The Filen Q&A 2024!

Filen Blog

• 25 min read
The Filen Q&A 2024!
Filen Q&A

Hello and welcome to our Q&A! Over the past two months, we’ve collected all questions submitted to us through our Q&A post. Since many of the questions covered similar topics, we’ve grouped together those that were thematically aligned. Aside from that, we aimed to preserve each question as submitted, only making adjustments when necessary for clarity; formatting, phrasing, and grammar were left as they were sent to us.

In the future, we’ll be rethinking the Q&A format, as we feel this approach is a bit too static. We’re likely to move the Q&A to Reddit or Discord, where users can easily check if their question has already been asked. Afterward, we can summarize the highlights in a blog post.

In the Table of Contents, you can scan through categorized topics to find the questions that interest you.

By clicking the arrow next to a topic, all related questions will expand for easy viewing.

Table of Contents

Web-App, Cloud & Tech

What is the upcoming spaces?

Filen Spaces will be a comprehensive new feature designed for user collaboration in the cloud, inspired by the concept of "virtual data rooms." At its core, it will allow users to create groups, providing both B2B and B2C users with a dedicated space for sharing data, exchanging chat messages, and much more. For further details, you can check out our previous blog posts or stay tuned for the first official announcements.

Third party security audit?

We discussed the topic of audits and certification in our last two status updates and are now beginning preparations for this project. Following the release of the new desktop client, we will have reached the temporary final version of all our products, as it will be the last "major rework" for the foreseeable future. We postponed the auditing process until now because we had numerous updates and reworks to complete. Conducting an audit earlier would have rendered the results outdated within weeks, given the pace of our changes.

Are there plans to introduce post-quantum cryptography?

We currently have no plans to implement post-quantum technology for Filen. Recent research suggests that AES-256-bit encryption is resistant to quantum computing, making the adoption of new technology unnecessary at this time. If needed, we could always increase the encryption modulus. In our view, post-quantum technology is currently more of a marketing tool for cloud companies seeking a unique selling point rather than a critical need. Source

Nevertheless, we are aware that this topic is hotly debated both in the world of science and in marketing. We are keeping all options open for the future.

Preview larger Videos?

Yes, the new desktop client rework will include a new video player which will be capable of previewing videos of almost any size. In our development over the last few months, we have actually found a way to enable highly unlimited, fully encrypted video streaming. The new desktop client will even make it possible to stream entire films directly from the cloud. The app’s next update will also include a dedicated video player. We have similar plans for the Web Drive, though we don't yet have a specific timeline for its release.

Are you 100% confident that all uploads, downloads, syncs are 100% error free and 100% bug free?

No, it’s impossible for anyone to create software that is 100% flawless. The key lies in minimizing issues and errors as much as possible. In terms of quality management, our focus is on enhancing our Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) processes, aiming for a pre-defined target related to reported or discovered bugs, errors, and similar issues.

In quality management, meaningful comparisons can only be made against ISO/IEC/DIN standards or against our own past performance. The ultimate goal is continuous improvement within these established benchmarks. Companies that claim to achieve a 100% absence of errors—no matter their size or experience—are simply not credible.

Do you have plans to introduce passkeys or support hardware keys like Yubikey?

We do not currently have plans to support hardware keys, as implementing them would require a complete overhaul of our existing encryption process across all our products. Our current process relies on a unique master key for private client-side encryption, whereas hardware keys use a randomly generated key similar to other authenticator apps. The only potential use for a Yubikey in the future would be as a form of 2FA. We may consider conducting a survey at some point to assess interest and potentially adjust our plans based on the added value it could bring to our wider user base.

How does Filen ensure the security and redundancy of files?

We use a range of software and hardware measures to ensure the protection of our users' data, covering everything from client-side encryption, erasure coding and all other software measures to the physical security of our servers and server locations.

For more details on the physical security of our Tier III-IV, ISO 27001 certified data centers, you can refer to one of our past status updates: Status Update - Hardware Infrastructure and the New Data Centers.

Additionally, we have written a whitepaper that details our software security measures, including our encryption and redundancy processes. An updated version of this whitepaper, which will include all new measures we have implemented, will be released soon.

For the security of our users' data, we use client-side AES-256 bit encryption combined with the Zero-Knowledge principle. Each user has a local master key, visible only to them, which is generated from their password. We do not have access to this master key. When a user uploads data, it is split into chunks, each encrypted individually and then distributed redundantly across many of our servers using a method called erasure coding. This approach ensures that if any single hard drive or server component fails, user data can be reconstructed due to this redundancy.

Because these files are never decrypted outside of the user's device, even if someone were to connect a USB stick directly to our servers (which is impossible), they would not be able to access user data. In addition to software and hardware redundancy, we also offer geo-redundancy, meaning our servers are spread across multiple geographical locations.

Can we see a demo of the CLI tools on GitHub?

The CLI Beta is already available for download on GitHub, currently at its fourteenth release, with comprehensive documentation in the associated README section. There, you'll find all the necessary information for setup, usage, commands, and more.

We don't have any additional plans for the CLI while it remains in the beta phase. However, for the official release, we will create a beginner-friendly setup and usage tutorial on our new upcoming documentation page and possibly on YouTube as well. The new website will also include information for marketing purposes.

Is there a files on demand option ?

We're not entirely certain what “files on demand” specifically refers to, but our upcoming desktop client, which will be released soon, will offer a range of new features, including full cloud access, virtual drive mounting, WebDAV support, and more. The new cloud interface in the client allows you to preview and edit files directly without needing to download them first.

Additionally, with our selective synchronization feature, you can choose specific cloud folders to sync with specific local folders, giving you more control over your data.

Will you be adding the ability to mass view which files have versions?

Yes, but it won’t be in the next update though. We will maybe try to push it in the moment we find some time, but we really can’t give an ETA on that.

Will you add support for album creation, album sharing, memories in filen?

I believe the question likely refers to dedicated features for our photos section, because It’s already possible to organize images in gallery view by creating folders, sharing them publicly or privately, and managing them in various ways.

New photo-related features are expected to appear in the next mobile update, planned for early to mid-2025. Unfortunately, I can’t share specific details about the scope of this update yet. Since we’re not a dedicated photo app but rather aim to provide a versatile platform to meet a wide range of needs, the photo features will likely remain relatively straightforward. Our current priority is on expanding the functionality of our Android app and enhancing all existing features overall.

Create 1 place for all feature requests just like Ente and Proton and Bitwarden?

That’s a great idea, and we’ll certainly give it more thought. I can imagine it becoming a reality in the future, even though we don’t have any concrete plans at the moment. We’ll revisit this topic down the line.

Could Rclone be employed without compromising privacy? / When will you offer rclone support?

Yes, this is possible, but the Rclone functionality will only come after the upcoming update for the desktop client.
We will have to write our own implementation first, which is on the agenda afterwards.

Are there any new features that Filen could surprise us with in the coming months?

Not really, we strive to announce everything we're working on as early as possible. The new client will include many new features, most of which we have already discussed. Only in cases where we consider new features to be "not very significant," such as many QoL (Quality of Life) improvements, will they be added without prior announcement. Traditionally, we always come up with a little surprise for Black Friday.

Is a file request / shared folder upload feature planned?

"Planned" is a big word. Do we want to offer this feature? Yes! Do we have a specific timeline or clear plan for implementation? No, not yet. The major challenge we face is managing encryption keys. We will never introduce a non-encrypted feature into any of our products, as this would create a potential vulnerability. Currently, the market does not provide a solution that offers this feature in a secure, fully encrypted form, making the development of such technology quite complex.

As we work on developing Filen Spaces and finalizing the necessary key management, we will likely explore what new features we can build upon this new implementation. However, we can't make any promises at this stage.

Will you support the ability to upload duplicate file names by appending -1 or -2 to files automatically?

Could perhaps be implemented if versioning is switched off. We will discuss it in the next meeting for future features.

Will we eventually get more thumbnail options?

Probably in new upcoming app versions. As we are currently fully immersed in preparations for the desktop client, web drive, Black Friday, and infrastructure, this project is still too tentative to make any definitive statements about.

What is your plan about Restic-Rclone or even better Restic support?

First comes the new desktop client with the new functions before things like rclone are tackled. However, the R-Clone project is currently planned for mid to late 2025. However, a lot may still change, so please don’t hold us to this timeline.

Will there be an option for per file/folder disable of file versioning

More versioning options are planned. The upcoming updates won’t bring many changes on this topic just yet, but it’s definitely on our agenda. Be sure to check our new roadmap here on the blog for the latest updates.

Since we do not track such access and user behavior, this is difficult to implement. For such a feature, we would need to find a way to track link usage without compromising privacy and security. Therefore, I don’t believe this would be feasible in the near future.

In our system, all your files are always fully encrypted to ensure your privacy and security, which is why we currently can't offer a global search function. Since all encryption and decryption happen on your device (client-side), the local application cannot index or search through your files without first decrypting them, which isn't feasible for security reasons.

Therefore, only the folder that is currently open (and displayed decrypted) can be searched.

We have explored various ways to reconcile full encryption of data and metadata with a global search feature, but so far, we haven’t found a satisfactory solution. The options we’ve observed on the cloud market have not aligned with our security framework and encryption approach. However, we remain hopeful to find a solution in the future.

Is there any way to get faster upload speeds?

We are continually working to update our infrastructure, consistently implementing small to significant improvements in our performance. One factor we cannot control, however, is the location of our servers. It is essential to us that all our servers are located in Germany, where they are protected by data privacy laws, quality measures, and our own oversight. Naturally, depending on a user’s location in the world, data transfer rates to Germany may vary considerably.

Apart from that: Transfer speeds can be slower than expected for several other reasons:

These include non-optimal routing of the Internet service provider, possible VPNs used, the encryption and decryption process itself (as this happens simultaneously during upload and download and can be slowed by the general hardware) or factors like high latency, packet loss, and high jitter.

Mobile Apps

Separate filen app for notes?

We are unlikely to release a separate app for notes, chats, or any other features in the near future, as we are quite satisfied with the core concept of a single product that encompasses all of our features. Additionally, the resources required to develop separate apps would not justify the benefits they would provide.

However, we are, of course, always open to letting ourselves be influenced by the spirit of the times.

Custom folder colors for mobile?

Yes, after the release of the new client and Web-Drive we will focus on the mobile app. Independent of that, we will of course adapt all new features to all of our products.

Do you plan adding folder sync on android?

After the completion of the current desktop client and web drive update, we will focus on the mobile apps including a better tablet support. We haven’t fully planned the scope of this project just yet but will weigh our decisions as always depending on our real numbers

Music player

Yes, the new app update, which we’ve just started developing, will very likely include not only a new video player but also a music player. However, as we’re currently finalizing the last details of the new desktop client rework—and will likely need to allocate additional support resources post-release—this will cause some delays. We're targeting early next year, but please don’t hold us to that date.

Are there any plans to improve the functionality of photos?

It appears that this question is regarding the Photos section of the Filen Mobile App. Yes, the upcoming Filen Mobile update will likely include several new features for the Photos tab. We are still evaluating the scope of this update, so certain details may change. Currently, we are considering adding options that allow users to independently select which folders are used for automatic camera uploads, separate from the folders and photos they choose to display in the "Photos" tab within the Mobile App. The Android app will also receive improved selective folder synconization for the automatic camera upload.

When will document edit/save/upload work on Android devices, ie Smartphones & Tablets?

After completing the current rework of the desktop client and web drive, our next focus will be on improving the mobile apps, including better support for tablets. While we haven’t yet fully defined the scope of this project, we will—as always—base our decisions on actual user data. The more a product is used, the more attention it will receive.

That said, Android users are always the most challenging to satisfy, as Android operates across many different versions and a wide variety of brands and device types, unlike iOS. It’s difficult to ensure a product runs as smoothly on a 2016 OnePlus 3T as it does on a 2024 Huawei MatePad, for instance. We will do our best to strike a balance, aiming for maximum compatibility across as many devices and versions as reasonably possible, while still providing a rich feature set and stable performance.

What I can already reveal is that Android users can look forward to a significantly more native experience and a refreshed UX/UI.

When is a rework of the apps on smartphones planned? The current android app takes minutes to start, even with a good internet connection.

The startup time of the mobile apps can vary significantly depending on the device being used, the operating system, and other factors. However, the next mobile app update is our next planned project following the completion of the Desktop Client and Web Drive rework.

Revamp the android app to native(look android-ish)?

Yes, the development of the new mobile update has already begun its initial stages. This time, Android users can expect more attention than in the past, with a native-like look also on our agenda.

Desktop Client

Does Filen support WebDAV

Yes, WebDAV support will be available with the release of the new fully reworked Filen desktop client. All WebDAV functions will solely be usable with the client as our strict encryption limits our possibilities. Despite this, we are confident most users will be very happy with our offered features.

When will the Virtual Drive feature be available? / Virtual Drive Mounting in 2024?

Virtual Drive Mounting will be available with the release of the new Filen Desktop Client. We do not have a more precise ETA yet, but it will be before end of the year.

How is the desktop client beta going?

The desktop beta is nearly complete. All issues reported by our testers have been resolved. We are conducting additional detailed use-case testing for potential errors and are awaiting any further feedback from our testers. Beyond that, we are confident that nothing stands in the way of a timely release.

When is the new windows app release date?

We don’t want to provide an exact date yet, but based on the current success of the beta, the new desktop client is on track to be released later this year (Soon™).

Does the WebDAV server needs to store all the data in the local storage or is a just a link between filen cloud and the client ?

The WebDAV server does not need to store all data in local storage; it primarily acts as a bridge between the Filen cloud and the client. The WebDAV server fetches files directly from the Filen cloud as they are requested, rather than storing all data locally. This approach allows the client to interact with the cloud storage seamlessly, with the WebDAV server serving as an intermediary to handle file requests, uploads, and other interactions without needing a full local copy of the data.

Business & Founders

Roadmap for 2025?

The new Roadmap was recently published on our blog and we will continue to fill it with more information. In general, we aim to further develop the concept of a dynamic roadmap.

How does Filen handle reported media from shared links? If zero knowledge encryption is there?

When public links are created, the encryption key is appended to the URL of the link. This allows the person who receives the link to view the content. We (Filen) do not have access to this key, so we typically cannot see the content shared through links. However, if a link is reported, the person reporting it must provide us with the decryption key, allowing us to verify whether the shared content needs to be removed. It is also important that sufficient evidence is provided to support any copyright claims during this process.

Does Filen own their own data center?

All of Filen’s servers are fully owned by the Filen Company and are not rented. These servers are geo-redundantly distributed within co-located data centers operated by our close partner. Each of these data centers is subject to rigorous protection measures, being Tier III-IV, ISO 27001 certified, providing defense against power outages, fires, floods, hacking, and burglary.

While we don’t own an entire data center, we do own all of our servers as well as the certified, isolated, and fireproof rooms or cells in which they operate. These are housed within our partner’s maximum-security data centers. This setup allows us to ensure geo-redundancy and benefit from high-level physical protection without incurring the substantial costs of owning and operating a full data center complex staffed by up to hundreds of employees.

For security and privacy reasons, we do not disclose the locations of our servers. They remain intentionally unmarked and undocumented on-site plans, secured behind multiple layers of protection. Even though our user data is encrypted by default and remains unreadable even if direct access to our servers were obtained, we take physical security very seriously.

We have no past or present affiliations with Microsoft, AWS, or any similar brands or services. Before transitioning to our in-house servers in late 2023, we were partnered with Wasabi Technologies and Hetzner Online GmbH.

For more details on our physical hardware protection measures, you can refer to one of our previous status updates.

https://blog.filen.io/status-update/#hardware-infrastructure-and-the-new-data-centers

Does Filen's new data center run on renewable energy?

Yes, the electricity for our servers comes from the redundant ring network provided by the municipal utilities of our data centers. These utilities specifically promote the use of 100% renewable energy.

Why is development slow?

In our view, our development pace is actually quite good, especially considering the scale our products have reached over the past few years. To ensure each product receives the attention it deserves, we rotate our focus between them. Depending on the complexity and workload of a given project, there are times when we need to concentrate on a single product for an extended period, making it difficult to work on others simultaneously. Our goal is to continue building dedicated teams for each development area (Drive, App, Client, Website, and Infrastructure/Server). A few months ago, after a long search, we hired a new developer who is currently focused on the CLI & SDK projects. Our core team is in the final stages of refining the desktop client, while initial work on the new mobile app update is already underway.

Is there a way to do Speed test for upload and download to Filen servers?

Currently, we recommend that users try Filen for free. By testing your uploads and downloads directly, you can get the best sense of your actual speeds. You can then view the speeds in the transfer window of your Filen Drive or through the network monitoring tool on your device. If you suspect any server issues, you can always check our status on our dedicated status page. https://status.filen.io/

Why was Filen created? And how was it made to be so revolutionary?

Filen actually started as a hobby project, driven by a passion for privacy and digitalization. Our CEO, throughout his career as a developer, has worked on and completed countless applications and tools, gaining extensive experience in the process. He witnessed the evolution of digitalization firsthand and drew his conclusions from it. What especially troubled him was the greed of large corporations and the practice of treating user data as a product. None of us should have to become a marketing profile in the filing cabinets of big companies just because we use certain services, nor should we have to sacrifice our privacy for convenience.

In many industries, it’s an unfortunate reality that users must choose between advanced features and privacy. This is especially true in the cloud space, which all 3 of us founders had used extensively ourselves. It quickly became clear that a new solution was needed—one that guarantees technical privacy and end-to-end encryption. We didn’t want to use a service that is beholden to big companies and treats security as nothing more than a buzzword to drive sales.

That’s why we started Filen as a project and eventually established it as a company—without any corporations backing us, as transparent as possible, and diverging from market practices that harm end users. We've learned a lot along the way and will continue to learn, but we are proud of everything we have achieved so far. We are excited to continue expanding the world of Filen and to offer more secure and private alternatives. Our expansion process has only just begun.

Will you communicate more on Reddit etc.? Answer the communities questions, doubts?

Yes, we would love to be active on all social media platforms and respond to every user's questions. However, our current resource management doesn't allow for that. We have so many areas that we want to expand and many places where we could use more support, so we haven’t yet been able to hire a dedicated community manager. Everything we respond to on social media or publish on our blog comes directly from our core team, which also manages all operational tasks and development.

We recently brought on a new university intern specializing in marketing. We are very optimistic that in 2025 we will be able to significantly expand our communication, marketing, and sales efforts.

What can you tell us about your bussiness operations? Are you profitable? Why should I trust this small company?

Filen has been profitable from day one, both in our annual financial statements and in our practical day-to-day operations. We believe that trust cannot be demanded; it must be earned. The fact that we built this company without external capital, without false promises or investors—growing from two people with two laptops into a company with its own full server infrastructure, office space, a full team, and everything else we have achieved—proves to us that we have been capable of leading this business to success from the very beginning. Filen's growth has always been steady, and it will continue to be so in the future.

2025 will be the year when we launch many projects focused on transparency, public relations, and more. We hope these efforts will establish an even stronger foundation of trust.

As part of these efforts, we will seek audits to reinforce trust in our software and provide transparency to build trust in our business.

Some of the community is asking online how and where is Filen in terms off financial stability?

Filen has been fundamentally profitable from day one, and our Black Friday sales have enabled us to make significant investments. Since transitioning to entirely self-owned hardware and servers, we have established a strong foundation that will continue to pay off, allowing us to free up resources for further expansion. We understand that it’s not always easy for outsiders to grasp what’s happening behind the scenes, but we can assure you that our investments have secured the core of our company indefinitely. Even if future projects don't succeed, our core business and the company's existence will never be at risk. Since the end of last year, we have moved beyond the startup phase and the associated risk of failure.

How much capital was needed to launch Filen?

Filen was founded with an initial capital of €1,000, as can be verified in the public German commercial register. Since then, we have worked tirelessly every day to provide a better service. We are especially grateful to our early users who supported us on Discord and helped spread the word about our platform. I believe everyone who was part of that journey will feel recognized. We scaled Filen almost entirely from this initial capital. There were no additional contributions from "external" shareholders, investors, or other companies. Of course, as founders, we have invested additional capital. While we prefer not to disclose the exact amount, our time commitment is likely far more significant relative to the financial investment, as all of us have dedicated our full time and effort to the company for more than three years now.

What are you doing to ensure Filen will continue to function for the foreseeable future without going bankrupt?

What we did to address this, began at the end of last year: the crucial step of transitioning the service to our own in-house servers. This move ensures that even with potentially fluctuating revenues, the service will continue to operate as it does now. Owning our servers significantly reduces costs in the long run compared to renting servers or using temporary setups through other arrangements. As a result, our future financial success will only impact the speed of our expansion, not the stability of our existence.

How does Filen compare with any cloud storage + Cryptomator? Does it bring any benefits?

Filen’s main advantage is that we have designed a cloud service around encryption, rather than simply adding encryption on top of an existing cloud service. Retrofitting encryption can significantly limit the functionality of a cloud service, especially when it comes to sharing data, synchronization, or organization.

For example, consider use cases like automatically uploading photos taken with your device to the cloud through the Filen app, automatically syncing those photos with your computer, and seamlessly sharing selected images with friends and family by placing them into a permanently shared folder with just one click. Achieving this with retrofitted encryption would require a tremendous amount of additional effort and complexity.

How is it going? You're not going to shut down in a while yes?

No, we have no plans to cease operations anytime soon. On the contrary, we are looking to continue expanding. And we're doing very well, hopefully, you are too!

Plans & Pricing

Could you display prices in different currencies like USD?

We have often considered displaying our prices in the respective local currencies, and it’s an option we haven’t ruled out yet. However, our challenge lies in the rapidly fluctuating exchange rates, which could lead to various issues. Firstly, non-euro customers would see visually unappealing fractional amounts. Additionally, if the page isn't updated promptly, discrepancies could arise between the displayed amount and the actual purchase price. We are keen to avoid any situation where customers feel disadvantaged, for instance, if we use a different exchange rate source than they do. Therefore, we currently leave the currency conversion to our payment providers and display only the fixed price in euros.

Can Filen afford lifetime plans?

Yes! We can afford to offer lifetime plans at reasonable prices in a limited quantity. That’s why we aren’t offering them all year around. The lifetime plans will never pose a financial risk for us, as we have implemented sufficient measures to ensure our financial stability.

Will we ever remove lifetime plans permanently?

To be honest... maybe. The lifetime plans have been a great tool for gathering resources during the early stages of the company. However, as many of you have noticed, we have gradually reduced their availability. Normally our algorithm regularly monitors the ratio between subscription-based customers and sold lifetime plans to determine how many lifetime plans can be offered. The small Starter Lifetime Plan is almost always available because we designed the algorithm with a buffer, ensuring there is enough capacity to continue offering the smaller plan for now. We would rather give 20 customers the opportunity to purchase a 100GB Lifetime Plan than sell a single 2TB plan.

As we continue to grow, our running costs also increase, including expenses like energy, hardware, and new employees. With rising and fluctuating costs in these areas, it becomes challenging to predict the future contribution margin over the next 10 years when setting a price for a lifetime plan today. Unlike a physical product, where a one-time price can be calculated and then forgotten after the sale—sometimes with the possibility of aftermarket sales or maintenance—a lifetime software or cloud service plan requires ongoing support. A sold lifetime plan must continue to function indefinitely or as long as the user chooses to use it. Therefore, the price of a lifetime plan needs to account for the ongoing operational costs, including energy, hardware repairs, business expenses, and everything else—from the energy drinks we have in the morning to the network switches in our servers.

But let's get to the point: For investments like our servers and infrastructure aswell as our customers satisfaction, we will continue offering lifetime sales in the near future. However, only our long-term empirical data and calculations will determine whether we will keep offering lifetime plans, and if so, in what quantity and capacity. Currently, everything is going according to plan, allowing us to proceed with our Black Friday lifetime sale without concern, as the planned capacity for this sale will not impact our future calculations in a detrimental way.

In short: The lifetime plans will never pose a financial risk for us, as we have implemented sufficient measures to ensure our financial stability. Nonetheless, we don’t rule out the possibility that the lifetime era may come to an end in the future.

And a small disclaimer to add: We have conducted extensive research on this topic, including how the broader cloud market approaches it. Lifetime plans are, of course, priced based on the anticipated usage patterns of the average customer. These plans must be designed to cover all associated costs over the estimated period, because if they don’t, a company might enjoy a short-term profit but will soon begin to lose money as ongoing expenses outstrip revenue, eventually leading to financial strain. If you come across a company offering large lifetime plans with substantial discounts year-round, there is a good chance they may be attempting to extract the last bit of value from a struggling business, were set up as a scam from the beginning, or are relying on a Ponzi-like model (ponzi scheme) ,where they remain solvent only as long as new purchases keep coming in. We're not trying to criticize anyone specifically—just offering a word of caution.

In the foreseeable future, will Filen offer more flexible plans?

We expect to continue with our current model, as our pricing is calculated based on market standards. It’s no secret that cloud plans become less profitable for providers when used to their full extent, which means that with adaptive plans, we would need to raise the overall price level. This, in turn, would negatively impact regular customers. For this reason, and due to cost-efficiency considerations, we plan to keep things largely as they are.

When are lifetime packs coming back?

Our lifetime plans are calculated using an algorithm, as mentioned in previous responses. Therefore, it is not always easy to predict when they will be available. The Starter Lifetime Plan is almost always available, while the larger lifetime plans are more rare. If I were you, I’d try checking around Black Friday.

When will Filen support family accounts?

Family accounts will be released alongside Filen Spaces, as many of the features for family accounts overlap with those for business accounts. Unfortunately, we don’t have an ETA for this yet, but much of the core work for Spaces has already been completed with the release of Filen Chats, Notes, and Contacts.

Will Filen offer regional pricing?

Currently, we do not have any plans to introduce regional pricing or to consider it in other forms. Since we operate all our servers, employ our staff, maintain our office, and run everything else from Germany, we are bound by the costs associated with this location. We would genuinely like to reduce prices in regions with lower income levels—trust us on that—but such plans would not cover their own costs and would result in a loss for each unit sold. We operate with standard profit margins, especially as we are still in the investment phase and currently face high expenses.

If our overall pricing levels were to increase significantly, our costs dropped sharply, or if we operated servers in more cost-effective countries or employed cheaper labor, we might be able to implement such changes. However, none of these options are feasible or align with our interests.

Final Words / Conclusion

Those were all the questions we filtered from the submissions. We hope you enjoyed this Q&A! As mentioned above, the next Q&A will take on a more dynamic format. Soon, there will be more interactive features here on the blog, and we’ll discuss the details of this in our upcoming status update.

Best regards!