CrashPlan Review

Online backup services are a fundamental tile in today’s life, and CrashPlan is without any doubt one of the best services you can choose. Available on any platform and with the best performances we have ever experienced in this category.

Usability

CrashPlan use Java to correctly work on your computer. New Mac operating systems don’t come equipped with Java anymore, but if you have a Mac that’s not a problem, because CrashPlan embeds a built-in version of Java to run, meaning that you don’t have to download it to use CrashPlan. (The Java installation is self-contained, isolated from the system and works only for CrashPlan.)
Even if CrashPlan speed is better than most of its competitor, it still depends on your home or office connection, so backing up a large amount of files can be a drag – especially for the first time.
You can easily navigate CrashPlan interface through tabs: you can select files and directory to backup, change your settings, and destination for your backups. You can even log into CrashPlan website to retrieve a particular file (for example, if you forgot an important document on another computer and you need it for a presentation). The downside is that you have to know exactly what file you need because there’s no search option online.

Features

CrashPlan is one of the best online backup services, but you can use it also to backup your data on an external drive, in which case you don’t pay anything to use the service. You can also point to a friend’s or your spare computer as your backup destination, and that’s still free.
CrashPlan’s “unlimited storage” is actually unlimited, unlike other competitor’ scarce repository, and if you want never to delete your files from the backup, you’re on sure ground: that means that probably your first backup will run for weeks, but you can save tons of data without worrying that you never lost them for they will always live on your CrashPlan Central.
CrashPlan security includes a standard 128bit SSL encryption for a common user, and a 448bit Blowfish for the CrashPlan+ plan. If you want to be extra-sure, you can encrypt your files before backing them up, but CrashPlan security features should be enough for most people.
If you wish to trim the data you have to backup, you can select to compress your files in the options: it should have a pleasant side effect of speeding up your first backup.
As per mobile apps: Code42 stopped supporting its Windows Phone app – it’s still available, but no longer supported. Android and iOS have their apps too, and they are native apps, not just a web-view framed into an app.
CrashPlan thought about your worst-case scenario, too: if you have to restore all your files, and there’s too much of them for your connection, they will send you a hard drive with a copy of your files – you’ll pay extra money for it, but you won’t regret it.

Support

If you need to speak with Code42, please be aware that they will answer you call on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm (US Central Time). Ticket support on their website is always available. For other support inquiries, you can find many tutorials and plenty of documentation about CrashPlan on their website.

Price

Whichever plan you’ll choose, CrashPlan offers truly unlimited storage for your backup: so you only have to pick a personal plan or a family one, meaning that you can save up to ten computers with a single monthly fee. There’s also a business version, with user management options and, of course, advanced security features.