Best cloud storage services with CLI for BitKey: (Comparison)

Introduction

Choosing the right cloud storage with a robust command-line interface (CLI) is critical for power users, sysadmins and privacy-focused developers working on Linux distributions like BitKey. A CLI tool allows seamless automation, scripting and integration with existing workflows. In this extensive article, we review eight top contenders—pCloud, MEGA, Proton Drive, Filen, Tresorit, Icedrive plus Dropbox and Koofr—provide a side-by-side comparison, outline selection criteria and detail how to install and use each via CLI. Typical pitfalls and troubleshooting tips are also included, ensuring a smooth experience on BitKey or any Linux flavor.

Top Recommended Services

• pCloud (https://www.pcloud.com/)
• MEGA (https://mega.nz/)
• Proton Drive (https://proton.me/drive)
• Filen (https://filen.io/)
• Tresorit (https://tresorit.com/)
• Icedrive (https://icedrive.net/)
• Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/)
• Koofr (https://koofr.eu/)

Comparison Table

Which One to Choose?

• Privacy-first: Proton Drive, Tresorit or Filen.
• Best free tier: MEGA (20 GB) or Filen (20 GB).
• Performance global CDN: pCloud or MEGA.
• Budget-conscious: Icedrive or pCloud.
• Universal flexibility: rclone-backed services (Filen, Tresorit, Icedrive, Koofr).
• Simple scripting: Dropbox CLI or pcloudcc for standardized commands.

Assess factors like encryption preferences, storage capacity, price and CLI maturity when making your decision.

How to Use Each with CLI

1. pCloud (pcloudcc)

Install and authenticate to mount or sync your pCloud drive.

# Install pcloudcc on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pcloudcc

# Authenticate (will open browser)
pcloudcc -u your-email@example.com

# Mount pCloud at ~/pcloud
mkdir -p ~/pcloud
pcloudcc -d ~/pcloud

# Upload a file
cp myfile.txt ~/pcloud/

Typical issues: “Could not mount” may require FUSE to be installed (sudo apt-get install fuse).

2. MEGA (megacmd)

# Install MEGAcmd on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys FCAE4036
echo deb https://mega.nz/linux/MEGAsync/xUbuntu_20.04/ ./  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megacmd.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install megacmd

# Login
mega-login your-email@example.com

# Upload
mega-put myfile.txt /Root/

# List files
mega-ls /Root

Common pitfall: If keyserver unreachable, switch to hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80.

3. Proton Drive (proton-drive-cli)

# Install via pip
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
pip3 install proton-drive-cli

# Authenticate
proton-drive login

# List remote
proton-drive ls

# Upload
proton-drive upload ./myfile.txt /

# Download
proton-drive download /myfile.txt .

Tip: Use a virtualenv to isolate the CLI. If you see SSL errors, update python3-certifi.

4. Filen (via rclone)

# Install rclone
curl https://rclone.org/install.sh  sudo bash

# Configure Filen remote
rclone config
# > n) New remote
# name> filen
# Type> filen
# Enter Filen credentials as prompted

# List files
rclone ls filen:

# Sync local to remote
rclone sync ~/Documents filen:Backup

# Mount
mkdir ~/filen
rclone mount filen: ~/filen --daemon

Note: The “filen” type is supported natively in rclone v1.57 . Update rclone if missing.

5. Tresorit (via rclone WebDAV)

# Install rclone (see above)

# Create remote
rclone config
# name> tresorit
# Type> webdav
# URL> https://webdav.tresorit.com
# Vendor> other
# User> your-email
# Pass> (generate App Password in Tresorit settings)

# List files
rclone ls tresorit:

# Copy
rclone copy ~/Photos tresorit:PhotosBackup

Common issue: WebDAV timeouts. Add --timeout=1m or lower --transfers to 1.

6. Icedrive (via rclone WebDAV)

# Configure icedrive
rclone config
# name> icedrive
# Type> webdav
# URL> https://webdav.icedrive.net
# Vendor> other
# User> your-email
# Pass> your-password

# List
rclone ls icedrive:

# Upload
rclone copy file.iso icedrive:

Tip: WebDAV on icedrive can be slower tune --checkers and --transfers.

7. Dropbox (dropbox-cli)

# Install
sudo apt-get install python3-gpg
pip3 install dropbox-cli

# Authenticate (opens browser)
dropbox-cli start

# Status
dropbox-cli status

# Upload
dropbox-cli upload file.txt /Backups

# Download
dropbox-cli download /Backups/file.txt .

Note: The official Python CLI may require libffi-dev on Debian for build.

8. Koofr (via rclone)

# Configure
rclone config
# name> koofr
# Type> koofr

# Authenticate via browser link

# List
rclone ls koofr:

# Mount
mkdir ~/koofr
rclone mount koofr: ~/koofr --allow-other --daemon

Tip: Ensure fuse is installed and your user is in the fuse group.

Troubleshooting Tips

• Always keep CLI tools updated—many fixes and protocol updates arrive rapidly.
• For rclone-based mounts, install fuse and consider --daemon mode.
• Network timeouts? Adjust --timeout, --retries and concurrency flags (--transfers, --checkers).
• Authentication errors: delete and reconfigure remote if tokens expire.
• Monitor logs via -vv verbose flag to pinpoint issues.

Conclusion

Whether you prioritize zero-knowledge encryption (Proton Drive, Tresorit, Filen), generous free tiers (MEGA, Filen), budget pricing (Icedrive, pCloud) or universal flexibility (rclone-driven services), this guide equips you to select and operate the perfect CLI-driven cloud storage solution on Linux BitKey. Follow the install recipes, customize performance flags, and you’ll be syncing, mounting and backing up files in no time—fully under your command line.