Backblaze vs Carbonite 2026: Unlimited Backup vs Bare-Metal Restore

Quick Verdict

Backblaze wins on price, value, and honest default behavior. $99/year for unlimited backup of one computer with no file size limits and video included by default. Carbonite wins if you specifically need bare-metal restore (restoring your entire operating system and applications to a fresh drive, not just your files) — the Mirror Image feature is Carbonite's only clear technical advantage.

Pricing Comparison

| Plan | Storage | Annual Price | Per Month | |------|---------|-------------|-----------| | Backblaze Personal Backup | Unlimited | $99 | $8.25 | | Carbonite Basic | Unlimited files | $71.99 | $6.00 | | Carbonite Plus | Unlimited + external drives | $111.99 | $9.33 | | Carbonite Prime | Unlimited + bare-metal + courier | $149.99 | $12.50 |

Carbonite Basic appears cheaper than Backblaze. But Carbonite Basic excludes video files by default — a hidden limitation that's easy to miss. More on this below.

Carbonite Plus ($111.99/year) is more comparable to Backblaze Personal Backup in terms of what's actually included. At that level, Backblaze at $99 is cheaper for the same effective coverage.

The Video Backup Problem with Carbonite Basic

This is the most significant hidden issue with Carbonite.

Carbonite Basic does not back up video files by default. Video backup must be manually enabled in Settings → Backup → Video files. The setting is off. If you install Carbonite Basic and don't find this setting, all your .mp4, .mov, .avi, and other video files are being skipped silently.

There is no prominent warning about this during setup. The interface shows a progress bar of "your backup" without indicating that an entire file type category is being excluded.

Backblaze backs up all file types, including video, by default. There is no opt-in required. This is a meaningful difference in practice — the number of Carbonite users who have discovered their videos weren't backed up after a hard drive failure is well-documented in Carbonite's own support forums.

Backblaze wins on default backup coverage.

Backup Coverage: What Each Service Backs Up

| Feature | Backblaze | Carbonite Basic | Carbonite Plus | |---------|-----------|-----------------|----------------| | Documents | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Photos | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Music | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Video files | Yes (default) | No (manual opt-in) | Yes | | External hard drives | Yes (always connected) | No | Yes | | NAS devices | No | No | No | | System files/OS | No | No | No | | Individual file size limit | None | None | None | | Bare-metal restore | No | No | Yes (Prime only) |

Bare-Metal Restore: Carbonite's Real Advantage

Carbonite Prime's Mirror Image creates a sector-level snapshot of your entire system — operating system, installed applications, settings, registry, boot sector, everything. When your drive fails, you restore to a new blank drive and it boots exactly as it was. You don't need to reinstall Windows, reinstall applications, or reconfigure settings. You pick up exactly where you left off.

Backblaze does not offer this. Backblaze backs up your files and can restore them all, but if your OS installation is corrupted or your drive fails completely, you need to reinstall Windows and all your applications before restoring your files.

Who needs bare-metal restore?

• IT administrators managing non-technical users' computers
• Anyone who has customized their software environment extensively and would lose significant time reinstalling
• Businesses with complex application configurations
• Users who've experienced a complete system failure and found OS reinstallation painful

For most home users and small business users, file backup covers the important use case. Documents, photos, videos, and project files are what matter — the OS and applications can be reinstalled. Bare-metal restore is valuable when reinstalling everything would take more time than you're willing to spend.

Carbonite Prime wins on bare-metal restore. At $149.99/year vs Backblaze's $99/year, you're paying $51/year for that capability.

Physical Media Restore

Backblaze Restore Return Refund: Backblaze will ship a USB drive or external hard drive with all your data for $189 (USB) or $189-$249 (external drive). If you return the drive within 30 days, they refund the cost. For recovering large amounts of data without downloading over a slow connection, this is practical.

Carbonite Courier Recovery (Prime only): Carbonite ships a recovery drive if your internet connection makes downloading impractical. Available only on Prime at $149.99/year, not on Basic or Plus.

Encryption: AES-128 vs AES-256

Both Backblaze and Carbonite use AES-128, not AES-256. Most backup services use AES-256 (iDrive, Sync.com, pCloud). AES-128 has no known practical vulnerabilities — the difference is theoretical security margin, not real-world risk. But if you're comparing encryption strength against iDrive or Backblaze B2 (which uses AES-256 for object storage), both Backblaze Personal Backup and Carbonite are a step behind on paper.

Backblaze gives you the option to set your own private encryption key. If you use a private key, even Backblaze cannot access your backup data. The tradeoff: lose your private key, and your backup is permanently unrecoverable. Most users don't use private key encryption, but the option exists.

Carbonite does not offer private key encryption. Carbonite holds all encryption keys.

Speed

Backblaze has a "throttle" option that lets the backup run at full speed or a limited speed. Initial backups of large libraries can take weeks on typical home connections (10-50 Mbps upload is common). Backblaze's servers are generally fast at accepting uploads.

Carbonite throttles upload speeds more aggressively on Basic plans. Multiple user reports show Carbonite Basic backing up at 1-3 Mbps even on fast connections. Carbonite Plus and Prime have fewer throttling reports.

Backblaze wins on upload speed.

File Retention

Backblaze: Keeps deleted and changed files for 1 year. Files deleted from your computer are retained in Backblaze for 365 days before being purged. Extended Version History (add-on) removes the retention limit.

Carbonite: Keeps deleted and changed files for 30 days on Basic, 90 days on Plus and Prime. Significantly shorter retention than Backblaze's default 1 year.

Backblaze wins on file retention.

The Decision Matrix

Choose Backblaze Personal Backup ($99/year) if:

• You want the best value for whole-computer file backup
• Video files are part of what you need backed up (and you want them covered by default)
• You want 1-year file retention vs Carbonite's 30-90 days
• You don't need bare-metal restore

Choose Carbonite Plus ($111.99/year) if:

• You need external drive backup and Backblaze's "always connected" condition doesn't work for your setup
• You want video backup without configuring it separately

Choose Carbonite Prime ($149.99/year) if:

• Bare-metal restore (Mirror Image) is specifically needed
• You manage computers for non-technical family members or small business employees where reinstalling everything would be a major time cost

Look elsewhere if:

• You have multiple computers — both Backblaze and Carbonite charge per computer, and iDrive backs up unlimited devices for $79.95/year
• You need NAS backup — neither service supports NAS. Use Synology's own cloud backup or Wasabi for NAS
• You need zero-knowledge encryption — neither service offers it

Get Backblaze — $99/Year Unlimited Get Carbonite — From $71.99/Year

Full Backblaze review → | Backblaze vs iDrive →