Cloud backup services work much like traditional backup software. With a cloud backup service, however, your important data is transmitted over the internet and securely stored on a server in a professional data center.
The advantage of having your important data backed up off-site, away from your home or office, is that it’s safe from theft, fire, and other local disasters.
Below are reviews of most cloud backup services. Quickly compare features among our five favorites in this Online Backup Comparison Chart and get answers to your cloud backup questions in our Online Backup FAQ.
After the investigating, I found top quality best cloud backup for Mac or PC (Not specific, but also support most of the OS and Devices). The year 2018 reviews on online cloud backup, Found many trusted, and remarkable services compare to 2017 list. It’s been a long time since we last looked at online backup tools, so we figured it was time to take another look.Earlier this week we asked you which online backup services were the best: The.
We also keep updated lists of the best Free Online Backup Plans, Unlimited Online Backup Plans, and Business Online Backup Services, if you’re interested.
Cloud backup services, often called online backup services, regularly change pricing and plan details, so let me know if anything needs to be updated.
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Backblaze Review
What We Like
- Unlimited storage
- No file size limits
- Relatively inexpensive
- Can back up automatically
- Supports previewing images before restoring them
- Offline restore is an option
- Includes mobile apps
What We Don’t Like
- Restoration is different for large files vs small ones
- Keeps old versions of files for 30 days only
Backblaze is my favorite cloud backup service, mostly because everything about it is so simple, especially its pricing and software.
I also like that there are no file size limits, meaning you can finally back up your 100 GB virtual machine files and 3-hour 4K videos!
Backblaze is $6 /month /computer and allows an unlimited amount of storage. The cost can get down to a monthly $4.58 with a two-year plan purchase. This makes Backblaze one of the least expensive unlimited backup plans that I’ve reviewed.
If you’re concerned about backing up online being complicated or confusing, you’re going to love Backblaze. For what it’s worth, this is the cloud backup service I pay for and use on my computers.
See A Tour of the Backblaze Service for more on how the program works.
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Carbonite Review
What We Like
- Lets you back up an unlimited amount of data
- There are three plans to choose from
- You can pay for three years at once for a cheaper per-month cost
- Files/folders can be added to the backup via Explorer
- Keeps everything backed up continuously
- Every plan is free for 15 days
- There are mobile apps
What We Don’t Like
- No free online backup option
- Doesn’t back up large files by default (you have to select them manually)
- File versioning is limited to 30 days
- Only one plan supports offline restoration
- You can’t control the specific amount of bandwidth the program is allowed to use
Any exceptional backup service should be easy to use, automatic, reliable, and easy to restore from. Carbonite is all of these.
Many people rave about Carbonite’s cloud backup plans — they’ve been popular options for a very long time. My experience has been similarly positive.
All of Carbonite’s Safe backup plans allow for an unlimited amount of data backup from one internal hard drive, are per-computer, and require at least a 1-year prepayment.
Carbonite’s lowest tier plan, Safe Basic, runs $6.00 /month ($71.99 /year). There are two higher tiers available as well, called Safe Plus and Safe Prime, and run $9.34 /month ($111.99 /year) and $12.50 /month ($149.99 /year), respectively. Each tier is a bit cheaper if two or three years is paid upfront. Plus, they each have a few extras over the base service like external hard drive and mirror image support.
Carbonite has mobile apps available for iPhone and Android systems and is one of the few cloud backup services with a BlackBerry app.
Carbonite also has business-class cloud backup plans. In fact, it tops our Business Online Backup services list.
For more information on how the program works to back up your files, see our complete tour of the Carbonite service.
Carbonite purchased Mozy, another online backup service, in 2018.
Carbonite used to throttle bandwidth after backing up a certain amount of data but is no longer doing so for new customers.
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CrashPlan for Small Business Review
What We Like
- Gives you unlimited storage space for files
- Pricing is really easy to understand
- You get unlimited file versioning
- Zero file size limits
- Really specific backup scheduling options
- Can back up files from mapped drives
- Works from mobile devices
What We Don’t Like
- You can’t restore really large files via the web app
- There isn’t an offline backup or restore option
- Doesn’t support file sharing
CrashPlan has always been a favorite backup service. The plan pricing is simple to understand and the service itself is secure, quick, and not difficult to use.
There’s one plan option with CrashPlan: $10 /month /computer with unlimited space to back up your files. So, if you want to back up from three computers, for example, the price is $30 /month; ten computers backed up to CrashPlan is $100 /month, etc.
CrashPlan used to have a plan called CrashPlan Home, targeted at home users. However, even the CrashPlan for Small Business plan can be used at home; the pricing and features work the same.
Our tour of the CrashPlan service includes screenshots of the program.
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SOS Online Backup Review
What We Like
- Lots of options depending on how much storage space you need
- Every plan has unlimited file versioning
- Plans can be purchased yearly for a discount
- There’s a 15-day trial for every plan (no credit card required)
- No limit on file sizes
- Supports file sharing
- Also works from mobile devices
What We Don’t Like
- No unlimited storage option (maxes out at 10 TB)
- Doesn’t back up all files continuously
- No option for a free plan
- Missing options to control bandwidth usage
- No offline restore or backup option
- You can’t add new files to the backup from Explorer
- No easy way to restore files to their original locations
SOS is a big player in the cloud backup world, and for good reason. It includes only one backup plan but lets you choose between eight different storage capacities, all of which offer unlimited versioning, external and network drive support, and tons of other features, all at fantastic prices.
All of these different storage options offer the same support for 5 computers, but the cheapest is 50 GB and is $3.75 /month if you pay for a whole year at once, while the largest, 10 TB, is $250 /month for a year.
Every plan also supports an unlimited number of iOS and Android devices. Follow the links below to see the specific prices for the 100 GB, 150 GB, 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, and 5 TB prices.
Learn more about how SOS Online Backup works in this tour of the program.
Unlike some other online backup plans, SOS does not continuously back up all of your data — it occurs once per hour at most. However, certain types of files can be backed up instantly via SOS’s LiveProtect feature. I have more on this in our review.
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SugarSync Review
What We Like
- Pick from three online storage options
- Every plan can back up files from an unlimited number of devices
- Can keep files synced between your different devices
- 30-day free trial for all plans
- There’s a limited free backup plan option
- Keeps everything backed up nearly constantly
- File sharing is supported
- Can back up really large files through any web browser
- Works on mobile devices, too
What We Don’t Like
- Doesn’t support unlimited storage space
- Keeps only five versions of every file
- You can’t back up specific files from the desktop program, only folders
- Doesn’t support backing up from mapped drives or external drives
- No options for offline backup/restore
- Can’t back up every single folder on your computer
- Files you’re actively using can’t be backed up
- You can’t upload folders through the web app
- Doesn’t let you pause backups
SugarSync is different…in a good way. It’s actually much more than an online backup service.
While SugarSync does ‘traditional’ online backup just as well or better than much of its competition, it can also sync files between all of your devices, gives you access to your backed up data from your smartphone, and much more.
SugarSync has three tiers of online backup service that are each available on a month-to-month purchase plan: 100 GB for $7.49 /month, 250 GB for $9.99 /month, and 500 GB for $18.95.
All three of SugarSync’s cloud backup plans offer support for an unlimited number of devices, meaning you can back up your smartphones, laptops, tablets, and desktop computers all on the same account without any extra fees!
If you want more than just an online repository for safety’s sake, you will no doubt be very happy with SugarSync.
SugarSync also has a business class plan as well as larger plans that you’ll have to get a quote for.
See our tour of SugarSync for a look at the program.
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SpiderOak Review
What We Like
- Four storage plans are available
- It’s a zero-knowledge backup provider
- Zero file size limits
- Free trial lasts three weeks
- You save when you buy a year at once
- Lets you back up from an unlimited number of devices
- Supports backup from external and mapped drives
- Duplicate files don’t take up extra space
- Supports file sharing
- Customizable backup schedules
- Unlimited file versioning
- Mobile apps run on iOS and Android
What We Don’t Like
- There isn’t an unlimited storage option
- No offline backup or restore options
- It’s a bit more expensive than other online backup services
- Can’t limit how fast the program downloads files to your computer
- The mobile apps don’t support backup
- Can’t set up idle backups
SpiderOak is one of the better choices overall among the online backup services out there, especially when it comes to security.
I love any company that puts the effort they did into their Support, tutorials, and FAQ pages. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this kind of attention to customer support.
Pricing is pretty straightforward at SpiderOak. Everyone starts out with a trial run account that lasts 21 days.
You can then select the 150 GB, 400 GB, 2,000 GB, or 5,000 GB plan for $6 /month, $11 /month, $14 /month, or $29 /month, respectively. They also offer small 5–10 GB plans but you have to pay for those by the year.
If you’re after a service run by a company that takes their lack of access to your files very seriously, you’re going to love SpiderOak!
A one-year prepayment of any of the plans I mentioned above will save you a little over the listed prices.
See A Tour of the SpiderOak Service for an explanation of the program, with screenshots.
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Zoolz Review
What We Like
- Lets you pick from two storage plans
- Has zero file size limits
- There’s a free option available
- You can back up the whole drive or just specific files/folders
- Supports backup from both mapped drives and external HDDs
- Lots of scheduling options
- Android and iOS users can install a mobile app
What We Don’t Like
- Restoring is much slower than it is with other backup providers
- Offers only two plans
- There isn’t an unlimited plan available
- Limits file versioning to 10 per file
- The mobile app can’t stream backed up files
Zoolz is an online backup service with just about every limitation removed, but with a small trade-off. While most online backup services allow pretty much instant restore, a restore will Zoolz can take 3–5 hours to initiate.
Zoolz lets you back up all of your internal, external, and even network drives. There are no file type or size limits and nothing is ever deleted. If you’re looking for a backup for archival purposes, Zoolz might be a great choice.
Two consumer-class plans are offered by Zoolz, both of which have to be purchased for a full year at once (instead of on a month-to-month basis) and support five computers.
Zoolz Family is the smaller of the two, with 1,000 GB for $69.99 /year ($5.83 /month) — it’s often discounted to just $39.95 /year. The other is called Zoolz Heavy — 4,000 GB for $249.99 /year ($20.83 /month), also usually discounted to $99.95 /year.
We have a complete tour of the Zoolz service you can look through to see how the program works to back up your data.
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Livedrive Review
What We Like
- Comes with unlimited online storage
- There are two plans to pick from
- Support for more computers can be added on an as-needed basis
- Can back up continuously or between certain hours only
- Works with mapped drives and external drives
- Includes a built-in player/viewer for some files
- Runs on mobile devices, too
What We Don’t Like
- There are lots of files that it won’t back up
- File versioning is limited to 30 days
- Doesn’t support offline backup or restore
- Lets you back up folders only, not specific files or entire hard drives
- Not every plan supports file sharing
- Deleted files are gone forever after 30 days
- The web app can only restore files, not folders
Livedrive is an online backup service that offers an interesting mix of backup plans, a cost effective way to add computers, and a really nice computer and mobile app interface.
Livedrive ‘Backup’ and ‘Pro Suite’ are the two backup plans you can purchase. They both offer unlimited online backup, but the ‘Backup’ plan only supports backing up 1 computer, whereas the ‘Pro Suite’ can back up up to 5 computers.
Livedrive ‘Backup’ runs $8.00 /month, and ‘Pro Suite’ is $25 /month. With either plan, more computers can be added for just $1.50 /month for each one.
All Livedrive online backup plans offer significant discounts if you prepay for one year.
Another plan offered by Livedrive is called ‘Briefcase,’ and is just an online storage plan that offers 2 TB of space — it doesn’t back up your files like a regular backup plan. Other features are included, though, like file sharing, file editing, file syncing, and more. This comes in at $16 /month.
If you purchase the ‘Pro Suite’ plan, you get 5 TB of the ‘Briefcase’ plan included, plus its added features.
‘Military grade’ AES-256 encryption, an excellent interface, and competitive pricing makes any of the Livedrive plans a good choice.
Look through our tour of the Livedrive program to see how it works before you buy.
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Acronis True Image Cloud
Acronis, maker of the popular True Image Home backup software program, is also in the online backup business.
When you purchase the backup software at $49.99 /year ($4.16 /month), you also get 250 GB of online backup storage included. This is called the Advanced package.
Another is Premium, which is $99.99 /year ($8.33 /month) with 1 TB of backup space.
With both, you can purchase more space for an additional price. For example, the Advanced option can be used with 500 GB of storage for another $20 /year. Premium has a few more options but maxes out at 5 TB.
Best Backup For Macs
However, the prices above are for backing up just one computer. You can instead pick the three or five computer option to back up more computers, but the price, of course, goes up as well.
Among other options, you can also encrypt your files with a password, schedule the backup to run at a later time, and choose a specific country for the data center where the files will be stored.
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IDrive
IDrive is similar in most ways to other online backup services. Maybe the best thing about IDrive is that it comes with a free offline backup option, something we haven’t seen with any other service and should come in really (really) handy for large initial backups.
Some other features that make IDrive stand out among the competition include mapped drive support and excellent mobile apps.
IDrive Basic is completely free and gives you up to 5 GB of storage.
IDrive Pro Personal comes in two tiers and offers support for backup from an unlimited number of computers:
- 2,000 GB for $69.50 /year
- 5,000 GB for $99.50 /year
IDrive also has business-class pricing and storage options available, up to 12,500 GB for $2,999.50 /year.
All plans are offered in one-year and two-year prepayment forms, both of which are usually discounted for the first two years. The prices you see above are non-discounted, one-year prices. Check their website for the most up-to-date pricing with discounts included.
I found the IDrive software to be no more or less intuitive than any other online backup services. However, if their unique features are high on your priority list, IDrive may be just what you’re looking for in an online backup service.
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Degoo
The Degoo online backup service prides itself as a ‘top secret cloud drive.’
You can purchase Degoo Pro for $2.99 /month, which comes with 500 GB of storage for unlimited mobile devices and up to three computers. The pay-by-year option is $23.88 ($1.99 /month).
The Degoo Ultimate plan is a bit more at $9.99 /month, but you also get 10 TB of storage for an unlimited number of mobile and desktop devices. To get Degoo for less, you can pay for a whole year at once for $95.88 ($7.99 /month).
Degoo uses zero-knowledge encryption so that not even their employees can access the files in your account. Degoo’s use of storage replication means that your files are backed up in chunks across different countries so that even if a data center is breached, there isn’t enough information to access a whole file.
There’s an option in the desktop program to keep files in your Degoo account even if you delete them from your computer. Sharing backed up files is supported, too.
Degoo is free for the first 100 GB, with several opportunities to get 500 GB more (or 1 TB more with Degoo Ultimate). However, to get the free account, you have to invite 10 friends to use Degoo. A free account does not include zero-knowledge encryption and can only back up files from one computer.
Subscribed users can also send files to anyone, and the recipient doesn’t have to be a Degoo user.
Degoo works on Windows and macOS, plus Android and iOS devices.
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Norton’s Security Software
Norton, the makers of popular computer security and antivirus software, provides automatic online backup in its security software.
- Norton 360 Standard: 10 GB for $7.99 /month and one device
- Norton 360 Deluxe: 50 GB for $9.99 /month and five devices
- Norton 360 with LifeLock Select: 100 GB for $14.99 /month and five devices
Keep in mind that these backup services are usually heavily discounted for the first year if you want to pay that way instead of monthly. For example, the 10 GB plan that comes with 360 Standard is currently $39.99 ($3.33 /month) for the first year and then continues at $79.99 /year ($6.67 /month).
If online backup is all you need, you might not like Norton’s software because each backup plan is just part of a larger suite of security tools. However, if you don’t currently have an antivirus program on your computer, then getting one with backup included is a nice deal.
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Data Deposit Box
Data Deposit Box (formerly known as KineticD) is an online backup provider that advertises ‘true month-to-month.’
There are two backup options here, called Personal and Business, and both start off at $10 /month for 100 GB. You can add more space at $0.10 for every additional 1 GB. There’s a monthly backup calculator estimator on their site that you can use to get an idea of how much data you might need for what you want to back up.
Since it’s said that ‘all family members’ get access to the backup space, it’s assumed that you can use the same account on multiple computers so that all of them can share in the cloud storage.
There’s a free 14-day trial option before you buy either plan.
Data Deposit Box sports all the excellent features of any online backup service that’s in it for the long run, including an excellent history of data recovery, top-of-the-line security, and more.
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ElephantDrive
The ElephantDrive online backup service offers a couple easy to understand plans to choose from, of which is FREE if you just need 2 GB backed up between 1–3 devices.
The cheapest of these plans is $10 /month for 1 TB of backup space and support for 10 devices (and three sub accounts). You can add more for the same price and storage, like another 1 TB for another $10 /month. The maximum storage plan you can pay for is 15 TB, but if you want more you can contact their support team.
Check the link below for the other plans you can choose from. ElephantDrive also offers business online backup plans.
One really cool feature with ElephantDrive’s service is their ‘Web Explorer’ that you can use to upload files via a web browser from wherever you may be. Many online backup services only allow backup from your approved devices and only via their proprietary software.
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Jungle Disk
Jungle Disk is an online backup service provider that works a bit differently than most. Jungle Disk structures their pricing so you only pay for exactly what you use.
Jungle Disk has a base price of $4 /month + storage fees. There are no file size limits, network drive support is included, and you get AES-256 private key encryption.
Storage fees differ depending on the online storage provider you choose to use with Jungle Disk. Amazon S3 (US or EU) or Rackspace are your options, costing $0.15 /GB-month if you need anything more beyond the 10 GB of included storage.
All the backed up data is compressed before it moves, which can save you around 30% on data usage.
Jungle Disk Server is their business-class plan and works similarly but at $5 /month instead of $4.
If the static plans of other online backup services don’t appeal to you, Jungle Disk’s pay-for-what-you-use plans might be an excellent fit.
Amazon S3 charges per GB downloaded (e.g., when you restore data from your backup) and a very small fee per upload and download request. However, there isn’t a charge if you go through Jungle Disk.
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Memopal
Memopal is an online backup service with support for a wide range of operating systems, both desktop, and mobile.
- 3 GB for FREE
- 500 GB for $79 /year
The 500 GB plan is for one user at $79 /year (around $7 /month). Add another user and the price jumps to $158 /year ($13 /month). Include 10 and it’s $66 /month, or $790 /year. You can enter any number of users you want, up to 200.
You can upgrade the 500 GB Pro plan to a 1 TB plan, but it, of course, comes with an extra cost. There’s also a Business plan that supports anywhere from three to 50 users.
Software or apps for Memopal are available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.
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ADrive
ADrive is an online backup service that sports some interesting features like WebDAV support, online document editing, and more.
There are dozens of online backup plans listed on ADrive’s site, ranging from $2.50 /month for 100 GB of space to $250.00 /month for 10 TB (10,240 GB). You can request a quote if you need more space than that, even up to ‘unlimited.’
All ADrive backup plans can be had at deeply discounted prices if you prepay for a longer time period, up to three years.
Learn More About ADrive
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Total Defense Online Backup
Total Defense Online Backup is another service that offers a number of popular features like an online and local backup with the same tool, file sharing, mobile access to all backed up data, unlimited versioning, and more.
There are two ways to get online backup with Total Defense, and with both, you also get their Internet Security program. Ultimate Internet Security is $99.99 /year and includes 25 GB of online backup for 10 devices, whereas Premium Internet Security is $59.99 /year and includes 10 GB of online backup space for five devices.
You can buy either plan at two or three-year prepayments to bring the price down. For example, the 25 GB plan comes out to $8.33 /month for the one-year price, but if you pay for three years up front for $199.99 /year, the monthly equivalent drops to $5.55 /month.
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OpenDrive
OpenDrive is yet another online backup service that we hear good things about. They allow streaming video and music, public folders, and lots more.
In addition to the 5 GB free option, OpenDrive has one consumer-grade plan called Personal Unlimited. It costs $9.95 /month and offers an unlimited amount of storage space for your backed up files. Prepay for one year at $99 to bring that down to $8.25 /month. You can add an additional computer for $9.95 extra /computer, up to three extras for a total of four.
Online Backup
You also have the option of a custom plan with OpenDrive. Choose the online backup space you need, how much bandwidth you expect to use each day, and the number of users that should have access to the backups. Most of you probably won’t find a better deal using the custom plan, but you might if you have a small amount to back up.
The cheapest plan you can make here is $50 /year ($4.17 /month) for one user who needs 500 GB of storage and 25 GB of daily bandwidth.
OpenDrive also has a free plan, offering 5 GB of storage, but since this plan doesn’t offer file versioning or any kind of encryption, I’d stick to Personal Unlimited if you’re looking for a true cloud backup solution from this company.
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MiMedia
MiMedia has four backup plans, but they’re severely limited in what you can back up. The only supported files are images, videos, documents, and music files.
MiMedia is much different than the other backup services from this list because nearly all of them can upload many more file types, like EXE, ZIP, 7Z, ISO, and others.
- MiMedia Starter: 10 GB for Free
- MiMedia Basic: 500 GB for $7.99 /month
- MiMedia Plus: 1,000 GB for $9.99 /month
- MiMedia Premium: 2,000 GB for $15.99 /month
MiMedia’s can be purchased at a slight discount if you prepay for a year at once. For example, with the Basic plan, paying monthly for a year equates to $96, or you can buy a year at once with one payment of $85.
MiMedia can be used on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Backing up with MiMedia is great if you only need to back up things like your photos and music. For support for a wider range of file types, we suggest using a different backup service from this list.
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Jottacloud
Jottacloud is another online backup service with a free plan, as well as an unlimited one, plus support for Windows and Mac, as well as iOS and Android.
Jottacloud has one FREE plan, Jottacloud Free, that allows 5 GB of backup from an unlimited number of devices.
Best Mac Backup Software
Jottacloud Personal and Home plans are available, too. Personal provides unlimited backup space for $9.90 /month or as low as $8.25 /month with a one year plan of $99.00. Home includes 1 TB of shared storage space for five family members, and runs $6.99 /month or $5.83 /month if you prepay for a whole year for $69.90.
File versioning works a bit differently with Jottacloud. Most online backup services keep old versions of files available for restore based on length of time, like 30-day, 60-day, even unlimited. Jottacloud, on the other hand, keeps the last five versions no matter the length of time.
Files you delete from your computer are kept in Jottacloud’s Trash folder for 30 days, giving most of you plenty of time to restore that accidentally removed file.
Idrive
There are also two Jottacloud Business plans for small and large companies that support 1 TB of space for anywhere from two to an unlimited number of users.
Learn More About Jottacloud
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MyPCBackup
MyPCBackup is another online backup service with a really user-friendly web interface and a good selection of backup plans. Every user starts off with 1 GB of free storage.
The MyPCBackup Ultimate plan offers 1 TB of online backup space for $14.44 /month. Two other limited plans are also available: MyPCBackup Premium which runs $11.94 /month for up to 250 GB of storage space and MyPCBackup Home/Pro which allows up to 75 GB of storage for $10.69 /month.
All MyPCBackup plans can be had for several dollars less per month if a full year (or even two) is paid up front. There’s also a 6-month option for all three plans. Since you can’t add more than one device for a plan, each device you want to back up requires a plan of its own.
Also available through the link below are ‘additional services’ like a 5 GB sync folder, network drive support, bigger maximum file size limit, and other things, each of which come with an additional yearly payment.
MyPCBackup is owned by Just Develop It (JDI), which also owns ZipCloud, Instant Computer Backup, JustCloud, Backup Genie, and StudyBackup, five additional online backup services with similar feature sets and pricing. It didn’t feel right profiling them individually in this list considering how incredibly similar they are.
Didn’t See an Online Backup Service?
Please let me know if I missed an online backup service and you’d like to see me review and include it above.
Wondering why some popular online storage sites aren’t listed here? See Why Aren’t Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Etc. In Your List? for more on that.
