For all of us iOS device users, iTunes is an essential software for us to do updates, syncing, backups and whatnot. Sure, now we can update our OS and do backups to iCloud over WiFi directly from our iPhones and iPads. But when it comes to music syncing, we still have to rely on iTunes.
Not only that, even when we can rely on iCloud for backups, it won’t backup our music collections. And when pushing around billions of bits, things can and will go wrong. The device might crash during the backup, or connectivity failing at worst possible time, and the list can go on and on. Apple actually offers iTunes Match at $25 a year, which will match your music collection with what they have on the cloud. But there is still a limit of songs, and when you already have a huge collection, it’s gonna be pain in the ass to download all of them again from the cloud.
Fortunately for us, there are other backup options. From complete cloud-based backup solutions you can use to backup your entire computer or just your iTunes library, to some software that allows you to perform backup for your iTunes. We have gathered 5 of best tools available for the job. Check them out after the break.
Summary
| Rank | Provider | Starting Price | Review | Link |
1 |  | $4.95/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
2 |  | $4.95/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
3 |  | Free | Read Review | Visit Site |
4 |  | $19.99 | Visit Site | |
5 |  | $3.96/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
Winner – ZipCloud – From $4.95 Per Month
ZipCloud is uber-easy to use cloud backup solution which will work great on both Mac and Windows. For $4.95 per month, you get 75GB of storage. That’s about over 7000 songs if you encode your MP3s in 320kbps and average length is about 4 minutes. 7,000 songs collection is quite huge and you probably don’t have to pay more than $4.95 a month to ZipCloud. If you have much bigger collection (which is the case with many of us here at BestBackups), then you will want to go unlimited storage plan at $6.95 per month. With that, you can backup not just your iTunes folder (which contains all your library, iPhone backups as well as iTunes database files), you can even backup your entire computer. There are discounts if you subscribe for 1 to 2 years. ZipCloud client software is really simple, straightforward and easy to use, so if you don’t want to go through all the hassles with multiple configurations and just want to backup your iTunes library fast and easy, try ZipCloud. Here is our review if you want more details.
2. MyPCBackup – From $4.95 Per Month
If you are a Mac user, don’t be put off by the name. MyPCBackup actually runs very well on Mac, Windows and Linux so whatever platforms you are running, it will cover you. The pricing is similar to ZipCloud and you get 75GB storage for $4.95 per month. That’s whole lots of storage for just backing up your iTunes library. If you just want to try it out, you can get the software for free for 14 days. The software is straightforward and easy to use, with all the features that an average end-user would want. All your data will go to Amazon S3 so your library will be in very secured environment (even NASA is on Amazon’s infrastructure). If you want more storage, then just pay $6.95 per month to get unlimited space for all your music collections. Don’t forget to check out our full review!
3. Google Drive – From Free
Now who doesn’t know Drive from the search giant? Drive is one of the Google’s newest products to play in cloud storage and syncing field. It is pack full of features, 5GB free storage, and integrates very well with many web apps via Google Apps. There are a lot of Chrome apps that work well with Google Drive too (read our full review here). Now, you may be thinking why the heck Google Drive is doing in this list. Here is a TL;DR version: you can put your whole iTunes library on the cloud using Google Drive without having to remember to backup regularly. All you gotta do is change your iTunes media directory location into a folder on Google Drive (right after you install Google Drive client software, which works much like Dropbox). Sure, 5GB isn’t nowhere near enough. But did you know that you could purchase storage for as low as $4.99 per month for 100GB? If you don’t have that much, you can get 25GB storage at just $2.49 per month. Now, 100GB is a lot for music collection. If you are like us and have a lot of lossless FLAC music files, then you may want to go with 200GB ($9.99/month) or 400GB ($19.99/month). All your iTunes library will remain on your computer, and they will also be synced onto your Google Drive account so that any changes you make (new songs, updates, etc) will be automatically synced and uploaded onto the cloud. How cool is that?
4. CopyTrans TuneSwift – $14.99
CopyTrans TuneSwift is from amazing CopyTrans suite, which is well-known for their software packages that let you manage your iTunes and iOS devices without having to rely on iTunes. CopyTrans TuneSwift is specifically developed to help us transfer, backup, copy and restore iTunes. You can use it to copy iTunes from Mac to Windows (and vice versa), transfer your iTunes library from one computer to another, or backup your iTunes library onto an external hard drive and use incremental backup option to monitor all changes to your iTunes library and keep backing up. Sure, it doesn’t come with cloud storage option but if we pair it up with a syncing service like Google Drive, Dropbox or SugarSync, you get a nice package of awesome iTunes backup software and cloud backup of your iTunes library data. Restoration is relatively painless and really easy to use too.
5. Backblaze – From $3.96 Per month
Backblaze will be one of our go-to online backup service provider when we talk about backing up our Macs. The price is very affordable at $5 per month ($3.96 if you subscribe for two years), it’s developed in Xcode so it integrates very well with Mac OS X, and it’s developed by ex-employees of Apple. Not only that, you get unlimited storage with Backblaze. The software is easy to use but packed with features. It does backup extremely well too. Only catch is that you can’t just single out Backblaze to backup only iTunes library. But hey, when you are getting unlimited storage for $5, why would you want to just backup iTunes library? Here is our comprehensive review on Backblaze. Make sure you check them out if you are looking for full backup solution for Mac, not just iTunes.
If we decide to use Google Drive for backing up iTunes, are you saying that the iTunes media folder must be MOVED to Gdrive completely (thus removing it and your music from your computer, or COPIED to Gdrive (leaving the files where they are)>