CloudMe is a European cloud service whose main claim to fame is being protected by Sweden’s strict privacy laws. The service was originally established by the Swedish company Xcerion as iCloud.com, combining the company’s cloud desktop service with a cloud file storage service. In 2011, Apple bought the trademark, and the service was split in two as CloudTop and CloudMe.

While we know Swedish privacy laws will be the biggest draw towards the standalone CloudMe service, we dive in to see how it good it is on its own.

Pros

• Servers based out of privacy-focused Sweden
• Plentiful sharing options
• Shared/collaborative folders don’t require an account to access
• Follow and get updates on others’ folders
• Built-in web document viewer and editor
• Music player in web and mobile apps
• Supports iOS, Android, Windows Server NAS, SmartTVs, and WebDAV
• Fast downloads

Cons

• Data is not encrypted on server
• 150 MB upload limit for free accounts / 2 GB limit for paid accounts
• Slow upload speeds
• Expensive pricing model
• Max storage limit of 500 GB on consumer plans

Bottom Line

CloudMe’s decent collaboration options, good software support, and Swedish privacy protections are marred by an utter lack of security protections and an expensive pricing model. This might fit someone’s specific niche, but generally, there are better cloud services.

Web Interface

CloudMe’s web UI is simple and offers all the standard upload and download options, including downloading in compressed zip files. The only exception is that the web uploader will not support entire folders.

It should be noted that if you want your uploaded files to sync with your desktop, they have to be uploaded to the CloudMe “blue folder,” which is found under the “Synced” tab. If you forget, you can choose the “Add sync folder” option, but this is a confusing way to differentiate sync status.

Web-based document viewing and editing is made available through a partnership with CRM vendor Zoho. Zoho docs opened all of my test files without compatibility issues.

Sharing

CloudMe offers a full suite of sharing options, including public upload folders and full-edit options for collaborative folders. I like that receivers do not need a CloudMe account to access collaborative folders. The links themselves can be sent via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter. With the built-in document editor, CloudMe can be a pretty strong collaboration platform.

Should you have a CloudMe account, you can “follow” shared folders that others send you, and you’ll be notified when folders are updated.

Multimedia

CloudMe includes a basic photo viewer and music player in the web and mobile apps with playlist support. Playlists can be saved, but cannot be effectively shared with others.

Desktop Software

CloudMe’s desktop software installs a folder that will sync everything in your “blue folder”. That said, you can see non-synced folders and can activate or de-activate them for syncing.

I like that individual folders can be set up with individual sync preferences like sync modes and schedules.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of configuration options for the software, although the automatic scheduler is nice to have.

I also liked that right click menus include an option to upload and share any file or folder on your computer right from your file system. No web browser needed.

Desktop software is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Ubuntu Linux.

Mobile / Additional Apps

The mobile apps for Android and iOS both reflect Xcerion’s CloudTop-style XIOS/3 desktop. All of your files, synced or otherwise, will be viewable from the interface. Both apps offer a basic music and video player, a camera roll backup and document viewing.

The iOS version is a bit better featured, offering a password lock, a richer settings menu, and more robust sharing options.

CloudMe also offers music, video, and photo streaming apps on Samsung SmartTVs, Google Play, and WD TV devices.

Finally, CloudMe offers dedicated clients for Windows Server and WD Sentinel-based NAS devices for subscriptions of 100 GB or more, but unfortunately, there is no Linux NAS support.

Security / Privacy

CloudMe is based in Sweden, which some notoriously strong data laws. No third party can access your data without your permission. If you want to learn more, you can check out Sweden’s privacy law at this link.

But while Sweden keeps data private, CloudMe’s security is lacking. There is no option for two-factor authentication and no encryption on the server. However, all data is secured in transit over encrypted HTTPS.

A 2012 Fraunhofer Institute cloud security report called out CloudMe for not verifying e-mails that users submit for accounts. This allows malicious individuals to open an account with someone else’s name and e-mail and upload illegal content. One of the Institute’s complaints has been corrected since 2012, namely that all sessions are now secured over HTTPS encryption.

Performance

Download performance was great but upload performance was consistently about half of my maximums. Testing was performed on a 50 Mbps/5 Mbps network with a tendency for 65-75 Mbps downloads.

Pricing

CloudMe offers up to 500 GB for non-business plans and charges a whopping 300 euros per year for it. Their relatively expensive pricing also includes an awfuly tiny 2 GB file upload limit. The below Euro-dollar conversions are as of the time of this writing.

Support

CloudMe’s support options are pretty lacking. At first, it appears that there are no support options other than an FAQ and a forum. But if you dig enough, you’ll find a [email protected] e-mail address in one of the forum posts.

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Mike Lohnash

Mike has nurtured a passion for all things tech for over ten years as a hobbyist, retailer, tech supporter, and spreadsheet jockey. He’s been an optimistic evangelist for the power of the cloud since the days of server-aided file sharing. In his spare time he loves reading and writing about faraway lands, playing games within them, and has a slightly unhealthy obsession for Star Wars.

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