Backblaze vs Filen

Backblaze is a publicly traded storage company from San Mateo, California, founded in 2007, that runs its own data centers and sells two products. Computer Backup continuously backs up an entire Mac or Windows PC, including attached external drives, for a flat monthly price with no data cap. B2 Cloud Storage is S3-compatible object storage priced per terabyte, positioned as a much cheaper alternative to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Azure Blob Storage.

Computer Backup offers version history, restores through the web and the app, and the option to have data shipped on a USB drive. B2 includes free egress up to three times the data stored each month, free transfer through partners such as Cloudflare, object lock for immutable, ransomware-resistant backups, and integrations with tools like Veeam, Synology, QNAP, rclone and media asset managers. The first 10 GB of B2 storage is free, and billing beyond that is simple and predictable.

Backblaze suits individuals and creatives who want set-and-forget workstation backup, and developers or IT teams storing backups, media archives and app uploads cheaply. It is not a sync or collaboration tool like Dropbox, it offers far fewer regions and services than AWS, and very large Computer Backup restores can be slow. Against Wasabi it competes on egress terms and ecosystem, and against IDrive on simplicity. The company is also known for publishing quarterly hard drive reliability statistics from its own fleet.

Filen is a zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage service from Germany. Files are encrypted on your device before upload, so the company cannot read them, and data is stored in German data centers under EU privacy law. It positions itself as a cheaper alternative to established privacy-focused providers while offering the core features of a modern cloud drive.

Filen provides desktop sync clients for Windows, macOS and Linux, mobile apps with camera upload, a web drive, encrypted sharing links with passwords and expiry dates, file versioning and a network drive mode. Its client software is open source, which lets security-minded users inspect how encryption works. Pricing starts with a free plan of 10 GB, followed by low-cost monthly or yearly plans that can be stacked on one account; the lifetime plans it once sold have been removed from the lineup.

Filen fits individuals and freelancers who want private storage on a budget, especially Linux users who are poorly served by larger providers. It is a young company with a small team, so collaboration features, admin controls and support are limited compared with business products, and some users report variable sync performance with very large folders. Proton Drive offers a broader privacy ecosystem, pCloud and Internxt sell lifetime plans, and Tresorit is the stronger choice for businesses that need compliance and team administration.