Backblaze vs Microsoft OneDrive

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.

Microsoft OneDrive is Microsoft's cloud storage, sync and file-sharing service. It launched in 2007 as Windows Live Folders, became SkyDrive and was renamed OneDrive in 2014, and it is built into Windows and Microsoft 365. Its core job is to keep files backed up and in sync across devices, share them with links and permissions, and act as the storage layer under Office and Teams.

Features include Files On-Demand, automatic backup of the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders, Personal Vault, version history, ransomware detection and recovery, camera upload and co-authoring in Office apps, and Copilot can summarize files. Home users get a free 5 GB tier, Microsoft 365 Basic with 100 GB, and Personal, Family and Premium plans with 1 TB per person plus Office apps. Businesses get OneDrive through Microsoft 365 Business plans with 1 TB per user.

OneDrive fits Windows users and organizations already paying for Microsoft 365, where it costs nothing extra. It is less polished on Mac, has no official Linux client, sharing settings can confuse outside guests, and storage jumps from 100 GB straight to 1 TB. Google Drive is the natural choice for Google Workspace teams, Dropbox has the smoothest cross-platform sync, and Box offers stronger governance for regulated firms.

Pricing shifted in 2025 and 2026. Microsoft 365 Personal rose to $9.99 a month in January 2025 with Copilot added, standalone OneDrive for Business plans stopped being sold to new customers in mid-2026 ahead of end of life in January 2027, and Business Basic rose from $6 to $7 per user on July 1, 2026.