Data loss can be detrimental to anyone it happens to. Luckily, there are recovery solutions out there like Recoverit to help get back the invaluable data that was lost. But, what if it doesn’t work for you? Well, luckily, there are alternatives to Recoverit out there.
Although Recoverit is a powerful tool, sometimes it can fall short. If you’ve tried Recoverit and found that it’s just not cutting it for you, read on to find out what recovery tools are out there and how they might benefit you.
Here’s a quick recap of our findings
You can also vote for the software you think is the most suitable alternative to Wondershare Recoverit. We will update our ranking in the future based on your votes.
What is Recoverit?
Recoverit is a data recovery application developed by Wondershare that’s available for both Windows and macOS. Since its development in 2003, it has received many updates and remains one of the go-to solutions for file recovery. It boasts support for over 1000 different file types and claims to be able to recover data from all devices that have been deemed unrecoverable by other recovery solutions.
You can download the free version of Recoverit and recover up to 100 MB of data before needing a paid plan. The scanning and recovery process is very similar to other recovery tools. To start, you will have the option to do a Quick Scan on your drive. If that isn’t sufficient in finding the data you need, you can then move on to a Deep Scan. At either of these stages, you can filter the discovered data and choose what files you want to recover.
Once the scan has completed, you have the ability to preview your files before recovery. Recovered files are sent to a specified location of your choice. As a data recovery tool, it gets the job done most of the time.
Reasons for Seeking an Alternative to Recoverit
While Recoverit is a powerful recovery solution, there are various reasons why one might seek an alternative. Below, we’ve included some comparisons to other software to highlight some areas where Wondershare Recoverit may be lacking.
Feature Set
In addition to data recovery, some data recovery tools include additional features that help with general hard drive maintenance and data protection. Here are some features that Wondershare Recoverit is currently lacking, but can be found in alternatives:
- đź“Š SMART monitoring – Software that can monitor your drive’s SMART data, like Disk Drill and DiskGenius, allows you to stay on top of any issues and can potentially warn you against impending data loss. Currently, Wondershare Recoverit doesn’t include any such feature.
- 🔧 Repair functionality – An all-in-one solution that allows you to recover your data and repair problematic drives eliminates the need to download multiple software tools. Wondershare Recoverit only allows you to recover data, but cannot repair any drive issues.
- đź’˝ Drive backups – The ability to back up your data is immensely useful, especially in times when scanning your drive could pose a high risk of data loss. Disk Drill and DiskGenius are two tools on this list that include this functionality. Right now, you will need to download a separate solution, Wondershare UBackit, to create any type of backup.
- đź“‘ Backup/restore partition table – The ability to back up and restore your partition table lets you easily get back up and running if it becomes corrupted or damaged, resulting in your data becoming inaccessible.
- 👨‍💻 Scan session management – Repeated scanning of your disk puts your data at risk every time. It also takes a lot of time. To combat this, some data recovery tools, like EaseUS, include scan session managers that allow you to return to previous scans. Wondershare Recoverit doesn’t currently support this feature.
Pricing Models
Wondershare Recoverit is pretty expensive when compared to other data recovery solutions on the market. Setting aside the already costly subscription-based licenses that start at $59.99 a month, the cheapest lifetime license starts at $119.99 just for basic access to its recovery features.
While you could argue that you’re paying a premium to get premium results, our testing shows that you can get the same results (or better) from other recovery solutions that are either cheaper or at least similarly priced and don’t rely on subscription-based licenses, like Disk Drill and DiskGenius.
Here is a brief overview of what access you get to the application for free, as well as the different licenses that are available:
Software | Free version | Monthly plan | Annual plan | Lifetime plan |
Recoverit Wondersare | Up to 100 MB | $59.99 – $79.99 | $69.99 – $99.99 | $119.99 – $159.99 |
Disk Drill | Up to 500 MB | Not applicable | Not applicable | $89.00+$29.00 for the lifetime upgrades. |
EaseUS | Up to 2000 MB | $69.95 | $99.95 | $149.95 |
DiskGenius | Recovers files smaller than 64 KB | Not applicable | Not applicable | $69.90-$99.90 |
Minitool | Up to 1000 MB | 69.00 | 89.00 | $99.00 |
Recovery Capabilities
Despite its price, Wondershare Recoverit is still a somewhat reliable recovery tool, but it still isn’t good enough to beat most of the alternatives we propose on this list. For instance, it produced better results than MiniTool but was still beaten by Disk Drill, EaseUS, and DiskGenius in terms of overall recovery performance.
There wasn’t a particular area where it fell short, rather, all of its recovery methods produced somewhat mediocre results. In other words – not great, but not terrible. Additionally, when you consider the fact that it doesn’t support recovery from partitions with Apple-supported file systems (HFS+ and APFS), it’s hard to make an argument for Wondershare Recoverit in place of others.
No matter what your reasons are for seeking an alternative, there’s no shortage of recovery tools to choose from. Let’s take a look at some of the best alternatives to Recoverit.
Best Commercial Alternatives to Recoverit
We’ve split this list into a collection of commercial and free alternatives. Let’s start by taking a look at the best commercial alternatives to Wondershare Recoverit, as these often produce better results and have a dedicated team behind them to keep them updated regularly.
1. Disk Drill Data Recovery
Disk Drill is a robust and user-friendly recovery tool for Windows and macOS that can recover data from all major devices. It also comes packaged with features like disk health monitoring, duplicate finding, and active data protection.
Pros:
- Support for 400+ file types
- Free recovery up to 500 MB
- User-friendly interface
- Disk health monitoring
- Active data protection
Cons:
- No phone support
Disk Drill is a feature-rich recovery solution that is trusted by many thanks to its proven reliability. Boasting recovery capabilities for up to 400 file types on any disk-based storage media, it’d be a challenge to find a file that Disk Drill can’t recover.
Disk Drill’s user-friendly interface was designed with usability in mind. File recovery is made easy, even for those who aren’t technically inclined. And, it automatically saves the last scan session of each device so you can return to it at a later time. Moreover, you can manually save any individual scan session to avoid rescanning in the future.
Using the Recovery Vault feature allows you to mark important files so that in the event that they’re deleted, you have a good chance at recovering them without having to do any scans. This is an added layer of security and reassurance to put your mind at ease. If you want to take it a step further, you can use the Guaranteed Recovery feature which creates an actual copy of the file that can be recovered whenever you like.
If file recovery is all you need, you can trial Disk Drill for free and recover up to 500 MB worth of data before having to opt for a paid plan.
For a more detailed review on Disk Drill, check out our review of it.
2. DiskGenius
DiskGenius is a data recovery tool that also comes packaged with a host of disk utilities that allow you to manage the drives connected to your computer.
Pros:
- Good support for NTFS, exFAT, and FAT32 file systems
- Plenty of disk management utilities
- Includes SMART data monitoring
- Fast scanning speeds
Cons:
- Complicated user interface
- Supports less video formats by signature recovery
DiskGenius is a data recovery tool that’s pretty close to Wondershare Recoverit in terms of recovery performance, despite it being more affordable. It also had better overall recovery from FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, and EXT4 file systems, with DiskGenius recovering more of our data.
In our tests, DiskGenius was able to scan our drives with considerable speed. In addition to its data recovery capabilities, the range of disk utilities it comes with is also useful for troubleshooting problematic drives and creating backups without needing another application. Backing up partition tables, repairing logical bad sectors, and system migration are just some of the actions you can perform (with many of them being free).
One area where Wondershare Recoverit comes out on top is usability. The user interface for DiskGenius is fairly outdated and rather complicated, which results in a learning curve for new users. But, if you can look past that, DiskGenius is a good alternative to Wondershare Recoverit with competitively priced lifetime licenses.
Learn more about the program in our full DiskGenius review.
3. EaseUS
EaseUS is another powerful recovery solution that can recover your data without much fuss. Their website contains a collection of helpful tutorials that can help any user recover their data in no time.
Pros:
- Recover up to 2GB for free
- Intuitive user interface
- Compatible with Windows and macOS
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons:
- Costly compared to other data recovery solutions
- Other features like partition recovery are separate
EaseUS allows a whopping 2GB of free data recovery before you need to opt for a paid plan. This can be very attractive for those who want to thoroughly test the tool’s capabilities before making more of a commitment.
While there isn’t a full list of the file types that EaseUS supports for recovery, it can recover a wide range including photos, videos, documents and audio. Since most major file types are supported, you will only face issues if trying to recover rarer file types.
The application allows you to filter through your results, allowing you to specify the type of documents you want to display. If this isn’t sufficient enough, you can make use of the Advanced Filter which allows you to specify the file type, file size, and the last time the file was modified.
We take a closer look at this recovery solution in our EaseUS review.
4. Minitool
Minitool is a recovery solution available for Windows and macOS that can recover all types of files including photos, videos, audio, and documents.
Pros:
- Recover up to 1GB for free on Windows
- Supports software RAID configurations
- Competitive lifetime pricing
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons:
- Not many features
- Very outdated user interface
Minitool Data Recovery (also known as Stellar Data Recovery for Mac) is a simple file recovery solution that doesn’t do more than recovering the files you need. It’s fast to download and fast to install thanks to its small file size.
The official supported file type list for Minitool is quite small, but the tool allows you to recover raw data too, which further increases the different types of files you can recover.
The software is only available for Windows, with the macOSalternative on their website linking to Stellar Data Recovery, a separate application. It offers a trial version that allows you to recover data up to 1GB before you need to upgrade to a paid plan.
In terms of features, it’s lacking compared to other data recovery solutions out there. But, if you only want to recover data, Minitool can satisfy your recovery needs. And, if you find that it’s not a great fit for you, make use of the 30-day money-back guarantee.
To see if Minitool would be a good fit for you, check out our review on it.
Best Wondershare Recoverit Free Alternatives
While commercial data recovery tools are usually better, we understand that it’s not always possible to invest money into paid software. There are still some very capable free recovery tools out there, which we’ve included below.
1. PhotoRec
PhotoRec is an open-source recovery solution developed by CGSecurity. Although its targeted audience is photographers, the application can recover a range of file types which makes it great for all types of users.
Pros:
- Unlimited free recovery
- Support for multiple file types
- Support for most disk-based media
- Compatible with all main operating systems
Cons:
- Bsaic user interface
- Limited support
- Restored files have different file names and folder structure
PhotoRec is great because it’s free and supports multiple file types and operating systems. But, its biggest drawback has to be its command-line interface. Unlike most recovery solutions, PhotoRec doesn’t have an intuitive user interface. It was first released as a command-line tool, only to receive a very basic user interface with a later update.
If you can come to terms with the very limited user interface, you’ll find that PhotoRec is a powerful and versatile recovery tool. It can support up to 480 file extensions, and even offers a free online tool where you can upload a file type to see if PhotoRec can recover it.
Since this is donationware, there are no official support channels for the tool. However, thanks to it being open-source and readily available for all, there are many active forums that act as a replacement.
For a more insightful look into PhotoRec, check out our review.
2. Recuva
Recuva is a recovery solution by Piriform that’s fast and effective at recovering almost any type of deleted file from disk-based storage media.
Pros:
- Very competitive price
- Freemium plan available
- Portable version available
- Secure file deletion
Cons:
- No support for macOS
- Limited features
Recuva is light, affordable, and gets the job done. It may not have all the bells and whistles like other recovery tools but the super low price reflects that. The free version offers advanced file recovery, but if you upgrade to a Professional plan, you gain access to features that include virtual hard drive support, automatic updates and premium customer support.
If you have files that you want to erase to the point where they can’t be recovered by you or anyone else, you can make use of Recuva’s secure file deletion feature. When files are deleted, they can easily be recovered through the likes of recovery tools. Recuva uses industry-standard secure deletion methods to make sure that your data is deleted for good and even gives you the choice between four different levels of secure deletion, each level being stronger than the last.
One of Recuva’s biggest strengths is its simplicity. Users often just want to recover a handful of files, and Piriform fulfills that need. The software itself hasn’t had an update since 2016, which can stand as a testament to its reliable functionality. And, the fact that this software was developed by the same crowd that brought us CCleaner gives users a sense of trust knowing that the team who developed the tool are trustworthy and know what they’re doing.
To see if this is the ideal choice for you, check out our Recuva review.
FAQ
Is there a free version of Recoverit?
Recoverit comes with a range of paid models but also allows users to trial their software with a free version. The free version contains limited features but you can recover up to 100 MB of files before needing to upgrade. In some instances, you may notice the Recoverit logo on the recovered file.
Is Recoverit any good?
Recoverit is a useful and effective data recovery solution. It is trusted by many users and has extensive reviews. If you are trying to recover lost or deleted files, Recoverit can get the job done without much hassle.
What is the best Recoverit alternative for Mac?
There are many different options available when it comes to data recovery software for Mac. To make it easier, we compiled a list of our favorite Mac recovery tools. This list contains our insights into what makes a recovery tool good and the differences between some of the best data recovery tools on the market.
Conclusion
Recoverit is good, but it’s not perfect. Sometimes it may leave you wanting more. And, to satisfy those needs, you may need to look elsewhere for your data recovery needs. Luckily, there are many options out there.
The perfect data recovery solution heavily depends on your needs and what you want to achieve. Do you simply want the ability to recover lost or deleted data? Or, do you also want to protect your data from future incidents so you don’t have to spend time going through the file recovery process? No matter what you’re looking for, the alternatives we’ve presented are the perfect starting point.
This article was written by Jordan Jamieson-Mane, a Staff Writer at Handy Recovery Advisor. It was also verified for technical accuracy by Andrey Vasilyev, our editorial advisor.
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