Carbonite
Set-and-forget cloud backup for home PCs, small offices and servers
Carbonite is a backup & SaaS data protection tool for Small businesses and Freelancers, offered as paid ($6/mo). Based in United States, founded in 2005. Popular alternatives include Backblaze, IDrive, lifebox.
About Carbonite
Carbonite is a cloud backup service for individual computers, small business PCs and servers. It was founded in Boston in 2005, bought the security company Webroot in 2019 and was itself acquired by the Canadian software group OpenText in late 2019 for about $1.42 billion. Its core job: install an agent, let it continuously copy your files to encrypted cloud storage, and restore them after a crash, theft or ransomware attack.
Personal plans (Basic, Plus, Prime) cover one computer with unlimited cloud storage; Plus and Prime add one external hard drive and automatic video backup, and Prime adds courier recovery options. Business plans are priced per account rather than per device: Core covers up to 25 computers, external drives and NAS with 250 GB, while Power and Ultimate add server backup, 500 GB, bare metal image restore and application-aware backup. All plans are billed annually; extra business storage costs $99 per 100 GB.
Carbonite fits households and small offices that want backup to run without thinking about it. It is weaker for power users: storage caps on business plans are low for the price, there is no monthly billing, and restores of large data sets are slow over the internet. Backblaze offers simpler unlimited personal backup, IDrive covers many devices on one plan for less, and Acronis bundles backup with stronger endpoint security.
Buying tip: the prices on the plans page are first-year discounts (up to 35% off list), and renewals revert to the higher list price, so compare the renewal cost, not the promo, against Backblaze and IDrive.
Key features of Carbonite
- Continuous, automatic backup of documents, photos, music and videos
- Unlimited cloud storage on Basic, Plus and Prime personal plans
- External hard drive and automatic video backup on Plus and Prime
- Business Core covers up to 25 computers, external drives and NAS
- Server backup with bare metal image restore on Power and Ultimate
- 256-bit encryption at rest and in transit with private key option
- Restore from the web or mobile app, plus courier recovery on a drive
- Help recovering clean files within two weeks of a malware infection
Pros and cons
Pros
- Very little setup: install once and backups run in the background
- Unlimited storage for a single computer on personal plans
- Business plans cover up to 25 computers on one subscription
- In-house phone and email support on business plans
- Backed by OpenText, so the service is unlikely to disappear
Cons
- Annual billing only, and promotional first-year prices renew higher
- Personal plans cover just one computer per subscription
- Business storage starts at 250 GB and extra space costs $99 per 100 GB
- Large restores over the internet can take days
- No Linux client and limited control compared with Backblaze B2 or Acronis
Carbonite pricing
Carbonite uses a paid model. A 15-day free trial is available.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $76.79 / yr | First-year price (list $95.99); 1 computer, unlimited storage |
| Plus | $85.79 / yr | First year (list $131.99); adds 1 external drive, video backup |
| Prime | $105.29 / yr | First year (list $161.99); adds courier recovery options |
| Core (business) | $230.39 / yr | Up to 25 computers, external drives and NAS; 250 GB |
| Power (business) | $639.99 / yr | 1 server plus 25 computers, 500 GB, bare metal restore |
| Ultimate (business) | $1,039.99 / yr | Unlimited servers plus 25 computers, 500 GB |
Source: www.carbonite.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
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How Carbonite compares in Backup & SaaS data protection
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 17
- Starting price
- $6
- Free alternatives
- 2
0 votes from members
28% above the category median ($5/mo)
Free or open-source tools in Backup & SaaS data protection
Carbonite ranks #1 of 17 backup & saas data protection tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Protecting a family laptop against drive failure or theft
- 2Backing up a small office's 10 to 25 PCs and a shared NAS
- 3Image backup of a Windows file or SQL server for bare metal recovery
- 4Recovering clean copies of files after a ransomware incident
- 5Keeping an off-site copy of photo and video libraries
Best for
Households and small offices that want automatic, unlimited-storage cloud backup for a single PC or up to 25 business computers.
Not ideal for
Tech-savvy users who want cheap multi-device or developer-grade storage (Backblaze, IDrive, Acronis).
Integrations
- Windows
- macOS
- NAS devices
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Microsoft Exchange
- Hyper-V
- VMware
Our take
Carbonite is a safe, low-maintenance choice for one home computer or a small office that wants backup to just work. Price the renewal rather than the first-year deal, and if you need many devices or large storage, IDrive and Backblaze usually give more for less.
FAQ
- What is Carbonite?
- Carbonite is a Backup & SaaS data protection tool: Set-and-forget cloud backup for home PCs, small offices and servers.
- How much does Carbonite cost?
- Carbonite uses a Paid model; paid plans start at $6 per month.
- What are the best alternatives to Carbonite?
- Community-listed alternatives to Carbonite include Backblaze, IDrive, lifebox, Save Gmail Emails as PDF in Bulk.
- Does Carbonite have a free trial?
- Yes, Carbonite offers a 15-day free trial.
- What does Carbonite integrate with?
- Carbonite integrates with Windows, macOS, NAS devices, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, Hyper-V and more.
- Which platforms does Carbonite support?
- Carbonite is available on web, windows, macos, ios, android.
- Who is Carbonite for?
- Households and small offices that want automatic, unlimited-storage cloud backup for a single PC or up to 25 business computers.
Alternatives to Carbonite
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Bulk export Gmail to PDF and print, 100% in your browser
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▲ 0Backup, disaster recovery and endpoint security for MSPs and PCs
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