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This is a comparison of online backup services.
Online backup is a special kind of online storage service; however, various products that are designed for file storage may not have features or characteristics that others designed for backup have. Online Backup usually requires a backup client program. A browser-only online storage service is usually not considered a valid online backup service.
Online folder sync services can be used for backup purposes. However, some Online Folder Sync services may not provide a safe Online Backup. If a file is accidentally locally corrupted or deleted, it depends on the versioning features of a Folder Sync service, whether this file will still be retrievable.
| Provider | Windows1 | Linux1 | Mac1 | Android1 | iOS1 | Encrypted storage | Zero knowledge2 | Secure Key Management3[1] | Limited MB plan4 | Unlimited MB plan4 | $/MB plan4 | Unlimited BW 16 | Provider | Cloud hosted Net Drive5 | Sync7 | Autodetect changes12 | Public file hosting8 | Physical media restore9 | Server location(s)10 | Free online storage (non-trial)13 | Maximum per-file size | External hard drive support14 | Hybrid Option15 | Green Hosting | OpenSaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backblaze | Yes | B2 only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[2] | No[2] Company must be given passphrase (to private key) to restore any data. | No | No | Yes | No | No | Backblaze | Yes | Yes | Yes |  United States,  Europe |
10 GB[3] | No limit | Yes | No | ||||
| Baidu Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[4] | No | ? | No | No | Yes | Baidu | Yes | Yes | Yes |  China |
2000 GB | 4 GB (Non-member) 10 GB (Member) 20 GB (Super Member).[5] | ? | ||||||
| Barracuda Backup Service | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[6] | No | ? | No fee per computer | No | Yes | Barracuda Backup Service | Yes[citation needed] | Yes | No | Yes | United States, Canada, APAC, Europe |
No | ? | ||||||||
| Box | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[7] | No[7] | ? | Yes | No | Box | Yes[8] | Yes[9] | Yes | United States |
10 GB | 250 MB (Free) 5 GB (Paid) | ||||||||
| Carbonite | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial, optional for Windows only[10] | ? | Yes (Business only) | Yes (Home only) | No[11] | Yes[12] | Carbonite | Yes | Yes | Yes[13] | United States |
No | 4 GB | Yes[14] | Yes | ||||
| CloudMe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, but 3rd party apps available[citation needed] | ? | No | Yes | CloudMe | Yes[15] | Yes | Yes |  Sweden |
3 GB | 150 MB (Free Accounts) No limit (Premium Accounts) | No Limit | No | |||||||
| Comodo Backup | Yes | No | No | Yes[16] | No | ? | Yes | No | Yes (5) | Comodo Backup | No | No | No | United States |
No | ||||||||||
| CrashPlan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[17] | Yes, except for web restore[18] | Yes | Yes, 10TB | No | No | Yes[19] | CrashPlan | No | No | Yes[20] | No | No | United States,  Australia[21] |
No | No Limit | Yes[22] | No | ||
| Dropbox | Yes | Does not work on filesystems other than ext4 and btrfs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[23] | ? | Yes | Dropbox | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 GB | No Limit[24] | Yes[25] | No | |||||||
| Dropmysite | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | No | Yes | Dropmysite | Yes | Yes | Yes | Global | 2 GB | No limit | ? | |||||||
| Egnyte | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional[26] | Optional[26] | ? | Egnyte | Yes[27] | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States |
No | No limit | ? | ||||||||||
| ElephantDrive | Yes | Yes[28] | Yes | Yes[29] | Yes | Optional (off by default)[30] | ? | Yes | No | ElephantDrive | Yes[31] | Yes[32] | Yes | Yes[33] | United States |
2 GB | Yes | ? | No, Amazon AWS[34][35] | ||||||
| Google Drive | Yes | No, no provider-sanctioned Linux support.[36][37][38] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No, Limited to 5 TB per user. See comments for details.[39] | Yes | Yes | Google Drive | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States, Worldwide |
15 GB | 5 TB[40] | Yes: 78% (supplied) 100% (matched)[41] | No | ||||
| iCloud | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Optional (off by default)[42] | ? | No | No | Yes | iCloud | ? | Yes | ? | ? | China for mainland China accounts;[43] unknown for others |
1 GB (everyone)[44] 5 GB (Apple users only)[45] | Yes, 94%[34] | No | |||||
| iDrive | Yes | Yes, but one has to manually run perl scripts.[46] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[47] | Optional (excludes web interface)[48] | No | No | Yes[49] | iDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | unknown | 5 GB | Yes | |||||||
| Infrascale | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | Optional | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Infrascale | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States,  Canada,  United Kingdom,  South Africa, Australia,  New Zealand,  Jamaica |
No | No limit | Yes | Optional | ||
| Jumpshare | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes[50] | Yes | No | No | Yes[51] | Jumpshare | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | United States, Europe |
2 GB | 250 MB on free, Unlimited on Jumpshare Plus | Yes: 75% (supplied) 100% (matched)[52] | ||||||
| Jungle Disk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[53] | Yes[53] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jungle Disk | Yes[54] | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States, Europe |
No | No limit in Backup Vault | Yes | Partial, Amazon AWS[34][55] or Rackspace Cloud Files. | |||||
| KeepVault | Yes | No | No | Yes[56] | ? | Yes | No | Yes | KeepVault | Yes | United States |
20 GB | |||||||||||||
| Livedrive | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | Online Backup only | No | Yes | Livedrive | Yes (paid-only)[57] | Yes[58] | Yes | Yes | Yes | United Kingdom |
No | No limit | Yes | |||
| MediaFire | Yes | Upload only | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | MediaFire | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States |
10 GB | No Limit | No | No | |||
| MEGA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[59] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Mega Ltd. | No | Yes | Yes, using MEGA Desktop App | Yes | No | Europe, New Zealand |
20 GB | No limit | No | No | ||
| MiMedia | Yes | No | No | Yes[60] | No | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | MiMedia | No[61] | No | Yes | No | No | United States |
7 GB | 3 GB | Yes | |||||
| OneDrive | Yes | No, see note[62] | Yes | Yes[63] | Yes | Yes[64] | No | ? | Yes | No | OneDrive | No | Yes | 5 GB for new users, 25 GB for older users | 100 GB[65] | Yes: 75% sourced 100% matched | No | ||||||||
| SpiderOak | Yes | Yes | Yes | Download Only | Download Only | Yes[66] | Yes[67] | ? | Yes | Business only (min 10 users) | Yes | Yes | SpiderOak | No[68] | Yes | Yes | Yes | (2 GB free for 60 days only) | No limit | Yes | Yes[69] | No | |||
| SugarSync | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[70] | No[71] | ? | Yes | No | No | SugarSync | Yes | Yes | Yes (SugarSync account needed for folders) | No | 100 MB (web) No limit (client app)[72] | ||||||||
| Syncplicity | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[73] | No[73] | ? | Yes | Syncplicity | Yes | Yes | Yes | United States |
10 GB | ||||||||||
| Tarsnap | Yes via [WSL2](https://www.tarsnap.com/download.html#windows) or Cygwin | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes[74] | ? | No | No | Yes | Tarsnap | No | No | No, Amazon AWS[34][75] | No | |||||||||
| Tresorit | Yes | Yes[76] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[77] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Tresorit | Yes[78] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |  Ireland,  Netherlands[79] |
3 GB[80] | 0.5 GB (free), 10 GB (paid)[81] | Yes | No | ||
| Unitrends Vault2Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[82] | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Unitrends Vault2Cloud | Yes[citation needed] | Yes | No | Yes | United States |
No | |||||||||
| Yandex.Disk | Yes | Yes[83] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[84] | No | ? | Yes | Yandex.Disk | Yes[85] | Yes | Yes | Yes |  Russia |
10 GB | 50 GB | ||||||||
| Zmanda Cloud Backup | Yes | No | No | Optional[86] | Optional[86] | ? | Yes | Zmanda Cloud Backup | Yes[citation needed] | Yes | United States, Europe,  Singapore,  Japan |
No limit | Yes | Yes | Partial, Amazon AWS or Google Cloud Storage[34][87] |
Legend
- ^1 Windows/Linux/Mac/iOS/Android/BlackBerry: Supported operating systems for thick client (native binary application), which provide background data transmission and setting services.
- ^2 Zero knowledge: The service provider has no knowledge of the user's encryption key, ensuring privacy of the backup data.[88][89][90]
- ^3 Secure Key Management: If yes, the user holds and controls the encryption key. If no, the service provider holds and controls the encryption key.
- ^4 Payment options/plans:
- Limited MB plan: Pay per computer. Additional fee for storage over a threshold.
- Unlimited MB plan: Pay per computer. Storage per computer is unlimited.
- $/MB plan: Pay per unit of storage, but unlimited computers may share that storage.
- ^5 Cloud hosted Net Drive: Cloud can serve storage over WebDAV, SMB/CIFS, NFS, AFP or other NAS protocol, allowing files to be streamed from the cloud. A change made to the cloud is immediately accessible to applications on all clients without needing to pre-download (sync) the file in full.
- ^7 Sync: Synchronization between computers, and/or mobile devices (PDA, MDA,...)
- ^8 Public Internet file hosting
- ^9 Restore via physical media
- ^10 Server location: Countries where physical servers are located. Where the data will be located.
- ^11 Still in Beta version
- ^12 Whether the desktop client (if available) can detect and upload changes without scanning all files.
- ^13 Many backup services offer a limited free plan, often for personal use. Often it is possible to increase the free backup limit through coupons, referrals, or other means that are not included in this column. This column also does not include free trials that are only available for a limited period of time.
- ^14 External hard drive support: Can refer to an alternate backup destination or whether the service can back up external drives.
- ^15 Hybrid Online Backup works by storing data to local disk so that the backup can be captured at high speed, and then either the backup software or a D2D2C (Disk to Disk to Cloud) appliance encrypts and transmits data to a service provider. Recent backups are retained locally, to speed data recovery operations.
- ^16 Unlimited BW: If bandwidth capping or limits are used on accounts.
Comments
- Acronis
- Up to five PCs, always incremental backups, remote access from the web
- Backblaze
- Data de-duplication; block-level incremental.
- Barracuda Backup Service
- Data de-duplication; real-time hybrid on-site/off-site data back-up.
- BullGuard Backup
- 5 PC/license, fast upload speeds, mobile access, encrypted transfer and storage, password-protected settings, free 24/7 support.
- Carbonite
- Block-level incremental, Home or Pro editions. iPhone/ Blackberry/ Android App available to remotely access data from the online backup (For Pro: Users of the computer which are backed up, not available for the Administrator of the Pro). Can manually select files to upload that are larger than 4 GB.
- Cloudberry Backup
- Image & File Based backups, data de-duplication, block-level and multiple cloud providers supported.
- CloudJuncxion
- Decentralized multi-cloud backup with integrated sharing, sync, backup, and Cloud NAS. Fault-tolerance against failure of a constituent cloud.
- Crashplan
- Unlimited destinations. Data de-duplication; block-level incremental. Can run server-free, exchanging backup space with friends and family.
- Datashield
- High-level encryption, personalized encryption key, shared cloud drive, sync folder functionality .
- Dolly Drive
- Cloud storage that is specifically designed for the Mac. Also allows users to store files exclusively in the cloud for seamless access on any computer or mobile device.
- Diino
- iPhone/Android app available.
- Dropbox
- Data de-duplication, delta sync, iPhone/Android/Blackberry app available.
- Dropmysite
- website backup, database backup, SFTP support, free up to 2 GB.
- Egnyte
- Delta sync, Google Docs sync, user and group management
- ElephantDrive
- Auto-transfer from defunct Xdrive.
- F-Secure
- [Steek acquired by F-Secure July 2009]
- Humyo
- Humyo was acquired by Trend Micro and will become part of Trend Micro SafeSync. Humyo no longer accepts new clients.
- IASO Backup
- Advanced[clarification needed] data reduction technology. Data de-duplication mechanism. High level[clarification needed] of scalability and cost effectiveness.
- ICFiles
- Secure File Share Storage. Proprietary license download client. High level security, SOC 2 TYPE II, ISO 27001,27017, 27018, CSA, PCI, HIPAA, CJIS, EU Model Clauses, on request private servers for FISMA and FedRAMP.
- IDrive
- Proprietary license download client. Automatic Selection. Continuous Data Protection. "Virtual drive" explorer.
- Jungle Disk
- Proprietary license download client sample code.
- KeepVault
- Real-time hybrid on-site and offsite data backup.
- Memopal
- Cross-user de-duplication, delta sync.
- MiMedia
- Initial seed via a MiMedia-owned external hard drive available (no extra cost, shipping included).
- Mozy
- Data de-duplication; block-level incremental. "Mozy Data Shuttle" physical seeding service available for extra fee.
- Replicalia
- Professional Backup for Professional Data.
- SpiderOak
- Data de-duplication."Zero Knowledge" encryption.
- StoreGrid Cloud
- Byte-level incremental backup, local backup, Disk Image backup—BMR and physical seeding.
- Syncplicity
- Google Docs sync, Central Management with Business Console.
- Tarsnap
- Client source available; data de-duplication; block-level incremental.
- TeamDrive
- Store encrypted data on any WebDAV server; supports working offline; files can be commented; built-in support for conflict resolution.
- Unitrends Vault2Cloud
- Data de-duplication; hybrid on- and off-premises data backup; physical seeding.
- UpdateStar Online Backup
- Data de-duplication; block-level incremental.
- Usenet backup
- Is the method of storing backup data on the usenet.[91]
- Windows Live Mesh
- Replaces windows live sync and windows live folder.
- Zetta Enterprise-grade Online Backup
- Supports Linux, Mac OS, and Windows, high speed WAN optimization, SAS 70 certified data centers.
- Zmanda Cloud Backup
- Available in German and Japanese languages, supports MS SQL Server, MS Exchange, SharePoint, MySQL Database, System State, Oracle.
Versioning
Any changes can be undone, and files can be undeleted.
- Acronis
- Supports detailed history of changes to files with browsing by date or version number.
- Backblaze
- Old versions of files are kept for 30 days by default; One-year or Forever Retention is optional.[92]
- Box
- Versioning is included in paid subscription
- Carbonite
- Keeps old versions for up to three months. It keeps one version for each day of the past week, one version for each of the previous three weeks, and one version for each of the previous two months that the file has been backed up. Versioning available for PC computers only; not available for Mac.
- CloudJuncxion
- Supports multiple versions less than a week old, one version less than two weeks old, one version less than month old, and one version older than a month.
- Crashplan
- Options: All, or staged (daily, then weekly, etc.).
- Cubby
- All previous versions and deleted files are kept until explicitly removed by the user or the user runs out of space. All deleted files and previous versions count towards the storage limit.
- Dolly Drive
- Yes. Keeps unlimited versions of files.
- Dropbox
- By default, Dropbox saves a history of all deleted and earlier versions of files for 30 days for all Dropbox accounts.[93]
- Dropmysite
- Provides incremental backups with the ability to download every snapshot.
- ElephantDrive
- Any number of versions can be kept for any amount of time.
- Google Drive
- Old versions of files are kept for 30 days or 100 revisions. Revisions can be set not to be automatically deleted.
- IASO Backup
- All versions of files can be kept for different periods of time, starting from 1 month to 1 year or more.
- ICFiles
- No files are kept after delete, auto delete clears at every 24 hours.
- iDrive
- Up to 10 old versions of files are kept forever (until explicitly removed).
- Mozy
- Old version of files are kept for 30 days. Pro 60 days, Enterprise 90 days.[94]
- PowerFolder
- Five versions are kept online. In the client it is configurable how many versions to store locally.
- SOS Online Backup (Infrascale)
- All versions are kept. Only the largest counts towards the storage limit.
- SpiderOak
- All versions are kept. All files can be undeleted.
- SugarSync
- Five versions are kept. Only the most recent version of each of existing files as well as deleted files count towards the storage limit.
- Sync.com
- Sync.com saves a history of all deleted and earlier versions of files, 30 days for free accounts, indefinitely for premium plans.
- Syncplicity
- Old versions of files, as well as deleted files, are kept for 30 days. Configurable for business or enterprise-class services.
- TeamDrive
- All previous versions are kept and can be restored.
- Tresorit
- Versioning is included in paid subscription
- Zetta Enterprise-grade Online Backup
- All versions are kept. All files can be undeleted.
Other features and limitations
Other notable limitations or features.
- Baidu Cloud
- Must be registered by verified phone first.
- Box
- Performance degrades after 10,000 files in sync folder. Technical limit of 40,000 files in sync folder. Does not sync .tmp files, Outlook PST files, hidden files (hidden folders are synced), or any file or folder with \/*?":<>| in the name.[95]
- CloudJuncxion
- Decentralized fragment-and-disperse storage across a collection of heterogeneous clouds for maximal security. Supports a Virtual Private Cloud model for complete control by the enterprise customer. Supports Sync Groups for greater control over synchronization of files across multiple devices.
- Dropbox
- Performance degrades with more than 300,000 files in sync folder. This is a soft limit.[96]
- Google Drive
- All account types are limited to 750 GB upload bandwidth per day.[97] Enterprise accounts are now limited to 5 TB per paid user on the account whereas prior to May 2023 only a single user was required for the advertised unlimited storage. Once 5 users are on an Enterprise account, more storage can be requested in 25 TB allotments once every 90 days, but extra storage is not guaranteed. The extra allotted storage is also removed when users on the account drop under 5. Thus unlimited storage is unfeasible to attain with Google Drive's new restrictions.
- Sugarsync
- Limited to 80,000 files per top level sync folder. To work around, one can create multiple syncing folders, but each top level folder is limited to 80k files. Also, Microsoft outlook and Apple iTunes databases are unsupported.[98]
- Trustbox
- A 3-layer encrypted storage supports privacy for an unlimited file version retrieval. Restore any file from any point in time.[99]
Defunct services
- Bitcasa closed its services in February 2017.[100]
- Copy was discontinued on May 1, 2016[101]
- Dell DataSafe was discontinued on June 11, 2015.[102]
- drop.io
- Mozy, shutdown in 2019, and it redirects users to Carbonite
- Norton Zone was discontinued on July 7, 2014.[103]
- Streamload aka MediaMax
- Ubuntu One was discontinued on June 1, 2014.[104]
- Windows Live Mesh
- Wuala was discontinued on November 15, 2015.[105]
- Xdrive
- ZumoDrive
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