CrashPlan vs IDrive (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, IDrive grades higher than CrashPlan: 3.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
IDrive grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CrashPlan
Business backup for laptops, servers, Microsoft 365 and Google
IDrive
Cloud backup for many devices in one account, with a sync folder
Which one is for you
Pick CrashPlan if
- Fits if you are IT at a company under 250 people who needs laptop backup
- Works for backing up Microsoft 365 or Google data for staff
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a plan for yourself, as no individual home plan is listed
- Skip it if you want a card-free try, because the 14-day trial needs a card
- Tight if your servers hold lots of data, since added storage is $90 a year per 250 GB
- Watch out: from 250 users pricing is quoted, and legal hold, SSO and audit logging sit on Enterprise
Pick IDrive if
- Fits if your household has several computers and phones to back up in one account
- Works for small businesses backing up servers, NAS boxes and laptops together
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you mainly want Dropbox-style sync, as Cloud Drive is a separate service you have to switch on
- Pricey if you budget on the advertised price, since the 30% off covers the first year only and not app sign-ups
- Tight if you're staying free, as 10 GB won't hold a whole computer
- Watch out: going over your storage costs $0.25 per GB a month on Personal and $0.50 on Team and Business
- Watch out: Mini is yearly only, for new sign-ups and marked limited time, and server backup is $5 a server a month below Business
How we grade them
| 2.0GPACrashPlanFair | 3.2GPAIDriveVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLaptops are $7.33 per user a month billed yearly, near the category's $7 middle. The $2.50 Microsoft 365 and Google plans are cheaper, and servers are $15.75. | AGraded as backup. Mini is $0.25 a month for 100 GB billed yearly, far under the cheapest quarter of this category, and 500 GB is $0.83. Personal is $9.99 a month for 5 TB once the first-year discount ends. Go over your storage, though, and it's $0.25 per GB a month. |
| Free plan and trial | D14-day free trial and a card is required. Nothing is free after it. | CIDrive Basic is free with 10 GB and no credit card. That holds your documents, but a computer's worth of photos will go straight past it, so it's a cap most people will hit. |
| Features | CEndpoint, server, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup with unlimited laptop storage. The listing shows gaps: no home plan, pooled storage on the other plans, and enterprise features only above 250 employees. | BGraded as backup, it does the whole job: many devices in one account, continuous backup, 30 versions of each file, snapshots, a private encryption key and drives sent by post for big restores. Cloud Drive adds sync, sharing and editing in the browser. |
| Ease of use | CAn admin deploys it to machines and sets policies. No store rating is on record. | BNo store rating on record. Install the app, pick what to back up, and it carries on by itself as files change. The one catch is that Cloud Drive sync is a separate service you have to switch on. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console plus Mac, Windows and Linux agents, with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Entra ID, Azure, AWS, Wasabi and Backblaze. No phone apps. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus Synology and QNAP NAS apps, and add-ons that back up Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox and Box. That covers every device type. |
| Best for | company laptop and Microsoft 365 backup | backing up lots of devices in one account |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CrashPlan and IDrive. How we grade
Price against what you get
CrashPlan starts at $2.50 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. IDrive starts at $0.25 a month and scores 3.3.
IDrive scores higher and starts $2.25 a month lower. Of the other file storage and sync services on the chart, 8 score higher than CrashPlan for less, and none scores higher than IDrive for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- CrashPlan also covers reports.
- IDrive also covers file sharing.
At a glance
| CrashPlan | IDrive | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup) | $0.25 per month for 100 GB, billed annually (Mini) |
| Free plan | None | IDrive Basic: 10 GB of backup storage, no credit card required. Add-ons such as cloud app backup can be bought on top of it. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | CrashPlan | IDrive Inc. |
| Price read from | crashplan.com | idrive.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CrashPlan
- Built for organizations; the pricing page lists no plan for individual home users.
- Published rates apply under 250 users; at 250 and above pricing is quoted.
- Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace plans need a 50-user minimum at enterprise volume.
- Server and SaaS plans pool storage, and added capacity is $90 per year per 250 GB.
IDrive
- Advertised prices are 30% off the first year only, and the discount is not available when signing up from the mobile apps.
- Cloud Drive sync is a separate service that has to be activated; it is distinct from cloud backup.
- Going over the storage limit costs $0.25 per GB a month on Personal and $0.50 per GB on Team and Business.
- Server backup is a $5 per server a month add-on on Mini, Personal and Team, and is part of Business.
Key features
CrashPlan
- Endpoint backup
- Backs up Windows, macOS and Linux laptops, with self-serve restore and device migration so users avoid an IT ticket.
- Server backup
- Protects Windows and Linux servers using deduplication, compression and incremental backups.
- Microsoft 365 and Entra ID
- Backs up Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Entra ID, and can archive inactive data to reduce Microsoft storage.
- Google Workspace
- Backs up Gmail and Google Drive with retention and versioning beyond Google's native window.
- Retention not priced by copies
- The vendor prices on source data protected, with unlimited retention and restores included in the base price.
- Enterprise controls
- Large accounts add SSO, role-based access, legal hold, immutable copies and a choice of storage such as Azure, AWS or Wasabi.
IDrive
- Many devices in one account
- Back up PCs, Macs, Linux machines, iPhones, iPads, Android devices and external or NAS drives into one account, with continuous backup of changed files.
- Cloud Drive sync and sharing
- Sync folders across linked devices in real time, share files with view or edit permissions, and edit Office files and PDFs in the browser.
- Snapshots and versioning
- Keeps up to 30 previous versions of every backed-up file, with snapshots for point-in-time recovery and a 30-day trash for deleted files.
- Private-key encryption
- Files are encrypted with 256-bit AES, optionally with a key you define that IDrive says is not stored on its servers.
- IDrive Express shipping
- Back up or restore bulk data by mail on a physical drive: free once a year on Personal, three times a year on Team and Business, then $59.95 a request.
- Cloud app backup add-ons
- Back up Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox and Box accounts for $20 per seat a year, with a 7-day free trial.
Plans
CrashPlan
Microsoft 365 (small business)$2.50
per user / month, billed annually ($30)
Exchange Online, SharePoint and OneDrive backup with 50 GB pooled storage per user; extra storage is $90 per year per 250 GB.
Google Workspace (small business)$2.50
per user / month, billed annually ($30)
Gmail and Google Drive backup with 50 GB pooled storage per user; extra storage is $90 per year per 250 GB.
Endpoints (small business)$7.33
per user / month, billed annually ($88)
Windows, macOS and Linux laptops with unlimited cloud storage and versioning. $158 if paid every 2 years.
Servers (small business)$15.75
per server / month, billed annually ($189)
Windows and Linux servers with 250 GB pooled storage per server; extra is $90 per year per 250 GB.
Enterprise (250+ employees)Custom
Volume pricing through sales, with your own storage, SSO, legal hold and audit logging.
IDrive
Basic$0
10 GB of storage with no credit card required.
IDrive Mini$0.25
per month for 100 GB, billed annually
One user. 500 GB is $0.83 a month. Sold on yearly billing only, to new sign-ups, and the pricing page marks it "Limited time only".
IDrive Personal$9.99
per month for 5 TB, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly)
One user, multiple computers. Advertised at $6.99 a month for the first year. 10 TB is $14.99 a month and 100 TB $99.99, billed annually.
IDrive Team$9.99
per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($11.99 monthly)
5 computers, 5 users and 5 TB, managed from a web console. Advertised at $6.99 a month for the first year; 10 users and 10 TB is $19.99 a month.
IDrive Business$19.99
per month for 500 GB, billed annually
Unlimited users, computers, servers and NAS devices. Advertised at $13.99 a month the first year; 1.25 TB is $49.99 a month, or $59.99 billed monthly.
Ways to pay less
CrashPlan
- Annual discount
Two-year prepay on endpoints and servers
Endpoints are $158 and servers $284 when paid every 2 years, against $88 and $189 a year.
IDrive
- Other savings
30% off the first year
New sign-ups on yearly Personal, Team and Business plans pay 30% less for the first year, such as $6.99 instead of $9.99 a month for Personal 5 TB. Standard pricing applies from the second year.
- Other savings
50% off the first year of a 2-year plan
Two-year plans take 50% off the first year: Personal 5 TB is $179.82 for 2 years instead of $239.76.
- Annual discount
Lower price with yearly billing
Personal and Team 5 TB cost $9.99 a month billed yearly against $11.99 billed monthly, a saving of about 17%.
- Education
50% off for students and schools
Students, educational institutions and anyone with a valid education email address can get Personal or Business at half price, as a limited-period offer.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CrashPlan or IDrive?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CrashPlan starts at $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup), and IDrive starts at $0.25 per month for 100 GB, billed annually (Mini). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, CrashPlan or IDrive?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only IDrive has a free plan. CrashPlan does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do CrashPlan and IDrive run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only IDrive lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows and Linux apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.