If your team runs on Dropbox, your business files sit on American servers under American jurisdiction. That is a compliance question, a privacy question, and increasingly a procurement question. This post is part of a series on moving off American software, and it covers the sync-and-storage layer specifically.
Switching a file store is more disruptive than switching a newsletter tool. Everyone's local folders, shared links, and permissions are built around it. So the honest framing is not "which service is nicest" but "which one fits how your team actually shares files, and what are you giving up."
All six services below appear in the European Alternatives listing of file hosting services. None of them is a clone of Dropbox, and that is mostly fine.
Tresorit SecureCloud: the security-first option
Tresorit SecureCloud comes from Switzerland and is built around zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption. Files are encrypted on the client before upload, so Tresorit itself cannot read them. That is the strongest posture on this list, and it is aimed squarely at organizations: storage plans run from a few terabytes up to unlimited, with folder sync and mirrored folder structures. Sharing links can carry passwords, expiry dates, download limits, and watermarks, and external partners can submit files without creating an account. Administrators get central governance: enforced security policies, required multi-factor authentication, and activity auditing.
The trade-off is that this is an enterprise-oriented product. If you are a five-person team that just wants folders that sync, Tresorit will feel heavier than you need — and likely cost more than you need.
Jottacloud and Twake Drive: the straightforward ones
Jottacloud is Norwegian and serves both personal and business use. Office documents can be viewed and edited directly in the application, and there are apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS plus a CLI tool. It is the closest in spirit to what Dropbox does, without the encryption theatrics — which also means it is not end-to-end encrypted.
Twake Drive is French. You store and access documents, photos, and other files from any device via browser, mobile, or desktop apps for all major platforms. Beyond storage, it includes a set of applications to automatically manage and organize your data, which suits teams that want the drive to be part of a broader workspace rather than a standalone bucket.
Proton Drive and Filen: encryption without the enterprise weight
Proton Drive, from Swiss company Proton (the makers of Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, and Proton VPN), offers end-to-end encryption so files stay accessible only to owners and authorized collaborators. Sharing happens through encrypted links with passwords, expiration dates, and permissions, under Swiss privacy law. It is a good middle ground: real end-to-end encryption without Tresorit's administrative machinery.
Filen is German, affordable, and end-to-end encrypted. The research listing is thin on details beyond that, so treat it as one to evaluate hands-on rather than to take on faith.
Koofr: the pragmatist's bridge
Koofr is Slovenian, positioned as safe, reliable, and user-friendly, with no trackers, cookies, or ads. Its genuinely useful trick for a migration: you can connect your existing Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive accounts and search all your files from one place. That makes Koofr a sensible staging point while you move data out of American services, rather than a hard cutover.
What to weigh before you switch
- Encryption: Tresorit, Proton Drive, and Filen are end-to-end encrypted; Jottacloud, Twake Drive, and Koofr are not.
- Administration: only Tresorit is described with central admin policy enforcement and auditing — relevant if compliance drives this move.
- Migration path: Koofr's multi-account bridging lowers the switching cost; the others are clean breaks.
If you mostly need "shared folders that sync and a web app," start with Jottacloud. If a security questionnaire or client contracts are pushing the move, start with Tresorit or Proton Drive.
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