JustCloud Review |Best Backups.com

Price
Features
Reliability
Storage Space
Speed
Customer Service

Summary

Not too many features, it is built more for simplicity than features. So great if you don’t need very advanced features, and don’t have so many files that a cap does not matter.. If you want to, sign up now.

JustCloud is a new contender in online cloud backup industry. In fact, it was started in 2010 by a company called Just Develop It. As new as they may be, they offer one of the most simple online backup and sync solutions in our top 10 list. It’s so simple that it is like a double-edge sword. The simplicity itself can be both advantage and annoyance. It currently offers personal plans as well as business plans. However, you cannot view the pricing up front and have to signup in order to view prices, although they don’t ask anything more than email, name, and password.

Video Review

To see the video on youtube click here.

Pricing Plans

One thing we actually come to hate about JustCloud is (as much as we love their software and simplicity) that there is nowhere on the website with pricing information. Yes, you read that right. You have to enter your name, email and password to sign up and then they will ask you to download the software, which is only about 20MB in size. For Personal account users, you will be immediately brought to download page. Free account comes with limited 15MB syncing space and unknown backup. Then if you want to upgrade to paid account, you have to log-in on the website and click on “Upgrade” which will bring you to pricing page.

It seems like they really want us to sign up for 2 years plan, as it offers lowest cost per GB and can save tons of money. Let’s explore their current pricing plans.

For Personal Accounts

Home – 75GB Storage. $3.59/month if you pay for 2-years upfront. $5.56/month if you opt for monthly plan
Premium – 250GB storage. $3.95/month if you pay for 2-years upfront. $6.36/month if you opt for monthly plan
Unlimited – Unlimited storage. $5.56/month if you pay for 2-years upfront. $7.96/month if you opt for monthly plan

Interestingly, they offer “Anytime” money back guarantee. So basically, in case you are not satisfied with your purchase down the right, then you can ask back what you paid for. We haven’t tried this out yet so we can’t really tell what will happen if you choose to stay with them for 2 years and then suddenly change your mind after one year and half, or after 1 year and 11 months. But then, online backup solutions aren’t like products we use and get tired of. We grow attach to them and become dependent on them, as thousands of our files will be backed up there. So we are guessing that not many people (maybe except some disgruntled customers) have exploited this offer. We still have to see how far they will go since the company is only two years old.

For Business Accounts

The business accounts also seem to push 1 year upfront payment, with 20% discount across all accounts.

100GB Plan – $12/month if you pay for one year upfront. $15.99/month if you opt for monthly plan. Backup up to 4 computers
250GB Plan – $21/month if you pay for one year upfront. $27.99/month if you opt for monthly plan. Backup up to 4 computers
500GB Plan – $30/month if you pay for one year upfront. $39.99/month if you opt for monthly plan. Backup up to 4 computers

“Anytime” moneyback guarantee is applicable for business accounts as well.

For Reseller Accounts

It is interesting to see that we can immediately look for pricing plans at Reseller accounts page, without having to sign up. We seriously wonder why the heck they won’t put it up on Personal and Business pages as well.

500GB – $24.95/month
1TB – $44.95/month
2TB – $74.95/month

All three plans offer additional storage at varying prices per GB, and a flat fee of $0.99/user for each users you get. And there is $0.50 per additional service fee as well. Although you are a reseller, you can brand the software, the website and everything with your own logos and whatnot, so this is essentially a white label service.

You can either sell back their default plans or customize and offer your own plans. Pricing and everything are totally in your control as well.

Features

JustCloud is simple but quite feature-rich. However, you won’t find really advanced features you see at services like SugarSync or Carbonite here, as the company aims to be the simplest cloud backup service.

Sync across multiple devices (think Dropbox and SugarSync) with 1GB free syncing storage for all paid accounts. You can upgrade up to 20GB at an additional cost
Unlimited devices for syncing
100% automated
Schedule options
Mobile access from iOS and Android devices
Private or public sharing options
Works on both Windows and Mac

Yes, that’s about it. If you are looking for “wow factor” in the features, you might be disappointed. However, look at how simple the features are. Like we mentioned several times before, JustCloud aims for utter simplicity and a cloud backup that “just works”. Even for Business accounts, you only get one more additional feature: backup up to 4 computers. That’s it.

For Reseller accounts, you get standard options such as white label branding, customize your own packages and pricing, billing, monitor usage and stats, and such.

Oh and for Linux users, you may rejoice to hear that JustCloud is currently developing a Linux software for their services, although they cannot give any ETA on when it will be launched.

Security

Security is a big thing for all cloud backup services. After all, our data are on someone’s servers and network. If they aren’t secure, we are practically doomed. JustCloud stores files on Amazon S3 for storage, and uses their own grid infrastructure for processing everything. It is not clear if JustCloud owns their own data centers or house their network at a third party data center. Either way, it seems their data centers have pretty good protections, both physical and cyber-wise. The files are encrypted using 256-bit encryption key, although they didn’t state any further than that. So it’s suffice to say that our data at JustCloud are more or less secured.

Customer Service

Customer service is kind of a disappointment for us. There is no telephone support nor live chat, but they provide video tutorials, FAQs which also act as knowledgebase, and a forum. If you still have questions, you can actually submit a ticket or email the support, but that’s about it. However, with such a dead simple software, we really don’t see a lot of needs for a customer support.

The Process

After you signup, you will be immediately prompted to download the software, which is about 20MB. Then you will be brought to Account Center page.

It is still unclear what your current free account storage is, not until you install the software anyway. The account center page is pretty self-explanatory so we will skip that.

Once you install the software, you will see how simple it is. The interface is so straightforward.

You can schedule your backups to run up to once an hour. You can also exclude certain file types and limit file size. Basically, it is possible to just backup your documents and photos but skip your movies altogether. One limitation with such a simple program is that JustCloud only allows a single backup routine. So you can’t set your RAW image files to be backed up once an hour, and the rest of your files once per day.

Browsing your files in the software is also dead easy. We find out that the software doesn’t take too much system resources, which is always a plus.

Sync folder is a separate dedicated folder which operates like Dropbox folder. You just put in files you want to sync in there, and it will sync across all other computers and mobile devices logged into same account.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a dead-simple backup service that comes with nice syncing option (although with capped data), and you can’t be bothered with advanced features, then JustCloud is definitely for you. If you are a power user and want more control in your backups, you will feel that JustCloud falls short in many aspects. We do feel that at its price point (if you commit to 2-year plan), it’s worth a shot and can serve as your secondary backup. Heck, even as primary backup, it will serve you well. We still feel a bit disappointed with their lack of telephone or chat support though. But then, whoever using such a simple service may not need such a dedicated live support. The verdict is not out yet, so we will have to wait and see.

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