Everyone has different needs for their online backup service. If you are having trouble deciding what online backup service to use here are the best online backup services in different categories.
Overall Top 10 Online Backup Services
These ten services are the top choices when it comes to cloud backup for 2023.
- Backblaze – Read our review
- CrashPlan – Read our review
- Carbonite – Read our review
- IDrive – Read our review
- SOS Online Backup – Read our review
- SpiderOak – Read our review
- Acronis – Read our review
- SugarSync – Read our review
- ElephantDrive – Read our review
- Zoolz – Read our review
Cross Platform Windows/Mac/Linux
If you have several computers running different operating systems and want to backup all of them with the same account take a look at these services. All offer clients that run on multiple computers and operating systems.
- SpiderOak
- CrashPlan
- AltDrive
- CloudBackup
- Memopal
Easiest to Use
Online backup needs to be easy to use and some services stand out with how easy they are to use and simply just work making sure your backup gets done. These are the services that are the easiest to use and setup to just get your backup done.
- Backblaze
- Carbonite
- CrashPlan
- Mozy
- SugarSync
- SpiderOak
Power Users
Power users want to control more about their online backup. They want to select specific folders and files to make sure they are backed up, backup to local drives, to network drives. Some of the services overlap with being easiest to use, simply because they offer both an easy to use settings and power settings. These are the services that users more control over their backup.
- CrashPlan
- SpiderOak
- SOS Online Backup
- IDrive
- AltDrive
File Syncing and/or File Sharing
Several online backup services also offer file synchronization and file sharing options. If you need these features here are my top choices.
- Dropbox – Please note: Dropbox is not speciffically designed as a backup solution but it is a great online storage/syncing/file sharing solution.
- SugarSync
- SpiderOak
- OpenDrive
- Bitcasa
Multiple Computer Backup Unlimited Storage
Many people have multiple computers that they want to backup. If you don’t want to worry about storage space it is easiest to just use an service that offers unlimited storage. You can read more about this on the post multiple computer backup price comparison. Please note the order I have here is different. That post is a price comparison but price does not tell the whole story.
- CrashPlan
- Backblaze
- Carbonite
- Zoolz
- AltDrive
- SOS Online Backup
Multiple Computer Backup Limited Storage
Similar to the category about but services that have limits on the amount of storage you have in your account.See the post multiple computer backup price comparison for more information. Again, note the order I have here is different. That post is a price comparison but price does not tell the whole story.
- SpiderOak
- ElephantDrive
- IDrive
- Mozy
Encryption
It makes sense for online backup services to encrypt your data before transmitting it over the Internet. Some online backup services allow you to create your own encryption key making it impossible for them to view any of your data. If you want more control over your files encryption then these services are your top choices.
- SpiderOak
- CrashPlan
- SOS Online Backup
- Backblaze
- IDrive
Backup to Amazon S3
There are several good backup systems that use Amazon S3 to store your data. If you already have an Amazon S3 account, or you simply prefer to use it here are the top picks for backing up to Amazon S3.
- CloudBerry
- Zoolz (Uses Amazon Glacier)
- Jungle Disk
- CloudBackup
Mapped Drive
If you want to backup your mapped drive there are several services that allow you to backup a mapped drive. Check out our post on this category for more information.
- SpiderOak
- IDrive
- SOS Online Backup
- Zoolz
- Memopal
- Livedrive
Online Backup Services for Windows Server
If you are looking for an online backup service that supports Windows server take a look at this Windows server comparison page. It lists all the services and whether they support Windows server and what version. I have not picked the best services for this category simply because I have no way of actually testing the services on Windows server.
I will add more categories in the future, but this will give you a good start to help you select the online backup service that will fit your needs. If you are not sure what online backup service would best fit your needs feel free to drop me a note on Twitter @CloudStorageBuz with what you are looking for or use the contact form below. Make sure to include what operating system you are using, how many computers you want to backup and any other features you are looking for.
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