This article will introduce you to the best PC cloud backup on the market and you can select the one suitable for you to safeguard all your important files before itβs too late.
Before talking about cloud backup, let’s get the basics. In the past, many users always back up data to a local disk or external drive, which is very convenient for quick restoration. But it often makes us suffer from fire, stolen, or another local disaster like a system failure.
Therefore, people invented PC cloud backup and successfully attracted everyone’s attention. Because it claims to be a service that can backup main data storage systems, remote office servers and storage devices, end-user devices such as laptops and tablets, and store the files on a remote server off-site to avoid nature and local disasters.
After a period of use, your personal PC would end up having lots of data of yours, such as personal documents, photos, videos, and any other data. It’s wise to make a copy of your important files. More importantly, you are supposed to create a continuous or scheduled backup. Because just making a single backup won’t give you the latest version of your files when you need to restore them.
π With a local backup, your PC may get damaged or stolen, the ransomware can prevent you from accessing your data, or any human error and occasional disaster can make you lose data. But if you use online computer backup instead, you can greatly reduce these risks.
π If your budget is limited and you can only choose one of the backup methods on the market, your best choice is PC online backup software and I'll introduce you best online computer backup service and its features. But if you have more budget, you can take a pc backup to cloud, and to an internal disk, external hard drive, or USB flash drive, etc.
How to choose the best online computer backup? You may have this question and want to know the priority of features in the cloud backup services. Here are some introduce and you can use them as a reference.
Platform support: Most services support both Windows and Mac.
Easy setup and management: The once and for all approach is the best.
Storage capacity: Many services offer unlimited storage, but you need to check and confirm for yourself.
Continuous or scheduled backup: This type of backup can minimize data loss and ensure your files are up-to-date.
Encryption of data: The most popular service always provides you 128-bit or 256-bit encryption, AES encryption, or personal encryption key.
Versioning: This feature makes you roll back different versions of files.
Retention of deleted files: Some services provide file versioning forever while others are limited to 30 days.
Syncing and sharing: Some user-friendly software allows you to sync or share files with other devices and your friends.
External hard drive backup: This feature is not supported by all online backup services.
Mobile backup: Cloud file backup on Mobile becomes increasingly important.
In the following, I’ll show you the most popular and commonly used 6 online PC backup software. You can choose the most suitable one according to your needs to backup PC to the cloud.
What we like:
Support unlimited cloud backup storage
The price is less expensive and affordable
No file size limits, including 3-hour 4K videos
15-day free trial for personal backup
Keep old versions of files forever
Support offline restore and previewing images in advance
Mail restore
Drive shipping: restore only
Include mobile backup
What we don't like:
Continuous and schedule backup only for one computer
Restoration is different for large files and small files
The restored files need to be downloaded and the size limit to 500GB
Require extra fee to keep old versions of files forever
Support one computer per account
Old file versions and deleted files are just keep for 30 days
File sharing is not available on personal and business plan
No sync option
No file explorer or finder integration
Backblaze is the first and most popular service provider worldwide. It allows you to automatically backup computer data to the cloud excluding system files, programs files, applications, empty files, or temporary web files. And it can ensure your data and account security by using AES encryption, private key, two-factor authentication. What’s more, it’s uploading speed is very fast and you can upload files over 4GB, including 3-hour 4K videos. The personal backup only costs you $6 per month.
It’s amazing if you only have one computer. But if you want to backup multiple computers to the cloud or need features not listed in the above, you could consider using Backblaze alternatives in the following, such as Carbonite, Acronis, iDrive, CBackup.
What we like:
Support unlimited cloud backup storage
Pay for three years at once for a low-cost per month
Files and folders can be added through Windows Explorer
Continuous and schedule backup for up to 5 computers
15 day free-trial for every plan
Mobile backup is available, including Android, iPhone.
What we don't like:
No free online backup plan
Need to manually upload files over 4GB
File versioning is limited to 30 days
Inability to adjust bandwidth for backup
Mac version does not have versioning and personal key
Lowest uploading speed
Carbonite is one of the best remote backup services for small businesses. It offers automatic backup, unlimited cloud storage, and it’s very easy to use. It backs up all the selected files during the installation process and encrypts them via 128-bit or 256-bit encryption or private key. It allows you to view and manage your backup on the desktop app, or web interface
It has some useful features you may be interested in. But sometimes its lowest uploading speed makes users feel upset. If you want a faster speed, you could consider using the Carbonite alternative.
What we like:
Backup Windows PC to CBackup Cloud (5GB free, and 1TB for $7.99/month)
Online PC backup and sync for free, like backup or sync files to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
Support unlimited storage and file versioning
Schedule Backup data for unlimited computers
Cloud to cloud transfer with one platform for free
Cloud drive management
Access and manage all files in different clouds in one place
Fast file upload speed
Easy to use interface
OAuth authorization system
What we don't like:
The unlimited storage requires enough cloud drives
The supported cloud drives are limited currently
CBackup is the best free cloud backup service, which provides you with unlimited storage if you have unlimited cloud drives and add them to CBackup. Its client supports backing up all files on a Windows PC to the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, CBackup Cloud, etc.) and provides the most professional backup methods and security protection. Its web version supports an unlimited combination of cloud storage space, and its tasks are mainly related to cloud disks, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. It allows you to back up your computer online free and scheduled backup files, daily, weekly, and monthly. In short, this service is suitable for users who have multiple cloud disks.
What we like:
Support unlimited storage and file versioning
Zero file size and type limits
Backup files from mapped drives
Excellent level of customization
Powerful web console
Support mobile backup
What we don't like:
Schedule backup for more computers with extra fees
Inability to restore large files via web interface
No offline backup and restore option
No file-sharing option
Low uploading speed
CrashPlan is a favorite option for small business and power users who use Mac, Windows, and Linux. You can decide to back up what files, when, and how often, excluding a few files in certain system folders. Also, you can easily find the files by its date, time, or version. Besides, it’s customizable and powerful, which helps you create continuous or scheduled backup provides different destinations such as online and offline, enables encryption, compression, or retention policy, monitor backup process, and settings, configure clients, and more.
It’s a little expensive for the majority of users, the small business plan costs users per month and a computer. So, if you have more budget, you can use this. If not, just give up.
What we like:
Has 5GB free online backup plan
Large initial backups are very handy
Schedule backup for unlimited computers
File sharing and sync options are supported
Support backing up data from mapped drives
Uploading speed is fast
Recover files from trash within 30 days
Deleted files are kept until archive cleanup
Drive shipping without extra cost
Bulk uploads and restores via mail
File Explorer integration
Excellent mobile backup for Android and iPhone
What we don't like:
Does not have an unlimited storage plan
The interface is less intuitive
Does not restore to original location automatically
Only retain up to 30 versions of each file
iDrive is the best overall service provider for Mac, PC, Linux, and mobiles. It can help you backup the entire drive including OS, settings, apps, files, and folders, and keep the content and structure intact. Also, it can assist you in managing your backup well via centralized consoles, such as, view the account activities, changing settings for your devices. In addition, it gives you long retention periods for deleted files.
You can use this software if its unique features are high on your priority lists, such as system and application backup, centralized console, long retention, and more. Also, if it’s poor, you could try its alternatives.
What we like:
Schedule backup is available
Backup external drive and mapped network drive
Restore files to the original location automatically (web)
Sync and share option is supported
Quick bootable files-restoration tool via "survival kit"
Stop crypto-mining software and ransomware
Support mobile backup, and social media backups
What we don't like:
Does not have an unlimited storage plan
Drive shipping for neither seeding nor restore
Manually clean backups
Acronis is the most powerful and versatile PC cloud backup service for Mac, PC and mobiles, virtual machines, and social media accounts. It will back up the entire disk by default, for example, external drives, mapped network drives, Outlook, and OneDrive. Also, you can manually select what to back up. In addition to encryption and personal key, it still can protect against ransomware and crypto-mining, and the premium plan includes blockchain-based authentication and electronic signatures to keep your files complete.
However, its plan and storage are a little complicated, for instance, the basic version is .16 per month with 250GB cloud storage while the premium costs you .33 per month with 1TB backup space. If you need additional storage, you can pay for the advanced option, 500GB for another per year. And this is only available for one computer.
To make it clear to you how to perform online computer backup, here we will show you how to backup computer to Google Drive with CBackup for example.
1. Please download the CBackup desktop app and create a new account, then sign in to this program.
2. Click the Storage tab on the left, select Google Drive to add, and then follow the steps to grant access to CBackup.
3. To backup PC to Google Drive, Select Backup > Backup PC to Public Cloud to create an online PC backup task.
4. Rename the Task Name, choose the computer files, and select Google Drive as the target location.
5. (Optional) Press Settings on the bottom left to configure schedule backup on daily, weekly, or monthly, email notifications even file filters, etc.
6. Then pitch on the Start Backup button to backup computer to cloud like Google Drive automatically and easily.
Besides, you could use CBackup to backup computer to OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. It's quite easy to operate the steps of online computer backup, just try it for free.
Speaking of the best PC cloud backup, many users may think there is only one choice. But I want to say that the most suitable software is the best, so this depends on your own needs. Just see the above options and select the best cloud backup for PC and yourself.