After a few years of placidity, in 2024 the backup copies of WhatsApp re-counted towards account storage space Google of the user. An agreement between both companies had allowed this not to be the case since 2018, but now, if one does not have enough space within the 15GB of free Google accounts, you must unlock it to be able to save a backup of the messaging application. That will change again soon, since Goal is working so that chat backups can be saved somewhere other than Google Drive either iCloudwhich will be WhatsApp itself.
According to WABetaInfo, Meta wants to host chat backups on your own serverswhere it will use end-to-end encryption to protect user data. It is expected that there will be a free plan and a paid plan.
In the free plan, users will get 2GB storage for backups of their chats, while paying users would have 50GB for $0.99it is not clear whether per month or per year. In screenshots published by WABetaInfo, Android users will be able to choose the storage provider for the backup between WhatsApp or Google. WhatsApp ensures that Meta will not be able to access the data stored by users.
WhatsApp to test first-party encrypted cloud backup provider!
WhatsApp is working on its own cloud backup provider in the future, where backups are end-to-end encrypted by default. https://t.co/Btbu4KX5nNpic.twitter.com/BhUXaIDGsK
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) April 28, 2026
Chats will be protected with an access key and can be accessed via fingerprint, facial recognition or app lock, depending on the user’s choice. The access key will be stored after in the password manager. Backups will be encrypted with a 64-digit secure keya high level of protection.
This move should relieve users who use Google’s free storage and constantly receive prompts to pay for more space because they are close to exhausting their account capacity. With this option, you can delete your WhatsApp backups from Google Drive and store them on Meta infrastructure.
WABetaInfo also notes that it is not known if free storage will be available for everyone or only for those who subscribe to WhatsApp Plus. If it is finally offered to all users, perhaps the payment plan will be integrated into WhatsApp Plus. These are details that will be known when the function is available. According to the medium, It is in the development phase and will be available in the future.