20 best alternatives to Tarsnap as of 2018 - Slant

Ad

CrashPlan

Top Pro

Unintrusive

You set it up once and from then it runs in the background whenever you are not using your computers (or at specified times). See More

Top Con

Popular features (local backup and trusted offsite backup no longer available)

Top Pro

Supports multiple backup destinations

You can set up different files/folders to back up to specific places. See More

Top Con

Heavy client

The BackupClient is based on Java and therefore a lot more memory-intensive than most other backup solutions See More

Top Pro

Differential and incremental file backup

CrashPlan updates only that part of the file that has changed, saving bandwidth and time. See More

Top Con

Home edition discontinued

CrashPlan's home edition will be shut down on October 23, 2018. They are no longer accepting new signups or subscription renewals. See More

Top Pro

Unlimited online storage

The $5/mo individual plan and the $12.50/mo family plan gets you unlimited cloud storage. See More

Top Pro

Allows custom encryption keys

Custom 448 bit user-provided encryption key can be used to encrypt the backed up data in the cloud. See More

Top Pro

Users can order a physical copy of their data

They will send you an external hard drive to your house. See More

Top Pro

Unlimited revision history

CrashPlan saves all previous versions of a file. See More

Top Pro

Free for DIY setups

If you wish to backup to your own server or a local disk, CrashPlan is free. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; Linux; OSX; Android; iOS

Differential:Yes

See All Experiences

36 14

Arq

Top Pro

Only you know the encryption password

No privacy concerns. See More

Top Con

Complicated setup

When it comes to ease of use most cloud backup service are pretty easy as it is just one signup, with Arc you need to download install and activate it to then register for an Amazon account, this extra step may be troublesome to some people or just annoying. See More

Top Pro

Reliable

Amazon services offer solutions with almost 100% durability and 99.99% availability. Even if the system loses data-centers, you will still be able to access your files. See More

Top Pro

Can store data directly in a variety of cloud storage providers

Arq is client-side software that runs on your computer and talks directly to generic cloud data storage providers. No third-party service in the middle means lower costs, better reliability, lower risk of a service ceasing to operate, ease of migration to other storage targets. Amazon Glacier and/or S3 GreenQloud DreamObjects Google Cloud Storage S3-Compatible Server SFTP Server See More

Top Pro

Open document format backups

Unlike other backup programs that store data in proprietary formats, Arq stores them in an open document format allowing for easy viewing. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX

Incremental:Yes

De-duplication:Yes

7 0

duplicity

Top Pro

Encrypted locally before sending (using GnuPG)

Data is encrypted locally before being sent, and kept encrypted by a key that is never stored on the remote machine. So you might even store your data on a public space, people would still need your key or brute force it. See More

Top Con

You have to invest a few minutes in setup time

Top Pro

Bandwidth and space efficient

Duplicity uses the rsync algorithm so only the changed parts of files are sent to the archive when doing an incremental backup. For instance, if a long log file increases by just a few lines of text, a small diff will be sent to and saved in the archive. Other backup programs may save a complete copy of the file. See More

Top Pro

Versioning and incremental backup

You can retrieve older versions or files you recently deleted locally even after having updated your backup. See More

Top Pro

Free and open-source

Licensed under GNU GPL v2. See More

Top Pro

Works with scp/ssh, ftp, rsync, Amazon S3...

Duplicity does not make many demands on its archive server. As long as files can be saved to, read from, listed, and deleted from a location, that location can be used as a duplicity backend. Besides increasing choice for the user, it can make a server more secure, as clients only require minimal access. See More

Top Pro

Has a Dockerized image

Docker allows to run programs on any Linux without having to really install them, and allows to manage versions so it runs exactly the same on different machines. See More

See All Experiences

6 0

Mozy

Top Con

Ridiculously high pricing

Top Pro

Shared folder with Stash

Stash is a local sync folder similar in functionality to Dropbox. See More

Top Con

Basic plan doesn't allow personal encryption keys

Top Pro

Prevents from social engineering attacks

Mozy end-users are not susceptible to social engineering. At Mozy, there is no one person who can authorize the deletion of a given individual’s data. Our process of cleaning and deleting a customer’s data is a very structured and automated process, and you can’t call us up and short circuit that process. See More

Top Con

No unlimited storage plan

Every plan for Mozy has a limit on the storage meaning there is no price one can pay for piece of mind of unlimited storage. See More

Top Pro

Allows for personal encryption keys

Top Pro

Can set two backup targets

A feature called 2x Protect will back up everything to two backup targets - one online and external device attached to your computer. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; Linux; OSX; Android; iOS

See All Experiences

4 0

Backblaze

Top Pro

Beginner-friendly defaults

The default configuration includes everything except for system files to be backed up. That also includes external USB drives. This will work for most people. It can, of course, be customized to each person's liking. See More

Top Con

No Linux support

There's no Linux client for Backblaze. See More

Top Pro

No filesize of traffic restrictions

There are no limitations of file size or amount of data you can upload. The $5/mo plan gets you unlimited cloud storage. See More

Top Con

Backblaze does not support network (NAS) drives

If you use a thing like Drobo, Backblaze will not back it up. See More

Top Pro

Excellent restoration performance

Backblaze creates a zip file of all your files for you to download, thus decreasing the amount of data you need to download and increasing the speed of the download since it's one connection instead of multiple that need to be opened and closed for a list of files. See More

Top Pro

Secure

AES encrypted files are transferred over a secure SSL connection. See More

Top Pro

Download any backed-up files from any web browser

Some backup services like Carbonite require a client to be installed to restore files. Backblaze allows you to login and download any or all files from a web browser, meaning it also serves as an ad-hoc cloud storage platform. See More

Top Pro

Users can order a physical copy of their data

You can have a flash drive or an external hard drive delivered to you. They cost $99 and $189 respectively. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Android; iOS

Differential:Yes

See All Experiences

72 4

pCloud

Top Pro

No file size limits

Allows you to store your HD videos, FLAC music files, and large documents. See More

Top Con

Not a well known company

Top Pro

Other users can upload files to your storage

Have others upload files directly to your account from any browser using "Upload links". See More

Top Pro

No synchronization speed limits

Sync files as fast as your internet plan allows you to. See More

Top Pro

Lifetime options for storage space

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Backup and use your files from any device with Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, or iOS. See More

Top Pro

Desktop app doesn't take space on hard disk

Computers see it as a network drive. See More

Top Pro

Very reliable

Top Pro

Free 20gb of storage

Higher than all the other cloud services except Mega. See More

Top Pro

2tb storage and 2tb bandwidth

Unlike all the other clouds this makes it great for sharing large files. To lots of people. See More

Top Pro

Free bandwidth with ads

This is nice if you don't care about what is people see on the page when you share the file and you have large files to send. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux

Offline access:Yes

See All Experiences

33 3

Amazon S3

Top Pro

Easily scalable

There's no cap in storage or traffic. Cost is based on usage. See More

Top Con

Confusing web interface

Amazon S3's web interface is quite confusing, especially for first-time users, but there are many tutorials online that help beginners to set up a static site on S3. See More

Top Pro

Super cheap with a year's worth of free service

S3 storage costs $0.03 per GB and gets cheaper the more is stored, PUT, COPY, POST, or LIST requests are $0.005 per 1,000 requests and GET and all other requests are $0.004 per 10,000 requests. And with some restrictions is available for free for a year. See More

Top Con

Credit card needed

Amazon will try to retrieve the money every month after one year trial. If you have no money you will be banned. See More

Top Pro

Fast setup

You can provision a S3 bucket, upload files, setup the DNS, and go live in under 10 minutes. See More

Top Con

No SFTP support

Amazon S3 does not have SFTP support, instead the S3 web interface has to be used. See More

Top Pro

Fast

S3 is fast even without a CDN. See More

Top Con

Setting up automatic public permissions is confusing

By default, S3 sets uploaded files to private. You can configure your S3 bucket to auto-apply public permissions by copying and pasting a template. But the template might be intimidating to some users. See More

Top Pro

Easy to setup with CDN

Simple to set up with Amazon's CloudFont CDN. See More

Top Pro

Free for small sites

The free tier will cover most personal home pages. See More

Top Pro

Supports custom root domains

To set up a custom domain, Amazon Route 53 has to be configured as the DNS provider with the domain registrar, two buckets have to be created and configured with the name the same as the domain - one including, one excluding www. A more in-depth explanation can be found here. See More

Top Pro

No security risks

There's no server to manage, so no security issues to patch or keep watch. See More

See All Experiences

14 3

Box

Top Con

Log in on every use

Any time the app is opened the user's log-in needs to be typed in, which can become annoying. While it is a nice privacy feature, an option to turn it off would be nice. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform desktop and mobile

Box is available for Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phones. Which mean access to ones files no matter the device or platform used. See More

Top Con

No Linux client

They are not willing to listen to Linux community. They've also deleted a bunch of messages from Linux users on their forum See More

Top Pro

Extendable via plugins

There are plug-ins for applications that allow interactions with Box. See More

Top Con

Missing collaborative apps

Not being able to easily back up office works through an integrated office suite can be a set back when comparing to backup apps like Drive. While you can set certain apps to save their files to the Box folder, it is not as easy as using something like Google Docs, which not only saves while you are working but as soon as you are done, with no extra steps. See More

Top Pro

Salesforce and NetSuite support

Top Pro

Sharing and privacy features built for business and IT users

Such as advanced sharing options, task assignment, notifications. Making an easy way to stay up to date on assigned tasks. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Android; iOS; Windows Phone; BlackBerry

See All Experiences

9 2

OneDrive

Top Con

Strictest code of conduct

Terms of Service forbid any kind of nudity, or that incites, advocates, or expresses pornography or racism among other things. See More

Top Pro

Collaboration via Office 365

If you use Office 365 with OneDrive, you can share a file to edit collaboratively in real time. See More

Top Con

Becomes slower when it picks up a "Linux" user-agent

This may be intentional by Microsoft to force OneDrive users to use Windows. When OneDrive picks up a "Linux" user-agent it becomes slow whereas when from the same computer and browser it picks up a "Windows" user-agent it becomes considerably faster. See More

Top Pro

Microsoft Office integration

It integrates with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc as if you were using OneDrive locally. See More

Top Pro

Full integration in Windows 10

Once setup OneDrive folder and local folders can be the same slowing for seamlessly integration into Windows OS. See More

Top Pro

Automatic photo uploads from phone

When Android, iOS and Windows Phone users shoot a photo with their phone it is automatically uploaded to OneDrive via app. See More

Top Pro

Music file syncs with Groove Music

Music files put in the Music folder in OneDrive sync with Groove Music. See More

Top Pro

No setup for Windows 8/8.1

If you use Windows 8 or 8.1, OneDrive is already built in your system and can be accessed via file explorer. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Android; iOS; XBOX

See All Experiences

8 2

F(x) Data Cloud

Top Pro

Option for hosting the database service on the cloud server.

If you wanna host your database on the cloud server, you can have both the option as Database as a Service (Pre-installed and managed database) or Infrastructure as a Service (If you want to have root access and manually want to install the database). See More

Top Con

No GPU provided

GPU is not provided. See More

Top Pro

High uptime

All the cloud services are with 99.95% uptime. See More

Top Pro

Cost-friendly

F(x) Data Cloud provides public cloud server at a cheap price. The basic plan starts at $1.99/month. See More

Top Pro

Great Support

Typically answers in minute. See More

Top Pro

Provides high configurations

They provide 32 vCPU, 128 GB RAM, 2000 GB SSD, 9 TB network. For large businesses, high configurations are required. See More

Specs

Server locations:United States

ISOs:Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, CentOS, OpenSUSE, Windows

Virtualization:KVM

Block Storage:Yes

See All Experiences

20 5

Carbonite

Top Con

They've lost data before

There have been occasions where a paid subscriber was not ever able to get back their data. See More

Top Pro

Users can order a physical copy of their data

For users in the US there is a option to receive their backup data on external media, meaning not only is there a backup in the cloud but you can order hard backups anytime. See More

Top Con

No external hard drive support in the $59.99/yr plan

You need to upgrade to the HomePlus $99.99/yr plan to back up external drives. See More

Top Pro

Intuitive software

Does not require deep system knowledge to operate Carbonite's software. See More

Top Con

Personal encryption keys only work on Windows

Top Pro

Unlimited online storage

The $59.99/yr plan gets you unlimited cloud storage. See More

Top Con

Files above 4GB have to be uploaded manually

Carbonite won't upload files above 4GB unless you do it manually. See More

Top Pro

Allows for personal encryption keys

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Android; iOS; BlackBerry

See All Experiences

4 1

BitCan

Top Pro

Elastic storage

Elasticity in the pricing allows for users to only pay for what they use in data, this way there is no overcharging when ones limit wasn't hit. This also allows for users to constantly change their backup usage without fear of being charged too much or having to constantly switch their plans. See More

Top Pro

Backups can be performed on systems that reside on-premise or cloud

User can choose to backup to their own private cloud as well as a public cloud such as AWS. This choice allows for piece of mind as to where ones data is residing. See More

Top Pro

Free 30 day trial

User have the option to test out the software with a 30 day free trial. See More

Top Pro

No limits on data storage

Top Pro

Flexible scheduler

Top Pro

Automated backups

Top Pro

Setup in under a minute

Specs

Platforms:Windows; Linux

See All Experiences

1 0

Tresorit

Top Pro

Client-side encryption

Encryption is performed before content gets uploaded to the cloud. See More

Top Con

No Telephone Support

Top Pro

Cross-platform

With clients for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry. See More

Top Con

Proprietary

Because the software is proprietary, there's no way to review the security practices or really know how the software operates under the hood. As such it can be considered as not safe for sensitive information. See More

Top Pro

Free storage space (get additional space through bonuses)

5 GB, up to 16 GB with bonuses. See More

Top Con

Significantly more expensive than just about everything else

Specs

Platforms:Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Windows Phone

End-to-end encryption:Yes

Offline access:Yes

See All Experiences

15 5

Mega

Top Pro

50GB free

There's also three upgrade plans, starting at 500GB and $110/yr. See More

Top Con

Higher than normal chance of a forced service shutdown

Mega has a higher than normal chance of having legal troubles due its founders past, thus there's a higher than normal chance that the service may be shut down with all your files in it and no way to retrieve them. See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

Linux, Windows and Mac. See More

Top Con

No account recovery

The only way to access your account is with a password and there is no way to recover it if you lose it. See More

Top Pro

Client-side encryption

All files uploaded to Mega are first encrypted on the users side. To access files a decryption key must be supplied. For ease of use, the decryption key can be appended to the URL you share. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Just drag and drop files in the browser window, then create a link for sharing. You will need an account to create a link. To streamline the process for new users you can start uploading as soon as you access the website and create an account while it's uploading. See More

Top Pro

Open source client

Top Pro

Functional web interface

Specs

Platforms:Windows; Android; iOS; Mac OS X; Chrome OS; Linux

Differential:Yes

See All Experiences

32 10

Google Drive

Top Pro

15GB free

This space is shared across Drive, Gmail & Picasa. See More

Top Con

No official client for Linux

Google as of yet has a client for Linux, leaving many who use the service forced to use third party apps or the webpage. See More

Top Pro

File sharing & collaborative editing

Google account holders and non-holders can be set to access and/or collaborate on files/folders in real-time. Additionally, you can find files you've shared not only by filename but by person you've shared the files with. See More

Top Con

Data privacy not guaranteed

Data privacy is widely known as one of Google's weaknesses. Data shared through Google is most likely matched up with the user's profile inside other Alphabet inc. subsidiaries, and, due to the business model, used commercially. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with other Google services

For example, you can use search to search through both Drive and Gmail. See More

Top Con

Terms and Conditions allow Google to own anything on Google Drive

They can create derivative works, they can perform it, they can modify it, and they can publish it at will. There are many other specific rights they take over your product. Read the Terms carefully and compare with ANY others. See More

Top Pro

Extended functionality via apps

Third party Drive applications running in Chrome or Android can add functionality such as image/video editing, project management, flowchart creation, etc. See More

Top Con

Low bandwidth

Top Pro

Built-in office suite

Includes tools for writing, presentations and spreadsheets. See More

Top Con

Very unreliable

Desktop client constantly crashes. See More

Top Pro

Save files to drive directly from Gmail

Drive lets you save any file from your email. See More

Top Con

No universal Windows app

Top Pro

Revision control

By clicking Ctrl + Alt + G in Windows or Command + Alt + Shift + G is OS X you can access previous version of the file. See More

Top Con

Doesn't integrate well with OS

Top Pro

Mobile integration

You can work from any device, especially mobile. See More

Top Pro

Cheap for extra storage

$1.99 per 100GB, for up to 16TB. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Linux; Android; iOS

Word processing:Yes

Spreadsheets:Yes

See All Experiences

162 50

Dropbox

Top Pro

Easy to use

You can use Dropbox via website, by installing a desktop client that creates a folder that you simply drag and drop files into, or with their mobile app. Everything synchronizes across all devices used and cloud storage. And Dropbox offers easy methods of sharing whatever is within it. See More

Top Con

Not secure

They don't apply end-to-end encryption, files are visible to admins, governments, etc.. See More

Top Pro

Allows sharing a single file via link

Whether using desktop client or web interface, simply right click on the file you want to share and select Dropbox > Share link, then send the link to the people you want to share the file with. The recipient does not require a Dropbox account. See More

Top Con

Too little free space

There is just too little of free space available comparing to the competition. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform desktop and mobile

Dropbox is available on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, OS X and Linux. By having a client for so many OS's pretty much anyone is covered no matter what kind of device or OS they are using. See More

Top Con

No privacy

Extensive collecting and distribution of user data to commercial third parties. See More

Top Pro

Allows sharing a folder

Using a desktop client: right click on the folder you want to share and select Dropbox > Share This Folder, then enter the e-mail addressees of people you want to share the folder with. See More

Top Con

All-or-nothing (non-selective) upload

Uploading generated contents (cache, compiled code, etc.) is prone to conflicts, wastes bandwidth and free space. See More

Top Pro

Lots of addons and integrations

There are official and third-party Dropbox add-ons that extend the functionality of the service and add ease of use of existing features. Additionally, Dropbox can be integrated with existing applications to bring its functionality to other apps. See More

Top Con

Low bandwidth

Top Pro

Smart updates to big files

If a small portion of the file is changed it sends/receives only the differences (not the whole file), which is fast and bandwidth-efficient. See More

Top Con

Does little more than storing files

Top Pro

Reliable

Top Con

Consumes a lot of CPU resources when syncing many files

Top Pro

Up to 18GB of free storage space

Dropbox personal accounts start out free, with 2GB of space, but users can get extra space by recommending the site to friends, or taking part in events like "Dropquest", where users can win extra space by solving puzzles. See More

Top Con

Dropbox keeps deleting features, chasing customers away

For instance, all photo albums got deleted. It used to be very easy to share a couple og photos, now it's PAINFUL and must be done file by file. See More

Top Pro

Instant disaster recovery

Your files always synced online means instant disaster recovery. When your hard drive becomes unbootable, pick up another laptop and just carry on with your life from where you last saved. See More

Top Con

Problems when synching between Linux and Windows devices (unconfirmed)

This summer I lost thousands of files due to this problem on older projects which subsequently needed revising and had to be rebuilt as tons of the source was gone. See More

Top Pro

Available free storage can be increased with referrals

You get extra free space for you and your friend if they sign up. See More

Top Con

Can unintentionally delete your files if you reinstall your OS without closing Dropbox

If you reinstall the operation system for your PC and you do not close Dropbox, it will delete all files. See More

Top Pro

Adjustable bandwidth use

To not slow down the network or save traffic you can limit the upload and download speeds of Dropbox. See More

Top Pro

30-day version control

Dropbox keeps deleted and earlier versions of files for a month. See More

Top Pro

Desktop client has no file size limit

As long as you have enough storage available, you can upload files of any size using Dropbox desktop client. See More

Top Pro

Folders can be downloaded compressed to save bandwidth

To save bandwidth and download speed you can choose to compress a folder into a zip archive for download. See More

Top Pro

Linux support

Dropbox offers native Linux support, integrates with Nautilus file manager. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, OSX, Android, iOS, Windows Phone

Offline access:Yes

See All Experiences

88 32

Help millions of people make better decisions.

Each month, over 1.7 million people use Slant to find the best products and share their knowledge. Pick the tags you’re passionate about to get a personalized feed and begin contributing your knowledge.