IDrive vs Zoolz (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, IDrive grades higher than Zoolz: 3.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
IDrive grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
IDrive
Cloud backup for many devices in one account, with a sync folder
Zoolz
Cloud backup for businesses, sold by storage tier
Which one is for you
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
Pick Zoolz if
- Fits if you have several terabytes of archives, such as photos or video, that you almost never open
- Makes sense if a small team wants one backup bill for up to 5 users
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need quick access to everything, because most of each plan is cold storage
- Tight if you are on the 2.5 TB plan: 5 users, 1 server and files up to 20 GB
- Skip it if you use phones or Linux, since apps are Windows and Mac only
- Watch out: the 30% yearly discount is shown with no end date, and only monthly and yearly billing are offered
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAIDriveVery good | 2.0GPAZoolzFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | C$7.99 a month for 2.5 TB, or $79.99 a year, against a $6.95 middle in file storage. Per terabyte it is low, but the starting price for one person is a little above the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CA 14-day trial with no credit card, and no free plan. After two weeks you pay. |
| Features | 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. | CBackup with versions, incremental uploads, a local copy for faster restores and time-limited share links. The listing's own gap: only the small hot tier is for quick access, so it is a backup service and not a daily-use drive. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo store rating on record. You install the backup program and pick what to protect, which is ordinary setup for a backup tool. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CWindows and Mac programs plus a browser view. One family of devices: no phone apps and no Linux. |
| Best for | backing up lots of devices in one account | backing up big archives that you rarely open |
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: IDrive and Zoolz. How we grade
Price against what you get
IDrive starts at $0.25 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoolz starts at $7.99 a month and scores 2.0.
IDrive scores higher and starts $7.74 a month lower. Of the other file storage and sync services on the chart, none scores higher than IDrive for less, and 21 score higher than Zoolz 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
- IDrive also covers file sync.
- Zoolz also covers file management.
At a glance
| IDrive | Zoolz | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $0.25 per month for 100 GB, billed annually (Mini) | $7.99 per month, billed monthly ($79.99 billed yearly) |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | IDrive Inc. | Zoolz |
| Price read from | idrive.com | zoolz.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Zoolz
- Most storage is cold, so only the smaller hot tier is for quick access.
- The 2.5 TB plan is limited to 5 users, 1 server and files up to 20 GB.
- Apps are listed for Windows and Mac only, plus browser access.
- Only monthly and yearly billing are shown; no multi-year terms or other currencies appear.
Key features
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.
Zoolz
- Cold and hot storage
- Each plan pairs a large cold tier with a smaller hot tier, such as 2 TB cold plus 500 GB hot on the 2.5 TB plan.
- Incremental backup
- Only new or changed data is backed up after the first run, which cuts upload time and storage use.
- Hybrid+ backup
- Keeps one copy locally and one in the cloud, and restores from the local copy first for faster recovery.
- User and policy management
- Admins set storage limits, retention policies and user access. Version control for files is listed on every plan.
- Secure sharing
- Files can be shared through time-limited links, and encrypted files are accessible from the web or other devices.
- AWS-based storage
- The vendor says data sits on AWS encryption, and lists GDPR compliance on every plan.
Plans
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.
Zoolz
Cloud Backup 2.5 TB (monthly)$7.99
per month, billed monthly
2 TB cold plus 500 GB hot storage, 5 users and 1 server, files up to 20 GB.
Cloud Backup 2.5 TB (yearly)$79.99
per year, billed yearly
The same 2.5 TB plan on yearly billing; the page shows a 30% yearly discount.
Cloud Backup 7 TB$23.99
per month, billed monthly ($239.99 billed yearly)
6 TB cold plus 1 TB hot storage, unlimited users and servers, unlimited file size.
Cloud Backup 12 TB$39.99
per month, billed monthly ($399.99 billed yearly)
10 TB cold plus 2 TB hot storage, unlimited users and servers.
Cloud Backup 24 TB$75.99
per month, billed monthly ($759.99 billed yearly)
20 TB cold plus 4 TB hot storage, unlimited users and servers.
Cloud Backup 60 TB$159.99
per month, billed monthly ($1,599.99 billed yearly)
50 TB cold plus 10 TB hot storage, unlimited users and servers.
Ways to pay less
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.
Zoolz
- Annual discount
30% off yearly plans
A banner on the pricing page offers 30% off all yearly plans, applied automatically at checkout, with no end date stated.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, IDrive or Zoolz?
As of Nov 12, 2026, IDrive is cheaper to start with: $0.25 a month, against $7.99 a month for Zoolz. IDrive starts at $0.25 per month for 100 GB, billed annually (Mini), and Zoolz starts at $7.99 per month, billed monthly ($79.99 billed yearly).
Which has a free plan, IDrive or Zoolz?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only IDrive has a free plan. Zoolz does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do IDrive and Zoolz run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only IDrive lists Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and macOS and Windows 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.