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WhatsApp may soon offer chat backups in its own cloud and paid plans for extra storage

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 14 Jul 2026 14 Jul 2026

WhatsApp may soon allow users to back up chats to its own cloud, in addition to Google Drive and iCloud. Reports emerged in April that WhatsApp was developing its own cloud backup system for Android, providing an alternative to Google Drive. Now, a new report suggests that this WhatsApp option won’t be limited to Android; it will also be available to iPhone users, who currently back up their data to iCloud. Most interestingly, it will feature end-to-end encryption. This feature could free up a significant amount of space for the millions of users who rely on the limited free storage provided by Apple or Google.

The discovery was initially made by the WABetaInfo team, which found references to this feature in the WhatsApp beta version for iOS (26.28.10.16), available Although the feature is still under development and not yet available for beta testing, it offers a clear idea of WhatsApp’s plans.

Why this matters for iPhone users

Apple users get only 5 GB of free iCloud storage—space that must cover photos, documents, app data, and device backups. WhatsApp backups—especially for users who share many photos and videos—can quickly exhaust that limit. Once the space fills up, users must manually delete files or pay Apple for more storage; the cheapest plan costs around $0.99 per month for 50 GB.

WhatsApp’s own backup system would offer users a solution to this situation. The initial plan reportedly offers 2 GB of free storage, which users can dedicate exclusively to their chat backups. iCloud will remain the default option, so users who do not wish to make changes will not need to.

For users requiring more than 2 GB, reports suggest that WhatsApp is also considering offering paid plans. A 50 GB option priced at around $0.99 per month—similar to Apple’s basic iCloud storage upgrade—is being considered, and a 1 TB plan is also in the works for users with greater storage needs. The report indicates that these tiers are still preliminary and could change before launch.

End-to-end encryption is mandatory in this instance.

A significant difference between WhatsApp’s backup provider and services like iCloud or Google Drive lies in how they handle encryption. With iCloud, end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp backups is optional and must be enabled manually. In contrast, on WhatsApp’s own servers, encryption will be enabled by default with no option to disable it, according to the report. Users will be able to protect their backups using a passkey, a standard password, or a 64-digit encryption key. Only the user will have access to the backup; neither WhatsApp nor Meta will be able to access it.

The report does not specify when this feature will be available, but given that it is currently in active development for both Android and iOS, an announcement is likely not far off.

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