Degoo Review: The Good, The Bad & Is It for You? [2024]

It’s a Good Web App, But You Might Need More

Degoo provides cloud storage services for documents, photos, videos, and music through both a web-based and mobile app. It’s easy to sign up and use its services, and its free plan has plenty of space, so you won’t have to worry about a paid subscription unless you want to opt for advanced features like unlimited device support and enhanced storage security.

Backups with Degoo’s web app are quick and you can easily restore your data to any of your connected devices.

You can create albums of photos to share with friends and there’s even a Favorites tab to organize your images – but is Degoo worthy of storing your most precious memories?

In my in-depth review, I focused on performance, features, and ease of use. Although I wasn’t always impressed with all that Degoo has to offer, I appreciated how intuitively its applications were designed. There isn’t a desktop application, but the web app has a user-friendly interface that’s straightforward and makes using the tool hassle-free.

A Basic Storage Tool with a Few Practical Features

Degoo’s features might be more basic than many of its competitors, but it does have a few add-ons that are worth mentioning.

Unlike some online backup services, your files and albums of photos and videos can be shared with non-Degoo users. It also lets you preview PDFs and Office documents, but there isn’t a feature for editing, so you won’t be able to make any modifications.

User-Friendly Web App Backups

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Let’s talk space: Degoo’s free plan has a 100GB storage limit, but you can refer a friend to receive 5GB of extra storage space, up to 500GB. I realized that on the free plan, you can only upload 500 files at one time (with a file size limit of 512 MB). So if your folder has over 500 files, you’ll have to upload them in stages.

Backing up data on the web app is pretty straightforward. Since the user interface is easy to navigate, I was able to figure out how to upload my files without any issues.

If you’re using the mobile app, folders can be set to automatically upload, but you can also do this manually. Uploading via the mobile app was a much different experience. I’ll get into that later in the Performance section, but if you’re short on time, you can skip straight to why I wasn’t very impressed.

Restore Data Like You Would on Your Desktop

Can you restore deleted files with Degoo? These files end up in the recycle bin, and as long as you haven’t deleted them from this location, you can right-click on a deleted file or folder and select Restore to instantly recover your data to the Files section.

If you go with Degoo’s Ultimate plan, you can download and restore more than one file at a time. If you don’t want to pay for a monthly subscription but you want to restore deleted files to your device, you’ll need to manually download each file.

On Degoo’s free plan, you only need to access your account once a year to keep your account active. However, there’s no file versioning available, so if multiple files have the same name, the app will simply replace the old file with the new one.

Strong Password Encryption Despite Standard Security

Degoo uses 256-bit AES encryption and an SSL/TLS tunnel for data, and both PBKDF2 and HMAC512 encryption for passwords. This level of encryption to protect user data is impressive, considering not many cloud storage services offer this.

If you’re using the Android app, you can disable automatic sign-ins and require a password every time the mobile app is booted. For an added security layer, you can also choose to add a PIN that must be entered before you can access the app.

With a paid plan, Degoo stores your data across multiple data centers. However, this is not the case with a free plan.

Secure Storage – If You’re Willing to Pay

Zero-knowledge encryption is an additional security feature that is offered with Degoo’s premium plans. This is a fancy way of saying that your data passes through three secure encryption processes (AES-256, RSA-4096, and HMAC-SHA1) before it is stored across multiple data centers.

With this feature, you also have to set a password that must be entered to access your account. A word of warning though: If you forget your password, Degoo won’t be able to reset or recover it – which is why it’s referred to as “zero-knowledge.”

For a small annual fee, I think this is an excellent offering, especially if you’re apprehensive about using cloud storage because of how easily it can be hacked.

Simple, Easy to Navigate Interface

Degoo’s website is easy to navigate, thanks to an intuitive layout. Although there are many areas where Degoo falls short, ease of use – especially on the web app – is not one of them.

One of the first things I noticed on the web app was that Degoo gives you the option of uploading data directly to your phone. All you have to do is select your phone as the upload destination, and then choose your files.

I checked my mobile app as soon as the upload was finished, and the photos were instantly viewable in my app’s gallery. I can see this feature being useful if you have multiple devices and want to be able to choose where data is stored.

Auto-Optimize Photos and Videos On Demand

Degoo lets you decide whether you want to optimize the file size of your photos and videos. With this option, you can automatically compress your media files to reduce their size without affecting quality.

You can toggle this option on and off in the mobile app. By automatically optimizing files, you can take up less space in your device.

Many Ways to Share Files and Folders

Being able to conveniently share files is another thing I appreciated about Degoo. You can share through the web and mobile app with just a few clicks. Simply select the file or folder you want to share, and then select how you want to share it.

There is a caveat, though. On the free plan, files can only be viewed – which is good enough if you just want an audience. If you need more flexibility and cross-functionality across files, you’ll need to be on Degoo’s Premium plan for shared files to be downloadable.

Setting Up Your Account

To sign up for Degoo, you have two options: You can sign in with your Google account or use an email and password combination. Once you enter your information, the website app loads and you can begin uploading your files and folders right away.

When I downloaded the mobile app and logged in, I was able to find uploads relatively easily. One thing I did find strange is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to log out of the mobile app. You can disable automatic sign-ins on the Android app, but if you want to completely “sign out,” you’ll need to delete and reinstall the app.

Speedy Backups but Glitchy Mobile App

I had a mixed experience in terms of Degoo’s performance. On the web app, I enjoyed how easy it was to back up my data, and I was impressed by Degoo’s upload speed. But using the mobile app was less than great.

I wanted to see how quickly backups to the web app took, so I ran three tests on three separate days. My average upload speed is usually around 170Mbps and the range for downloads is usually from 170Mbps to 200+Mbps. The folder I uploaded was a mix of photos, videos, and documents and came in at 3.55 GB.

The first test I ran was at 8:15 p.m. on a Friday. The entire folder took just 4 minutes and 13 seconds to upload – impressive for such a large file. My next test was on Saturday morning at 11:40 a.m. and the backup was complete in just over 3 minutes, even less time than Friday’s test.

I waited until Monday afternoon to try again, and at 1:00 p.m., my backup came in at exactly 4 minutes and 13 seconds – matching my Friday test down to the second. Using an average of my three tests, I can estimate that a 3.55GB backup will take me less than 4 minutes and 30 seconds, even on weekends.

Unfortunately, you can’t track the exact upload or download speeds of the backups and restores. I’m currently in Trinidad and Tobago, so I’m at least 2,000+ miles away from the nearest data center (which is an estimate, as precise locations are undisclosed). Considering this estimate, my data backup speeds are more than reasonable.

On the other hand, transferring files through the mobile app was a complete headache. To complete the download, I had to keep the app open the whole time. And then when I tried to upload my files, the upload percentage got to 34% and would slowly decrease until it hit 0%. I had to turn to Degoo’s Help Center to get some answers (and if you’re wondering, no, it didn’t help).

A Poor Mobile App Experience

The free version of the mobile app also has a ridiculous number of ads, which shouldn’t be surprising for a free service. But what is surprising is that as I scrolled through my gallery, there were ads after every other photo – and even ad interruptions that blocked me from using the app.

Another frustrating performance flaw is that backed-up documents in the mobile app can’t be viewed in-app – clicking on them just prompted a download. Strangely enough, this is the opposite of the free plan, where shared files can only be viewed but not downloaded.

If You Value Privacy, Degoo May Not Be for You

If an extensive privacy policy is important to you, then Degoo will disappoint. Its privacy policy is one of the worst I’ve seen, although it technically covers all the basics. Much of its language is vague, so it’s no wonder I had more questions after reading the policy than I did beforehand.

For example, Section 2.3 of the policy outlines that the company may share personal data with a “regulatory authority” or third party, but doesn’t explain the conditions. There are much better services with privacy policies, like IDrive or NordLocker.

Degoo is clear about its compliance with the Swedish Personal Data Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPF). Because the company is based in Sweden, it should be exempt from laws like the Patriot Act.

However, it uses US-based Google Cloud Storage and Amazon Web Services to host data. Both companies state in their privacy policy that a US-issued warrant can be grounds to access customer data.

Inadequate Support Services

Despite the lack of actual help in Degoo’s Help Center, I did find an article about troubleshooting uploads. However, even after running speed tests and looking at file permissions on my phone app, my data still failed to upload past the 35% mark. I restarted my phone, force stopped the app several times, and even tried a smaller upload, with no luck.

I submitted two support tickets: one to ask about file type and size exclusions, as well as fair use limits, and the other about my glitchy mobile app. It took almost three days, but I finally received an automated response about file size limits… and nothing else.

I have yet to hear back from customer support about my other queries.

I wasn’t sure if there was phone support, but thanks to Google (which still proves to be more helpful than Degoo’s customer service) I found a local Swedish number connected to the company. I tried to call this number several times but was never successful. I can’t be sure whether this was a user error or if the company phone number simply does not work.

A Decent Free Plan and Affordable Premium Plans

Degoo’s prices aren’t exactly bad, but I wouldn’t say I agree with its pricing structure. Without a desktop app, it’s hard to justify paying the same price as you would for other cloud services with more functionalities.

Degoo’s Free plan starts at 100GB of space, with up to 500GB of extra storage through referrals. (Compare this to Google Drive’s free 15GB, and it’s a pretty good deal.) You can connect up to 5 devices, and only need to log in once a year to keep your account active.

However, the free plan does have its drawbacks. Users will have to tolerate the presence of ads in the mobile app, and there may be instances where the app does not function properly and limits users to downloading files only. On the positive side, if users are patient enough, they can earn up to 750 MB of extra storage by watching mobile ads.

If you’d like more allowances, Degoo’s Pro plan comes with 500GB of storage, better security, and connection for up to 10 devices. You can also add 1000GB of space for free, but you’d need to send 100 invites to do this.

With the Ultimate plan, you get 10TB of storage and can back up unlimited devices. You’ll also get a photo storage maximizer, which reduces the size of the photos on your phone and automatically uploads the original versions to the web app.

Degoo doesn’t accept PayPal but does take MasterCard, Visa and American Express.