Backblaze alternatives: where to go, and how to switch without losing a backup
Seven destinations, one per reason for leaving, and a seven-step switch plan.
The short answer: IDrive if you have several computers, a NAS or a Linux box. Arq if you want to choose what gets backed up and where, Dropbox and OneDrive folders included. CrashPlan for a business that wants every version kept. Carbonite for one PC with no settings. Hetzner Storage Box if you want cheap storage in the EU. And if you're on B2, Backblaze's developer storage: Wasabi for a flat price per terabyte, Cloudflare R2 if your files get downloaded a lot.
One rule first: never delete your Backblaze backup until the new one has finished its first upload and passed a test restore. We compared the seven destinations in this guide and read their official pricing in 2026.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why people leave Backblaze, and why order matters
Backblaze still has real strengths: $99 a year per computer, unlimited space, an app that runs without you thinking about it. Most people don't leave over price. They leave over what the backup doesn't cover, or stopped covering. Six reasons keep coming up on Mac forums and in reviews.
Cloud folders dropped from backups without warning
In late 2025, version 9.2.2 of the client started excluding synced folders from Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and Box. Backblaze filed it under improvements, citing performance issues and excessive data usage. Plenty of users only found out while looking for a file. Backblaze says it restored iCloud Drive and Google Drive support in 2026, but trust didn't come back for everyone.
One license per computer
Each machine costs $99 a year, or $9 a month. A laptop, a desktop and the kids' computer add up to $297 a year. IDrive covers several machines on one plan, from $6.99 a month in year one for 5 TB.
No NAS, no Linux
Computer Backup won't back up a NAS or a network share. Backblaze points you to B2, its other product, billed per terabyte. There's no Linux client either. If your photo library lives on a Synology, Backblaze never sees it.
The 30-day rule
An external drive has to be plugged in and scanned at least once every 30 days. After that, it drops out of your current backup view, and its files only stay if you turned on one-year history. Deleted files work the same way: 30 days by default. The archive drive sitting in a drawer is exactly the one you lose.
A private key that goes through the server
You can encrypt your backup with your own key. But for a web restore, Backblaze asks for it and decrypts your files on its restore servers. For a lawyer or a doctor, that's not the same as encryption only your machine knows, like Arq or restic.
Support and reviews that worry people
On public review sites, Backblaze's rating is poor, with a majority of one-star reviews. Complaints mention failed restores, folders that quietly stopped being backed up, and slow support. Positive reviews praise the price and how quietly the app runs. Bottom line: the day you need a restore, you want a tool you trust.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Backblaze alternative depends on what's pushing you out, and on which product you're leaving: computer backup or B2 storage. Usually one line fits. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
One account for every machine: 5 TB at $6.99 a month in year one.
Your Dropbox or OneDrive folders aren't backed up anymoreArqYou choose what goes, and encryption stays on your machine.
Your company wants every version keptCrashPlanUnlimited versions, $88 a year per user.
You want your data in the EU, cheaplyHetzner Storage Box1 TB for €3.20 a month, in Germany or Finland.
You use B2 for server backupsWasabi$7.99 per TB, no egress fees within your stored volume.
Your B2 files are downloaded by your visitorsCloudflare R2Egress is always free, and a tool copies your B2 bucket over.
Backblaze alternatives, tool by tool
The first four replace Computer Backup. Hetzner can replace both products. Wasabi and R2 replace B2, the S3-compatible storage. For each one: why move, who it's for, its limit, how to switch, and the price. Prices come from official pricing pages in 2026, in US dollars except Hetzner, which bills in euros.
IDrive: every computer, your NAS and Linux on one account
Most completeWhy switch to IDrive. Backblaze charges per computer and won't touch a NAS. IDrive works the other way around: one account covers all your PCs and Macs up to the storage you buy, plus a Synology or QNAP NAS through dedicated apps, and Linux through a desktop app or a command-line package. For a household with three machines, or a small office with a file server, it's the most direct way out.
Who it's for. Families, freelancers and small teams with several devices, a NAS or a Linux box.
Who it's not for. The photographer with 12 TB on a single Mac. IDrive bills by storage, not by computer, so 12 TB means the 20 TB tier.
Its limit. The headline price is a first-year price. Billed yearly, 5 TB costs $6.99 a month in year one, then $9.99. Month to month, it's $11.99. The 10 TB tier jumps from $10.49 to $14.99 a month. Reviews also describe the first upload as slower than Backblaze's.
How to switch. Install IDrive on the computer with the most data and keep Backblaze running until the first upload finishes. Then add the other machines one by one, and the NAS last. The free 10 GB plan is enough to confirm a restore works before you pay.
- Year one
- $6.99/mo for 5 TB
- After
- $9.99/mo
- Covers
- PC, Mac, Linux, NAS
- Limit
- discount only in year one
Arq: you decide where backups go, and what's in them
Most controlWhy switch to Arq. Arq is backup software, not a cloud. You buy it once ($59.99 per computer) and point it at the storage you want: B2, Amazon S3, an SFTP server, a NAS or a drive. Encryption happens on your machine, with a password nobody else holds. On Mac forums, it's the tool people name when Backblaze stops backing up Dropbox or OneDrive folders.
Who it's for. Mac and Windows users who don't mind a settings screen and want to choose what goes where and how many versions stay.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants install-and-forget: you pick storage, exclusions and retention.
Its limit. Storage costs come on top of the license, and updates cost $25 a year after year one. No Linux version. If you don't want to manage storage, Arq Premium is $69.99 a year for 5 computers and 1 TB, then $0.00699 per GB per month.
Tip. Already paying for B2 next to Backblaze? Keep the bucket and point Arq at it. You leave the Backblaze app without leaving its storage.
- License
- $59.99 per computer
- Premium
- $69.99/yr, 5 PCs, 1 TB
- Storage
- B2, S3, SFTP, NAS, drive
- Limit
- no Linux
CrashPlan: for a business that never wants to lose a version
BusinessWhy switch to CrashPlan. Backblaze keeps 30 days of versions by default, a year as a free option, and charges per GB for forever. CrashPlan keeps every version of every file, with no time limit, on its business plans. For a firm that has to pull up a contract exactly as it looked three years ago, that's the whole argument.
Who it's for. Companies under 250 employees backing up laptops, who may also want Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace covered ($2.50 per user per month).
Who it's not for. Home users. CrashPlan closed its consumer plan years ago, and its per-seat price is higher than Backblaze's.
Its limit. Endpoints costs $7.33 per user per month, or $88 a year ($158 for two years). The pricing page contradicts itself on storage: "unlimited" in the plan grid, 50 GB pooled in the FAQ. Get the answer in writing before you sign if your laptops hold more than that.
How to switch. Roll the agent out to a pilot group, wait for the first upload, run a test restore, then retire Backblaze Business licenses seat by seat.
- Price
- $88/yr per user
- Versions
- unlimited
- Audience
- companies under 250 staff
- Limit
- included storage unclear
Carbonite: the simple pick for one PC and its external drive
SimpleWhy switch to Carbonite. It's Backblaze's oldest rival in single-computer backup, with a guided setup and consumer support. The Plus plan covers one computer and one external drive, without Backblaze's 30-day reconnect rule.
Who it's for. A home user on Windows or Mac who wants automatic backup and zero settings.
Who it's not for. A household with several computers: each plan covers one machine.
Its limit. The prices on the page are first-year prices. Basic is $76.79 a year ($95.99 list), Plus $85.79 ($131.99), Prime $105.29 ($161.99). Carbonite doesn't publish its renewal price. If you renew at list, Plus ends up costing more than Backblaze's $99. Check the figure in your account before year two.
How to switch. Install Carbonite, add the external drive in settings, wait for the upload to finish, then delete the Backblaze backup.
- Plus
- $85.79 year one
- List price
- $131.99/yr
- Covers
- 1 computer + 1 drive
- Limit
- one machine only
Hetzner Storage Box: cheap European storage for restic and Borg
EU dataWhy switch to Hetzner. A Storage Box is raw storage in Germany or Finland, at €3.20 a month for 1 TB and €10.90 for 5 TB (before VAT), unlimited traffic, no contract. It speaks SFTP, rsync, BorgBackup, restic and rclone. Paired with free software like restic, it replaces both Computer Backup and B2 for server or NAS backups. Several people who left Backblaze over the cloud-folder change describe exactly this setup.
Who it's for. Technical users, Linux shops, NAS owners, and anyone who needs data kept in the EU.
Who it's not for. Anyone who doesn't want to touch a terminal: there's no turnkey backup app.
Its limit. You run everything: scheduling, encryption, checks. Prices are in euros, so US billing moves with the exchange rate. And a Storage Box doesn't speak S3, so an app that writes to B2 over the S3 API can't use it.
Tip. Create one sub-account per machine. Each is locked to its own folder, so a compromised server can't wipe the others' backups. Turn on the box's automatic snapshots too.
- 1 TB
- €3.20/mo before VAT
- 5 TB
- €10.90/mo before VAT
- Data
- Germany or Finland
- Limit
- no S3 API
Wasabi: replace B2 with a flat price per terabyte
Replaces B2Why switch to Wasabi. If you run B2 and your bill swings with downloads, Wasabi charges a flat $7.99 per TB per month, with no egress or API request fees. It speaks the S3 API like B2, so a tool like rclone connects by swapping the endpoint and keys.
Who it's for. Server and NAS backups, and archives you keep for months.
Who it's not for. Small volumes (you're billed for at least 1 TB) or files you replace every week: each object is billed for at least 90 days, even if you delete it sooner.
Its limit. Free egress has a condition. What you download in a month shouldn't exceed what you store. Go past that regularly and Wasabi reserves the right to limit or suspend your service.
How to switch. Copy bucket by bucket with rclone between two S3-compatible accounts. B2 egress is free up to three times your average stored volume, which covers copying a stable bucket out.
- Price
- $7.99/TB/mo
- Minimum
- 1 TB, 90 days per object
- Egress
- free, with a cap
- Limit
- pricey for small volumes
Cloudflare R2: when your B2 files get downloaded a lot
Free egressWhy switch to R2. R2 never charges for outbound bandwidth. For a site serving images, video or downloads from B2, that whole line on the invoice goes away. Storage is $0.015 per GB per month, or $15 per TB, and the first 10 GB are free.
Who it's for. Developers and sites that serve files to the public.
Who it's not for. A backup archive you almost never read. At $15 per TB, R2 costs more than twice B2's $6.95.
Its limit. Operations cost money: $4.50 per million writes and $0.36 per million reads beyond the free tier. Backup software that chunks data into many small objects can push the write line up.
How to switch. Cloudflare's Super Slurper copies a whole B2 bucket from the dashboard and never deletes the source. It skips objects over 1 TB. For a no-downtime cutover, turn on Sippy (copy on demand) first, then run Super Slurper with skip-existing.
- Storage
- $15/TB/mo
- Egress
- free
- Migration
- Super Slurper from B2
- Limit
- operations are billed
The 7 alternatives at a glance
Our default picks: IDrive to replace Computer Backup, Wasabi to replace B2 if your files aren't downloaded much. For scale, take three computers holding 3 TB in total. Backblaze costs $297 a year. IDrive costs $83.88 in year one ($6.99 a month), then $119.88. On the storage side, 5 TB runs about $35 a month on B2, $40 on Wasabi and $75 on R2. One row per tool: what it covers on the left, starting price and how to move on the right.
| What it covers | Starting price and how to move | |
|---|---|---|
| Backblaze Computer BackupWhere you start | 1 computer, unlimited space, no NAS or Linux | $99 a year or $9 a month, per computer |
| Backblaze B2Where you start | S3-compatible storage, 10 GB free | $6.95 per TB per month; free egress up to 3x storage |
| IDriveSeveral machines | PC, Mac, Linux, NAS on one account | $6.99 a month in year one for 5 TB, then $9.99; run side by side |
| ArqFull control | Mac and Windows, to the storage you pick | $59.99 per computer, or Premium at $69.99 a year; can keep your B2 bucket |
| CrashPlanBusiness | Laptops and desktops, unlimited versions | $88 a year per user; roll out by pilot group |
| CarboniteOne PC | 1 computer, plus 1 external drive from Plus up | Plus $85.79 in year one ($131.99 list) |
| Hetzner Storage BoxEU data | SFTP, restic, Borg, rclone, no S3 | €3.20 a month for 1 TB before VAT; restic or rclone |
| WasabiReplaces B2 | S3-compatible storage | $7.99 per TB, 1 TB and 90 days minimum; rclone copy |
| Cloudflare R2Files served to the public | S3-compatible storage, free egress | $15 per TB; Super Slurper copy |
Starting prices before tax as shown by each vendor, subject to change. First-year discounts don't last: compare over two years.
Leave Backblaze in seven steps
Order matters more than the tool. The golden rule: at every moment, at least one full, verified copy of your files exists off your computer.
Check what Backblaze actually backs up
Day 1Open the client settings, go to the exclusions tab, and write down which drives are covered. Then open the web restore and see what's really there. This is where many people discover their Dropbox or OneDrive folders are gone, or that an external drive fell out of view after 30 days.
Also note whether you use a private key. Without it, no restore is possible, and Backblaze can't recover it for you.
- Output
- list of drives and folders
- If skipped
- a forgotten file
Plug in every external drive
Day 1Connect each external drive and let Backblaze scan it. That way its files are in your latest backup the day you leave, and the new tool sees them too. It's also the moment to decide whether that archive drive goes into the new backup or needs its own copy.
- Reminder
- 30 days unplugged: drive drops out of view
Install the new tool alongside, without switching anything off
Week 1Install IDrive, Arq, Carbonite or restic while Backblaze keeps running. The two can live together. Just watch your bandwidth: if the connection chokes, let the new backup run at night.
Set exclusions carefully: caches, virtual machines, download folders. They make the first upload lighter.
- Time
- a few days to several weeks
- If skipped
- a saturated connection
Run a test restore at the destination
Before anything elseA backup you've never restored is just a promise. Restore a whole folder (not one file) to a different location and open a few files at random: a photo, a document, an archive.
With restic, run a repository check too. With Arq, open the history and make sure older versions are there.
- Pass mark
- a whole folder restored and readable
Rescue what only Backblaze still has
Before you cancelA file you deleted three weeks ago only exists in Backblaze's history now. The new tool never saw it. Restore the old versions you need from the website (zip files of up to 500 GB per request).
For large volumes, order the encrypted USB drive: up to 8 TB, free if you send it back within 30 days. If you'd rather keep it as an offline copy, it's $279.
- Web zip
- 500 GB per request
- USB drive
- up to 8 TB, free if returned
On B2: copy the buckets and deal with old versions
If you use B2Use rclone to copy each bucket to Wasabi, R2 or a Storage Box, with plenty of parallel transfers (around 32 works well on B2) and fast listing on. For R2, Super Slurper does it from the dashboard.
Watch out: B2 keeps old versions of every file, hidden but billed. Decide whether you take them. Then verify the copy with rclone check before deleting the source bucket.
- Tool
- rclone or Super Slurper
- Trap
- hidden versions are billed
Delete the backup, then the license
LastIn the web console, open Preferences and click Delete Backup. A code arrives by email, and the data is erased right away, for good. Then delete the unused license. Do it before your renewal date so you don't pay for another full term, and don't count on a refund for unused days.
- Effect
- immediate, permanent deletion
- Timing
- just before renewal
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Backblaze exit go wrong
The same mistakes show up on Mac forums, photography forums and NAS forums. None are technical. They're mistakes of order, and each one can cost you files.
Deleting before the upload is done
A first upload of several terabytes takes days, sometimes weeks on a modest connection. Delete Backblaze on day one and you're unprotected the whole time. Pay for one more month: at $9, it's the cheapest insurance in the whole switch.
Assuming the new backup has everything
It only has what's on your disk today. Files deleted last month, old versions, and the drive unplugged since summer only exist at Backblaze. Rescue them first (step 5).
Recreating the same blind spot
If you're leaving over cloud folders, check that your destination really backs them up, with files downloaded locally and not just placeholders. On a Mac, iCloud-managed files cause the same problem for every backup app.
Losing the key or password
With Arq, restic or a Backblaze private key, nobody can recover your password. Store it in a password manager and on paper, somewhere other than the computer you're backing up.
Comparing prices that measure different things
Backblaze bills per computer, IDrive per storage tier, Wasabi per terabyte with a 90-day minimum, R2 per operation. Compare on your real setup over two years. If you back up servers, see our guides to switching from Veeam and switching from Acronis for disk imaging, and our public cloud ranking for storage.
Keeping a single copy
Online backup doesn't replace a local copy. The 3-2-1 rule still holds: three copies, two kinds of media, one offsite. A plain external drive at home covers the local copy.
- Exclusions checked, cloud folders and external drives confirmed
- Private key and passwords stored off the computer
- External drives plugged in and scanned
- New backup installed alongside Backblaze
- First upload finished
- A whole folder restored and opened at the destination
- Old versions and deleted files rescued from Backblaze
- B2 buckets copied and verified, hidden versions handled
- Backblaze backup deleted just before renewal
- A local copy on top of the online one
Backblaze alternatives: frequently asked questions
What's the best free alternative to Backblaze?
Nothing replaces unlimited backup for free. IDrive gives you 10 GB with no credit card, enough for documents. Beyond that, the cheapest route is free software like restic sent to a Hetzner Storage Box, at €3.20 a month for 1 TB. Backblaze B2 also has 10 GB free.
Backblaze or IDrive: which should I choose?
Backblaze if you have one computer with a lot of data: $99 a year with no cap. IDrive once you have two machines, a NAS or Linux: one 5 TB account covers them all. Past 5 TB on a single computer, Backblaze stays cheaper.
Does Backblaze back up a NAS?
Not with Computer Backup. Backblaze points you to B2, its storage at $6.95 per TB per month. If you don't want B2, a Hetzner Storage Box accepts rsync and restic straight from a NAS, and IDrive has its own Synology and QNAP apps.
What happens to my files if I cancel Backblaze?
If you delete the backup, they're erased immediately, with no undo. Restore what you need first, or order the USB drive, free if it comes back within 30 days. Don't count on a grace period: Backblaze doesn't publish one.
Does Backblaze still back up Dropbox, OneDrive and iCloud?
Synced folders from Dropbox, OneDrive and Box have been excluded since client version 9.2.2. Backblaze says it restored iCloud Drive and Google Drive in 2026. Those files usually have a copy at their own service, but not a long history. If you want them covered, Arq backs them up as long as they're downloaded to your disk. If you'd rather leave Dropbox itself, read our guide to switching from Dropbox.
What's the best alternative to Backblaze B2 for an app or website?
Cloudflare R2 if your files are served to the public, since egress is free. Wasabi for backups at a flat price. Both speak the S3 API like B2, so you change the endpoint and keys, not your code. Weighing whether to stay on Cloudflare at all? Read switching from Cloudflare. Coming from Amazon S3? See switching from AWS.
Is there a European alternative to Backblaze?
Yes. Hetzner, a German company, keeps Storage Boxes in Germany or Finland, from €3.20 a month for 1 TB. Our page on switching from Hetzner covers the host's own limits.
How long does the switch take?
Setup takes an hour. The first upload depends on your data and connection: plan on several days for 1 TB on a modest line, longer with lots of small files. Keep Backblaze active the whole time. An extra month costs $9.
Get the next migration guide in your inbox
One tool to leave, one destination, one migration plan. Nothing else.