Final verdict for JustCloud
JustCloud offers unlimited online backup and file sync for little money. It’ll get the job done perfectly for people who just want their data securely backed up. If you want to have more features be prepared to pay extra, though. It is both easy to use and restored our test files without any hiccups.
| JustCloud pricing – www.justcloud.com | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | Monthly | 1 Year | 2 Years | |
| 75 GB | $ 6.95 | Save 29% $ 59.4 $ 83.4 | Save 35% $ 107.76 $ 166.8 | |
| 250 GB | $ 7.95 | Save 25% $ 71.4 $ 95.4 | Save 38% $ 118.8 $ 190.8 | |
| Unlimited GB | $ 4.49 | $ 53.88 $ 53.88 | $ 107.76 $ 107.76 | |
Quick Summary of JustCloud
Over the last six years we have reviewed around 30 online backup services, have answered thousands of emails with questions regarding what the best cloud storage and online backup service is. JustCloud hasn’t been our top former over the last months. However, in recent versions they have improved considerably, they added more features, got rid of several shady marketing techniques and improved the overall stability of their online backup program.
JustCloud offers unlimited online backup, file synchronization, file sharing, drag-and-drop backup and more. All those features made us think whether or not it’s possible to deliver top quality on all of them. That’s why our team of experts sat down in the last couple of weeks to test this service to its bones.
You can read the results in this JustCloud review.
You can sign up for free here: www.justcloud.com
Overall, we think JustCloud is the perfect solution for consumer backup needs who don’t need support for very large files (5 GB plus).
JustCloud handles larger files well, yet you need to purchase an upgrade if you want to backup files that are larger than 1 GB. Especially when you’re on a budget JustCloud offers the perfect plan for your needs, if you’re willing to commit yourself for a longer period of time you can get unlimited online backup for under five dollars – which is pretty much a steel.
JustCloud Pricing Information
| JustCloud pricing – www.justcloud.com | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | Monthly | 1 Year | 2 Years | |
| 75 GB | $ 6.95 | Save 29% $ 59.4 $ 83.4 | Save 35% $ 107.76 $ 166.8 | |
| 250 GB | $ 7.95 | Save 25% $ 71.4 $ 95.4 | Save 38% $ 118.8 $ 190.8 | |
| Unlimited GB | $ 4.49 | $ 53.88 $ 53.88 | $ 107.76 $ 107.76 | |
Start a free trial here: www.justcloud.com
Here at Cloudwards.net we always think about the user first. We have created different profiles that fit pretty much everybody’s needs. You will like JustCloud if you are just getting started with online backup, or if you are considering cloud storage for the first time. JustCloud makes it easy to enter the world of cloud storage because it is very easy to set up. There is no steep learning curve – just install the program (for Mac or for windows) and run the setup wizard.
Sign up for JustCloud if you are …
- a student, or any type of person on a budget
- looking for an inexpensive way to backup your files in the cloud
- looking for a tool that will make your life easier
- looking to share files with with friends and family (photos, videos etc…)
If you happen to take a lot of photos and you’re still looking for a place to store them all JustCloud might be the right place for you. You can browse your photos wherever you are the web clients, share them with your friends and family or download them to your mobile device to add a nice filter on Instagram. Your files are encrypted using a strong AES – 256 bit encryption. That way your files are always safe.
Probably there are better options if you are a small business owner. JustCloud’s privacy and backup scheduling functionality is somewhat limited to very basic features. You cannot assign user roles or manage several backup sets.
Probably you shouldn’t sign up for JustCloud if you’re …
- a business owner in need of super-secure backups
- a tech-geek, feature-addict and customization nerd
- absolutely need support installing software along your way
Backing up files of the JustCloud
It is very easy to get along with JustCloud’s backup software. The top navigation menu of the client gives you easy access to all the important features you might expect from a cloud backup service: you can click the backup button to select files for backup or use the drag and drop feature if you just need to save an important file to the cloud. If you need to view your files or notify a backup selection you can click on my files and have a look at everything you’ve backed up before.
When you hit the backup button you can start with your final selection if you have not backed up before. If you’ve already selected your files JustCloud will start backing up immediately. If you want to adjust or modify your file selection just go to Settings and choose Manual Selection. In the file tree you can select or deselect files for backup.
Overall, we think those are a lot of steps to modify your backup selection. We would have loved to see a more easy access to your files and a more intuitive way to perform changes in your backup (for example increasing the file size limit).
Start your backup for free: www.justcloud.com
File size limit of 5 GB
Speaking of file size limit. In previous versions of JustCloud they limited the file size to a couple of megabytes in the standard configuration which led many people to negative reviews because this option was hidden in the preference menu. Many people didn’t know about that and thought they had been backed up properly but instead they lost files because files larger than a couple of megabytes had been excluded. Luckily, JustCloud change that and allows files of 1 GB in size to be backed up automatically. You can purchase an upgrade to increase the file size limit to 5 GB.
That’s a limitation many services of the competition do not impose upon you. So if you’re looking to back up large files then you might want to have a look at Backblaze or CrashPlan.
Exclude certain file types
We like to the option that you can exclude certain file types with JustCloud. This can be useful if you knew that you don’t want to back up very sensitive files to the cloud. Then you could just choose the file extension and JustCloud would automatically ignore all files with that extension.
However, you have to be very careful not to exclude files you actually want backed up. Unfortunately, JustCloud doesn’t support automatic video backup. You select your videos manually if you want to have them backed up. Or you could purchase an additional upgrades for automatic video backup.
Schedule your backups
JustCloud automatically backs up your files once per day. You can schedule the time of the backup in the backup scheduling menu where you can set an exact schedule on which days you would like to backup to happen. You could for example program your backup to be performed when you’re at the office to save system resources when you’re working at home on your computer.
If your backup folder rarely changes then you might consider manual backup which will save system resources and bandwidth. The only thing is that you have to remember to backup button to transfer your files to the cloud.
Power and CPU resources
We tested JustCloud with several computers; couple of slower, older ones and also modern iMacs. Up-to-date computers don’t seem to have a problem with the JustCloud software, yet if you’re working on an older computer there might be some performance issues with your backups. That’s why we recommend you have a look at the power and CPU options and only run backups when the screensaver is active and adjust how much of system resources you want the JustCloud client to use. That will help older computers perform reliable backups, too.
Restoring files with JustCloud
So the moment of horror has arrived. Your computer failed and you need to complete this project immediately. Fortunately, you have backed up your files with JustCloud! At least we hope you have chosen at least one backup service for your files. Just cut makes it easy to restore your files either from the software on your computer or you can download individual files from the web client.
You can either choose to restore all of your backup files in one sitting. Remember that this can take a lot of time depending on how much files you have. If you store, say, 200 GB then this might take a couple of hours until everything is restored. Restore time mostly depends on your Internet connection. We have found that our restores have been performing very well. Our test folder of 10 GB has been downloaded in just under an hour.
Download your free trial: www.justcloud.com
If you’re in a hurry, we recommend you select individual files that you need to restore immediately and later opt for a full restore, for example, on a lazy Sunday. Unfortunately JustCloud doesn’t offer a “restore to door service” that some providers offer their clients for around $150 – sending you an external hard drive with your data on it can be a quick fix for urgent restore requests.
Features and Extras
JustCloud is a feature powerhouse. The only bad thing is many features have to be purchased extra. So the monthly fee adds up considerably to what is advertised on their website. We would like to see a more open disclosure on their pricing scheme. Nevertheless, let’s have a look at JustCloud’s feature set:
File synchronization and sharing
One of the best features of JustCloud is that not only you get a full-fledged online backup client but also you can synchronize your files with any device. If you frequently find yourself juggling your files across multiple services like Dropbox or Google Drive you can now switch to one single service. File synchronization is useful if you are working on multiple machines, for example if you have a desktop PC at home and a laptop that you take to work.
Creating a folder that syncs across those devices is pretty easy, in fact, it is created automatically for you so you just have to move the files you want to sync into that folder.
File versioning
JustCloud comes with seven day file versioning. That means if you accidentally overwrite a file and want to go back in time you can do that to up to seven days or purchase an extension that will allow you to go back infinitely. If you are a serious writer – that might come in handy because you can go back to a file version of a document that you like best and have accidentally or consciously saved. Just be sure to frequently backup your files or upgrade to hourly backups so that you always have the current version at hand.
Support
There are mixed reviews on the web when it comes to support. If you have a general inquiry about JustCloud, plans and pricing, functionality or feature the support team seems to be very responsive. However, if you have a more technical question it seems to be more difficult to get a satisfactory answer. Tech support appears to be overloaded with requests due to the popularity of that service and it takes time to get answers to your questions. Most of the time those answers are template generated and don’t fit very well to the question asked by the customer.
Sign up for free: www.justcloud.com
Final verdict
JustCloud certainly went through some ups and downs in the past but it has improved a lot over time. Online backup works flawlessly and the client does not crash. Restores are fast and reliable. If you are under a budget JustCloud is one of the best solutions you can buy for your money. However if you need more options expect to pay more for upgrades.
It is very hard to find a service that offers unlimited online backup and file synchronization for little money, unfortunately, JustCloud is not an exception. On the surface it seems very cheap (and it is!) – unless you plan on using more features than backup.
JustCloud is also a perfect solution for people who don’t want fancy options, who don’t want to fiddle around with extensive backup settings – it’s for people who really just want their backups to work knowing that their data is safe.
You can try JustCloud for free, however, only basic features are provided during that free trial.
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