How deep storage works
ColdStorage is deep storage — the kind built for files you want to keep but hardly ever open. That's the whole reason it's cheap, and it's also why getting a lot back takes a little patience. Here's how it actually works, and why it costs what it does.
Why it costs so little
Most cloud storage keeps every one of your files live, ready to open the second you want it. Keeping files awake like that takes real hardware running around the clock, and you pay for it whether you open a file every day or once a decade.
Deep storage does the opposite. Your files rest on low-power storage that isn't kept spinning and waiting, so it costs far less to run than keeping everything live and ready. That's where the low price comes from — you're not paying to keep your files awake when they don't need to be.
What happens when you put files in
When you drag files into the app, they're encrypted right there on your Mac, before anything leaves your computer. The encrypted copies are what upload and settle into deep storage. The key that unlocks them stays on your device — we never receive it, so what we're holding is a pile of files we can't read.
What happens when you get them back
Because your files are resting instead of sitting live, they can't be handed over on the spot. When you ask for something, it's brought up out of deep storage and made ready — usually in about two days.
Pulling files back has a cost, and we'd rather be plain about it. Part of it is bringing the data up; the bigger part is moving it across the internet to you, which is a real expense on our end. We charge you exactly what those cost us and nothing more — you see the amount before anything runs, and a little each month is free.
We make our money on storage, not on handing your files back, so there's no reason for us to make that cost a penny more than it is.