Best Online Backup for Australia in 2024: Speed, Privacy, Features and More Compared
Great speeds, a rich feature set, strong security and privacy, and an excellent UI are some of the qualities the best backup for Australia should have. In this article, we’ve covered the best cloud backup services that have these qualities. Read on to learn more.
Written by Samuel Okoruwa (Writer)
Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Jasna Mishevska (Lead Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-09-25T17:37:35+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Proximity to data centers is one of the key factors in choosing an online backup service. If you’re in Australia, it’s in your best interest to choose a service with data centers there for faster file backups and recovery. Of course, that’s not where it ends — there are many factors to consider when choosing an online backup for Australia.
Key Takeaways:
- Acronis is our best cloud backup for Australia because it has data centers in Australia and comes with tons of features.
- CrashPlan and Carbonite stand out for their simple user interfaces.
- IDrive lacks Australian servers, but more than makes up for it in price and features.
In this article, we’ll look at all the factors you have to take into consideration when choosing a cloud backup service as an Aussie.
While having data centers in Australia is a huge bonus, there aren’t many quality backup solutions that offer servers Down Under, so we’ve included a couple of choices that are still good despite the geographic distance. That said, our top choice with Australian servers is Acronis. Let’s dive in.
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10/27/2022
Updated Carbonite’s pricing information.
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11/04/2022 Facts checked
Updated to include pricing tables and reflect changes in the online backup services.
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05/23/2023
Updated to remove IDrive’s discontinued free plan and add its new free 30-day trial.
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01/05/2024
Updated IDrive’s pricing information.
Top Online backup Services for Australia
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What Makes the Best Online Backup for Australia?
The best cloud backup for Australia obviously needs Australian data centers, but it must also have excellent security and privacy, an adequate range of backup functionality and a simple user interface.
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A large feature set is a plus, but not a requirement. As long as the service has the basics, you’re good to go. Below are five services that check the above boxes and come with unique qualities.
- Acronis — Feature-rich backup service with exceptional security tools and Australian servers
- CrashPlan — Clean UI and unlimited backup with data center in Sydney
- Carbonite — User-friendly apps and unlimited backup with servers in Australia
- IDrive — No Australian servers but excellent backup regardless of geographical distance
- CloudBerry Backup — Multi-cloud backup solution with a wide range of features
Besides Australian servers, the best cloud backup service for Australia must include security and privacy features that keep user data safe. One of these is hardened data centers, which refers to data centers fortified against natural or man-made disasters.
Other important security features are zero-knowledge encryption and two-factor authentication.
Most of the cloud backup services in this list are versatile in terms of the devices they can back up and their backup methods, from network-attached storage (NAS) device backups to external hard drive backups to image-based backups, which are copies of your entire operating system and the data associated with it.
While some come with lots of features, others stand out for their clean user interfaces. Interestingly, backup services often make a trade-off between ease of use and features: The fewer features included in a UI design, the more navigable it will be.
The 5 Best Online Backup Services for Australia
Without further ado, here are the best cloud backup services for Australia, starting with our top choice, Acronis.
1. Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office
More details about Acronis:
- Pricing: for storage
- Provider website: acronis.com
Pros:
- Tons of features
- Plenty of backup settings
- Great security tools
Cons:
- Complex pricing structure
- Not very easy to use
No other service on this list gets backing up files in Australia as right as Acronis does. It has data centers in Sydney and a comprehensive suite of features. The range of devices and platforms you can back up with Acronis is extensive, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, external hard drives and NAS devices.
Acronis comes with many configuration options to make the backup process as flexible and convenient as possible. You can do an image-based backup, back up mobile devices, a file-based backup or the more traditional local backup. You can also do a combination of local and offsite backups, which is called a hybrid backup.
A Host of Security Features for Important Data
Besides the basics like zero-knowledge encryption, Acronis comes with advanced features like URL filtering, which ensures 24/7 protection against malicious websites and phishing attacks. URL filtering is tailored to managed service providers and designed with a machine-learning model and payload analysis — analysis of the capacity of a packet of malicious code to do damage.
It also intercepts HTTP/HTTPS requests and silent drive-by downloads.
Another interesting feature is Acronis Active Protection, which intercepts potential malware or ransomware attacks and quashes them before harm is done. It observes patterns in file modifications on a system and compares them with malicious behavior patterns. It also maintains an allowlist and a denylist for files that have been observed to prevent an authorized activity from being mistaken for an unauthorized one and vice versa.
Acronis’ pricing scheme is built to cater to different audiences and the plans are well worth the price. In a nutshell, Acronis merits the top position for its rich feature set and secure data centers in Australia. Check out our full Acronis review for all the details.
2. CrashPlan
More details about CrashPlan:
- Pricing: $8 per month (one-month plan) for Unlimited GB
- Provider website: crashplan.com
Pros:
- Unlimited backup
- Good user management
- Customizable versioning
Cons:
- No zero-knowledge security
- No mobile backup
- No file syncing or sharing
CrashPlan is a good choice for Australia, thanks to its Sydney data center, excellent user interface and unique features. It has lots of features that are beneficial to individuals and businesses, though it doesn’t have as many as Acronis and lacks file syncing and sharing features.
CrashPlan gives you the option of specifying what files and folders you want backed up or backing up your entire hard drive. Thanks to unlimited backup with no size cap, it’s easy to back up the contents of a whole device.
User-Friendly Client and Mobile Apps
CrashPlan also stands out for its user management tools, tailored to businesses that need to manage multiple users. With this feature, you can assign user roles to each user, enabling you to view, edit and manage what users are doing: the amount of storage on each user’s device, their backup history and the default backup settings on each device.
Although quite expensive, CrashPlan has a simple pricing structure. For a flat rate of $8 per month, you get unlimited cloud storage and the complete feature set for each device. Unlike many other services, it doesn’t restrict you to a yearly plan and allows you to pay monthly, so you can unsubscribe whenever you want. CrashPlan also comes with a 30-day free trial.
As usual, you can learn more about the service in our full CrashPlan review.
3. Carbonite
More details about Carbonite:
- Pricing: $4.75 per month (one-year plan) for unlimited storage
- Provider website: carbonite.com
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Unlimited storage
- Reasonable pricing
- Great security & privacy
Cons:
- Sparse features
- Very basic user interface
Carbonite makes this list for many reasons, including its straightforward UI, Australian servers and affordable plans. It runs your backups by default, but you can choose to do manual backups instead. Plus, it supports image-based backups and has a block-level backup, which ensures that only the parts of a file you modify are backed up and not the entire file, saving you time and storage space.
Carbonite checks all the boxes with regard to safety. It uses zero-knowledge encryption, two-factor authentication and hardened data centers. The zero-knowledge encryption is optional — turn it on for increased privacy or turn it off for better performance.
Well-Organized User Interface Design
Carbonite has an intuitive UI stacked with impressive functionalities. The level of organization makes it possible to get things done faster: You can see the size of your backed-up data with the “status” tab, and the “get my files” button enables you to recover all the data on your computer or certain files through the online browser.
That said, Carbonite doesn’t have many other features. If features are a priority to you, you can use Acronis, CrashPlan or IDrive.
Another area where Carbonite excels is pricing. Like most cloud backup services, it makes you subscribe to the most expensive plan to access the complete set of features. Things like automatic video backup and external hard drive support are locked behind more expensive plans, but the cheapest option costs just $6 per month, or $4.75 when using our promo link. Check out our Carbonite review for more information.
This plan comes with unlimited backup, encryption, support for different file formats and external hard drive backup. Overall, Carbonite is a decent cloud backup service. It’s beginner-friendly, but may not be for you if you like to fiddle with lots of features.
- Cheaper price with promo link
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited GB
More plans
- 250GB
- 500GB
- 500GB
4. IDrive
More details about IDrive:
- Pricing: 10GB for free, $5.81 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: idrive.com
Pros:
- Affordable
- Hybrid cloud storage
- Free plan
Cons:
- No Australian servers
IDrive — the best online backup for students — has no Australian servers, but it’s one of the top-tier backup services that offers quality backup and hardly misses any features. This is the reason it makes our list of best cloud backup services. You can run image-based backups, external hard drive backups and hybrid backups. IDrive also has a block-level algorithm, saving you backup space and time.
Unlike most cloud backup services, IDrive offers collaboration features — typical with cloud storage services — like file sharing and syncing. These features make it possible to access and share modified versions of uploaded files across several devices. On the safety front, IDrive has no glaring security or privacy flaws.
It comes with zero-knowledge encryption, relies on hardened data centers and supports two-factor authentication.
Seamless Collaboration With Sync and Share Functionality
IDrive is also one of the few cloud backup services that offers file synchronization and sharing tools, and it gets this right, too. With IDrive’s sync feature, Cloud Drive, any changes you make to a file will appear on all the devices you’ve linked. The sharing feature lets you select any file and click “share.” It also allows you to assign privileges to file recipients as to who can edit or view a file.
IDrive offers five categories of plans, namely IDrive Basic, IDrive Mini, IDrive Personal, IDrive Teams and IDrive Busines. Besides the free plan which offers 10GB, the best deals are the Personal and Teams plans, which are tailored for personal use and team work, respectively.
With Personal, you get 5TB of storage space if you pay $69.66 for one year and of storage space if you pay . If you want to learn more about the available plans, head over to our IDrive review.
- No credit card required.
- 10GB
- One user.
- 100GB
- One user, multiple computers. Plans starting from 5TB up to 100TB. Big discount for first-time signup.
- 5TB
More plans
- 5 computers, 5 users. Starting at 5TB up to 500TB. Big discount for first-time signup.
- 5TB
- Monthly Plan storage starts at 1.25TB up to 50TB Unlimited users, multiple computers and servers. NAS devices. 250GB storage. Starting at 250GB up to 50TB. Large discount for first-time signup.
- 250GB
5. CloudBerry Backup
More details about CloudBerry Backup:
- Pricing: Up to 200GB Free, $2.50 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: msp360.com/products/licensing.aspx
Pros:
- Loads of features
- Granular backup control
- Supports many storage providers
- Great privacy & security
Cons:
- Not beginner-friendly
- No continuous backups
This solution offered by MSP360 takes an unconventional approach to cloud backup. It doesn’t have servers of its own. Instead, it provides you with the tools to connect to servers on other storage providers and even infrastructure-as-a-service providers. This means you can back up your files to a variety of online backup providers with Australian servers.
CloudBerry’s approach to cloud backup makes the backup process flexible and convenient. That said, the dynamic process of switching between storage providers may take getting used to for some users. There’s a lot you can do with CloudBerry. You can conduct image-based backups, external hard drive backups, backup for mobile devices, NAS backups and hybrid backups. CloudBerry also gives users a granular level of control over the backup process.
Unfortunately, it does not support continuous backups, so users have to rely on manually scheduled backups.
More Backup Capabilities With Advanced Tools
If you’re an experienced user, you’d benefit from some of the advanced tools in CloudBerry’s suite. There’s an option to prevent the sudden termination of a backup/restore process by stopping your computer from switching to sleep mode. CloudBerry also allows you to set up a bootable USB device and track your storage space usage.
CloudBerry’s pricing structure deviates from the norm in that each plan is defined according to the type of operating system it will run your backups on. All plans also come with an annual maintenance fee, which includes updates, and a 15-day free trial. To learn more about how this unusual service works, you can read our CloudBerry review.
- 200GB
- 5TB
- $6 annual maintenance fee
- 5TB
More plans
- $6 annual maintenance fee
- Unlimited GB
- 1TB
- $16 annual maintenance fee
- 5TB
- 1TB
- Unlimited GB
- $30 annual maintenance fee
- Unlimited GB
- 2 sockets included ($89.99 per socket)
- Unlimited GB
Honorable Mention: Backblaze
Backblaze’s best selling point is its simple user interface, and this quality places it second (after IDrive) in our best cloud backup service list. Like IDrive, Backblaze offers file syncing and file sharing features. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t have many features, a trade-off for having an incredibly navigable client. It also comes with unlimited backup.
Like IDrive, Backblaze uses strong physical data centers and two-factor authentication. However, its approach to zero-knowledge encryption is flawed. It requires you to enter your private keys into the website, rather than the client.
As we cover in our Backblaze review, this raises the risk of data breaches through man-in-the-middle attacks or an interference from Backblaze. That said, the company claims to get rid of this data within a few minutes of completing the file recovery process.
Add that to the fact that it has never been caught logging or sharing user data, and there are plenty of reasons to trust it. If you’re still concerned, you can opt for IDrive or any of the services that come with Australian servers on this list.
- Unlimited GB
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you’re now aware of all the factors to consider when choosing a cloud backup service for Australia and you’ve been able to find a good fit from our list. To recap, Acronis, IDrive and CloudBerry are excellent choices if you want a feature-rich service. If ease of use is more important to you, you can go for Carbonite or CrashPlan.
Which cloud backup service for Australia impressed you the most? Do you have other suggestions? We’d like to hear from you in the comments section below, and as always, thanks for reading.
FAQ
Yes. With IDrive, you can back up your files, sync and share them from anywhere in the world. You may not be able to do these tasks quickly, since IDrive has no servers in Australia.
Not always. Some online backup services come with free plans, but they are often insufficient. Most services come with paid plans and allocate backup space according to the price you pay for each plan.
Services like Acronis, Carbonite and CloudBerry allow you to back up your entire system, including your operating system.
Yes, but speeds may be slow for Aussies since Backblaze has no servers in Australia and its closest data centers are in the U.S.