# Disk Drill review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Data recovery app for Mac and Windows with free disk tools Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Disk Drill scans internal and external drives, memory cards and other storage for deleted or lost files and lists what can be restored. The free Basic edition scans and previews; the PRO edition lifts the recovery limit. It also bundles disk health monitoring, a duplicate finder, space analysis and backup tools. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** CleverFiles Inc. - **Website:** https://www.cleverfiles.com - **Runs on:** macOS, Windows - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want to recover files without paying, as free is scan and preview on Mac and capped at 100 MB on Windows. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Disk Drill has a free plan, and paid plans start at $49 per year, or $69 one-time. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Disk Drill Basic scans storage and previews every recoverable file; the Windows page says it recovers up to 100 MB for free. Disk health, cleanup, duplicate finder and backup tools are included in the free edition. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Basic | $0 | Scan and preview recoverable files, plus the free disk health, cleanup, duplicate finder and backup tools. | | PRO One-Year Subscription | $49 per year, renews yearly | Unlimited recovery on Mac and Windows, all updates while subscribed, 1 user on up to 3 devices. | | PRO Lifetime License | $69 one-time | Same as the subscription, with updates included permanently. Shown as $69 against a crossed-out $119 with no end date given. | Read from https://www.cleverfiles.com/pro.html on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Disk Drill before buying. ## Key features - **File and partition recovery:** Scans drives, SSDs, memory cards, USB sticks, cameras and RAID arrays for deleted files and lost partitions, and previews results before recovery. - **Time Machine and snapshots:** On Mac it reads Time Machine backup disks and local snapshots as extra places to find overwritten files. - **Disk health monitoring:** Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring watches connected disks for signs of trouble. - **Cleanup and duplicate finder:** Shows what is using disk space and finds duplicate files in several locations. - **Byte-to-byte backups and recovery drive:** Creates disk and partition images and a bootable USB drive for recovery. - **Data protection:** With protection enabled, recovery of protected files is free, according to the vendor. ## Good for - A one-off recovery after an accidental delete or format - Checking whether files are recoverable before paying - Users who want recovery and disk health tools in one app ## Worth knowing - Unlimited recovery needs PRO; the Mac page describes the free edition as scan and preview only. - All PRO purchases are non-refundable except where consumer law requires a refund, according to the vendor's FAQ. - A PRO license covers 1 user on up to 3 devices; business use is allowed, and larger teams get a custom Enterprise quote. - On Macs, deep scans of system disks rely on a kernel extension the app installs. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Disk Drill recovers deleted files and lost partitions on Mac and Windows, and it also checks disk health and finds duplicates. Free only scans and previews what it finds, so the actual recovery needs PRO, and PRO purchases are non-refundable. - **Value for money: B.** PRO Lifetime is $69 once, under two years of what the category's middle subscription costs. The yearly option is $49, which is mid-range for the category. - **Free plan and trial: C.** The free edition scans and previews but, on Mac, does not recover; the Windows page says up to 100 MB. The disk health, cleanup and duplicate tools are free. - **Features: B.** Recovers from drives, cards, cameras and RAID, reads Time Machine, and adds disk health, cleanup, duplicates and backups. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record. You install it and run a scan, though deep scans on Macs need a kernel extension it installs. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Mac and Windows desktop only. No phone app, web version or published integrations. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from CleverFiles's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - Disk Drill's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 35 of the 96 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 25. - It stands best on features (B, above 69 of 96) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 4). - Its paid plans start at $4.08 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $2.97 for the category: 13 of the 16 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Nothing Disk Drill does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 4 things listed below take a company. It costs $49 a year. - You could not: Deleting system files without breaking anything. - You could not: A file manager working directly on your disk. - You could not: A real app for macOS and Windows. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Disk cleanup, File management, Works offline, One-time purchase ## Alternatives - [DaisyDisk](https://toolgpa.com/tools/daisydisk): Visual disk space analyzer and cleanup tool for Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/daisydisk-vs-disk-drill) - [CleanMyMac](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cleanmymac): Mac cleanup, malware removal and maintenance in one app. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cleanmymac-vs-disk-drill) - [WizTree](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wiztree): Fast disk space analyzer for Windows and macOS. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/disk-drill-vs-wiztree) - [WinDirStat](https://toolgpa.com/tools/windirstat): Free, open-source disk usage analyzer for Windows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/disk-drill-vs-windirstat) - [BleachBit](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bleachbit): Free, open-source disk cleaner for Windows and Linux. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bleachbit-vs-disk-drill) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://www.cleverfiles.com/pro.html - https://www.cleverfiles.com/ - https://www.cleverfiles.com/data-recovery-software.html Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/disk-drill Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).