Sync.com is a good additional productive tool for you. Secure cloud storage with no additional cost. Most of all, it’s 100% private!
Sync.com, is a cloud storage platform that has been around since 2011, operating from Toronto, Canada.
Eh, Canada is not just about Bacon, Maple, and Syrup. Cloud storage might just be the latest give’er thing that happens to any Canadians.
Sync.com is providing cloud storage services for people around the world.
It is one of the best platforms you can find and one of the favorite alternatives to Dropbox.
Up to date, Sync had over 750k registered users around the world, not an incredible figure to boost around.
But that’s not who they are, Sync is building a better cloud for tomorrow and not focusing on expanding its user base.
They had promised a 99.9% uptime which is pretty impressive, but can they deliver it?
Find out the latest 7 days of Sync.com server response time and uptime here.
Again, does the service stand up to the hype?
I had tried it, and I had to say, I am pretty happy with the performance.
Install Sync.com in 4 Simple Steps
- Download the Sync software or create a new sync account directly from sync.com.
- Insert your email and password accordingly. These are the login credential for you.
- Pick your desired destination for the Sync folder. This is where you can drag and drop all your files and folder effortlessly.
- Installation is complete. You can start storing your files on the cloud now.
My First Impression on Sync.com
Before I get into the explanation of various features Sync.com offers here.
We will visit the vast array of possibilities you can access. As soon as you open their website, you will find a very simple user interface that will be a breeze to navigate.
And, by using that interface, you will be able to notice some of their important features.
Here are the 8 impressions by us in brief from our initial trial and testing in sync.com review.
1. You can use their services from any smart device, computer, smartphone, tablet, and many more. Furthermore, they work with all popular platforms.
2. You can have access to your files even without being online.
3. They offer 5GB of storage for free and up to 4TB of paid storage for individual users.
4. You can share files with your friends even if they don’t have a Sync account.
5. Excellent and quick-reacting recovery and backup fail-safe.
6. E-mail support. No phone or live chat.
7. 30-day file restores capability for free users, and indefinite file restores for Pro users.
8. Incredible safety features.
9 Features That I Need to Dive Deep with You
Let’s talk about the 9 features that I think are very important when picking up cloud storage whether it’s for personal or business use.
1. Storage and Accessibility
There’s 5GB of storage for free from our sync.com review.
To sweeten up the deal, there’s an additional 1GB free bonus for you to claim if you complete at least 5 achievements.
Which are all very simple by the way.
But, if you think 6GB of free cloud storage is simply not enough.
You can always opt to pay for one of their Solo plans and gain access to anywhere between 2TB to 4TB of storage.
Once you upload your files, you can access them in three primary ways. Which are by using web browsers, mobile devices, and, of course, their downloadable client software platform.
Uploading your files to the cloud will protect them from fatal hard drive crashes or other corruptions. I had a “blue screen” before. The next thing I know, all my files are gone!
2. File and Folder Sharing
The big benefit of using cloud storage as opposed to using your internal memory is the ease of file sharing.
You are not only sharing your files with friends but using Sync.com to boost your professional performance.
This can achieve by setting up multiple devices with the ability to edit files.
The edits are shown in real-time to anyone who has the file open at the moment.
This alone will make it an excellent feature for project coordination where people tend to work from home.
To set this up, you need to click on the “share” button.
If you are trying to share a file, you will generate a link you can hand out, and anyone with the link will be able to access the file.
But, if you are trying to share a folder, you will have the option of inviting specific people to access it.
And, the people you are inviting don’t have to be registered Sync.com users – all they need is to have an email address.
You also have the option of sharing upload links.
With those links, your friends and colleagues will be able to save files to your storage. And, you will have full access to those files automatically.
There are three levels of clearance you can give.
You can allow the people who receive the link to edit the files or restrict them from viewing them only.
Or you can give them the ability to add other people in and set up the permissions for those people themselves.
Unfortunately, giving that power can be considered a security risk.
That is why Sync.com allows you to set up expiry dates for your links. Also, you can protect your files by attaching a password to the links.
3. File Restoring
Sync.com offers incredible capabilities when it comes to versioning.
With this platform, you will have the option to roll back any changes that you want. And, that doesn’t only go for accidental file deletions.
You can also roll back any changes that were caused by disk errors or computer viruses.
Free users will be able to access previous versions of their files for up to 30 days.
The best part is, Pro users can save any version of their files for as long as they want.
What’s more, those versions won’t even take up your cloud storage space.
Pro users can also use Sync.com’s “vault” feature. This feature allows the user to create an on-the-cloud file or folder backup.
4. Zero-Knowledge Encryption
Cloud storage security is one of the most important factors people have to consider when they are choosing a cloud storage service.
After all, we all know what can happen if the safety isn’t good enough and your private data ends up going public.
That is why you should always opt for services with powerful safety features.
“Zero-knowledge architecture” is the way to secure your privacy and sync.com review shows it does exactly that.
Put it in a simple phrase, this feature makes sure that nobody else can have access to your data.
And, when I say ‘nobody,’ I meant no other human being!
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Not even customer support or other employees of the cloud storage platform can see it or will be authorized to access them.
It is quite possibly the single best way to protect your privacy online, at least when it comes to most non-technical users like most of us.
No additional settings or requirements are needed.
There is, of course, a downside to the feature.
If you ever forget the password to your account, you will not be able to access it either. Use a password manager service in this case.
As I mentioned earlier, Sync is from Canada.
And Canada has incredible privacy laws that can further help you to protect your data.
Now I will opt for a bit more specific technical approach, and we will turn away from layman’s terms for a while.
Those who know what I am talking about will appreciate the safety features of Sync.com.
Additional layers of security
Sync uses a 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
They further secure their transmissions by using Transport Layer Security tunnels (TLS).
The TLS can prevent potential eavesdroppers from getting a glimpse of the data going through.
The protection of encryption keys is achieved by using a 2048-bit RSA.
Furthermore, their data centers have the SOC-1 certificate.
And, if they ever happen to suffer from a server failure, the RAID architecture is there to prevent any possible data loss.
Unfortunately, as safe as the zero-knowledge encryption is, and as powerful as their AES encryptions are. There is another potential weakness when it comes to security – the user.
That is why it is very important for you to come up with a good password that will prevent hackers from guessing their way into your account.
Avoid any of the famous or “clever” passwords you have seen online. Those passwords are the first ones that your potential hackers would try.
And, even if they can’t guess it right, the password is too weak and they could simply brute-force it and open your account.
Of course, Sync.com had that in mind when they were designing their platform.
That is why they offer a very easy-to-use two-factor authentication below.
That way, you can make sure that nobody can access your account.
5. Privacy Policy
Did I mention Canada’s privacy laws? And they truly do come in handy when in need.
Most people tend to forget about the privacy policy as soon as they read about how powerful security is.
While, it makes sense though that if no one can access your data (not even the employees of the service itself), you assume your data is safe.
But, it still doesn’t hurt to see that Sync.com follows Canada’s privacy laws, which are very strict when it comes to consumer protection.
Check out yourselves here and how they are protecting you.
6. Cost
Now, we know we have been differentiating between free users and “Pro” users.
In short, if you intended to use sync.com for more than 1 person, get the Teams plan that starts at $6/user.
If you want to use the Sync platform alone, you can use their Solo Basic plan which will only cost you $8 per month.
It has the same functionalities as the Business Pro plan. But it doesn’t come with admin controls, as a single user doesn’t need them anyway.
But, if the 2TB of storage you get with these plans still not be enough for your needs.
If that is the case, you can always turn to their Solo Professional (6TB).
The billing cycle for Sync previously is all in the yearly terms. They had changed that to have more payment flexibility, so users are able to pay monthly recurring instead. But if you are looking for one-time payoff cloud storage, do check out these lifetime cloud storage here which I believe provide an incredible deal for users who are concerned about cost, security and privacy.
7. User Experience
I’ve tested extensively from our sync.com review here.
And, as I expected, the two things that people can’t stop praising are free storage and zero-knowledge architecture.
And that goes for literally everyone we spoke to. They love the prices and the abilities of this platform.
Even I am surprised by how easy it is to use Sync.com cloud storage service.
I had been using various cloud services ever since they made their debut.
Usually, by the end of the testing, we find out that most of them are quite similar and not difficult to learn for the first time.
But, with Sync.com, it does seem like nobody is running into any difficulties.
The files and folders are separated which is good.
Sync.com supports the drag-and-drop function and it is a great feature.
The only flaw users have noticed is that the security features seem to be slowing the system down.
I suspect there are extra layers of encryption, and decrypting which takes a bit of time.
8. Vault Usage Experience
The “vault” feature is an ultra-secure file archive from Sync.
The only way to move a file or folder to the vault is by using their web portal interface.
This feature provides top-notch security protection for all your files and folders.
However, I find the upload and download process very slow from our sync.com review.
You can have a look at our fastest cloud storage experiment here for yourself. It took around 7 minutes to upload a 100Mb zip file to the platform.
This might be due to the extra encrypting process that is taken in place during the file transfer.
I hope this might be something that you want to take note of though!
9. Two Factor Authentication
2-factor authentication is another layer of security for the user from our sync.com review and testing.
If you enable it, it will further strengthen your web login process.
However, this 2-FA requires an additional Google Authenticator app which you can download here.
Conclusion – Is Sync.com The Pride of Canadian Cloud Storage?
Overall, Sync.com’s review does seem to deserve the top rating that it is getting from most users.
It is affordable, easy to use, and offers incredible sharing options.
The highlight for me, and for many other users that prefer Sync.com to any other service, is the fact that their security and privacy are unparalleled at no additional cost.
So, if you need a secure and private cloud storage solution, I can easily recommend Sync.com as one of the best choices for you.
If we compare 2TB of Sync.com with pCloud at the same pricing of $8/mo, I would easily go with Sync.
The reason is, they do not require additional cost for top-notch security features whereas pCloud had to purchase Crypto as an add-on.
Sync.com already had the ‘Vault’ which is quite similar to ‘Crypto’ and it comes with no extra cost.
As far as my opinion goes, this service deserves your serious attention.
But, again, Sync.com does not have a lifetime cloud storage plan like pCloud lifetime ($399 for 2TB) or the Icedrive lifetime ($499 for 3TB). Which is a serious winner over the long run (>3 years) in terms of cost-saving.