What is the Best Online Backup Service? In a world where our lives are increasingly digital, we store countless irreplaceable memories and crucial documents on our devices. But what happens when your hard drive fails, your laptop gets stolen, or ransomware encrypts all your files? That's where online backups come to the rescue - but with so many options available, finding the right service can be overwhelming.
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Carbonite has been protecting digital lives since 2005, offering cloud backup services for both individuals and businesses. Their service - named after the fictional substance that froze Han Solo in Star Wars - was the first to offer unlimited backup space for a fixed price, though that "unlimited" claim comes with some notable device limitations. While they've won numerous awards over the years, Carbonite's offerings seem to have been outpaced by competitors in recent years, making them a functional but not necessarily standout option in today's crowded online backup market.
Options for individuals and businesses alike
Carbonite offers tiered online backup solutions for both individual users and businesses. Personal plans are meant for users with 1-3 computers, while Professional plans scale up to accommodate multiple computers, servers, and more complex business requirements with expanded security options. Carbonite offers a 15-day free trial so you can test their service before committing. Beware of Carbonite's "40% off" marketing gimmick, though - we found these supposedly discounted prices match what we saw in our previous review. The prices below therefore reflect these perpetual "sales" prices:
One-computer limitation is a drawback
Despite Carbonite's "unlimited storage" claim for personal plans, each subscription only covers a single computer. Want to back up your external drive too? That'll require upgrading to Plus or Prime. This restrictive approach feels outdated when competitors offer multi-device protection under single subscriptions.
Strong security foundations
Security-wise, Carbonite is solid with 128-bit encryption standard (256-bit available on higher tiers) and two-factor authentication support. They also offer the option to manage your own encryption key, though they don't recommend it as losing this key means permanently losing access to your data.
Courier recovery service adds convenience at a cost
If your internet connection makes downloading large amounts of data impractical, Carbonite offers physical delivery of your backed-up files. This service comes included with the Personal Prime plan but costs extra with other plans. It's a feature you won't find with many of Carbonite's competitors.
Customer support is there when needed (with some limitations)
Carbonite provides technical support via phone, but only during limited hours - Monday through Friday from 9:00AM to 6:00PM Eastern Time, with no weekend availability. Unfortunately, recent customer reviews suggest support quality has declined, with many users reporting difficulty reaching actual representatives. As one exasperated user put it: "It's impossible to talk to a person if you are outside the USA." If you're considering Carbonite, just know that while support exists, you might face frustrating hurdles if problems arise.
Mixed reviews highlight declining service quality
Carbonite's online reputation is mixed. On Trustpilot, they maintain a lukewarm 3.6-star average from over 3,000 reviews, and unfortunately, recent feedback skews heavily negative. Their mobile app scores an identical 3.6 stars in the Google Play Store, while their iOS app lacks sufficient reviews to even display a rating.
Long-time customers express growing frustration
The pattern in recent customer feedback is telling: loyal users who once praised Carbonite now feel abandoned. "I've been using Carbonite for years and it's gotten worse," laments one disappointed customer, citing slow performance and excessive pricing. Technical issues plague Mac users especially, with one reporting that Carbonite "ignores many files that have to be backed up." The few recent positive reviews highlight Carbonite's easy-to-use interface, though even these customers often note limitations like selective file type backups and the tedious process of manually selecting files for backup.
Our rating: Carbonite earns a middle-of-the-road score
Carbonite remains a functional online backup option with strong security features and convenient courier recovery service for those who need physical delivery of their files. However, the service is held back by its restrictive one-computer-per-subscription limitation and declining customer support quality. We recommend Carbonite primarily for individual users with a single computer who prioritize simplicity and established reputation over cutting-edge features - but those with multiple devices or Mac users experiencing technical issues should look elsewhere for their online backup needs.
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In a world where our lives are increasingly digital, we store countless irreplaceable memories and crucial documents on our devices. But what happens when your hard drive fails, your laptop gets stolen, or ransomware encrypts all your files? That's where online backups come to the rescue - but with so many options available, finding the right service can be overwhelming.
Everyone with digital data needs an online backup solution. From photographers safeguarding thousands of client photos to small business owners protecting financial records, or even families preserving decades of precious memories - online backups provide the peace of mind that comes from knowing your data is secure. When disaster strikes, whether it's a coffee spill on your laptop or a full-blown system crash, online backups ensure you can quickly recover everything that matters.
Not all online backup services are created equal. Some focus on unlimited storage for a single device, offering simplicity at the expense of flexibility. Others provide robust multi-device support with sophisticated encryption, but they cap your storage. The most comprehensive solutions include additional security features like ransomware protection and antivirus capabilities, transforming your backup into a complete data protection system.
The pricing models vary dramatically too. Some services charge per computer with unlimited storage, while others offer fixed storage amounts across multiple devices. Many tempt you with dramatic "discounts" that mysteriously remain available year-round, while others offer genuinely competitive pricing with substantial savings for annual commitments. The difference between paying $6 monthly for a single device versus $10 monthly for unlimited devices can add up significantly for multi-device households.
When selecting the ideal online backup service for your needs, here are the key factors to consider:
Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked the best online backup services available today. We've thoroughly tested each option to help you find the perfect balance of features, security, and value. We hope our research helps you find the best online backup service for your unique needs - because when it comes to protecting your irreplaceable digital memories and crucial files, you deserve nothing less than complete peace of mind.
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Why You Should Backup Your Computer
It used to be that fire or flood could destroy an entire lifetime's worth of paper files and other personal items like photos, music, home movies, business records, and so on. This is still true. But now more and more valuable family and business documents exist primarily on hard drives in our computers, or as digital versions in smart phones or tablets. So in addition to fire, flood, or other environmental threat we can add hardware failure and computer theft to the list of threats that could remove these important items from us.
In the early days of personal computers, all PC files were recorded on floppy disks; hard drives were large, expensive devices only found in the clean, secure, and climate-controlled computer rooms of large companies or governments. This allowed the storage of personal files in cases on a shelf. Hardly more secure than paper files, but at least not susceptible to hardware failure. Now, if the hard drive in a computer fails, chances are that all the information stored there will be lost forever. This could include:
Individuals, families, small businesses, and even larger enterprises sometimes have no backup copies of these valuable and often irreplaceable files. Or they might occasionally copy them to a DVD. Or they might have an external hard drive attached to the computer. Any copy is better than no copy. But copies that are kept at the same location as the computer are subject to the same environmental threats as the computer. And an external hard drive is just as subject to failure as the one inside the desktop or laptop system. Copies on optical disks, like DVDs, are likely outdated in as short a time as a week or two. So files must be manually backed up again and again, in an ever-increasing stack of disks.
What are the characteristics of a solution to this dilemma? Consider a solution that would provide:
These statements all describe online computer backup systems.
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