Do Some Online Backup Plans Really Allow Unlimited Data?

If you sign up for an unlimited online backup plan, do you get to backup absolutely as much as want, or are you still bound by some upper limit? How do you know if an online backup service will really let you backup all the data you like?

The following question is one of many you'll find in my Online Backup FAQ:

"Do 'unlimited' online backup plans really allow an unlimited amount of data to be backed up? Surely I can't really backup every single thing I want, can I?"

Yes, most online backup services that have plans with the word "unlimited" in them really do allow an unrestricted amount of data to be backed up. So, yes, in those cases, you really can backup every single thing you want.

In my Online Backup Comparison Chart, which lists some of my favorite services with unlimited backup plans, you can check to see which ones feature No Fair Use Limits, meaning that their user agreements do not include any limits as to the total amount of data you can back up.

See What are Fair Use Limits? for more on this type of restriction and why cloud backup services, even unlimited ones, sometimes include them.

Important: Please check the Fair Use or Acceptable Use section in the terms published by any unlimited online backup plan provider if you're planning on a truly massive backup (several TBs or more). While none of my favorites list any sort of "real world" limits and most even explicitly say that there are absolutely no storage space limits in their unlimited plan(s), most do allow for future "reasonable" changes to this policy.

Here are a few more questions that I'm often asked during the search for the right backup service: