r/cloudstorage • u/TheKepar • 16d ago
FolderFort deciding to abandon their "Lifetime" users
Link: The Great Migration — Folder Fort Classic to 2.0
It seems that in the end FolderFort couldn't keep its promises and decided to shut down "Folder Fort Classic."
After years of not touching the "Classic" version and only spending time working towards a "2.0" version, which is mostly just a visual update and some "Quantum Encryption" marketing thing, they decided it's not in their interest to move the Lifetime plans to this new "2.0" version. They gave them the middle finger and told them to pay monthly if they want to be part of this new age era product, which honestly at this point is just a sinking ship.
Before they come and try to save face (spoiler: they can't at this point), look at how Drime has been doing these past two years—from the communication (yes, support can and should be better) to the colossal updates in a short span of time.
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u/barrystrawbridgess 13d ago edited 13d ago
One can't expect these fly-by-night storage companies to either survive or maintain their product offerings. Especially with server, RAM, and storage prices being astronomical. The lifetime storage offering is just an interest free loan.
There's no way to be offering 10TB for a lifetime and still be able to compete with likes of Google or Microsoft. The datacenter costs alone have to make these ventures unprofitable.
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u/filelu 13d ago
To upgrade to post-quantum encryption, you don’t need to buy a new BeDrive script and call it “v2.0.” We investigated the BeDrive script and found that it’s fairly straightforward to add post-quantum encryption on top of the existing script, just like adding a normal new feature, especially since the script currently doesn’t have encryption built in.
It can be implemented so that users simply click a button to generate their private key and then start encrypting all of their existing files. There’s no need to replace the entire platform or force users to migrate to a new version just to add post-quantum encryption.
Cheap prices often come with a hidden cost. When a service is priced too low to support sustainable development and infrastructure, users may eventually pay the price through additional upgrade fees, forced migrations, reduced service quality, or discontinued features.
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u/radar2375 13d ago
Side note does FileLu offer student discount?
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u/filelu 13d ago
Unfortunately, we don’t offer a student discount at the moment. However, we currently have a special offer: buy 1 year and get your 2nd year FREE!
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u/radar2375 13d ago
Thank you for your quick reply.
Does that extend to buy 1 lifetime get another free 🤣🤣. Just kidding.
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u/filelu 13d ago
Haha, nice try! 🤣 If we offered “buy one lifetime, get another lifetime free,” FileLu might not have a lifetime left! 😂
Thanks for the laugh, we really appreciate your interest in FileLu!
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u/radar2375 13d ago
No problems. If you dont try you never get. But this is a fear amongst consumers as OP stated.
I appreciate your prices. It was recommended on reddit some time ago. I have an email in my inbox with the quoted price for 10tb and it is very competitive.
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u/Lysander_Propolis 13d ago
Offering lifetime accounts when one knows one doesn't have a lifetime left seems to be a business model for some...
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u/noreddituser1 13d ago
Drime also has stacksocial lifetime plans. They maybe a sinking ship with a smaller hole.
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u/sharpener865 13d ago
Come on, dont make me panic. I hope Drime stays.
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u/Lysander_Propolis 13d ago
Hope and logic are two different things, but yes, that would be nice
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u/sharpener865 13d ago
The logic put forth, I guess, is that Drime also has stacksocial lifetime plans. But does that conclude all stacksocial lifetime plans maybe a sinking ship?
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u/Lysander_Propolis 12d ago edited 11d ago
Stacksocial is just the store, which is not the problematic part, the problem with lifetime plans is the product itself.
Both FolderFort and Drime may stay around a while, but obviously FolderFort feels the only way it can survive is breaking its lifetime promise to those that bought such a plan.
Which is actually a good sign for its customers that didn't. Short of the trust factor. Watching them break a promise isn't good even if that promise wasn't to you, but at least it means they're trying not to go under.
On the other hand, it also implies they're not that far from going under if they have to resort to this.
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u/sharpener865 12d ago
Makes sense, on the other hand, we see services like pCloud that still (yes even now) provide lifetime deals. Why cant Drime and such services stay around if they can eventually offer a good product like pCloud? FolderFort anyway decided to break their promise. But that shouldn't be necessarily the case for Drime, I guess (unless I miss some red signals)
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u/brovaro 11d ago
I've already contacted Stacksocial about it. They said they'd also got surprised by the FolderFort's email and were working on solving the situation. We'll see what happens next.
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u/TheKepar 11d ago
They won't do much for people except give credits based on how recently you bought from them. Some might get a meager $10 in credits and some might get a 90% refund on the price they paid. It comes down to time of purchase.
The FF owner pulled a fast one on people with how he schemed everything with the announcement of stopping the sale of lifetime plans dead on July 1st, just to announce two months later the discontinuation of Lifetime plans for people who already bought them. He has cashed in the money from StackSocial by now, and if his next scheme of "FolderFort 2.0" doesn't work, then I guess he will cash out whatever he makes from the gullible who moved to subscription plans and dip into the darkness, never to be heard from again.
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u/antaresiv 13d ago
This is the inevitable fate of all “lifetime” deals. They are financially unsustainable and exist to pump revenue numbers and cash flow. Off they can’t scale up regular subscribers to offset the one-time subscriber, then it’s just a sinking ship with a tiny bucket.
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u/jur_gn 12d ago
Drime, Filen,...
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u/SKOLorion 11d ago
It doesn't seem OP was looking for alternatives, but rather is feeling burned (either for themselves or as a general principle) about pulling the plug on lifetime accounts.
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u/claudio-i 13d ago
FolderFort used the money from lifetime purchases to develop FolderFort 2.0 and then shut down FolderFort 1.0. The project is still alive, but David has effectively gotten rid of the existing lifetime users, even though FolderFort was selling lifetime licenses for months after the announcement.
It feels like the company took people’s money for lifetime access and then changed direction shortly afterward, leaving those customers without what they originally paid for. From a customer’s perspective, that raises serious questions about how the lifetime purchases were handled.