IDrive

"Great free version with 5GB of online storage and full control, but customer service needs work."

Comments: 5GB of online backup and unlimited local backup (depending on drive size) for free! Great experience overall, especially when compared to other online backup options.

Pros: The free 5GB option is much better than a 30-day trial like some other online backup providers offer. I constantly get offers from IDrive to upgrade to a paid version but I know I will upgrade when I need more than 5GB of online storage. The local backup option is also great since you're only limited by the space of the of an external or mapped hard drive and it's included in the free version. Full control over what exact files are backed up and/or restored. Some programs force you to backup the entire C drive or only allow certain folders to backup. Easy to use interface with simple controls for the things you do most. The program is very straightforward and self-explanatory with little to no learning curve.

Cons: Customer service was difficult to work with when a backup error occurred. They claimed the backup was failing due to the 5GB quota being reached and that I needed to upgrade to solve the problem. After finally convincing them that I was only using 75% of the 5GB, it turns out I just had to reinstall the desktop app to solve the issue. With this kind of support for something as important as backing up critical files, it makes me question the overall reliabilty of IDrive altogether. As simple and easy to use the interface can be, it sometimes feels a bit limiting as far as the options it gives you. It would be nice to be able to switch to an "advanced mode" with more options like more detailed backup logs that explain exactly what is happening to your files and why they aren't being backed up if there's an issue.

"a Solid solution for cloud backup"

Pros: iDrive is very easy to install and set up, i was backuping all my computers in 1 hour once i've done setting up everything. the Smartphone app to monitor whats working and what is not is a nice bonus.

Cons: the UI is alittle bit outdated and sluggish, buts nothing that decrease the effectiveness of it

"Good Software"

Pros: Once it's set up, it is virtually hands free.

Cons: Only con I have is setting up takes a little bit of time

"Used to be good but not any more"

Comments: They used to be so good! I don't know what happened to them. New owners? New development and support team? Their Support crew didn't seem very interested and I frequently had to prompt them into action. When I cancelled my old account they still tried to charge me a subscription renewal for it - turns out they deliberately obscure the process needed to cancel so you think you've cancelled when you haven't. I'm disappointed when any company uses deceptive tactics to make it difficult to cancel recurring billing. When I cancelled my new account (because it never worked and they couldn't make it work) they would not fully refund me. That's both mean-spirited and a very foolish business decision when I can clearly show by their own email chain that they never once provided a working product. That means disputed credit charge transaction and a very expensive merchant chargeback, all for the sake of a couple of dollars. I don't know what business manager thinks that makes sense.

Pros: I used to use a legacy version of iDrive on a legacy plan. It worked great. I was always impressed with them keeping versions of files and retaining deleted files indefinitely. Nothing else out there touches it for features. Unfortunately it simply doesn't work any more.

Cons: I wanted to upgrade to a modern plan and for that I had to upgrade to the current version of iDrive. It never worked. Not once. Many emails to and from iDrive Support and they could not get it to work. Keep in mind the old version worked perfectly for years on this machine. It would hang for 12+ hours in "preparing file list" even when I reduced the backup set to a single file of only 1Kb in size.

"iDrive"

Comments: Overall, I very much prefer iDrive to my previous cloud backup software. Would recommend.

Pros: I like that iDrive is affordable and does not backup only certain types of files based on your tier of membership. I love that you can encrypt the cloud back up as well as your local back up and that you can create an ISO drive image quickly and easily on an external hard drive.

Cons: I don't like that it seems I have to do a full system backup over again when I add a new file directory or drive. Even the scanning to verify files already on the serve takes a long time.