AuborakDrive, pCloud, or Dropbox: which storage for your photos?
Aubora works with storage you already pay for, or with a folder on your computer. If you're choosing where to keep your photos, the main differences are where the data is hosted, how you pay, and how fast Aubora's first scan goes. This guide compares the three services Aubora connects to, plus the local option.
Prices below were checked on 3 November 2026. They change, so confirm them on each provider's site before you buy.
Summary
| kDrive | pCloud | Dropbox | Local folder | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Infomaniak (Switzerland) | pCloud (Switzerland) | Dropbox (United States) | You |
| Where files are stored | Switzerland | EU or US, your choice | United States for personal plans | Your disk |
| Free plan | 15 GB | 10 GB | 2 GB | |
| Typical paid plan | Solo: 3 TB | 500 GB to 10 TB | Plus: 2 TB | |
| How you pay | Monthly or yearly | Monthly, yearly, or once (lifetime) | Monthly or yearly | Your disks |
| Aubora connects with | API token | Sign-in (OAuth) | Sign-in (OAuth) | Folder picker |
| Thumbnails Aubora can use | 400 px | 1024 px | 1024 px | The files themselves |
| First scan | Slower (request limit) | Fast | Fast | Fastest |
kDrive
- Hosting: in two data centers in Switzerland, by a Swiss company.
- Price: kDrive Solo gives 3 TB for one person, CHF 4.99 per month billed yearly (CHF 5.54 billed monthly), before VAT. The free my kSuite plan includes 15 GB of kDrive.
- With Aubora: you connect with an API token instead of signing in. kDrive allows about 60 API requests per minute and makes 400 px thumbnails, so a first scan from thumbnails takes hours. That's why Aubora downloads the originals by default for kDrive, which roughly doubles the speed on a good connection but uses as much bandwidth as the library's size. The kDrive guide explains the trade-off.
Good fit if you want Swiss hosting and the most storage for a low yearly price.
pCloud
- Hosting: you choose the EU or US data region when you create the account. Changing later is possible, but it's a paid service.
- Price: monthly and yearly plans, and lifetime plans paid once (500 GB, 2 TB, 10 TB). Lifetime prices are often discounted, so compare a few weeks before buying.
- With Aubora: you sign in with your pCloud account. Thumbnails are 1024 px, so faces and previews are sharp without downloading the originals, and the first scan is fast. EU accounts work the same way as US ones.
Good fit if you'd rather pay once than subscribe, and want your files in the EU.
Dropbox
- Hosting: in the United States for personal plans. Choosing another region is only offered to some business teams.
- Price: Plus gives 2 TB for one person, from $9.99 per month billed yearly. The free Basic plan has 2 GB, too little for a photo library.
- With Aubora: you sign in with your Dropbox account. Thumbnails are 1024 px and there's no low request limit, so the first scan is fast.
Good fit if your photos are already on Dropbox.
A folder on your computer or an external disk
- Price: no subscription, only the disks.
- With Aubora: the fastest scan, since there's no network involved, and full-resolution views open instantly.
- To keep in mind: the photos are only on that disk. Keep a backup elsewhere (another disk, or one of the services above). If you keep photos on an external disk, it must be connected when Aubora scans.
Good fit for photographers with large RAW libraries on a fast disk.
Which one to choose
- Swiss hosting and a low yearly price: kDrive.
- Pay once, with EU hosting: pCloud, EU region.
- Already on Dropbox: stay on Dropbox; Aubora works well with it.
- One computer and big files: a local disk, with a backup.
You can also mix them: each Aubora library has its own source, so you can keep recent photos on one service and an archive on another, or on a disk.
Troubleshooting
Can I move my photos from one service to another later?
Yes. Download them from the old service, upload them to the new one, and create a library in Aubora that points to the new location. Aubora reads the date and location inside each file, so nothing is lost along the way.
Can Aubora read from Google Drive, iCloud Drive, or OneDrive?
Not directly. If the service's app syncs a folder to your computer, index that folder as a local folder. The OneDrive guide shows how.
Sources: Infomaniak: kDrive prices, Infomaniak: kDrive, Infomaniak: Free cloud, pCloud: Pricing, pCloud: Data regions, Dropbox: Plans, Dropbox: Where is my data stored?.
Still stuck? What to do if you're stuck
Try Aubora on your own library
Free public beta for Mac and Windows. Indexing and search run on your computer.
Download Aubora