An online backup service should be able to provide you with access to your files from anywhere in the world while they are automatically backed up and stored in a secure manner, all for a reasonable price. In addition, they should provide features that make it easy to manage and share your files even if you are not technically savvy. While most online backup providers claim to offer this, some of them deliver better than others. In order to help you choose the right service for your needs or the needs of your small business, we researched many of the most reputable and highly recommended brands in the industry. We created in-depth reviews and ranked the companies that we found to be the best online backup services based on price, value, ease of use, storage space, security and more. Note that all of the services listed below are Mac compatible. See our comparison chart below, along with our expert online backup reviews, to help you decide which service best meets your needs.
| Provider | Price | Learn More |
|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | $8.25/month | Read Review |
| SugarSync | $7.49/month | Read Review |
| Tresorit | $10.42/month | Read Review |
Although there are many companies offering online backup services, very few of them are recognized brands. The industry is still rather new, so unlike other types of services, there aren’t any companies that have established themselves as being above the rest. For this reason, reading online backup service reviews before purchasing a backup service is not only helpful, it’s quite necessary. The reviews on this site have been written based on in-depth research conducted by our team. We tested each service that has been rated on this website, and provided the information in a format that makes it easy to compare the various options and choose the one that’s best for you. We invite you to read through all our online backup reviews to get a good sense of what each provider has to offer and purchase your plan with confidence.
Advice on Choosing an Online Backup Service
Most people purchase online backup services for one of three reasons; a. they want peace of mind in knowing that should they somehow lose their digital files, they will be able to restore them instantly, b. they need more storage space than they currently have on their PCs and portable hard drives, c. they would like to be able to access their files from any PC or mobile device with an Internet connection. Before purchasing a backup plan, you should first evaluate which of these 3 reasons is the main motivating factor in your decision to purchase this service.
Users looking for backup plans simply to secure their files in case something happens to their hard drives, should have an easy time choosing a service. Most services provide similar levels of protection from hackers. They also have multiple data centers backing up the data in more than one location. So regardless of which of the best online backup services you choose, the files will most likely be very secure. Automatic backup comes standard with most plans, so you can rest assured that your files will be backed up and the only time you really need to actually use the service is in the event of an emergency. If you can be categorized in this group, you should focus on the price and storage space above all else. The difference between the various features offered by the providers will not make much of a difference.
Users looking for additional storage space for their files are a little harder to satisfy. They typically need to regularly access the files they’ve stored and therefore need a service that’s easy to use and offers lots of storage space. Many online backup providers offer several packages with different amounts of storage space. It’s recommended that users needing lots of space choose a service that has unlimited storage as one of its packages. Even if an unlimited package is not needed now, it may become necessary in the future, so it’s good to know that unlimited storage is just a quick upgrade away.
For those users that want the ability to access their files from multiple locations and devices, choosing the right service is a bit more complicated. These users need to frequently access their files, make changes, and even share them with other people. Having a service that’s easy to use is a must, as downloading folders over the web can take quite a while depending on the speed of the Internet connection. That’s why working with a clumsy user interface will make the process of accessing files take even longer. The ability to access files via mobile devices and the web, as well the ability to sync files on all devices after making a change is also crucial. Therefore, price becomes less of a priority as not every service will be able to accommodate these needs.
Once you’ve decided which of these three groups best describes your situation, you will be better equipped to choose an online backup provider. You can use the comparison above to help you find exactly the type of service that best suits you.
Backup Provider Rankings
The rankings of the online backup services listed on this site are based on the research of our staff of technology editors. We review the leading providers and take into consideration everything they have to offer the individual user and small business customer. We then compile all of our analysis and rate each provider based on a list of attributes that are most essential to the typical online backup customer. This information is presented in a format that helps users choose the best service for their individual requirements. While we give consideration to every feature and aspect of each plan offered by these backup services, the primary characteristics we examine include pricing and packages, ease of use, features, data security, and customer support.
How We Evaluate Online Backup Services
Features
Most of the best backup providers offer numerous features to help differentiate themselves from their less sophisticated competitors. However, many of these features are of little use to the average customer. While we do give significant weight to the amount and quality of features provided by each service, we primarily look at what they offer in the areas of file sharing, file syncing, mobile and Mac compatibility and accessibility.
Ease of Use
Online backup is a service which is needed by both the technically savvy and the technically inept. For this reason, we analyzed the ease of use for each backup provider from the standpoint of a novice, non-technically customer. We looked at how easy each service has made it navigate and access the most commonly used features.
Pricing
We understand that while backing up files is certainly a worthwhile investment, there are enough low cost and no cost alternatives to signing up with a paid provider to make the typical backup customer very price conscious. Given that the core functionality of each provider is quite similar, we gave significant weight to the relative pricing of each company and what they included in their respective packages.
Security
When you backup your digital files, you want to make sure that your provider takes the proper steps to protect your files from hackers and from being lost in the event that their servers are damaged. The providers we reviewed mostly take similar precautions to protect their customers’ files, so we verified that each provider is indeed creating the standard safeguards.
