Apple is becoming stronger on the backup scene. First they gave us Time Machine, and now we have iCloud as well, which is effectively cloud backup. But, like with many things Apple, it can be very expensive. Not only that, you are restricted in many ways with iCloud.
So what’s the alternative? Well, right now the online / cloud backup industry is booming, there are over 60-70 services offering cloud backups, and for lots of different prices / features and storage space. Unlimited space is something that’s getting more common, and is a massive plus when looking for an iCloud alternative.
I’ve reviewed over 50 cloud backup services now, so I have a good idea of what works. I’ve gone through and tested the software, uploaded files, checked prices, everything. So, let’s take a look at this short summary table of the top 5 icloud alternatives, then I will review them in more detail.
Here’s our comprehensive guide about which online backup is best for mac!
Summary
| Rank | Provider | Starting Price | Review | Link |
1 |  Special Offer: Anytime moneyback | $4.95/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
2 |  | $6/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
3 |  | $5.99/month | Read Review | Visit Site |
4 |  | $5/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
5 |  | free for 5GB | Read Review | Visit Site |
Take a look below to see slightly more detailed views about each provider.
Winner – ZipCloud – From $4.95/mo
Positives: Simple, Great price, Reliable, Instant backups
Negatives: No power user features, Only email support
Zipcloud was built for Mac users. And we don’t just mean that it works on a Mac. It means that ZipCloud is the way Steve Jobs would build proper online backups. It’s simple, looks good, and works. Just take a look at their website. It’s simple yet has the information you need. ZipCloud offers 3 packages, one of which has unlimited space for unlimited machines (which is why it’s better than Carbonite). The minimum package gives you 75GB space which is enough for most. It’s $4.95 per month if paid monthly, however if paid upfront for 2 years it comes to $3.95 per month. Unlimited storage is only $6.95.
Amazon provides the most secure place for your files on the planet
Their software does not have every feature you could possible imagine, but most are there. By this I mean that you can schedule your backups. But only daily, weekly and monthly, you can’t set your own exact times.
They actually back up your data to Amazon data centers. To put this in terms of quality, let’s just say your files are backed up to the Mercedes of data centers. ZipCloud outsourcing their storage space means that they don’t have their own data center which might fail for some reason. If Amazon data center goes down, half the internet does as well.
What’s more, they will stand 100% behind they product, and offer an anytime moneyback guarantee. Whether its 2 weeks from now, or 2 years from now, you can claim a refund if you are unhappy.
Click below to sign up now!
2. LiveDrive – $6 per month
Positives: Simple, Great price, Reliable, Instant backups
Negatives: Cheapest package limited to 1 machine
LiveDrive is an excellent second choice, and they are also a UK company. A few years back we weren’t very impressed with them, but they’ve slowly improved their software and customer service, and then finally dropped their prices, bringing them in from $6 per month, which puts them high on our list. LiveDrive is nicely designed and the software has all the features you need. The only criticism we have is that the cheapest package is limited to 1 machine.
3. Mozy
Positives: Next day air restore, 3 months free if paid upfront
Negatives: Restore is difficult, Not unlimited space
Mac crashed? Want your data quickly? Let me Fedex that for you!
This is one of the great features that Mozy offers, although it does cost extra. But, downloading backups, hundrends of GB of them can take days, and this is a quick solution to this problem.
Mozy don’t offer unlimited storage which is a bit of a shame. Their basic package starts from $5.99 per month, and for that price you can get LiveDrive’s unlimited storage so that does seem like a better deal to me.
Mozy currently offers free trial so you might want to take a look into it. Click here to visit mozy now
4. Backblaze
Positives: Simple software, Unlimited backups, Good price
Negatives: File size limitations
Backblaze is a US based company, who are definitely going on the offensive on price. Unlimited storage from $5 per month beats the first three in the list, but we didn’t like them as much, so the $1-2 extra is worth the price for the previous companies. Backblaze do restrict some of the files you can back up, and when we tested them the bandwidth was a bit slow, but that might have been the location.
5. Dropbox
Positives: Well known, Great interface
Negatives: Expensive, Sharing reduces your space, Folder solution
Dropbox is like the Brad Pitt of backups, everyone knows who they are, but they are a bit overhyped. They are more of a sharing and online folder company, which is how they’ve grown this big. Dropbox’s GB prices are pretty high, they are not recommended if you’ve got loads of GB of data to back up.
But, for sharing with your friends they are pretty awesome!
So what should you choose?
Well, the no 1 in the list is ZipCloud, so that comes top, but any of the services mentioned are good, so you can’t go wrong with them. ZipCloud has a good price, unlimited space, good software, which is why we recommend them. It’s hard to pick an absolute best piece of software to be honest.
If you want power user features, you should go with Mozy, if you want great sharing, go with Dropbox. If you want something in between, you can’t really go wrong with ZipCloud.
Summary
| Rank | Provider | Starting Price | Review | Link |
1 | | $4.95/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
2 | | $6/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
3 | | $5.99/month | Read Review | Visit Site |
4 | | $5/mo | Read Review | Visit Site |
5 | | free for 5GB | Read Review | Visit Site |
