Happy Valley

Papermark vs Proton Drive

Papermark and Proton Drive are both file storage & sharing tools. Papermark is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Proton Drive is aimed at freelancers and small businesses. Proton Drive costs less, from $4.99/mo versus $35/mo for Papermark. Both have a free plan.

Papermark

Open-source document sharing and virtual data rooms with analytics

Proton Drive

End-to-end encrypted cloud storage from Swiss privacy company Proton

PricingOpen source · $35Freemium · $5
Starting price$35/mo$4.99/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial7 days—
Built forSmall businesses, Enterprise, DevelopersFreelancers, Small businesses, Enterprise
Platformswebweb, windows, macos, ios, android
Country—CH
Rating——

Choose Papermark if

Founders, funds and small deal teams who want a self-serve, open-source data room with published pricing and AI agent access.

  • Open source with a real self-hosting path
  • Published flat-rate pricing with unlimited data rooms from the first room tier
  • Free plan with unlimited visitors and page-level analytics

Look elsewhere if: Large banks running complex multi-party deals with dedicated project managers, or teams that mainly need proposals and e-signature (Datasite, PandaDoc).

Choose Proton Drive if

Privacy-focused individuals, families and small teams who want encrypted storage that is still easy to use.

  • Zero-access encryption by default, not as an add-on
  • Swiss company with strong privacy track record
  • Bundles with Mail, VPN and Pass give good value

Look elsewhere if: Teams that depend on deep app integrations and live office editing (Google Drive, Dropbox) or need encrypted enterprise controls (Tresorit).

Papermark vs Proton Drive pricing

Papermark

  • Free$01 user, 50 links, 50 documents, page-by-page analytics
  • Pro$35/mo$29/mo yearly; 100 docs, custom branding, folders, video
  • Business$90/mo$69/mo yearly; 3 users, custom domain, API, CLI, MCP
  • Data Rooms$179/mo$119/mo yearly; unlimited rooms, NDA, dynamic watermark
  • Data Rooms Plus$399/mo$299/mo yearly; 5 users, Q&A, upload requests, audit log

Proton Drive

  • Free$0Up to 5 GB after completing Drive setup steps
  • Drive Plus$4.99/mo$47.88/yr billed annually; 200 GB, 10-year version history
  • Proton Unlimited$12.99/mo$9.99/mo billed yearly; 500 GB plus Mail, VPN and Pass
  • Proton Duo$19.99/mo2 TB shared by 2 users, all Proton apps
  • Proton Family$29.99/mo3 TB shared by up to 6 users

Papermark · Key features

  • Tracked document links with page-by-page view analytics
  • Virtual data rooms with folders, groups and file-level permissions
  • NDA gating, email verification, allow and block lists
  • Dynamic watermarking and screenshot protection
  • Built-in Q&A, upload requests and an audit log on higher tiers
  • Custom domains and full white-labelling for links and rooms

Cons

  • Pricing page shows euros by default; USD needs a toggle
  • Q&A, upload requests and the audit log require Data Rooms Plus
  • SSO and AI redaction only from the $799 Premium tier

Proton Drive · Key features

  • End-to-end encryption of files, names, folders and photos
  • Desktop sync apps for Windows and macOS
  • Automatic photo and video backup on iOS and Android
  • Share links with passwords, expiry dates and access control
  • Encrypted Proton Docs and Sheets inside Drive
  • Version history of up to 10 years on paid plans

Cons

  • No native Linux sync client yet
  • Few third-party integrations compared with Google Drive
  • Collaborative editing far behind Google Workspace

Papermark vs Proton Drive: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Papermark or Proton Drive?

Proton Drive starts at $4.99/mo and Papermark at $35/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Papermark and Proton Drive have a free plan?

Yes, both Papermark and Proton Drive have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Not sure yet?