REVIEWS / BACKUP / OWNER INSIGHTS
🦉 WE READ 210 OWNER COMMENTS
IDrive Personal: what owners actually say
Owners praise IDrive's aggressive pricing and granular control, but warn about slow speeds, poor support, and punitive overage fees
What owners complain about
- Slow backup speed SOME
Multiple owners describe IDrive speed as 'Meh' — it gets the job done but Backblaze is noticeably faster. One owner ran it from a VM with a network share to work around the sluggishness.
- Pathetic customer support FEW
An owner flatly states 'iDrive support is pathetic!' with no elaboration, suggesting the experience was bad enough to warn others off without qualification.
- Punitive overage fees FEW
IDrive charges $0.25 per GB per month if you exceed your allotment — 1TB over costs $250. Owners feel it should cap or warn rather than silently bill, calling it a 'hidden fee' trap if you forget to clear old backups.
- Retention policy ambiguity vs competitors SOME
In broader backup discussions, owners warn about retention policies across services — Backblaze Personal deletes data if you unplug an external drive. While IDrive isn't singled out here, owners researching these tools are clearly concerned about silent data loss.
What owners love
- Extremely cheap first-year pricing
One owner got the first year for $3, making it nearly impossible to pass up. The low entry cost is the primary reason owners choose IDrive over Backblaze, even when they prefer BB's speed.
- More control than Backblaze
Owners consistently say IDrive gives you more control than Backblaze Personal, whose interface is described as 'a little too simple' and lacking granular options. IDrive is seen as the pick for power users who want configuration.
- Competitive 10TB plan value
An owner notes IDrive's 10TB plan is price-comparable to what Google Drive charges for 2TB annually, making it attractive for users with large backup needs (5TB+).
Surprising patterns
- Owners commonly run IDrive and Backblaze simultaneously for a trial period rather than committing — the cheap IDrive first-year deal makes dual subscriptions affordable enough to test both in real use.
- One owner deliberately ran IDrive from a VM with a network share attached, essentially building a DIY NAS-to-cloud pipeline to work around speed limitations — suggesting technically inclined users find creative workarounds rather than abandoning the product.
WHO SHOULD SKIP IT
Buyers who need fast upload speeds for large initial backups or responsive customer support when things go wrong should look elsewhere, as IDrive's speed is described as merely adequate and support as 'pathetic.'
Synthesised from 210 real owner comments across 5 platforms. Every point is grounded in the comments — no marketing, no AI guessing. How we do it →