Backup4all Professional 9 review: Easy, reliable backup with cloud support

Best Prices Today: Backup4All 9 Professional

Since last I reviewed the Backup4All (version 8) file backup program several years ago, a host of performance and stability improvements have been implemented. Added to an already broad range of capabilities and media support, including optical disc and online storage services, the program has cemented its status as a winning alternative to Windows File History.

Note that the Backup4All author, Softland, also offers a free, less feature-endowed version named FBackup that might do the trick for some users. You can learn more in a nice feature comparison chart.

Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best Windows backup software for comparison.

What are Backup4All 9’s features?

By far Backup4All 9’s most outstanding feature is its aforementioned plug-in architecture. Plug-ins are simply HTML files that describe where a particular program is located and where its data is stored. They make it super simple to make sure all your important program data is backed up.

Backup4All has literally hundreds (253 as of now, to be exact) of them pre-baked for you to simply install, and you can suggest new ones to the company.

If you don’t find what you need, or are using software that’s off the beaten path, you can create your own plug-ins following the directions and using a tool provided by Softland that you can read and download here.

Second on my list of best Backu4All features is its vast support for various media and destinations, including: optical discs, Windows-mapped network drives and SMB locations.

Popular online storage services are also included: Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3, Google Drive, Google Cloud Storage, Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, HiDrive, Hubic, and even S3-compatible services.

All the usual backup functionality and options are provided such as email notification, scheduling, media rotation, encryption, compression (zip), file include/exclude filters, comprehensive logging, and more. 

Backup4All also provides some nice perks that I wish all vendors offered, such as the ability to test a backup to make sure it will start correctly, and an integrated utility to cull older backups.

IT staff dealing with lots of backup jobs will like the deep-dive features, such as search and a verbose history. You can define which columns (date, size, name, and quite a few more) are visible in the backup job list, and there’s a hideaway pane to the right of the main window that will pop out to show progress information.

Last time around, I complained about Backup4All’s lack of plain file (no compression, no container) backup. That’s been solved via mirror backups, which are basically sync. Nice. This is actually my preferred method of everyday file backup, in conjunction with the occasional full system image and point-in-time file backups.

Also, new since my last look is the ability to define custom network locations that retain the user name and password. Nice, except there’s no option to show the password to make sure you didn’t mis-enter it. You can test it, but…

Backup4All doesn’t support multiple destinations per job (one of my pet wishes that few vendors implement), though it does let you duplicate jobs.

How easy is Backup4All 9 to use?

As you can see below, Backup4All is all-business in its approach to backup. It’s good-looking yet focused, and uses the Microsoft drop-down ribbon style, which nicely combines icons and text. The bare icons used by many programs, except when used sparingly, are a waste of cognition time.

Considering its complexity, Backup4All remains easy to use. And unlike some programs, it provides adequate information on what to do and what’s going on. The program steps you through job creation and tells you what went right and what went wrong in a straightforward and concise fashion.

The few minor foibles, such as a very jerky redraw when resizing the main window that I experienced in version 8 are now, thankfully, kaput. It’s quite nice that everything in the program has been continually improved and the company doesn’t rest on its laurels. Kudos to Softland.

How much is Back4All 9?

The Backup4All Standard 9 version is $40, while the Backup4All Professional 9 version we tested is $50 from the Softland site. I recommend spending the extra $10 for the Professional version, as you don’t get FTP transfers or cloud backup with the Standard version.

There’s also a $20 Lite version that lacks some IT-centric features found in the Standard version such as backup from network locations (you can back up to them), the ability to run external programs before and after backups, and more. You can see the full comparison chart online.

Note that these are all perpetual licenses with free dot (9.1, 9.2, etc.) upgrades. Full number (7, 8, 9, etc.) upgrades are $35 from any previous number.

How well does Backup4All 9 perform?

Faster is always better, but when it comes to backup, reliability trumps speed big time. After all, the goal is to protect your data. A glitch anywhere in the process tends to destroy your faith in a program — and my faith has been tested by several backup programs over the years, even by the formerly faithful.

That doesn’t include Backup4All, which was decently fast, zipping approximately 147GB worth of files to the network in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. More importantly, backups went off without a hitch each and every time, from choosing files on the network to writing them to each destination. When it comes to backup, operational serenity like Backup4All’s is worth its weight in gold.

Should you buy Backup4All 9?

If you want more granular control, far more destinations, and wider media support than Windows File History provides, then you’ll like Backup4All Professional 9. It’s one of the most facile, feature-laden, and reliable file backup options I’ve tested.  

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text will be noted above this notice and changed conclusions at the top.