Sync vs. iCloud Backup: One Ecosystem, or Every Drive You Own

Feature comparison

Sync compared with iCloud Backup, feature by feature
Feature	Sync	iCloud Backup
Works on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and WindowsThe same tasks and the same drives on every device you own	Yes	iPhone and iPad
Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and Amazon S3 in one appFive services connected from a single install	Yes	iCloud only
Amazon S3 supportAccess key, secret, bucket and region	Yes	Not stated
USB and external drive supportCopy straight to a drive you can unplug	Yes	Not stated
Private DriveIn-app isolated storage on iPhone, iPad and Android	Yes	Not stated
Five named task operationsBackup, Backup Sync, Restore, Restore Sync and Full Sync	Yes	Not stated
A backup mode that never deletes at the destinationBackup only adds and updates, so a deletion does not travel	Yes	Not stated
Whole-folder tasks, no picking files one at a timeA task takes a source folder, not a hand-made selection	Yes	Not stated
Built-in file manager for every driveBrowse, upload, download, rename and delete inside the app	Yes	Not stated
Share files over Wi-Fi from a built-in web serverOpen a browser on any device on the same network	Yes	Not statedOn iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac
One-time lifetime purchaseBuy once, no recurring charge	Yes	NoiCloud storage is sold as a recurring plan
Free tierUsable without paying	Yes	YesA free allowance, with paid plans beyond it

“Not stated” means iCloud Backup’s own published material does not say either way. We only mark a feature as missing where their material says so.

Pricing

Sync

Free$0

Any one drive, ad-supported
One task, up to 100 MB or 50 files per run
Built-in file manager

Pro Monthly$1.99per month

Every cloud service at once
USB and external drives
Wi-Fi web server, no ads

Pro Yearly$14.99per year

Everything in Monthly
Around 37% less than paying monthly

Pro Lifetime$29.99one-time, yours for good

Everything in Pro, no recurring charge

iCloud Backup

iCloud$0

A free storage allowance
Backups stop when it is full

iCloud+Recurring

Larger storage tiers
Billed monthly

iCloud Backup pricing is taken from its own published material and may have changed since we last checked.

A device backup and a file backup are different jobs

iCloud Backup copies a device. Apple's own instructions describe turning on iCloud Backup so the phone backs itself up automatically once it is locked, on Wi-Fi and connected to power, or tapping Back Up Now to do it by hand — and warn that the process stops if there is not enough iCloud storage to finish.

That is genuinely useful, and it is the fastest way to restore an iPhone onto a new iPhone. It is also the only place the copy goes.

Sync does the other job: it moves the files you choose to a destination you choose, and it never sells you the destination.

One copy in one account is not two copies

The reason backup advice keeps insisting on more than one location is that accounts fail in ways disks do not — a lockout, a forgotten password on a new device, a storage allowance that quietly filled up months ago and stopped the backups without anyone noticing.

With Sync the destination is yours and there can be several. The same folder can go to Google Drive today and to an external drive at the weekend, as two separate tasks. Nothing in the design assumes any particular provider, because Sync has no storage to sell.

What you give up: Sync does not clone a whole iPhone — settings, app layout and system data are not in scope. For putting a phone back exactly as it was, iCloud Backup is the tool for that part, and the two work side by side.

Choosing what a task does

Each Sync task runs one of five operations, picked when you build it. Backup and Backup Sync copy one way and never delete at the destination. Restore and Restore Sync bring files back the other way. Full Sync reconciles both sides including deletions, and you choose it deliberately.

Naming the operation is how you decide, in front of you rather than in a settings screen, whether a deletion is allowed to travel.

The same tasks, on every device you own

Apple's backup covers Apple devices. Most households are not that tidy — an Android phone, a Windows laptop, a Mac, an iPad, and the files that matter spread across all of them.

Sync is one app on all five, with the same drives, the same sources and the same operations everywhere, plus a built-in file manager and a Wi-Fi web server for handing a file to another device on the network.

Start free with any one drive, on whichever device is in your hand right now.

The bottom line

A second copy has to be able to fail separately from the first. A backup that lives only in the account your phone already signs into does not — one lockout or one full storage allowance and there is nothing else. Sync sells no storage, so it has no reason to steer you anywhere: the same folder can go to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Amazon S3 or a USB drive you can unplug, as separate tasks you re-run with a tap, from iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows, for $29.99 once. iCloud Backup remains the easiest way to restore an iPhone onto a new iPhone, and it works alongside Sync rather than instead of it.

Frequently asked questions

Is iCloud Backup enough on its own?

It restores an iPhone onto a new iPhone very well, and it is one copy in the account your phone already signs into. Standard backup advice asks for a second copy somewhere independent, which is what a different provider or a USB drive gives you.

How do I back up an iPhone without iCloud?

Sync can copy folders from an iPhone or iPad to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Amazon S3, or a USB drive connected through the Files app, as a task you save once and re-run whenever you want.

Why does it say my iCloud storage is full?

The free allowance is shared across backups, photos and mail, so the space fills from several directions and backups stop when it runs out. A destination like a USB drive or an S3 bucket is not shared with anything else.

Can I back up an iPhone and an Android phone to the same place?

Not with iCloud Backup, which covers Apple devices. Sync runs on both, so an iPhone and an Android phone can send files into the same Google Drive, Dropbox or S3 destination using the same kind of task.

Sync vs. iCloud Backup