Estimated Cost
Documents
Less than $0.01
- Save Word Docs and PDFs permanently for less than a penny
Photos
$ 0.02
- Archive most photos forever for just a cent or two
Video
$0.50
- Save your videos up to 100 MB forever for 50 cents or less
ArDrive charges for uploads on a pay-per-file basis. It's always free to download your data or share one of your Public drives.
Cost Comparsion (20 GB)
The following chart compares the cost of storing 20 GB of data over time. It assumes that monthly costs from traditional cloud providers will remain constant. ArDrive's cost may initially be higher but will provide substantive savings over time.
Chart Notes: Data compiled in January 2021. For 20 GB of data, Dropbox charges $9.99 per month; Google One charges $2.79 a month; ArDrive charges around $6.00-$9.00 per GB.
Using the AR Token
Permanent data storage is based on the Arweave network and funded by AR, the digital currency associated with Arweave, the inventors of the permaweb. AR is used to pay the global network of operators who maintain the permaweb. Although AR may have price fluctuations, the network adjusts storage costs dynamically to keep prices predictable with only slight price movements.
At this time, access to ArDrive is only available with the digital currency AR. Payment in US dollars or Euros is planned by April 2021. In the meantime, we can help you get started with some free AR. Dig into the questions below to get started.