Is Carbonite or IDrive better?

Neither clearly leads. Carbonite starts at $6/month and IDrive at $2.5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Carbonite or IDrive?

Carbonite starts at $6/month and IDrive at $2.5/month.

Does Carbonite or IDrive run on more platforms?

Carbonite runs on Windows, Mac, Web. IDrive runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, 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 IDrive is typically brought in for.

What can Carbonite do that IDrive cannot?

Carbonite covers Automatic backup, Remote file access, Bare metal restore, Encryption. IDrive covers Multiple device backup, True archiving, IDrive Express, Snapshots. Both handle Continuous protection, Windows Server, Windows support, Mac support.

File Storage · head to head

Carbonite vs IDrive

Carbonite

File Storage

Simple and reliable cloud backup for businesses

From: $6/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

IDrive

File Storage

Affordable online backup with multiple device support

From: $2.5/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; IDrive the advertised annual rates are first year introductory prices, with standard pricing applying from the second year onward
They diverge on capability: Carbonite covers Automatic backup, IDrive covers Multiple device backup.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Carbonite and IDrive actually diverge.

Attributes where Carbonite and IDrive differ
Attribute	Carbonite	IDrive
Starting price	$6/month	$2.5/month
Platforms	Windows, Mac, Web	Windows, Mac, Linux, Web
Founded	2005	1995

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
Remote file access
Bare metal restore
Encryption
Compliance support
Microsoft 365
VMware
Hyper-V

Only in IDrive

Multiple device backup
True archiving
IDrive Express
Snapshots
File sharing
iOS
Android
Linux Server

Both cover

Continuous protection
Windows Server
Windows support
Mac support
Web support

What people use each for

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

Carbonite

Data protectionnot IDrive
Disaster recoverynot IDrive
Business continuitynot IDrive
Ransomware protectionnot IDrive
Compliancenot IDrive

IDrive

Online backup for computers, servers and mobile devicesnot Carbonite
Backing up multiple machines under one accountnot 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

IDrive

The advertised annual rates are first year introductory prices, with standard pricing applying from the second year onward
The two year offer discounts only the first year, so the second year reverts to the full rate
Team plans tie user and computer counts to the storage tier, so 10 TB means exactly 10 computers
Business storage costs far more per terabyte than Personal, at $719.88 a year for 1.25 TB against $143.88 for 5 TB

Pricing, plan by plan

Carbonite

$6/month

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

IDrive

$2.5/month

IDrive Personal$2.5/month
- Promotional pricing: $2.50/month (billed annually)
- Regular pricing: $6.99/month
- 50% savings with annual billing
IDrive Team$null/month
- Cloud backup service for small business
IDrive Business$null/month
- Backup for computers and servers
IDrive 360 Enterprise Backup$null/month
- Endpoint, servers, and SaaS cloud backup
- For MSPs and IT teams

Which should you pick?

Choose Carbonite if

You need automatic backup.
You work on Windows, Mac, Web.
You also want remote file access.

Carbonite review

Choose IDrive if

You need multiple device backup.
You work on Windows, Mac, Linux, Web.
You also want true archiving.

IDrive review

Questions people ask

Is Carbonite or IDrive better?: Neither clearly leads. Carbonite starts at $6/month and IDrive at $2.5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Carbonite or IDrive?: Carbonite starts at $6/month and IDrive at $2.5/month.
Does Carbonite or IDrive run on more platforms?: Carbonite runs on Windows, Mac, Web. IDrive runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, 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 IDrive is typically brought in for.
What can Carbonite do that IDrive cannot?: Carbonite covers Automatic backup, Remote file access, Bare metal restore, Encryption. IDrive covers Multiple device backup, True archiving, IDrive Express, Snapshots. Both handle Continuous protection, Windows Server, Windows support, Mac support.

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

IDrive: How much does IDrive Personal cost?

IDrive Personal starts at $2.50/month when billed annually, representing a 50% discount from the regular price of $6.99/month. A 7-day free trial is available without requiring a credit card.

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

IDrive: What is the price for IDrive Cloud Applications Backup?

IDrive Cloud Applications Backup costs $20 per seat per year with unlimited storage. This covers backups for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox, and Box.

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

IDrive: How much does IDrive e2 cloud object storage cost?

IDrive e2 starts at $29.75 per year for 1 TB (first-year promotional pricing; regular price $59.50/year). IDrive markets this as 90% cheaper than AWS pricing for equivalent storage.

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 IDrive

Carbonite

IDrive

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Carbonite

Only in IDrive

Both cover

What people use each for

Carbonite

IDrive

Where each one falls short

Carbonite

IDrive

Pricing, plan by plan

Carbonite

IDrive

Which should you pick?

Choose Carbonite if

Choose IDrive if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Carbonite

More on IDrive

Keep looking

Other head to heads