MEGA Gives 20GB Free. It Is Still the Biggest Allowance Here.
Twenty gigabytes free, encrypted before upload, with no card. MEGA wins the free-tier comparison on size and privacy at the same time.
MEGA gives 20GB of storage free, encrypted client-side before upload, with no card required and no time limit. It is the largest free allowance of any mainstream consumer cloud drive. Paid tiers exist above it, but their prices are rendered dynamically on MEGA's site and are not stated in the page source.1
Twenty gigabytes is the number everyone quotes and it is accurate. The more interesting fact is that it comes with MEGA's end-to-end encryption at no cost, which almost no competitor matches at that size.
The free plan, measured
| MEGA free | Note | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €0 | No card, no expiry |
| Storage | 20GB | Largest free tier in this directory |
| Encryption | End-to-end | Client-side, keys held by the user |
| Transfer allowance | Metered | Usage-based, not unlimited |
| Data centres | EU and others | MEGA is New Zealand registered |
Prices measured on 22 October 2026. Vendor plan terms, allowances and prices change without notice, so treat every figure on this page as a dated snapshot rather than a permanent fact. Where a number here differs from the vendor's own pricing page, the vendor's page is correct and the figure above is simply older than it.
One caveat worth stating plainly: MEGA's pricing page injects paid tier prices with JavaScript, so the figures are not present in the page as served. This article therefore does not quote any MEGA paid price. The 20GB free allowance is stated in the page content and is what the rest of this piece is based on.
What 20GB covers
Twice Google, ten times Dropbox, four times iCloud. In practical terms it is the first free tier that can hold a real photo library.
| What you are storing | Typical size | Fits in 20GB |
|---|---|---|
| PDF document | 2MB | About 10,000 |
| Phone photo | 4MB | About 5,000 |
| Music track | 8MB | About 2,500 |
| Minute of 1080p video | 130MB | About 150 |
| Minute of 4K video | 350MB | About 57 |
Twenty gigabytes is enough for five thousand phone photos, which is several years of casual shooting. It is not enough for video, and no free tier is.
The transfer quota is separate from storage
This is the limit that surprises people. MEGA meters data transfer as well as storage, and a free account has a transfer allowance that resets over time.
So a 20GB account does not mean 20GB of downloading whenever you like. Heavy download use, restoring a large folder to a new machine, or streaming media from the web interface can exhaust the transfer allowance while most of the storage remains free.
Upload does not consume the same way; it is download and streaming that meter. For someone using MEGA as an archive rather than a streaming drive, this rarely comes up. For someone treating it as a media server, it comes up immediately.
Encryption at 20GB is the real offer
MEGA was built around end-to-end encryption from the start, not bolted on later. Keys are derived from the user's password and files are encrypted in the browser or the client before upload.
That combination, the largest free allowance in the category and client-side encryption on it, is unusual. Google gives 15GB but holds the keys. Sync encrypts but gives only 5GB. MEGA is the only one offering both.
When the free plan is enough
A photo archive that should not be readable by the provider. Twenty gigabytes holds roughly five thousand pictures, which covers several years of phone photography, and the encryption applies to all of it.
It is also a good secondary location for documents already backed up elsewhere, and a reasonable way to move large files between people without an account on either side being necessary for the recipient.
When it stops being enough
Video, or heavy download traffic. Once the archive crosses 20GB or the transfer allowance becomes a recurring obstacle, a paid tier is required, and MEGA's paid tiers are priced in euros with regional variation.
Before paying, compare honestly: pCloud sells 2TB as a one-time purchase, and Filen charges €8.99 a month for 2TiB with the same zero-knowledge model. MEGA's advantage is the free tier, not necessarily the paid one.
How it compares
On free storage, MEGA wins outright against every provider in this directory: Google 15GB, Box 10GB, pCloud 10GB, OneDrive 5GB, iCloud 5GB, Sync 5GB and Dropbox 2GB.
It is also the only one where the largest allowance and the strongest default encryption are the same product.
Frequently asked questions
Is MEGA really 20GB free?
Yes, with no card and no expiry. It is the largest free tier in this directory.
Is MEGA free storage encrypted?
Yes. Files are encrypted on your device before upload on every plan including free.
Why is my MEGA transfer quota exhausted?
MEGA meters downloads and streaming separately from storage. Heavy download use consumes the allowance even when space remains.
How much do MEGA's paid plans cost?
MEGA does not state paid tier prices in its served page content, so this article does not quote them. Check the current figures on MEGA's own pricing page.
What happens if I lose my MEGA password?
The recovery key you were given at signup is the only way back in. Without either, the data cannot be decrypted.
Free-tier allowance and encryption terms verified against MEGA's own pricing page on 22 October 2026. Paid tier prices on that page are rendered dynamically and are not quoted here.
Sources
- MEGA plans and pricing: mega.io/pricing.
All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 22 October 2026. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.
