Should You Subscribe to Acronis Cyber Protect?

Acronis Cyber Protect is a data backup and cybersecurity solution in one, available as a perpetual license or rolling subscription.

If you're looking for a way to back up the data on your system, which is vital to protect yourself against data loss, then you can't go wrong with Acronis Cyber Protect. It's powerful, feature-rich software that lets you back up your data to multiple locations, including external drives and the cloud.

However, Acronis Cyber Protect does more than just data backup. It also includes anti-malware technology, on-demand antivirus scans, web filtering, videoconference security, and more.

You can either subscribe to Acronis Cyber Protect or buy a more limited version via perpetual license. So, which should you choose? Let's explore.

What Is Acronis Cyber Protect?

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (to give it its full name) is a data backup and cybersecurity tool available for Windows, Mac, and mobile operating systems.

You may best know it as Acronis True Image, a name the product had for nearly two decades. In September 2021, the company announced the change to Acronis Cyber Protect.

As detailed on the Acronis blog, the name change signified that the software now does more than just back up your files. It also protects you against the growing number of cyber threats like ransomware and malware.

Acronis Cyber Protect: Subscription vs. Perpetual License

When the product was known as Acronis True Image, it released annually. You would buy a single license and could use it indefinitely. You could upgrade to the latest version if you wanted, or you could stick with what you had. The last version of this was Acronis True Image 2021, which the company stopped directly selling in March 2021.

With the move to Acronis Cyber Protect, it's now an annual subscription. This means you need to pay a cost every year; if you don't, you lose access to the software (though your backups remain accessible). Acronis doesn't plan to ever sell the software as a one-time purchase again—it's subscription-based from here on out.

However, at the time of writing, that doesn't mean you can't obtain a perpetual license for Acronis True Image 2021. Retailers like Amazon still sell it as a physical box which contains a download link or CD-ROM and an activation code.

There are some important differences between a subscription and perpetual license, though.

Perpetual License Features

A perpetual license lets you back up your computer and mobile. You can customize the backup plan with options like encryption, scheduling, remote control, and automatic archive cleanup. You can recover the data, clone disks, and get anti-ransomware protection.

There are several things a perpetual license doesn't include. Primarily, this is support for Acronis Cloud, meaning you can only back up to your storage devices and not the Acronis servers. You also don't get on-demand antivirus scans or real-time malware protection.

You can get a perpetual license for around $50.

Subscription Features

A subscription comes in three tiers: Essential, Advanced, and Premium. These cost $49.99/year, $89.99/year, and $124.99/year respectively. The costs scale if you want to install on more than one computer.

All tiers come with free upgrades to the most recent version, and phone, email, and chat support.

• Essential is basically identical to the perpetual license because it doesn't include cloud storage support, real-time malware protection, or antivirus scans.
• Advanced includes additional features such as 500GB cloud storage, Microsoft 365 backup, and web filtering.
• Premium plan includes all this plus 1TB of cloud storage (upgradeable to 5TB), electronic signatures, and blockchain notarization.

Ultimately, the key difference between these plans comes down to Acronis Cloud support.

You can see a detailed comparison of the subscription plans on the Acronis Cyber Protect comparison page. You can also compare the features of a perpetual Acronis True Image 2021 license to a subscription of Acronis Cyber Protect on the Acronis Knowledge Base.

Is Paying for an Acronis Cyber Protect Subscription Worth It?

The answer to this question depends on what you want Acronis Cyber Protect to do for you.

Acronis True Image 2021 is excellent backup software. We've covered how to use Acronis to back up your PC, and you'll see how intuitive and simple it is to use. You can create a backup plan within minutes, defining a schedule and letting the software quietly run in the background forevermore. It even compresses and encrypts the backups. You can back up to a remote drive, network location, server, and more. For personal backup protection, it likely does everything you need.

Acronis True Image 2021 won't receive updates like Acronis Cyber Protect does, though that's not as problematic as it sounds. Acronis True Image has been refined for years and is a well-rounded backup tool.

But if you want to back your computer up to the cloud, you'll need to buy an Advanced or Premium license of Acronis Cyber Protect. In an ideal world, you should back your data up following the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data, two different types of media, one off-site. Using Acronis Cloud does help you achieve this goal, but at a not-insignificant price point.

You also need to consider whether you want to utilize the cybersecurity features. While all the features are valuable and work well, you probably already have an existing solution in place that does the job. Windows Security, for example, comes with Windows 10/11 and offers excellent protection for the average user. Most people will likely consider Acronis' cybersecurity as an additional bonus rather than a selling point.

If ransomware is a concern for you, all versions of Acronis are superb because it not only protects your system in real-time, but also your backups. Even if ransomware encrypts your files, Acronis can effortless identify them and recover from your backups. If you're a business user, that's going to be invaluable.

Ultimately, if you want a powerful backup tool with some additional security features, Acronis True Image 2021 (via a perpetual license) is a top choice for standard home use. Paying an annual subscription for a backup tool is a tough ask. But, if you do decide that you want cloud storage or the missing cybersecurity tools, Acronis lets you directly upgrade to an Acronis Cyber Protect subscription.

Whatever You Decide, Don't Forget to Back Up

Even if you decide Acronis isn't for you, either as a perpetual or subscription license, never forget to back up your data. Data loss can happen to anyone. It's only a matter of time before your external drive is stolen or you accidentally delete an important file. Save yourself the headache and create a data backup plan today.

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