Long-term storage users attracted to lifetime plans who want to eliminate recurring cloud storage costs while maintaining encrypted backup.

The Verdict

Internxt is not a Google Drive replacement for most people. It lacks the collaboration features, the integration ecosystem, the AI-powered organisation, and the years of polish that make Google Drive and Dropbox the default choices. If you use cloud storage primarily for team collaboration and need real-time document editing, Internxt is not the right tool.

But Internxt is not trying to be Google Drive. It is trying to be what Google Drive should have been: a place to store your files where no one but you can access them. The zero-knowledge encryption, open-source clients, and EU hosting create a storage model that is fundamentally more private than anything offered by the major cloud providers. The 10 GB free tier makes it risk-free to evaluate, and the pricing is competitive for what you get.

For users who view cloud storage as a secure vault rather than a collaboration platform -- and that is a larger and growing segment of the market -- Internxt delivers a privacy guarantee that the major providers structurally cannot match. The company is young and the feature set is still maturing, but the architectural foundation is sound.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I forget my Internxt password?

Because Internxt uses zero-knowledge encryption, your password is used to derive your encryption keys. If you lose your password, Internxt cannot recover your account or your encrypted files -- the company does not possess the decryption keys. This is the same trade-off made by all zero-knowledge systems: maximum privacy requires maximum personal responsibility for credentials.

How does Internxt compare to Proton Drive?

Both offer zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage from European companies. Proton Drive (Swiss) has the advantage of being part of the broader Proton ecosystem (email, VPN, calendar) and benefits from Proton's established reputation. Internxt (Spanish) offers competitive pricing, lifetime plans, and larger free storage (10 GB versus 5 GB for Proton). For users already in the Proton ecosystem, Proton Drive is the natural choice. For standalone encrypted storage, Internxt offers strong value.

Can I use Internxt for team collaboration?

Internxt is designed primarily for individual file storage and backup. It lacks real-time collaboration features like shared editing, commenting, and team workspaces. You can share files via password-protected links, but the experience is oriented toward file distribution rather than collaborative work. For team collaboration with encryption, consider CryptPad or Nextcloud with Collabora Online.

Are Internxt's lifetime plans safe to purchase?

Lifetime plans carry inherent risk: you are betting the company will continue operating. Internxt is a venture-backed company with a growing user base, which provides some confidence. However, the company is young (founded 2020) and smaller than established providers. If the cost savings are attractive and you are comfortable with the risk, lifetime plans offer excellent value. If certainty of service continuity is paramount, monthly or annual subscriptions provide more flexibility.

Is Internxt open source?

Internxt's client applications (desktop, mobile, web) are open source and available on GitHub. This allows independent security researchers to audit the encryption implementation. The server-side infrastructure is proprietary. This partial open-source approach provides meaningful transparency -- the code that handles your encryption keys and file processing is auditable -- while keeping the server architecture proprietary.