# Filen — Cloud Storage & File Sharing

Filen by Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) holds a panel rating of 2.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 3/5), as of 2026-11-01. Provenance: EU-Made; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) (https://filen.io)
- Category: [Cloud Storage & File Sharing](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): EU-Made
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/filen
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/filen/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/filen/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-06 · evaluated 2026-11-01 · oldest source captured 2026-11-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention Germany [S7]
- Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S1]

## The panel's verdict

Filen is end-to-end encrypted cloud storage from Filen Cloud Dienste UG in Recklinghausen, and the bench reads it as an individual-consumer product that runs out of evidence where organisations begin. Strongest are portability and integrations, scored a flat 6 for TypeScript, Rust and Go SDKs, a fully-featured CLI and WebDAV/S3 packages, with sync and access at 5-7 on the Smart Sync network drive for Windows, macOS and Linux. Pricing transparency scores 6-7: four tiers from 1.99€ monthly for 200 GiB to 39.99€ monthly for 10 TiB, stacking on a single account with no upper limit. Sovereignty runs 6-7 — a German entity under German law, pages stating servers hosted in Germany with no third-country storage except payment providers. Weakest are administration and governance at 0-2, where plans stack on one account and team features are open requests, and sharing and collaboration at 3-4, where recipients cannot yet upload into a shared folder. Encryption sits 5-6: zero-knowledge AES-256 is stated, with no independent audit or certification documented. The flagged splits report came back empty — the gaps are shared, not contested.

**Speaks for it:**
- States zero-knowledge client-side AES-256 end-to-end encryption, with open-source apps, encrypted thumbnails, a warrant canary and a PGP key.
- Publishes every monthly price from Pro I 200 GiB at 1.99€ monthly to Pro X 10 TiB at 39.99€ monthly, with plan stacking and no upper limit.
- Offers a free Starter tier, a lifetime free trial and 'No credit card required'.
- Provides scriptable access and exit paths through TypeScript, Rust and Go SDKs, a fully-featured CLI, and WebDAV/S3 packages including a self-hostable gateway.
- Shows a German chain on the captured pages: a Recklinghausen entity, German governing law, and servers hosted in Germany with no third-country storage except payment providers.

**Held against it:**
- Administration and governance scores sit at 0-2, with plans stacking on a single account and family or team accounts still open feature requests.
- Sharing and collaboration scores sit at 3-4, with no public information on link passwords, expiry, download limits or guest accounts, and upload into a shared folder still an open request.
- No independent audit or ISO 27001, SOC 2 or BSI C5 certification is documented, and the terms state the service is not tailored to HIPAA or FISMA.
- The captured pages quote monthly figures only, so annual and lifetime prices and per-user team pricing are not visible.
- Global full-text search is marked only 'Started' on the feedback board, and two-factor appears only as an open passkey request.

**Best for:**
- You are an individual user who wants stated zero-knowledge encryption and explicit key custody for confidential files.
- Your workflows are scripted and you need access and exit paths via a CLI, SDKs and WebDAV/S3.
- You want a German-contracted service whose pages state that servers are hosted in Germany with no third-country storage except payment providers.
- You need stackable capacity at published monthly prices, from 200 GiB at 1.99€ monthly to 10 TiB at 39.99€ monthly.

**Avoid if:**
- You run an organisation that needs an admin console, roles, provisioning, audit logs or remote device wipe.
- You send files to external parties who need link passwords, expiry, download limits or upload rights into shared folders.
- You must evidence audited or certified security, or operate under HIPAA or FISMA.
- You need a per-seat budget, since the pricing model stacks plans on a single account.

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The IT Lead | The Data Protection Officer | The Architecture Practice Partner | The Tax Adviser | The Agency Producer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sync, clients & file access | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 |
| Sharing & external collaboration | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Encryption, key custody & recovery | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Administration, audit & governance | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | n/r |
| Export, API & self-hosting | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** |

### The judges

- **The IT Lead** (v1.0): Runs IT with one colleague for a 180-person machine builder with three sites and a sales office in Poland. Is retiring the old file server and wants every account provisioned from Entra ID, team folders that stay with the company when someone leaves, an audit log they can hand to the auditor, a lost laptop wiped remotely, and a way back to the last clean state if ransomware ever encrypts a share.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): External data protection officer for a hospital group, two care providers and a payroll bureau, where the files are patient letters and salary statements. Reads who holds the keys before the feature page, asks whether end-to-end encryption survives a share link and the office editor, and wants the subprocessor list, the storage location and the contracting entity in writing before a single folder moves.
- **The Architecture Practice Partner** (v1.0): Partner in a 25-person architecture practice in Hamburg whose CAD and BIM models run to several gigabytes each, worked on from the office, from home and on the building site. Needs files on demand so laptops do not fill up, sync that sends only what changed, a drive letter the CAD software accepts, phones that open plans offline in a basement, and structural engineers who can pick up a folder without an account.
- **The Tax Adviser** (v1.0): Runs a tax practice with eleven staff and 400 clients, bound by professional secrecy under §203 StGB. Receives receipts, payslips and annual accounts from clients who will not install anything, and sends back drafts that must not end up in a forwarded email. Needs upload links, shares with expiry and passwords, a record of who downloaded what, and a provider that cannot read the files it stores.
- **The Agency Producer** (v1.0): Producer at a 30-person video and design agency in Cologne that sends cuts, layouts and raw footage to customers every day and collects their feedback. Wants review links that play in the browser, comments on the file, transfers of 100 GB that do not stall, freelancers added for one project and removed after it, connections to Slack and the project tool, and a storage bill that does not jump when one shoot fills a terabyte.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "end-to-end encrypted" on a service that switches it off for shared folders, "hosted in Germany" on storage whose accounts and support run from the US, and "lifetime" plans from a company two years old. Reads that a product is "GDPR-compliant" and asks who holds the keys, whether ten years of folders, versions and shares can be exported in a form another provider imports — and what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Cookies analytics: Plausible Analytics · yes [S7]
- GDPR: yes [S1]
- Pgp: yes [S1]
- Plausible no cookies: no · yes [S7]
- Plausible self hosted: Germany · yes [S7]
- Third party sharing: yes [S7]
- Warrant canary: yes [S1]

**Data**
- Backup liability: yes · yes [S8]
- Deletion policy: yes · yes [S7]
- Deletion process: inaccessible, marked for deletion, removed at next file cleanup [S7]
- Encryption algorithm: AES 256-bit end-to-end encryption [S7]
- Free deletion notice: four weeks · 3 [S8]
- Lifetime inactivity deletion: 3 [S8]
- No sale: yes [S7]
- Paid inactivity deletion: four weeks · 3 [S8]
- Password loss risk: yes · yes [S7]
- Retention after termination: optional, not guaranteed [S7]

**Hosting**
- Data location: Germany · no [S7]
- Germany: Germany · Germany [S1]
- Region: Germany [S8]

**Legal**
- Age requirement: 18 [S8]
- Application data deletion: 4 · 2 [S7]
- Arbitration participation: no [S6]
- Commercial register: District Court of Recklinghausen · HRB 8896 [S6]
- Copyright holder: 2026 · Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S6]
- Court jurisdiction: courts of Northrhein-Westphalia [S8]
- Entity: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S3]
- Entity: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S1]
- Entity: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S5]
- Entity: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) · Breite Str. 27, 45657 Recklinghausen, Germany [S7]
- Entity: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S8]
- Entity name: Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschränkt) [S6]
- Governing law: Germany [S8]
- Last updated: 2023-12-03 [S8]
- Odr platform: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr [S6]
- Policies: Imprint, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, Warrant Canary, DMCA, PGP available [S5]
- Privacy policy URL: https://filen.io/privacy [S8]
- Registered address: 45657 · Recklinghausen · Breite Straße 27 · Germany [S6]
- Social media coverage: imprint applies to all Filen social media accounts [S6]
- Termination without notice: yes [S8]
- VAT id: DE352501047 [S6]

**Pricing**
- Billing periods: monthly · annually [S5]
- Cancellation: end of current paid term · yes [S8]
- Change rights: yes [S8]
- Currency: EUR [S8]
- Free tier: yes · no [S1]
- Free trial: lifetime free trial [S8]
- No hidden fees: all features and encryption included in price [S1]
- Payment methods: PayPal · Stripe [S8]
- Plan durations: 365 · 30 · yes [S8]
- Plan features: All plans include unlimited bandwidth, unlimited uploads, client side encryption, zero knowledge technology, syncing, network drive, file sharing, unlimited notes, unlimited chats [S5]
- Plan stacking: yes · yes [S5]
- Pro1: 1.99 · 200 [S5]
- Pro2: 3.99 · 500 [S5]
- Pro3: 8.99 · 2048 [S5]
- Prox: 39.99 · 10240 [S5]
- VAT tax: yes [S8]

**Product**
- Aes256: AES-256 [S1]
- Affiliate commission: lifetime · 10 [S8]
- Affiliate payout: Bitcoin · 100 [S8]
- Affiliate payout schedule: 30 [S8]
- Android min version: 3.0.20 · Android 12 · Android 8 [S2]
- Bug reporting github: https://github.com/FilenCloudDienste [S2]
- Chats: yes [S1]
- E2e encryption: yes [S7]
- Encryption: yes · yes [S1]
- Feature suggestion tool: Fider · yes [S7]
- Free tier: A Starter plan exists [S5]
- Headless cli: yes [S1]
- HIPAA not compliant: no · no [S8]
- Mount platforms: Windows · macOS · Linux [S1]
- Network drive: yes · yes [S1]
- No speed limits: yes [S1]
- Notes: yes · AES-256 · yes [S1]
- Notes and chats exist: notes · chats · playlists [S2]
- Open source: yes [S1]
- Page purpose: Page is a feature request board, not a product description [S2]
- Plan types: monthly · annually · lifetime [S8]
- Platform fider: Fider [S2]
- Requested caldav: 11 · requested, not implemented · CalDAV server support for Calendar sync [S2]
- Requested f droid: 72 · requested, not implemented · Android app distribution via F-Droid [S2]
- Requested family accounts: 175 · requested, not implemented · Family accounts [S2]
- Requested file metadata sanitizer: 1 · requested, not implemented · Metadata sanitizer for photos and documents [S2]
- Requested file provider macos: 15 · requested; stated available on iOS, missing on macOS · macOS · FileProvider support [S2]
- Requested file versioning timeframe: 9 · requested, not implemented · Configurable timeframe for file versioning [S2]
- Requested flatpak: 102 · requested, not implemented · Flatpak builds [S2]
- Requested global search: 187 · marked Started · Global full-text search across folders and files [S2]
- Requested mcp server: 3 · requested, not implemented · Official MCP server for AI workflows [S2]
- Requested passkeys: 146 · requested, not implemented · FIDO2/WebAuthn passkey support as 2FA [S2]
- Requested scheduled sync: 8 · requested, not implemented; desktop client currently real-time or paused globally · Scheduled sync / timed backup per folder [S2]
- Requested shared folder upload: 28 · requested, not implemented · Shared folder upload permission for other users [S2]
- Requested two way sync: 100 · requested, not implemented · Android · Two-way sync [S2]
- Requested upload throttling: 25 · requested, not implemented · Upload/download speed throttling [S2]
- Sdk cli: yes · yes · TypeScript · Rust · Go · yes [S1]
- Self hosted webdav s3: yes · yes [S1]
- Sync modes: 5 [S1]
- Thumbnails encrypted: yes [S7]
- Zero knowledge e2ee: yes · yes [S4]

**Support**
- Channels: 24/7 · yes [S1]

## Questions

### Is Filen European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Filen as EU-Made.

### Where does Filen store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention Germany as hosting location, per [the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/13219).

### Does Filen have a free plan?

Yes. Filen has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 1 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/13213).

### What are the best alternatives to Filen?

As of 1 Nov 2026, the panel rates [Nextcloud Files (Nextcloud Hub) (4/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/nextcloud-files), [Tresorit (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/tresorit) and [Proton Drive (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/proton-drive) highest among the other 13 Cloud Storage & File Sharing products evaluated. The highest-rated European alternative is [Nextcloud Files (Nextcloud Hub)](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/nextcloud-files) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Filen alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/filen/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 8 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 hosting facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 legal fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://filen.io/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S2] Features page: https://features.filen.io/ (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S3] Security / trust page: https://filen.io/security (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S4] Company page (servers and encryption): https://filen.io/about (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S5] Pricing page: https://filen.io/pricing (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S6] Legal notice: https://filen.io/imprint (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S7] Privacy policy: https://filen.io/privacy (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S8] Terms of service: https://filen.io/terms (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S9] Code repository (open-source licence) — found from the homepage: https://github.com/FilenCloudDienste (checked 2026-11-01)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Filen — Cloud Storage & File Sharing", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-06. https://whats-best.ai/software/cloud-storage/filen

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1214?target=page