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File Storage · head to head

IDrive vs Scality RING

IDrive logo

IDrive

File Storage

Affordable online backup with multiple device support

From
$2.5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Scality RING logo

Scality RING

File Storage

Petabyte-scale object storage software on your own hardware

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: IDrive the advertised annual rates are first year introductory prices, with standard pricing applying from the second year onward; Scality RING hardware is bought separately, so the software quote understates total cost and the buyer carries the sizing risk if the drive and server specification is wrong.
  • They diverge on capability: IDrive covers Multiple device backup, Scality RING covers S3-compatible object storage.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IDrive and Scality RING actually diverge.

Attributes where IDrive and Scality RING differ
AttributeIDriveScality RING
Starting price$2.5/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWindows, Mac, Linux, WebLinux
Founded1995Unknown

Identical on both: 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 IDrive

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

Only in Scality RING

  • S3-compatible object storage
  • File and object access
  • Erasure coding
  • Object lock
  • Multi-site geodistribution
  • Hardware independence
  • ARTESCA

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 Scality RING
  • Backing up multiple machines under one accountnot Scality RING

Scality RING

  • A broadcaster archiving decades of video where hyperscaler storage and egress costs would be prohibitivenot IDrive
  • A hospital group holding medical imaging on premises for data residency and retention reasonsnot IDrive
  • An enterprise building an immutable on premises backup target for Veeam or Commvault with object locknot IDrive
  • A service provider offering S3-compatible storage to its own customers on hardware it controlsnot 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

Scality RING

  • Hardware is bought separately, so the software quote understates total cost and the buyer carries the sizing risk if the drive and server specification is wrong.
  • Running distributed erasure coded storage requires operations skills, and organisations that expected appliance simplicity end up staffing a storage team they had not budgeted.
  • Rebuild times after a drive failure on large capacity disks are measured in hours or days, and capacity planning has to leave headroom for that degraded window.
  • Pricing is per usable terabyte and quoted, so cost comparisons against cloud object storage require modelling your own retrieval patterns rather than reading a rate card.
  • Small deployments carry a minimum viable node count for erasure coding to work sensibly, which makes the entry footprint larger and less economic than the per-terabyte price implies.

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

Scality RING

On request
  • Scality RING$undefined/year
    • Priced per usable terabyte, subscription or perpetual
    • Server hardware purchased separately by the customer
    • Support tiers quoted separately
  • Scality ARTESCA$undefined/year
    • Lighter object store for smaller footprints
    • Priced per usable terabyte
    • Commonly deployed as an immutable backup target

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 Scality RING if

  • You need s3-compatible object storage.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want file and object access.
Scality RING review

Questions people ask

Is IDrive or Scality RING better?
Neither clearly leads. IDrive starts at $2.5/month and Scality RING at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IDrive or Scality RING?
IDrive starts at $2.5/month and Scality RING at On request.
Does IDrive or Scality RING run on more platforms?
IDrive runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Web. Scality RING runs on Linux.
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 Scality RING is typically brought in for.
What can IDrive do that Scality RING cannot?
IDrive covers Multiple device backup, True archiving, Continuous protection, IDrive Express. Scality RING covers S3-compatible object storage, File and object access, Erasure coding, Object lock.

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
Scality RING: Do we buy hardware from Scality?

No. RING is software; you buy commodity servers and drives yourself, which is the point for buyers who want to rebid hardware at each refresh.

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
Scality RING: Is it S3-compatible enough for backup software?

Yes, it is a common object lock target for Veeam, Commvault and Rubrik. Verify the specific S3 features your backup product needs during a proof of concept.

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
Scality RING: What is ARTESCA?

A lighter object store from the same company, aimed at smaller footprints and backup targets rather than multi-petabyte archives.

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