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File Storage · head to head

IDrive vs MinIO

IDrive logo

IDrive

File Storage

Affordable online backup with multiple device support

From
$2.5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MinIO logo

MinIO

File Storage

S3-compatible object storage server you run yourself, now under AGPL with a stripped community edition

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only MinIO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: IDrive the advertised annual rates are first year introductory prices, with standard pricing applying from the second year onward; MinIO the AGPL v3 licence applies copyleft over network use, so embedding MinIO in a product or hosted service obliges you to release your own source or buy a commercial licence, and legal review has removed it from several vendor stacks for this reason alone.
  • They diverge on capability: IDrive covers Multiple device backup, MinIO covers S3 API implementation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IDrive and MinIO actually diverge.

Attributes where IDrive and MinIO differ
AttributeIDriveMinIO
Starting price$2.5/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Mac, Linux, WebLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker
Founded1995Unknown

Identical on both: 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 IDrive

  • Multiple device backup
  • True archiving
  • Continuous protection
  • IDrive Express
  • Snapshots
  • File sharing
  • iOS
  • Android

Only in MinIO

  • S3 API implementation
  • Erasure coding
  • Single binary deployment
  • Bucket replication
  • Object locking and versioning
  • Identity provider integration

What people use each for

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

IDrive

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

MinIO

  • Providing an S3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permittednot IDrive
  • Backing a Kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the clusternot IDrive
  • Standing up S3 semantics in CI so tests exercise the same API path as productionnot IDrive
  • Fronting local disk shelves with an S3 interface so applications only ever learn one storage APInot IDrive

Where each one falls short

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

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

MinIO

  • The AGPL v3 licence applies copyleft over network use, so embedding MinIO in a product or hosted service obliges you to release your own source or buy a commercial licence, and legal review has removed it from several vendor stacks for this reason alone.
  • The community edition console was reduced in 2025 to an object browser, so user, policy, bucket and configuration management now happen through the mc command line client or through the paid product, which is a real operational regression for teams that trained staff on the UI.
  • The vendor has changed the terms of the free edition twice, so planning long lived infrastructure around the community build carries the risk that the next change removes something you depend on.
  • Erasure coded deployments cannot be grown by adding single drives; capacity is added in server pools, so expansion is a hardware purchase in units rather than an incremental one.
  • Commercial pricing is capacity based and aimed at large deployments, so a team that outgrows the community edition faces an enterprise sized quote rather than a graduated upgrade path.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

MinIO

Free
  • Community (AGPL v3)Free
    • Full server functionality
    • Erasure coding and replication
    • Object browser only in the web console
  • AIStor$undefined/year
    • Commercial licence removing AGPL obligations
    • Full management console
    • Vendor support with response commitments

Which should you pick?

Choose IDrive if

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

Choose MinIO if

  • You need s3 api implementation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker.
  • You also want erasure coding.
MinIO review

Questions people ask

Is IDrive or MinIO better?
Neither clearly leads. IDrive starts at $2.5/month and MinIO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IDrive or MinIO?
MinIO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2.5/month for IDrive and Free for MinIO.
Does IDrive or MinIO run on more platforms?
IDrive runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Web. MinIO runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker.
Can I use MinIO for free?
Yes. MinIO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IDrive starts at $2.5/month.
What is IDrive best used for?
IDrive is most often used for online backup for computers, servers and mobile devices, backing up multiple machines under one account. Of those, online backup for computers, servers and mobile devices and backing up multiple machines under one account are not what MinIO is typically brought in for.
What can IDrive do that MinIO cannot?
IDrive covers Multiple device backup, True archiving, Continuous protection, IDrive Express. MinIO covers S3 API implementation, Erasure coding, Single binary deployment, Bucket replication.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
MinIO: Can I still use MinIO for free?

Yes, the AGPL v3 server remains available and functional. What changed is the console, which no longer manages users, policies or configuration in the community build.

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
MinIO: Does AGPL affect me if I only use it internally?

Internal use without offering the software over a network to third parties generally does not trigger the source obligation, but if MinIO forms part of a service you offer to others, it does. Take advice rather than a forum answer.

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
MinIO: What replaced the community console features?

The mc client and the server admin API. Third party UIs exist but they are not maintained by MinIO.

MinIO: Is it suitable as a Veeam or restic backup target?

Yes, object locking and versioning work and both tools treat it as standard S3. Immutability depends on configuring the lock policy at bucket creation.

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