UPDATE: MyOtherDrive appears to no longer be in operation. The company no longer sends out confirmation codes for new accounts, responds to customer queries, or sends missing passwords. Complaints have also been lodged saying that the data of pre-existing customers is no longer accessible. For those looking for a service similar to MyOtherDrive, we recommend signing up for providers such as Backblaze, Livedrive or Memopal.
MyOtherDrive doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of your typical Cloud provider, but it’s still a reliable service with some strong features, including password-protected encryption, deleted file recovery, and plenty of file sharing options. You can read a detailed MyOtherDrive review below or sign up now.
PROS- Good security
- Multiple file sharing options
- Free 2 GB account
CONS- No file syncing
- Limited payment options
- Limited customer support
Price Plans
Pricing
MyOtherDrive personal users can choose from four different pricing points. While the Free account gives you 2 GB at absolutely no cost, the Pro accounts unfortunately require you to fork over some cash. 100 GB costs $5 a month, 500 GB a little steeper at $10 a month, and 1 TB $20 a month.
Extras
Free account
While not advertised as a free trial, MyOtherDrive’s Free account option is the perfect way to give the service a test drive before you decide whether or not you’d like to sign up for a paid subscription.
The MyOtherDrive Free account sports nearly all of the features found in the pro accounts, with the exceptions being that the Free account shows ads and doesn’t support file sharing. This is a little annoying, but we put up with it, as we still had access to what we consider to be the important things, such as encryption, unmetered bandwidth, and different backup options.
Refund policy
If you decide to terminate a paid MyOtherDrive subscription, you are entitled to a pro-rated refund. This means that if you signed up for a year’s worth of storage and decide to cancel your account three months in, for example, you’ll receive the cost of the remaining nine months.
Business plans
MyOtherDrive has a selection of Enterprise accounts available intended for businesses both big and small. They clock in at $240 a year for 1 TB, $480 a year for 2 TB, $1,200 a year for 5 TB, and $2,400 a year for 10 TB.
Payment methods
Oddly, you can only pay for MyOtherDrive’s online backup services using PayPal. We find this quite limiting as the majority of other Cloud providers accept other common forms of payment, such as credit cards and bank transfers.
How does MyOtherDrive compare to the competition?
The average pricing for an online backup solution is $5 to $12 a month, and MyOtherDrive’s Pro accounts fall neatly into this range. The types and number of features that you get for the cost of MyOtherDrive is also quite standard when it comes to Cloud storage providers.
Features
Online backup or Cloud storage?
Cloud storage.
With its limited storage space, well-developed file sharing options, and unlimited number of devices, MyOtherDrive’s services are best described as Cloud storage. That said, it does blur the line between online backup and Cloud storage a little bit thanks to its strong encryption and non-existent file syncing.
Want to know more about the differences between online backup and Cloud storage? You can read all about it in our Ultimate Online Backup Guide.
About MyOtherDrive
MyOtherDrive was founded in 2005 by John DeRegnaucourt and is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. On their ‘About Us’ page they claim to be one of the fastest growing online storage companies online, with their services being used by everyone from individuals to businesses to government.
In addition to basic details, MyOtherDrive’s website provides useful information regarding company functions, the most pertinent being their data loss prevention techniques. They use racks of RAID 6 storage servers at their Dayton location, as well as backup their users’ data in a separate offsite facility in order to protect against system failures, natural disasters, and theft.
Backup options
- Automatic backup
- Manual backup
- Multiple computer backup
You have two choices when it comes to backing up to MyOtherDrive: manual and automatic. Manual backup doesn’t require any lengthy instructions: You simple have to upload any files or folders you desire to have backed up via the file manager (pressing the ‘Upload’ button if it’s a single file or folder, and the ‘Backup’ button if it’s multiple).
Automatic backup is a little more complicated, but not terribly so. If you’d like to have unattended backup running, you’ll have to set up a schedule, choosing days of the week and time, which files and folders you’d like to have continuously backed up from your computer, and where you would like them to be sent within your MyOtherDrive account.
Every time the scheduled day and hour occurs, MyOtherDrive will begin copying your chosen files and folders to their servers. They even give you the option of monitoring the progress, which you can do by logging into the file manager, clicking the ‘Backup’ button in the toolbar, and then the ‘View Progress’ button.
Which operating systems is it compatible with?
Desktop: Windows, Mac OS X, Linus
Mobile: N/A
File sharing
- Public, friend-, and password-based file sharing options
- Option to password protect shared files
- Group folders which you can add friends to via their email addresses
Whether you want to share a file with a friend or with the world, MyOtherDrive has got you covered. They offer three options: Public sharing (anyone can access), friend-based sharing (access is controlled by you via permissions), and password-based sharing (access is controlled by you via passwords). Moreover, you can share HTML folder and file views (both include a comments section) as well as direct links to image thumbnails.
File management
- No file versioning
- Limited deleted file recovery
- File synchronization option
MyOtherDrive does not offer file versioning as one of its file management features. If this feature is vital to you, we recommend that you find a provider that does offer it using our backup provider comparison tool.
The good news? MyOtherDrive does offer file syncing and deleted file recovery—albeit in limited forms. If you’d like the files and folders stored on your MyOtherDrive account to mirror those on your computer, you simply have to check ‘synchronization’ in Settings. However, doing so will prevent you from being able to retrieve files that have been deleted, as they’ll be automatically removed from MyOtherDrive when removed from your computer.
If this is a concern of yours, leave the Settings as-is, as by default MyOtherDrive does not transmit deletions that have been made on your computer to their servers. As such, if you mistakenly delete a file from your computer, or if—god forbid—your computer crashes, all of your data can be found safe and sound in your MyOtherDrive account!
Security
- AES 128-bit encryption
- Encryption password
Funnily enough, security is optional at MyOtherDrive. So if you wish to safeguard your data, you must follow the following steps:
First, set an encryption password, which can be done in the Settings window under the encryption tab.
Afterwards, you must mark any folders that you desire to stay private as encrypted. Once having done that, any file that is uploaded to that folder will be AES 128-bit encrypted. As such, the file will be encrypted on your computer first, and then transmitted and stored on MyOtherDrive’s server in encrypted format, so your raw files will not be visible on the MyOtherDrive network or storage servers.
If you’d like to download any encrypted files back onto your computer, you simply have to download as you normally would and enter the encryption password when prompted, which will decrypt your files. Getting the password right is vital as if it’s incorrect all the encrypted files will be inaccessible and contain worthless data.
One final word of warning: You must mark your folders as encrypted before uploading any files to them. If you already have the files in the folder and then encrypt it, only files uploaded thereafter will be encrypted.
Customer Support
Resources
If you have any questions or require any guidance when setting up and using MyOtherDrive, you’re likely to find the answer in the company’s FAQ or Help page. Both pages are comprehensive and straight-forward—the Help page reads like a how-to—and cover all the important topics, such as troubleshooting for different operating systems, explanation of various features, and setup instructions.
Contacting staff
Issue can’t be resolved using the information found on the MyOtherDrive FAQ or Help page? Don’t fret, you can contact the company directly using the contact form on their website.
Response time and quality of service
We decided to assess the speed and quality of MyOtherDrive’s customer service by sending them a query via the contact form on their website. Immediately after sending our question we received this confirmation message:
The Process
Getting started
To get started with MyOtherDrive is simple. All you have to do is sign up via their website and—once you verify your account through email—your account will be up and running and ready to use.
How to cancel your account
If you wish to terminate your MyOtherDrive subscription, you just have to send the Cloud storage provider an email and they will close your account. That said, MyOtherDrive will only close empty accounts, so be sure to clear out your file manager of all data before sending them a line.
Another option suggested by MyOtherDrive is to downgrade to a Free account in lieu of total account termination. That way, you can still keep 2 GB worth of data stored at no cost, and if you decide to go back to a paid account it will be as simple as clicking a button.
MyOtherDrive Review Conclusion
We liked
- Good security with encryption password
- Plenty of file sharing options, including optional password protection
- No need to download software
- Free account includes 2 GB storage space
We weren’t too sure about
- Limited customer support options
- Limited payment options
- Must manually set up security measures
- No file versioning
We hated
- Nothing
MyOtherDrive is not the fanciest or flashiest of Cloud providers, but it gets the job done, and sometimes that’s all that a person or small business needs. Its range of features are small but strong, and include attractive offers such as AES 128-bit encryption, multiple file sharing options, helpful resource pages, and an easy-to-use file manager.
If you think that MyOtherDrive meets your basic backup needs and would like to give it a spin, you can sign up for a free 2 GB account by clicking on the button below.
What has your experience been with MyOtherDrive? Let us know in the comments.