Back That Data Up
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Back That Data Up vs Backblaze
Backblaze has been the set-and-forget cloud backup for Mac since 2007. Here is the honest picture of where BTDU adds features Backblaze does not, and where Backblaze is still the simpler pick for a very specific use case.
| Back That Data Up | Backblaze | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 one-time | $99/year, forever |
| Local snapshots to any drive | ✓ | ✕ |
| Cloud backup built in | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bring-your-own cloud storage | ✓ | no (their cloud only) |
| Unlimited cloud storage | ✕ | ✓ |
| Post-quantum encryption on cloud uploads | ✓ | ✕ |
| Hardware key (FIDO2 / Yubikey) unlock of vault | ✓ | ✕ |
| Ransomware anomaly detection on backup | ✓ | ✕ |
| Verified restores every backup | ✓ | ~ |
| Self-healing cloud vault | ✓ | ✕ |
| One-time purchase (no recurring cost) | ✓ | ✕ |
✓ yes · ~ partial · ✕ no. Prices may change; verify before deciding.
About Backblaze
The dead-simple unattended cloud backup for Mac
Backblaze Personal Backup has been backing up Macs since 2007. Install the client, sign in, walk away. Everything on your Mac gets encrypted and uploaded to Backblaze's own cloud. Storage is effectively unlimited for one flat $99 per year. If you have never done a backup before and you want the smallest possible cognitive load, Backblaze is genuinely a great pick.
The design is deliberately spare. There is nothing to configure beyond "back up everything except a few excludes." There is no schedule to tune, no destination to point at, no encryption scheme to pick, no local drive to buy. When your Mac dies, you sign in from any browser, request a restore, and Backblaze can even ship you a hard drive. For a specific "cloud only, no fuss" job, this is the reference product.
Where BTDU adds features Backblaze does not is in the layers around the design itself: local snapshots for immediate offline restore, FIDO2 hardware key unlock, post-quantum encryption, ransomware anomaly detection, and the choice of putting your encrypted blobs in your own cloud account instead of the vendor's servers.
The honest gaps
Where Backblaze's simplicity trades away options
The Backblaze design chose simplicity over control. That is a valid trade. These are the specific things you give up.
No local backup component. Backblaze is cloud only. When your Mac fails, restoring 500 GB of photos over your home internet connection can take days. For urgent restores you either wait, pay extra for a shipped drive, or hope your ISP is unusually fast. Local snapshots on a nearby drive restore in minutes, not days. BTDU keeps both local and cloud in the same app.
No FIDO2 unlock of the backup itself. Backblaze protects your account with 2FA (good), but the encryption key protecting your backup data is not tied to a physical device. With BTDU, an attacker with your drive plus your passphrase still needs the physical FIDO2 key to open the vault.
No ransomware anomaly detection. Backblaze faithfully uploads whatever your Mac says the files are. If ransomware just encrypted your photo library, Backblaze uploads the encrypted version. BTDU watches for mass encryption / deletion patterns and pauses backups before compromised files overwrite good snapshots. Backblaze keeps historical versions (30 days by default, extendable), which helps some, but no active detection.
No post-quantum encryption. Someone with access to your Backblaze storage can copy your encrypted blobs today and sit on them until quantum hardware can crack them. BTDU 1.1 layers ML-KEM-768 on top of X25519, so blobs harvested today stay opaque even after quantum arrives.
Their cloud, not yours. Your data lives on Backblaze's infrastructure. If you cancel your subscription, you have 30 days before your backup is deleted. BTDU's Cloud Vault targets your own iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or S3-compatible endpoint. If BTDU vanishes tomorrow, your encrypted blobs sit in your cloud account exactly where they were.
Subscription forever. $99 per year, every year, indefinitely. Over 5 years that is $495. BTDU is $29.99 once.
Back That Data Up
Built for control Backblaze deliberately does not offer
BTDU is a different design point. Backblaze optimized for no-configuration. BTDU optimized for local + cloud in one app, with strong crypto choices and the ability to put your data in an account you already own.
Local snapshots to any drive
Back That Data Up backs up to any drive macOS mounts: external SSD, NAS, USB stick, network volume. Each snapshot is independently readable; unchanged files are hardlinked for space efficiency. Backblaze has no local backup component at all. If your Mac dies and your internet is down, a Backblaze-only setup has no immediate restore path.
FIDO2 physical key unlock
Back That Data Up supports unlocking your vault with any FIDO2 security key (Yubikey, SoloKey, Feitian, Nitrokey). Multiple keys per vault so losing one does not lock you out. The key is verified at the crypto envelope, not just an account login layer. Backblaze offers 2FA on their account login (good), but the encryption key protecting your backup itself is not tied to a physical device.
Post-quantum encryption today
Back That Data Up 1.1 encrypts Cloud Vault uploads with X-Wing: X25519 (classical) combined with ML-KEM-768 (NIST post-quantum standard, FIPS 203) via Apple CryptoKit. This protects against store-now-decrypt-later. Backblaze uses strong classical encryption; a post-quantum layer is not part of their current design.
Your cloud, your account
Cloud Vault targets your existing iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or any S3-compatible endpoint. Your account, your storage, your keys. No BTDU-hosted backend. Backblaze stores everything on Backblaze's servers. Their infrastructure is good; the design just does not give you the option to keep your encrypted blobs in an account you already own.
One thing Backblaze does that BTDU does not: unlimited storage for a flat fee. Cloud Vault stores your backup in your own cloud account, which means storage cost is whatever your cloud provider charges (typically 2 to 6 cents per GB per month, depending on the tier). For most users this is cheaper than $99 per year. For someone with 10 terabytes of photos, Backblaze's flat fee is the better economic deal.
BTDU is sold as old-school software. You pay $29.99 once for the app. Bug fixes and minor updates ship free for the life of the major version. There is no subscription for the app itself, though your cloud storage provider will still charge you for cloud storage (like it would for anything else you store there).
The honest answer
Who should pick which
Stick with Backblaze if...
- → You have 5+ terabytes on your Mac and the unlimited-storage flat fee is meaningfully cheaper than paying per-GB in your own cloud.
- → You want absolute set-and-forget with zero configuration and are fine with cloud-only restore times.
- → Post-quantum crypto and FIDO2 hardware key unlock are not in your threat model.
- → You are comfortable with a permanent subscription and $99 a year, every year.
Backblaze is genuinely good at what it does. For the "cloud only, unattended, unlimited storage" job it is the reference.
Consider BTDU if...
- → You want local snapshots for fast restore, plus encrypted cloud vault for offsite, in one app.
- → You want to lock the vault so only a physical FIDO2 key in your hand can open it.
- → You care about the store-now-decrypt-later scenario and want post-quantum encryption from day one.
- → You want your encrypted blobs in your own cloud account (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, S3), not on a vendor's servers.
- → You want to pay once for the app and not carry a subscription forever.
Many people run Backblaze plus a separate local backup tool (Time Machine, CCC, or BTDU) to get both cloud-only unattended AND local snapshots. If you like that pattern and are already paying Backblaze, adding BTDU for the local + FIDO layer is not competing for the same job. Or replace Backblaze with BTDU Cloud Vault to your own cloud storage and cut the subscription line.
If BTDU sounds like a fit for what you need, here is where to start. $29.99, one time. No subscription, ever.
Already running Backblaze? You can install BTDU alongside for local + FIDO + post-quantum, or run BTDU Cloud Vault to your own storage and let the Backblaze subscription lapse. Either works.