shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

IDrive Review

Depends

Should I use IDrive?

Online cloud backup and storage for personal, business, and S3-compatible workloads. - idrive.com

· 1 month ago

Buy if you're a cost-conscious individual or small business comfortable troubleshooting on your own — the per-TB pricing is hard to beat. Skip it if you need responsive support or zero client-side security blemishes.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 14+ public sources: PCMag, G2, Trustpilot, CERT/CVE databases, Reddit threads, and IDrive's own pricing and security pages.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Personal

$6.99/yr intro (5TB; regular $9.99)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
BusinessTiered team plans (see site)
IDrive e2Pay-as-you-go S3-compatible storage

Best for

  • Budget-conscious personal backups
  • Data hoarders with big libraries
  • Small businesses on mixed devices
  • Hybrid local + cloud backup users

Not for

  • Set-and-forget users who expect hands-off reliability
  • Teams needing responsive, SLA-backed support
  • Security-strict orgs uneasy about client-side CVEs
  • Synology-centric shops — there's a serious-warning thread

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

First-year deals renew at full price — budget for the jump.

medium

Windows client shipped CVE-2026-1995 privilege escalation; patch immediately.

medium

Restore failures and slow support recur across Reddit and Trustpilot threads.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Rated best-value online backup; PCMag calls it fast and easy
  • Very cheap per TB — 10TB deals around $4.98 first year
  • Private-key encryption; IDrive says it never stores your key
  • Free plan available for light backup needs
  • Apps for PC, Mac, Linux, servers, iOS, and Android

Cons

  • Mixed reliability reports; some users restore-fail and switch away
  • Support quality complaints surface repeatedly on Trustpilot
  • 2026 local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows client
  • Reviewers flag hidden fees and cheaper competitors on renewal

Sources & method

- 10 sources - Private-key encryption available, but the Windows client had CVE-2026-1995 (local privilege escalation, patched), and a 2018 phishing/breach incident is documented.

official x1review x6security x3
  • CVE-2026-1995 — local privilege escalation in IDrive Windows client, Disclosed March 2026, tracked as CERT VU#330121; IDrive has released a fix.
  • 2018 security breach / phishing incident, Independent writeup describes a phishing-based breach at IDrive; Backblaze had comparable issues.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $6.99/yr intro (5TB; regular $9.99)

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Repeatedly praised as cheapest per TB; $4.98/10TB intro deals
  • Ease of use: 4/5. PCMag: fast, easy to use; positive setup feedback
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Hybrid local+cloud backup, Express drive shipping, e2 object storage
  • Support quality: 2/5. Trustpilot ambiguity complaints; multiple Reddit support warnings
  • Security posture: 3/5. Private-key encryption, but CVE-2026-1995 in Windows client
  • 4.5/5 G2 rating 2,712 reviews across IDrive products
  • $6.99/yr Starting price Personal 5TB intro (regular $9.99)
  • Yes Free tier Free plan signup available
  • 4,480+ Aggregated reviews Users tracked by CheckThat

Pricing

Personal

$6.99/yr intro (5TB; regular $9.99)

  • 5TB backup across unlimited devices
  • Private-key encryption
  • First-year discount pricing

Business

Tiered team plans (see site)

  • Team and server backup
  • Unlimited users per plan tier
  • Express physical seed/restore

IDrive e2

Pay-as-you-go S3-compatible storage

  • Object storage, separate product
  • Positioned as cheap S3 alternative

Security

Private-key encryption available, but the Windows client had CVE-2026-1995 (local privilege escalation, patched), and a 2018 phishing/breach incident is documented.

  • CVE-2026-1995 — local privilege escalation in IDrive Windows clientDisclosed March 2026, tracked as CERT VU#330121; IDrive has released a fix.⁶
  • 2018 security breach / phishing incidentIndependent writeup describes a phishing-based breach at IDrive; Backblaze had comparable issues.⁸

What users say

Reviewers consistently praise IDrive's price and feature breadth, while Reddit threads split sharply on long-term reliability and support.

“I've never liked iDrive.”
Reddit, r/DataHoarder

Alternatives

Compare IDrive with each alternative.

  • Backblaze

    Simple unlimited computer backup; the most-cited IDrive alternative.

  • Arq

    Bring-your-own-storage backup for privacy-focused users.

    IDrive vs Arq
  • Wasabi

    Flat-rate hot cloud storage favored by hoarders.

  • Carbonite

    Set-and-forget consumer backup, typically pricier per TB.

Companies that use it

  • Discover Los Angeles
Full analysis

Based on 14+ public sources: PCMag, G2, Trustpilot, CERT/CVE databases, Reddit threads, and IDrive's own pricing and security pages.

Dirt-cheap, feature-rich backup that shines if you're technical; support complaints and a 2026 Windows CVE are the catches.

Methodology

Based on 14+ public sources: PCMag, G2, Trustpilot, CERT/CVE databases, Reddit threads, and IDrive's own pricing and security pages.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. review
  2. review
  3. review
  4. review
  5. review
  6. security
  7. security
  8. security
  9. official
  10. review

Add this review to your site

This check for IDrive says Depends.

Put the badge on your site.

Visitors see the independent review.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.