Why it made the cut: Acronis Cyber Protect is a feature-filled piece of software that offers more backup tools than its competitors. Best for Windows: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office While we have broken these choices down into categories, there’s always some overlap involved, so be sure to peruse the entire list before committing to one option. With the features and specs outlined above, it’s time to get into the specific picks. The best backup software: Reviews & Recommendations Windows, Linux, and macOS all have backup software programs that work best with the OS, and some that won’t work at all. There are pieces of software designed specifically for particular operating systems. In a world of multiple operating systems (albeit some more popular than others), it’s important to make sure that the backup software you choose works with the OS you run. This is the default method of software backups but usually is run in tandem with incrementals. Full backups do as the name implies, backing up all your data every time. This is handy if you want quick, more frequent backups. Incremental backup means that the software only backs up the data that has changed since your last backup. Most backup software products offer both incremental and full backups, but you might have to toggle some settings. Once you settle on a piece of backup software, you’ll have to decide how you want your backups to proceed. The good news is that, unlike crypto wallets, you generally don’t have to remember or store these encryption keys as the backup software handles them for you. While 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the basic level of protection, 256-bit AES offers more secure encryption because the encryption key is longer. Either one is acceptable for general use. There are two levels of encryption security employed by most backup software products. In this case, that can mean less reliable, slower, or less secure services. Free options have their place as well, but there is always a catch with anything that’s free. While that’s not a direct parallel, it helps put it in perspective. Paying a one-time cost of $50 to secure your data is a bargain compared to what you pay annually for streaming services alone.
While it’s difficult to truly put a price on your data, it’s important to put it in perspective. Pricingīackup software options, good and bad, can range in price from free to upwards of a few hundred dollars. Simple can absolutely be better, especially if it means the difference between using it and avoiding it. Additionally, there are just as many, if not more, enterprise backup software solutions that you likely don’t need. Many products on the market are filled with technical features that can obfuscate the standard operation of the software. When you are purchasing (or downloading a free version) backup software, you’ll want to remember to only buy what you need.
Things to consider before buying the best backup software As companies often change their offerings, pricing, and terms of service, it’s always a good idea to make sure you know exactly what you’re paying for before signing up-especially true if you’re getting into a longer-term deal. We relied on a combination of personal experience, editorial reviews, user impressions, and feature comparisons to choose the best possible options for a variety of users. For this list, we started by comparing a wide array of backup software, then emphasized those with solid pricing, reliable service, decent encryption, and broad compatibility.
Reputation is important when it comes to backup software because it’s a big deal to trust a company with your files.