Working in the background of your computer, ZipCloud is a simple to use online backup service. Using the online dashboard, you can access your files remotely from any computer. I have been using the cloud pretty much since it first became available for public consumption. So, I had heard a lot about ZipCloud. For this review, I took this service for a test drive. Read on to see if it lives up to the hype.
About ZipCloud
The same company distributes MyPCBackup, JustCloud, and ZipCloud in the cloud based backup services industry. This means that they have a lot of experience getting their online sync and backup software just right. Just Develop It, a company in the United Kingdom, owns ZipCloud, which is located in the United States.
Just Develop It is world renowned for developing online solutions that are feature rich to help their clients sync their folders, easily restore folders and files as needed, and back up important computer files. This is nowhere more evident than with ZipCloud, which is a mid-range, simple to use, nicely developed online solution for restoring and storing your files.
Top Features of ZipCloud
ZipCloud is so packed full of features that I cannot go into all of the details here. Instead, I will focus on the highlights, and you can visit ZipCloud.com for a more comprehensive look at the features. Here are some of my favorites:
- Anywhere, anytime, you can share folders and files – ZipCloud gives you the ability to share your folders and files with family, teammates, and friends and invite them by Facebook, Twitter, or email. You have the option of conveniently sharing large files between users with the easy file collaboration features.
- Across your devices and computers, you can sync every one of your files – You can decide which folders and files you want to sync, pick where you want to sync them to, and seamlessly sync your files across multiple computers. Working in the background, ZipCloud uploads your files to the cloud, readying them to be synced to other devices.
- The security of your files is top priority – The security and safety of your files is taken very seriously by ZipCloud. Using military grade 256 bit secured socket layer (SSL) encryption, your data is constantly encrypted. Your files are stored in state of the art cloud data centers that are monitored at all hours of the day.
- Use your mobile device to backup, sync, and browse – From any device with an internet connection, you get access to all of your synced and backed up files thanks to ZipCloud’s online control panel. From anywhere across the globe at any time, you can gain access to your files using laptops, PCs, desktops, smartphones, and tablets.
In addition, your backups can be configured to fit your needs. If you want your data to be saved less or more frequently, you can change ZipCloud’s default settings from backing up your important files on a daily basis. For your frequently updated files, I would recommend hourly backups. However, if you do not want the upload process to slow your Internet speeds, a monthly or weekly backup may be better.
Another option is to have the backups run when your computer is idle. Any file types can be uploaded to ZipCloud, but you can choose to only backup certain types of files by adding unwanted files to the exclusions list. This is another way to speed up the backup process.
ZipCloud Prices
An unlimited storage plan is included among the three plans available for individual users of ZipCloud. Though often only made available to businesses with most cloud services, the unlimited plans are harder to find for personal users. If you find some of the other paid plans do not offer enough space and you want to back up your entire computer, the unlimited plan is ideal.
Since they take up a lot of room, individuals who have a lot of video, music, and image files should seriously consider the unlimited plan. When you pay for two years upfront, the rate is surprisingly affordable at under $7 per month. With this plan, you get unparalleled features.
Another plan from ZipCloud is their free plan. This will work for a lot of users and has many features, but if you want real power, the unlimited plan is the way to go.
If you are storing a lot of data, ZipCloud may seek to bump you up to a Business Plan. These are very reasonably priced starting at under $4 per month per a license.
With all of their plans, there is a money back guarantee. They will give you your money back if you are not completely satisfied with ZipCloud. There are no time limits and no questions asked. They will issue you a refund for the remainder of your current payment term when you cancel at any time. Essentially, you are getting a warranty with no expiration.
Criticism of ZipCloud
The biggest issue I had with ZipCloud was that you could not control user access. Since there is no way to restrict user permissions on folders or files, anyone you share a file with is able to not only view but also edit the file anyway they want. It would be nice to see ZipCloud add this to their menu of services, since it is available with some other programs.
That said, adding permissions will likely be available from ZipCloud in the near future, since they recently announced that they are working on this feature. This should not be a concern at all for those of you who do not share files and are just interested in using ZipCloud for its online backup services.
I visited the cloud storage discussion forums online to see what others had to say about the software. The buzz was positive for the most part. There were some complaints that files over one gigabyte in size needed to be manually backed up. However, if you go with a paid version, then only files larger than 5GB (a rarity) need to be manually backed up.
Customer Support
If you run into problems when you are using ZipCloud’s services, you can count on 24 hour a day, seven day a week support, just like that offered by sister companies JustCloud and MyPCBackup. You have the choice of contacting ZipCloud’s service representatives by email or phone if an issue arises. On the website, there is also a detailed Frequently Asked Questions section and video tutorials.
Clients do not typically find this many channels of support in a cloud provider. Though you may never have a need for it, you do get peace of mind know there are people sitting by the phone ready to answer if you need help.
Conclusion
You can be certain that ZipCloud contains all the basic functionality and features you would expect in an online sync and backup service, since it is backed up by the Just Develop It company. Thanks to their years of experience, they get their products right. Plus, they offer the ability to upgrade to unlimited storage at any time, and you can test it out with a two week trial period.
Simply by installing the free trial, you can give all of the paid account options a try without any risks. Even once you opt for the upgrade to the paid plan, you are covered by a money back guarantee. So, since there are so many great features and no risks in trying ZipCloud, I recommend it for everyone with a computer or mobile device.
