Backblaze vs IDrive: unlimited single computer or shared quota

One computer with a lot of data: Backblaze. Several machines, a Linux box or phones: IDrive. That's the whole decision, and the rest is price detail.

What each plan covers

Backblaze backs up one computer with unlimited storage, and that includes connected external drives with no file type or size limit. Its clients are native Mac and Windows apps. The phone apps on iOS and Android only restore files.

IDrive Personal covers one user with multiple computers and 5 TB between them. It backs up Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, servers and NAS.

So Backblaze limits the machines, and IDrive limits the bytes. Pick the limit you'll hit last.

What you pay

Backblaze is $9 billed monthly, $8.25 a month on yearly billing ($99 a year), and $7.88 a month on a 2-year plan, $189 up front (vendor page, checked Nov 1, 2026).

IDrive is 11.99 USD/mo billed monthly. Yearly it's $6.99 a month, shown struck through from $9.99. The page's footnote says the 30% off applies to the first year, for new signups only, for a limited time, and doesn't state the renewal price. A 2-year plan on 5 TB is $179.82, also a promo.

Two years then cost $179.82 on IDrive and $189 on Backblaze. That's $9.18 saved, in exchange for a 5 TB cap. Low saving.

Per computer, IDrive wins fast. Three machines on Backblaze are three subscriptions, roughly $297 a year at the yearly rate. One IDrive plan covers all three if the data fits in 5 TB.

Versions, encryption, free tier

IDrive's own pages say it keeps up to 30 previous versions of a file, and that files use 256-bit AES with an optional private key. Backblaze offers an optional private key too, so only you can open backups. The pages read don't give a default version-history length, and keeping versions forever costs an added fee they don't list.

Only IDrive has a free plan: Basic, 10 GB, no card. Backblaze has a 15-day trial with no card.

Who should pick which

• A photographer with 8 TB on external drives and one desktop: Backblaze. IDrive's 5 TB would not hold it.
• A household with a Mac, a Windows laptop and a Linux server: IDrive.
• Someone who wants a phone backed up: IDrive. Backblaze's apps only restore.

My score is 7.5 for the pair, as an opinion from the pricing pages. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.

Read the Backblaze review for its limits in detail. Photographers should see best backup for photographers, and anyone leaving Apple's backup behind, best Time Machine alternatives. The backup catalog lists the rest.