IDrive vs Minarca
IDrive
idrive.com
Minarca
minarca.orgSide by side
| Figure | IDrive | Minarca |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 16 | 1 |
| Spec score · Backup software | 9.5 (#1) | 8.8 (#24) |
| Backup scope | mixed | mixed |
| Computer backup | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Calabasas, California, United States | St-Colomban, Quebec, Canada |
| Mobile backup | The mobile apps back up contacts, photos, videos, and calendar events; the Android app also backs up SMS and call logs. | No |
| Supported platforms | web,windows,macos,linux,ios,android | web,windows,macos,linux,self_hosted |
| Product | IDrive backs up computers, mobile devices, servers, and NAS devices to one account. | Minarca is an open-source data backup solution with an agent installed on computers and a central server for centralized management. |
| Restore modes | mixed | mixed |
| Restore options | Users can restore individual files, earlier versions, deleted files, disk images, or use IDrive Express. | Users can restore large amounts of data with the local agent or smaller datasets through the web interface. |
| Server backup | Yes | Yes |
| Support | IDrive says it offers 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone. | The maker offers enterprise assistance for setting up or maintaining Minarca and points users to a Google Group for community discussion and support. |
Plans
IDrive
- IDrive Mini$0.25 a month
- IDrive Personal$11.99 a month
- IDrive Team$11.99 a month
- IDrive Business$59.99 a month
- IDrive Mini$3 a year
- IDrive Personal$119.88 a year
- IDrive Team$119.88 a year
- IDrive Business$239.88 a year
- BasicFree
- Microsoft Office 365 Backup$20 a year
In their own words
IDrive
IDrive backs up computers, mobile devices, servers, and NAS devices to one account, with apps and access for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web. Its free Basic plan provides 10 GB of storage without a credit card; paid plans start at $0.25 per month for IDrive Mini, which includes 100 GB for one user. Backup and restore options cover files, devices, earlier versions, deleted files, disk images, and IDrive Express. The service retains up to 30 earlier versions of each backed-up file, and Snapshots provide point-in-time recovery. True Archiving keeps files in the account until you delete them or run Archive Cleanup. IDrive says it encrypts data in transit and at rest using 256-bit AES, with private keys optional, and that stored versions and Snapshots support recovery after ransomware incidents. Add-ons provide backup for Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox, and Box. Team and Business plans include multi-user administration. Support is available 24/7 by live chat, email, and phone.
Minarca
Minarca is a free, open-source backup solution that places an agent on computers and uses a central server for management. It backs up Linux, Windows and macOS systems, with destinations including remote servers and external disks. Its web interface provides a dashboard, logs and statistics, while the server can keep separate repositories and disk quotas for multiple users. Minarca uses rdiff-backup for incremental backups; its maker says the reverse incremental differential method helps resist data corruption. Large restores can be handled with the local agent, while smaller datasets can be restored through the web interface. The software also creates a mirror of backed-up directories that can be accessed and restored from the filesystem, with or without the application. A central Minarca server is required to back up a desktop computer. Listed agents support Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS Catalina 10.15 and later, and 64-bit Linux, Ubuntu and Debian. The plan costs nothing and is self-hosted, with configurable user storage quotas.