Is Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive better?

Neither clearly leads. Carbonite starts at $6/month and Microsoft OneDrive at $1.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive?

Carbonite starts at $6/month and Microsoft OneDrive at $1.99/month.

Does Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive run on more platforms?

Carbonite runs on Windows, Mac, Web. Microsoft OneDrive runs on Web.

What is Carbonite best used for?

Carbonite is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Microsoft OneDrive is typically brought in for.

What can Carbonite do that Microsoft OneDrive cannot?

Carbonite covers Automatic backup, Continuous protection, Remote file access, Bare metal restore.

File Storage · head to head

Carbonite vs Microsoft OneDrive

Carbonite

File Storage

Simple and reliable cloud backup for businesses

From: $6/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Microsoft OneDrive

File Storage

Cloud storage that comes with Microsoft 365

From: $1.99/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Carbonite upload speeds are significantly slower than competitors due to lack of block-level algorithms and multithreading; Microsoft OneDrive free tier not available; minimum cost is $1.99/month for 100 GB storage
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Carbonite and Microsoft OneDrive actually diverge.

Attributes where Carbonite and Microsoft OneDrive differ
Attribute	Carbonite	Microsoft OneDrive
Starting price	$6/month	$1.99/month
Platforms	Windows, Mac, Web	Web
Founded	2005	Unknown

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (File Storage).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Carbonite

Automatic backup
Continuous protection
Remote file access
Bare metal restore
Encryption
Compliance support
Microsoft 365
Windows Server

Only in Microsoft OneDrive

Nothing recorded that Carbonite does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Carbonite

Data protectionnot Microsoft OneDrive
Disaster recoverynot Microsoft OneDrive
Business continuitynot Microsoft OneDrive
Ransomware protectionnot Microsoft OneDrive
Compliancenot Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive

Personal cloud storage and file backupnot Carbonite
Family file sharing and collaborationnot Carbonite
Business document managementnot Carbonite
Enterprise ransomware protectionnot Carbonite

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Carbonite

Upload speeds are significantly slower than competitors due to lack of block-level algorithms and multithreading
Bandwidth throttling control is limited, preventing users from managing full bandwidth allocation
Mobile apps and web access are more limited than sync-first services like Dropbox or Google Drive
Uses AES-128 encryption instead of industry-standard AES-256
Hybrid backup support is restricted to professional plans, unavailable for personal users

Microsoft OneDrive

Free tier not available; minimum cost is $1.99/month for 100 GB storage
Higher-tier plans required for advanced Copilot features
Per-user pricing increases significantly with family plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Carbonite

$6/month

Basic$6/month
- Automatic backup
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Easy restore

Microsoft OneDrive

$1.99/month

Microsoft 365 Basic$1.99/month
- 100 GB cloud storage
- Outlook access
- OneDrive access
Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99/month
- 1 TB cloud storage
- Desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote)
- Copilot features
Microsoft 365 Family$12.99/month
- Up to 6 TB cloud storage (1 TB per person)
- 1-6 users supported
- Same apps and features as Personal
Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99/month
- Up to 6 TB cloud storage (1 TB per person)
- 1-6 users
- Extensive Copilot feature access

Which should you pick?

Choose Carbonite if

You need automatic backup.
You work on Windows, Mac, Web.
You also want continuous protection.

Carbonite review

Choose Microsoft OneDrive if

Nothing in the data separates Microsoft OneDrive from Carbonite on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Microsoft OneDrive review

Questions people ask

Is Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive better?: Neither clearly leads. Carbonite starts at $6/month and Microsoft OneDrive at $1.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive?: Carbonite starts at $6/month and Microsoft OneDrive at $1.99/month.
Does Carbonite or Microsoft OneDrive run on more platforms?: Carbonite runs on Windows, Mac, Web. Microsoft OneDrive runs on Web.
What is Carbonite best used for?: Carbonite is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Microsoft OneDrive is typically brought in for.
What can Carbonite do that Microsoft OneDrive cannot?: Carbonite covers Automatic backup, Continuous protection, Remote file access, Bare metal restore.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Carbonite: Does Carbonite offer unlimited storage?

Yes, Carbonite's personal plans (Safe Basic through Safe Server Ultimate) offer unlimited cloud storage, though business plans have tiered storage starting at 250 GB.

Source

Microsoft OneDrive: How much does Microsoft OneDrive cost?

OneDrive pricing starts at $1.99/month for Microsoft 365 Basic with 100 GB storage. Personal plan costs $9.99/month with 1 TB storage. Family plan at $12.99/month supports 1-6 people with up to 6 TB total storage. Premium tier at $19.99/month adds advanced Copilot and AI features.

Source

Carbonite: What is Carbonite's pricing?

Personal plans range from $4.91 to $83.33 per month with annual billing. Business plans start around $50-$75 per endpoint annually, with volume discounts available for multi-year contracts.

Source

Microsoft OneDrive: Is there a free version of Microsoft OneDrive?

Microsoft does not offer a free OneDrive plan through their paid subscription tiers. However, users with Microsoft accounts receive 5 GB of complimentary OneDrive storage at no cost when creating a Microsoft account.

Source

Carbonite: How fast are Carbonite's upload speeds?

Carbonite's upload speeds are notably slow and are consistently identified as the platform's main weakness. The lack of block-level algorithms and multithreading contributes to these speed limitations.

Source

Microsoft OneDrive: What security features are included in OneDrive plans?

All OneDrive plans include ransomware detection with files restore, password-protected and expiring-link file sharing settings, and anywhere editing with real-time collaboration. Premium and higher tiers offer exclusive agentic AI security features.

Source

Carbonite: What encryption does Carbonite use?

Carbonite uses AES-128 encryption at rest, which is an unusual choice in 2026 when AES-256 is the industry standard.

Source

Carbonite vs Microsoft OneDrive

Carbonite

Microsoft OneDrive

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Carbonite

Only in Microsoft OneDrive

What people use each for

Carbonite

Microsoft OneDrive

Where each one falls short

Carbonite

Microsoft OneDrive

Pricing, plan by plan

Carbonite

Microsoft OneDrive

Which should you pick?

Choose Carbonite if

Choose Microsoft OneDrive if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Carbonite

More on Microsoft OneDrive

Keep looking

Other head to heads