WhatsApp may soon offer cloud backups for your chats, paid plans for extra storage

WhatsApp is reportedly developing its own cloud backup provider for both iPhone and Android. This move will give users an alternative to Google Drive or iCloud for storing their chat history.

In Short

• WhatsApp is reportedly developing its own cloud backup
• It could provide iPhone and Android users with an alternative to iCloud or Google Drive
• The feature will offer 2GB of free storage for free

WhatsApp may soon let you backup your chats on its own cloud in addition to Google Drive and iCloud. In April, reports suggested that WhatsApp is developing its own cloud backup provider for Android, giving users an alternative to Google Drive. Now, a new report suggests that the WhatsApp cloud backup option will not be limited to Android only, it will also be available to iPhone users, who currently back up their data on iCloud. And the interesting part is, it will be end-to-end encrypted. This feature could free up significant space for the millions of users who rely on Apple or Google’s limited free storage.

The development was first spotted by folks over at WABetaInfo, who found references to the feature in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.28.10.16, available on TestFlight. The feature is still under development and not available for beta testing yet, but it gives a clear picture of what WhatsApp may be planning.

Why this matters for iPhone users

Apple users get just 5GB of free iCloud storage, which has to cover photos, documents, app data, and device backups. WhatsApp backups, especially for users who share a lot of photos and videos, can eat into that limit quickly. Once it's full, users either have to delete files manually or pay Apple for more storage, with the cheapest plan costing around $0.99 per month for 50GB.

WhatsApp's own backup provider would give users a way out of that situation. The plan is said to offer 2GB of free storage to start, which users can use exclusively for their chat backups. iCloud will remain the default option, so users who don't want to change anything won't have to.

For users who need more than 2GB, WhatsApp is also said to be exploring paid plans. A 50GB option is being considered at around $0.99 per month, similar to Apple's entry-level iCloud upgrade, and a 1TB plan is also in the works for heavier users. The report suggests that these tiers are still preliminary and could change before launch.

End-to-end encryption is mandatory here

One meaningful difference between WhatsApp's backup provider and iCloud or Google Drive is how encryption works. On iCloud, end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp backups is optional and has to be turned on manually. On WhatsApp's own servers, encryption will be on by default with no option to turn it off, the report says. Users can secure their backup using a passkey, a regular password, or a 64-digit encryption key. Only the user can access the backup, not WhatsApp and not Meta.

The report doesn’t shared a timeline for when the feature will be available, but given that it's in active development on both Android and iOS, an announcement may not be too far off.

- Ends