This feature is a game-changer in case of a system crash, as it can significantly reduce downtime. 7 best alternatives to Apple AirPort Time Capsule 2TB as of 2023 - Slant What is the best alternative to Apple AirPort Time Capsule 2TB? Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is a software that allows you to create backups of your important documents in an easy and simple way. ChronoSync is a versatile Mac backup software that can handle more than just simple backups. SuperDuper isn't as feature packed as CCC, but it's a good option if you're looking for a simpler alternative. A sound backup strategy is very important for the purpose of safeguarding and storing data so that it can be easily accessed when you need it. If you're looking for a second backup app to use alongside it, here are all the best options. Mac has a built-in backup tool, called Time Machine, that works by creating copies of your files in the background. The latest version of ChronoSync, called ChronoSync v10, offers support for both Intel and Apple Silicon-based macs. If you’re looking for one app that will do it all, this is your best option. Time Machine is a local backup solution. Here’s what it’s not good at: Now that you know Time Machine’s weak points, here are some backup applications that can take up the slack or replace it altogether. Get Backup Pro is yet another cloning application for backing up your Mac. Related: Things to Know When Buying a Data Drive for Backups. You can even get started for free with 5GB of cloud storage. Time Machine Alternatives for Mac: Backup Your Files in Style By Michael Bryant Last Updated on January 5, 2021 There are various Time Machine alternatives for your Mac. Retrospect also allows you to create progressive backups which are a combination of incremental and differential backups. Also worthy of consideration are cloning tools, which can help you get up and running in record time if you suddenly need to restore a Mac. SuperDuper! Plus, it has built-in anti-malware protection, which ensures that your backups are free from threats. Time Machine Stuck On Preparing Backup on Mac macOS Ventura Updated, 10 Best Time Machine Alternatives for Windows Based on Users Reviews, 17 Best Gaming Routers for Xbox, PS, PC, Mac 2023 For Stream & Play, Best Time Machine Backup Alternatives in 2023: Reviewed by Expert & Users. Some of these alternatives are free, while some require a small subscription fee. Most cloud-backup services only let you back up one computer per subscription. You can also continue working on your files after you have uploaded them to Drorpbox. Despite its shortcomings, Time Machine is excellent at several things: Ease of Use: Time Machine shines in its simplicity. Ease of Use. It’s perfect if you’re regularly working with large amounts of data across different platforms. However, some Mac users find Time Machine a hassle because you have to keep the external hard drive you’re using for backup always connected and turned on. It supports direct, peer-to-peer file synchronization and backup, bypassing the cloud for faster, more secure transfers. The simple answer to this is to be able to back up your files properly. Time Machine's biggest advantage is that it's a free backup software that comes pre-installed on Mac. Time Machine is a great backup tool that works with virtually any external drive or networked Mac. To help you know which one to use, it is important to distinguish between them by way of definition. Use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up your personal data, including apps, music, photos, email, and documents. SuperDuper! You can even use a Time Machine drive for both storage and backup. However, Time Machine does have its limitations. Some feel it doesn’t offer all of the features they need. Disk cloning on the other hand copies all the contents of the disk to a new disk which means both disks have the same content. And in the same way, you can restore all the backups to any desired location. Clonezone Live, Clonezone SE, and Clonezone lite server. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. However, this is still cheaper than CCC. All the backups will be stored in one location. Backblaze specializes in cloud backup, offering unlimited storage for one computer for $50 per year. It’s built into macOS and incredibly easy to set up. If something goes wrong with your Mac, Time Machine allows you to restore any lost data. Automatic Backups: Once set up, Time Machine automatically backs up your Mac every hour, ensuring you have up-to-date backups without having to think about it. The only difference with Dropbox is the pricing. 8 Time Machine Alternatives 1. A few times, Time Machine has ceased to work already a few weeks after start, creating multiple images of the target disk, of which none are working. As noted above, Time Machine has many shortcomings that have not been improved. You don’t necessarily need to replace Time Machine to get those extra features. Download: IDrive (free, subscription available). The ProactiveAI feature of this software provides many security features which are not available in the native Time Machine app. Your email address will not be published. Let's go! This feature archives your data and changes, so you can go back to older versions of your files if needed, providing an additional layer of protection. Incremental or Versioned Backups: Use a tool that allows you to backup only the edited and new files instead of the whole volume every time you back up your Mac. So, even if you’ve accidentally deleted your hard drive or your Mac suddenly went kaput, you don’t have to worry about losing your important data. If you don’t already have online storage available to you, or you’d rather not go to the hassle of managing your own backups, premium online backup services exist. However, in the spirit of exploration, you might be seeking Time Machine alternatives. The CCC 6 has been created using a next-generation file copier that allows this software to work at extreme speeds while creating or downloading backups. Fortunately, we have so many alternatives today and here’s a look at our top 7 favorite ones. It’s a paid service, but it comes with a 15-day free trial. You can also share the files that you’ve backed up. Reproduction of materials found on this site, in any form, without explicit permission is prohibited! When all of your photos and videos are stored locally on your Mac, Time Machine will pull double duty and back them up too. You can even create disaster recovery media using this software. I have done that three times now. If you already have online storage that you want to use for an offsite backup, Duplicati is a free and open-source solution that lets you do so. Compared to Dropbox, Google One offers more storage and more pricing options. The interface of this software is really simple and easy to use, so no one faces any issue in creating a backup of their crucial data. It puts you in control. Better still, because Time Machine is integrated into macOS, you can do that easily with any Apple app by selecting File / Revert To from the menu. Nice side benefit: the Synology is also a great always-on Plex server, better than using a Mac to serve your music and movie library. However, more advanced users may want more control over the backup selection, as it is missing a folder-syncing option. You can get the option to back up your Mac, external hard drives and servers. The app costs $49.99 and it has pretty much all that you need, except for a cloud backup service. You can also easily sync files between your Mac and your other devices, or even with friends and colleagues. It keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on your Mac — digital photos, music, movies, TV shows, and documents. On the Restore From Time Machine page, hit the "Continue" button. Bomdich Software’s Carbon Copy Cloner costs $39.99 for a personal license and will create a bootable disk image on an external drive, and keep it current with smart incremental updates. Create regular weekly disk image backups of your drive using an app like Carbon Copy Cloner ($39.99) or Get Backup Pro ($19.99). Ad Synology DS216+II All 13 Today we’ll look at some alternatives to Time Machine for creating backups that will ensure you don’t lose your data. Next on our list is Arq Backup. VPN vs Proxy - The Differences Explained! Unfortunately, Acronis True Image can't back up a Windows Boot Camp partition. Again, this is very handy especially if you’re on a deadline, or just don’t want the hassle to setup you Mac again. It merely takes time to backup and restores the data, though it also depends on how much data we are talking about. The software is a one-time purchase, and since you can use your own cloud storage, ongoing costs can be kept to a minimum. Additionally, you create bootable backups for when you update your system and get a new Mac. Backing up your Mac is crucial in protecting your files and data. Time Machine is Apple's backup tool that is quite reliable and easy to use. So, even if your hard drive fails, you can easily get your computer up and running again with this backup. Macrium has built different versions, so buyers don’t have to pay for Business-oriented advanced features, and they have to pay only for basic features. Copyright © Software Tested 2013 - 2023 All rights reserved. That’s where Time Machine alternatives come in, providing the additional features and flexibility that Time Machine lacks. It is a great option for online cloud backup storage for a single PC – it’s unlimited, easy to set up, and backed by everything approach that will appeal to newcomers. Numerous other features such as Geo Tracking, Monitoring, Security Reporting, Ransomware Protection, Cloud Data Protection etc make it arguably the best backup software in the market. By using the Carbon Copy Cloner you can choose how you want to back up whichever files you want. The company also offers strategies and configuration tips to help you make the most out of the backups you make using the CCC 6. Using Carbonite allows you to keep your backups secure for longer periods in case you want to recover an older backup. But its paid version offers other useful features, such as a scheduler and a Smart Update feature that updates your existing backups. Ad Here's the Deal Slant is powered by a community that helps you make informed decisions. Or you can stop using it and replace it with an app that does everything you need. What are some good alternatives? IT’S A MYSTERY! But there are plenty of other options out there too, and many of them have features that Apple's default backup app just can't compete with. Apple's Time Machine is unquestionably awful. You can get a USB drive with your data shipped to you to restore your data. This is also available with other services, but you usually have to pay. Your Time Machine drive likely isn’t far away from your Mac most of the time. You choose where the backups go and who has access. SuperDuper! Pro Tip: Scan your Mac for performance issues, junk files, harmful apps, and security threats Offsite or Cloud-Based Backup: Make sure to keep a copy of your backup offsite. You can back up the data to anywhere, including NAS, SAN, Acronis Cloud, Tapes, Disks, or other cloud storage like Azure, Google. Unfortunately, Time Machine is a feature of macOS, not a third-party program that could reach other operating systems. Earlier, if you wanted to create a backup using Time Machine, you would need special tools to change the backup plan. This is where the 3-2-1 backup rule comes in. Backblaze is a cloud backup solution that keeps all your important files totally safe. v3 offers most of its features for free, and you pay $27.95 to unlock advanced features like scheduling, smart update, and scripting. If you can't tell by the name, CCC focuses on creating a clone of your hard drive, but it does so using incremental backups to only update edited files each time you back up. Required fields are marked *. 2. Time Machine comes preinstalled on every Mac. If you’re looking for a free Time Machine alternative, Duplicati is a top contender. It isn’t a free software, but it’s a one-time purchase with free lifetime updates, making it a cost-effective choice. You never know when you’ll need it. Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. You can also create universal restore (bootable) backups, which are extremely handy in case of system failure. Every time you connect your drive the backup will run unless you stop it, indexing the disk and backing up intelligently to ensure files aren’t duplicated to save space. It’s a great software to use in tandem with Time Machine because it covers any problems that Time Machine may overlook. Mac users have also encountered various Time Machine issues, such as backups not being completed, backup files disappearing all of a sudden, and backup process not being initiated on schedule. Tons of Windows users need to take care of their data and regularly take backup to avoid data loss. Duplicati is another free and open-source backup software that could compete with the Time Machine of Apple’s Mac, MacBook. Furthermore, the backups are encrypted with powerful AES-256 encryption. Terabyte backup tool is compatible with major Windows systems, including Windows 10, 8, 7, XP, 2000, NT4, and more; you can check the website’s link for more details. How to Speed Up Your Time Machine Backups, Get Samsung’s Legendary ‘Beans’ Earbuds for $55.99 ($94 Off), Your iPhone Will Let You Swap Numbers With AirDrop, © 2023 LifeSavvy Media. Having a backup and not needing it is always better than not having one in case your disk dies on you at a crucial time. It can be used alongside other backup solutions (like the ones mentioned below) to ensure you have more than a single backup if something bad happens. The Smart Wake feature allows your mac to back up whether it’s awake or asleep and doesn’t turn on the screen in case the mac is awake. You can use this software to restore backup versions that are up to 30 days old. You can also recover files that were either accidentally deleted or corrupted by malware using the Snapshot feature in the CCC 6. Get the Duplicati backup tool for your Windows and other systems. Download: Get Backup Pro ($19.99, free trial available). Download HD macOS Sonama Wallpaper Free (2023), Will iPhone X and XR Support iOS 17? There are no limits on data, no limits on file size, and an option to recover your data faster via a shipped hard drive in the post. Backup and restore times are insane, sometimes taking many hours or hanging outright. Its the hardware. Why? Not only do you get the option to archive your data onto external drives, network volumes, CDs or DVDs, but you can also encrypt the data using AES-128, AES-256, Blowfish or Triple DES. 1. You can choose exactly what to back up, when to back it up, and even employ smart tricks like watched folders to ensure that important files are always covered. You can choose to back up your files to a local hard drive or save them in network attached storage drives. 4 Time Machine Alternatives for Linux Odysseas Kourafalos Dec 23, 2019 There's no doubt that Apple's Time Machine made backups mainstream. What is the recommended alternative to Time Machine as lately I find Time Machine to be very unreliable. Online backups can be performed to Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, and web servers via SFTP. This will allow you to have a secure and complete backup on hand in the case of an accident (fire, flood, robbery etc.) He has covered a wide range of topics including Apple, security, productivity tips, gaming and more for publications like How-To Geek, Zapier, and MakeUseOf. You can choose to keep old backups in a compressed format to save space, allowing you to travel back in time through them, much like you can with Time Machine. It will do this automatically and continuously, and restoring your data is easy, whether it’s just one lost file or your entire drive. Compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7, and XP desktops. Use CCC to clone your Mac onto a local drive or back up to a NAS drive. Required fields are marked *. Unfortunately, computer problems are an inevitable part of life (hopefully a smaller part for us Mac users), and you need to be prepared. Versioning: Time Machine keeps hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month. And doesn’t inform you that it failed. Why Carbon Copy Cloner is a good alternative to Time Machine: CCC 6 allows you to back up either your individual folders or your full hard drives to any external drive, bootable drive or another system on the network. The Advanced ($49.99/year) and Premium ($99.99/year) plans also include cloud backup (with 250 GB or 1 TB of storage included respectively). This is ideal if you’re working on a project in more than one location as is often the case for creatives, video editors, and designers. There you have it! It offers local, cloud-based, and NAS backups so you can use it to store data wherever you want it. Whatever digital disaster happens, you have something to fall back on instead of starting from scratch. SuperDuper is a widely known and liked software that allows you to create backups and restore data from them in a hassle-free manner. Well, unlike Time Machine, SuperDuper! 7 Time Machine alternatives for Mac backup Carbonite ChronoSync V10 Get Backup Pro Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) SuperDuper Retrospect Backblaze 1. These include: Lack of Flexibility: One of the main issues with Time Machine is that it doesn’t offer much flexibility. For more details, visit the official tutorial by Microsoft. Time Machine is a great way to create incremental backups of your Mac. The only downside to using Dropbox is that you need to upload your files and documents manually. A cloud backup means you don't need to worry about losing your Mac and your backup drive at the same time. There are many ways to shape your backup strategy, but we would recommend you to follow the strategy outlined below. Even though Carbonite is a good backup option, it does happen to lag a bit behind other applications in terms of features offered. At a glance, you can see the features of the app and easily access the preferred solution. MSP360 offers a centralized management system for the business, which gives you more time to think about how to grow the business rather than managing the data. It provides continuous backup, syncing across devices, file versioning, and even disk image backup. Snipping Tool Not Working on Windows 11: Solutions, Windows 11 Mouse Click Not Working: Causes and Fixes, Windows 11’s Wi-Fi Adapter Disappeared: Quick Fixes, How to Fix Error Code 0xA00F429F on Windows 10/11. In our search for the best backup software for Mac, we named it the “Best Choice for Incremental File Backups”. They also have a great support team that can be reached with just a single click in the Copy Coach window of the software. Other interesting open source alternatives to Time Machine are Restic, TimeShift, Déjà Dup and UrBackup. Others complain it doesn’t work the way they want. Why SuperDuper is a good alternative to Time Machine: SuperDuper overcomes many deficiencies in Time Machine. For example, with local backup, you are able to make copies of folders and files on an external HDD. could be a life-saver. While not a free solution, it does offer a free trial to test out its features. But that’s the problem: it’s just part of my system. It also checks file integrity before replacing old files with a new one. All of the important data on your computer will get uploaded to Backblaze’s servers. Apr 8, 2011 at 5:16. You should have three copies of your data, two of which are local (on different devices), with one copy off-site. So there's no excuse for not protecting your data. It uses incremental backups to reduce file size and upload time, but it inspects the metadata of each file—rather than the content—to ensure it catches any new changes to your Mac. You can schedule backups and automate them. Read our full Acronis True Image review to learn more. It is great when you work using multiple devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones. iDrive is a cloud backup service that offers a host of features that make it an excellent alternative to Time Machine. Genie Timeline. This way, even when you lose the file on your computer, restoring it is very easy. System Restore: Time Machine allows you to restore your entire system from a backup. Whichever path you choose, make sure you back up your Mac regularly. There’s also the option to synchronize files and folders on your Mac with another computer or mounted drive using the Get Backup Pro. backup on an external drive. Syncing files: While syncing files is not considered as a true backup, it is a very helpful feature. I use a 2 TB LaCie disk with time machine and it works great. Of course, you don’t have to take out the Time Machine completely, you can use an alternative as a complement. Carbon Copy Cloner is a jack-of-all-trades backup tool that presents itself as a more powerful version of Time Machine. The exact features you get using Carbonite depend on the price plan you choose. ChronoSync also allows you to sync directly to your iCloud and Google Drive, so you can even backup your cloud storage to another medium and vice versa. Regardless of the new update to Time Machine, macOS users have preferred third-party apps over Apple’s very own backup software. These are just three of many such services, each offering something slightly different in terms of pricing. With the release of macOS Ventura recently, Apple has given more power to the users, allowing manual backups to be created. It hasn’t backed me up for almost two weeks. It supports scheduling and provides detailed logs and notifications, so you’re always in the loop about what’s happening with your data. Carbon Copy Cloner also lets users create a bootable clone, plus a regular backup of select files and folders. This is the way. Hopefully, after reading this post, you’ll have found the solution that is just the right one according to your specific need, which you can use to create Mac backups of your important data and files. Pick one to get. Tim Brookes is a technology writer with more than a decade of experience. Lack of Cloud Backup: Time Machine also lacks built-in cloud backup features, which means you’re at risk if something happens to your physical backup drive. Step 1: Plug in your external storage. You also get the option to perform "Smart Updates", which only update the changes made since the last backup, saving you time and storage. There are several features you should look out for before choosing a backup application. And it still lets you schedule incremental backups, which are faster than creating a full copy every time. MacDaddy’s Mac Backup Guru costs $29—just a little more than SuperDuper!—and like that app can do bootable cloning and folder sync. The 5 Best Tools to Monitor Your Mac Performance, Apple gave me a new MacBook Pro for FREE! Also self Professional Developer, Techno lover mainly for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and iOS, Jaysukh is one of responsible person in his family. that can cause system issues or slow performance. You can backup to any external or network drive. When it comes to backup tools, there are two options available Offline Backup and Online Backup; depending on your needs and data, choose the one that meets your requirements. Dropbox may not be like your traditional backup software, but it is a great place to save your important files, nonetheless. This is one of the closest you can get to Time Machine on a non-macOS computer. That’s helpful. Found Lost AirPods – Can You Find the Owner? Of course, these issues aren't a deal breaker for everyone, so you may still want to back up your Mac using Time Machine. Time . Remember, each software has its strengths and features, so it’s important to choose one that aligns with your specific needs. Continue your automatic, continual, incremental backups to an external hard drive using Time Machine (free). SuperDuper! So back up everything on your computer that you can’t afford to lose. Even though it is a web-based interface, you can integrate Duplicati with the NAS to store all the data in one place. But with Carbon Copy Cloner, you get to choose which files are backed up. Of all the backup solutions out there that exist for Microsoft's Windows OS, Genie Timeline is arguably the best, or at least my personal favorite. All Rights Reserved. allows for bootable backups. Non-bootable Backups: Another key drawback is that Time Machine backups are not bootable. The Snapshot feature of CCC also doesn’t have any analogue in Time Machine. Data protection experts recommend a 3-2-1 approach to protect yourself against data loss.