5 Best Cloud Backups for Synology in 2024

IDrive is a fully featured cloud storage solution that provides full system disk image backup, true archiving, and the option of end-to-end encryption. This makes it a truly private cloud backup service, that you can store your data on without concerns that it may access your data for commercial reasons – or to comply with a warrant to allow for government surveillance.

IDrive is a highly popular backup service that is fully featured and allows users to back up from mapped drives and NAS devices. It even provides a custom app for Synology, which makes it one of the easiest and most purposefully designed cloud backups for Synology DiskStation owners. With IDrive you can easily schedule your Synology to back up to the cloud. You can also scale your storage as time goes on – to keep your costs as low as possible.

IDrive has excellent customer support that is always ready to help with your Synology and NAS-related queries, and it has guides in its FAQ to help you get everything set up using its dedicated Synology app. Perhaps the only slight drawback with this service, is that it does take some time to back up your data, particularly if your NAS contains large amounts of data. That said, it is reliable, and it has incremental backup, so once your data has been stored, it should only need to back up anything that changes, which won't take as long as the initial backup of the entire NAS drive. 

We love that IDrive provides 5 GB of storage for free. This means that you can test the service risk-free to get a sense of what it can do. And, for those who want to begin storing large amounts of data, you can pay as little as $70 per year to back up 5TB of data, which is enough space for most home users and small businesses. Plus, IDrive has file versioning, which means that you can backtrack if you accidentally alter a file and want to revert to a previous version.

Backblaze is a popular cloud backup solution that is perfect for both home and business users. That said, NAS backups are only available with the Backblaze Business plan, so if you do need to back up from a Synology DiskStation – this is the plan you will require. 

The nice thing about Backblaze is that it automatically backs up all the files on your Synology device. This makes it extremely simple to use and rely on. And, if you decide that there are files you don't need to back up, you can make things quicker by opting to manually exclude those files. This makes it perfect for any user who is primarily concerned with constantly backing up their entire Synology device automatically.

One thing worth bearing in mind is that Backblaze is missing some of the bells and whistles you get with IDrive. This makes the service easy to use, but it means that it isn't as versatile. So be sure that you are happy with a simple backup service before you opt for this choice. For example, you will find no end-to-end encryption with Backblaze, so if watertight privacy is important to you – we would recommend sticking to IDrive instead. 

That said, it does provide file versioning so you will be able to backtrack and access previous versions of files if you want to. Perhaps the only drawback with this service is that in addition to paying the $60 per year fee for an account (with unlimited storage), you will need to add on the NAS backup bolt-on which adds some extra cost. The good news is that this is completely scalable; so you will only have to pay for the space you require.

ElephantDrive offers enterprise-class storage and backup tools that were originally reserved for bigger corporations. However, it is now also focussing on the consumer market thanks to the growth in home-use of NAS devices like Synology DiskStations. We like ElephantDrive because it provides robust end-to-end encryption for your data using military-grade AES 256 encryption. This ensures that nobody but you can ever access your data.

The service is well-rounded, and it has apps for backing up your data from Synology and a bunch of other NAS brands. What's more the service has a wide choice of features including sync and share options, automatic backups, and archiving with file versioning. This makes it great for those who want plenty of backup options.

In my opinion, ElephantDrive is well suited to beginners, seeing as everything is automated, and an excellent customer service team is on hand to help whenever you have questions. ElephantDrive subscription plans start at $10 per month for 1TB of storage, and there’s a free trial available for anyone who wants to try it risk-free. Well worth testing to compare it to other options on the market.

CloudBerry is a service that is highly functional and versatile, which is why it makes it onto our list. It is also potentially one of the cheapest ways to back up a Synology DiskStation, as long as you don't mind doing some of the heavy lifting to get it set up. The backup software is easy to use, and it has many features, but you will need to purchase could space with a third-party service like Amazon S3, Azure Blob, or Backblaze B2 (this is most people's preferred option on Reddit).

The great thing about CloudBerry is that once you have set it up to work with your third-party storage space, it provides a wide range of backup features including unlimited file versioning, disk imaging, scheduling options, and more. Best of all, it puts you completely in control of your data and provides robust e2ee for your data to ensure it can never be accessed by anyone but you.

In terms of cost, you will need to pay a one-off fee of $49.99 to get a CloudBerry license followed by a small annual handling fee. On top of that, you will need to pay for your cloud backup space, which means that the costs will depend on where you choose to host. However, you could use something like Amazon Glacier to keep costs down. An excellent option for techy users who want a cloud backup that works with all cloud providers and all operating systems, including Synology drives.

Acronis is a cloud backup service that has a wide range of features. It is also a service that can provide you with reliable backups for a Synology drive with complete privacy. The service will leave you in control of your data thanks to its end-to-end encryption and on top of secure backups, it also gives you ransomware and malware protection for your data. Of course, this added functionality comes with added costs, so there is a trade-off. We have to admit that at a starting cost of $89.99 for just 50 GB of storage, this is an expensive option.

That aside, this service has plenty of features. It offers file versioning to ensure you can always backtrack if you need to, and it has automated scheduled backups and real-time backups that you can initiate on the fly. One thing to bear in mind, however, is that it does not do full disk imaging, which means that this service is not suitable if you are running a VM on your Synology.

If all you need is to back up files and folders from your Synology, however, you will be fine with this service. The Acronis software will recognize your Synology NAS and easily allow you to back up its contents. What's more, this service can provide good upload speeds because it has a choice of backup locations around the world. Excellent if you want to prevent infected files and malware from being uploaded from an infected Synology to the cloud.