If you have a lot of crucial data on your devices, it’s a good idea to back it up. You never know what could happen to any of them. We picked the best online backup services to keep your data safe in the worst-case scenario.

What to Look For With Online Backup Services

Think of online backup services as cloud storage with a twist: rather than moving select files to and from the cloud, you designate certain folders—or even entire drives—to be periodically duplicated in the cloud. You’re essentially creating a copy of those files offsite, ready to be retrieved if a drive fails or is lost.

Note that this differs from syncing, which mirrors your files across devices. You also generally can’t manipulate files when stored in the cloud (though some backup services allow this to an extent). As a result, most online backup services will layer versions of a file every time they’re uploaded, letting you decide which to restore.

Online backup is vital for anybody who stores work products on their machine rather than online. Like syncing, it’s a powerful tool, but it has the advantage that cloud copies are stored separately, meaning you can’t accidentally delete them.

Picking the right online backup service depends on a few factors, the most important being price and finding the right plan for you. If you’re running a company and need to back up 20 laptops daily, your needs are different from those of a freelance illustrator running weekly backups as a precaution.

Ease of use was another criterion, as was whether or not a provider offers regular storage and lets you schedule backups—hence, there is some crossover between this list and our selection of the best cloud storage providers.

Best Online Backup Service Overall: IDrive

My favorite online backup service is IDrive. As you can read in our IDrive review, it offers reasonable pricing and great ease of use, making it a good all-around pick for anybody who needs backup. I especially liked how you could set up scheduling, determining what goes into the cloud and what doesn’t.

Another reason to like IDrive is that it isn’t only a backup option; it also offers plain old storage and even a sync function. Though regular storage services provide better features, I feel IDrive is still a nifty addition and offers greater flexibility than other entries.

Price-wise, IDrive also does well. It takes pride of place among the best free cloud storage providers with its 10GB of free space (which can be used for storage or backup, it’s up to you), and the paid plans are also very reasonable, starting at just $3 per year for 100GB of space, which is very, very cheap. IDrive won’t break any banks, and it’s worth checking out.

Best Online Backup Service Overall

IDrive

A unique mix of cloud storage and data backup, with some of the best value premium plans available right now.

Best Budget Backup Service: JottaCloud

JottaCloud, our pick for a cost-effective online backup service, offers a range of tiers for home users. This includes a 5GB free plan, which is perfect for those wanting to test the waters. However, for most users, the JottaCloud Unlimited or Home 1TB plans provide the most flexibility and value in the long run.

As a part of the Unlimited plan, which costs $120 per year, you can store as much data as you want. However, the service will start throttling upload speeds after you consume 5TB of storage. This shouldn’t be an issue for most people. But if you are concerned about the speeds, you can consider the service’s Pro plans.

Folks who require less than 1TB of backup storage will be more than happy with the 1TB Home plan, which is cheaper at $70 a year. The home plan also allows you to back up data for up to five family members.

JottaCloud offers a range of additional features that enhance its usability. With native apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, you can back up data from all your devices.

Command-line support is also available, which is particularly useful for Linux computers or NAS devices, as there are no apps for them. Additionally, you can upload files or access your backups through the web app, adding to the service’s convenience. Unfortunately, while the service encrypts your data, private-key encryption is not offered. It also lacks incremental backups and block-level file copying.

An alternative to JottaCloud’s Home 1TB plan is Arq Premium, which is slightly cheaper at $60 per annum and lets you back up to five computers. It also has apps for both Mac and Windows.

Best Budget Backup Service

Jottacloud

For those looking for an affordable unlimited backup service, JottaCloud is an easy recommendation. It’s easy to use and has apps for desktop and mobile.Override

Easiest-to-Use Online Backup Service: Carbonite

Carbonite is another provider of unlimited backup that’s actually a little cheaper than Backblaze, but is mostly interesting for how easy it is to use. For most users, setting up a backup schedule will be a matter of only four or five clicks, which should make technophobes pretty happy.

Price-wise, it’s a good deal, too, costing just $70 per year per computer, which you can further reduce if you sign up for longer. However, there is a price to pay, the biggest of which is the slow upload and download speeds. Carbonite backups seem to take forever, and if you’re uploading lots at once, it’ll hurt.

Still, if you don’t mind having your computer on for a few days when doing your initial upload, Carbonite is a great option, especially if you count the time you’ll save with such a user-friendly backup solution.

Most Easy to Use Online Backup Service

Carbonite

Carbonite is an easy-to-use online backup provider with unlimited space.

Best Hybrid Online Backup Service: pCloud

If you’re looking for a solution that can schedule backups and act as regular storage, give pCloud a whirl. It’s a solid contender with a great free plan and some very nice affordable paid plans, too—it even has some very affordable lifetime plans.

Most importantly, it’s easy to use: You can easily set up schedules, and directly uploading files is as easy as dragging and dropping. I also like how you can easily set up pCloud to back up from other cloud providers like OneDrive and Google Drive, making it a great way to hedge your bets.

One thing I don’t like, though, is how pCloud makes you pay extra for advanced, end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Services should all be providing this free of charge, and I’m not sure why pCloud is charging extra for it. Still, the price is reasonable, and you could even do without it if your files aren’t too sensitive.

Best Hybrid Online Backup Service

pCloud

pCloud is a cloud storage provider with some powerful backup capabilities.

Best Online Backup Service for Businesses: Crashplan

Finally, we have Crashplan, the best possible match for businesses—but only businesses. It doesn’t offer individual plans, focusing on small to medium businesses that have to back up multiple computers. There is a plan that’s just for one user, but it assumes you’ll have two devices to back up, which may not work.

If you run a business, though, Crashplan is a pretty good deal. Price-wise, it falls more or less in the middle between Carbonite and Backblaze, with its higher-tier plans also offering unlimited space. The big advantage, though, is that you can back up multiple computers, which can get a little tricky with some other services.

The upshot is that if you’re running a business and you have a lot of computers that need to be regularly backed up, Crashplan is the way to go. If you don’t fall into that category, you may want to look elsewhere.

Best Online Backup Service for Businesses

Crashplan

Crashplan is a business-oriented backup solution with some solid plans.