25 Online Backup Services Reviewed

Reviews of the Best Online Backup Services
Updated October 01, 2016.

Online backup services work much like traditional backup software. With an online 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 online backup services. Quickly compare features among my six favorite in my Online Backup Comparison Chart, read my interviews with them in my Online Backup Q&A, and get answers to your online backup questions in my Online Backup FAQ.

I also keep updated lists of the best Free Online Backup Plans, Unlimited Online Backup Plans, Business Online Backup Services, and Free Backup Software if you're interested.

Note: Online backup services, sometimes called cloud backup services, regularly change pricing and plan details so let me know if anything needs updated.

Backblaze Logo - © Backblaze, Inc.
© Backblaze, Inc.

1.  Backblaze Review

Backblaze is my favorite online 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 $5 /month /computer and allows an unlimited amount of storage. The cost can get down to a monthly $3.96 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. More »

CrashPlan Logo - © CrashPlan
© CrashPlan

2.  CrashPlan Review

CrashPlan is one of my favorite cloud backup services because of the excellent software, cost effective plans, and feature set.

CrashPlan's interface is excellent and the features abound including a web-based restore option, continuous backup, 448-bit encryption level (better than your bank), and the foundation of a proven and excellent backup software program.

CrashPlan Unlimited is $5.99 /month /computer and, as the plan name suggests, allows an unlimited amount of online storage.

CrashPlan Family Unlimited costs $13.99 /month and offers an unlimited amount of online storage for up to 10 computers, all under the same account.

All CrashPlan plans offer slight discounts if you pay for a year in advance. More »

Carbonite Logo - © Carbonite, Inc.
© Carbonite, Inc.

3.  Carbonite Review

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 online backup plans - they've been popular options for a very long time. My experience has been similarly positive.

All of Carbonite's backup plans allow for an unlimited amount of data backup, are per-computer, and require at least a 1-year prepayment.

Carbonite's lowest tier plan, Personal Basic, runs $5.00 /month ($59.99 /year). There are two higher tiers available as well, called Personal Plus and Personal Prime, and run $8.33 /month ($99.99 /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 online backup services with a BlackBerry app.

Carbonite also has business-class cloud backup plans. In fact, it tops my Business Online Backup services list.

Note: Carbonite used to throttle bandwidth after backing up a certain amount of data but is no longer doing so for new customers. This change may still be rolling out to existing customers. More »

SOS Online Backup logo - © SOS Online Backup
© SOS Online Backup

4.  SOS Online Backup Review

SOS is a big player in the online 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 for 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.

Note: Unlike some other online backup plans, SOS does not continuously backup 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 my review. More »

Screenshot of the SugarSync logo - © SugarSync, Inc.
© SugarSync, Inc.

5.  SugarSync Review

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. More »

Screenshot of the SpiderOak logo - © SpiderOak, Inc.
© SpiderOak, Inc.

6.  SpiderOak

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 allows 2 GB of online backup space for FREE (but only for 60 days).

If you need more storage for your backups, you can select the 100 GB, 250 GB, or 1,000 GB plan for $5 /month, $9 /month, or $12 /month, respectively.

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 three plans I mentioned above will save you a little over the listed prices. More »

Screenshot of the Mozy logo - © Decho Corp.
© Decho Corp.

7.  Mozy Review

Mozy's online backup service works in a similar way to other services - you download and configure a piece of software and the backup is handled automatically in the background.

To get started with Mozy, visit their website and sign up for an account. Download and install their software, tell it what files or types of files to back up, and then set it to automatically back up whenever you like.

MozyHome Free is, you guessed it, completely free and gives you up to 2 GB of storage on Mozy's servers.

MozyHome's pricing is tiered: $5.99 /month for 50 GB from one computer and $9.99 /month for 125 GB of storage from up to three computers. Deep discounts can be had for one or two year prepayments.

Additional computers and each additional 20 GB of space can be had for an extra $2 per month, each.

Mozy used to offer an extremely popular unlimited backup plan but ended it in favor of its current tiered plan in early 2011. Mozy also seems to be changing focus, away from its consumer business and more toward its small business and enterprise offerings. More »

Zoolz Logo - © Genie9 Corporation
© Genie9 Corporation

8.  Zoolz

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 takes 3 to 5 hours to initiate.

Zoolz lets you backup 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 backup for archival purposes, Zoolz might be a great choice.

Four consumer-class plans are offered by Zoolz, all of which must be paid for by the year when you sign up.

Zoolz Basic gets you 100 GB and runs $1.25 /month ($14.99 /year). Back up as much as 500 GB with Zoolz Plus for $4.17 /month ($49.99 /year), or 1 TB with Zoolz Family for $6.67 /month ($79.99 /year).

The 100 GB plan allows for backup from 1 computer, the 500 GB plan includes support for 3, and the largest one allows up to 5 computers on the same account.

Zoolz also offers Zoolz Business, a business-class plan. More »

Screenshot of the Livedrive logo - © Livedrive Internet Ltd
© Livedrive Internet Ltd

9.  Livedrive Review

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 backup 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. More »

Screenshot of the Acronis logo - © Acronis International GmbH
© Acronis International GmbH

10.  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, you also get 50 GB of cloud storage for one year included in that price, making it $49.99. However, you can add additional storage too:

  • 250 GB for $49.98 /year
  • 500 GB for free (the first year only)
  • 1 TB for $79.98 /year
  • 2 TB for $119.97 /year
  • 3 TB for $159.96 /year
  • 4 TB for $199.95 /year
  • 5 TB for $239.94 /year

These prices are if you purchase the storage for a year at once. However, it's a little cheaper to pay for 2 years. Discounts of up to 25% off the first year are sometimes offered.

Also, the prices above are for backing up just one computer. You can instead pick the three or five computer option to backup more computers, but the price of course goes up too.

Learn More About Acronis True Image Cloud

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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