Apple iCloud vs. Azure Backup

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apple iCloud
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Apple iCloud is a document management software offering from Apple. It includes features such as access to music, photos, calendars, contacts, and documents, and it is built into every new iOS device.
$0.99
per month
Azure Backup
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Azure Backup is a cloud backup service.
$5
Pricing
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
Editions & Modules
50GB
$0.99
per month
200GB
$2.99
per month
2TB
$9.99
per month
Storage in GB/Month
$0.0224 to $0.0569
per GB
Backup Instance <50GB
$5.00 + storage consumed
Backup Instance > 50 GB but < or = 500 GB
$10.00 + storage consumed
Backup Instance Instance is > 500 GB
$10 for each 500 GB increment + storage consumed
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
9.1
74 Ratings
8% above category average
Azure Backup
8.8
11 Ratings
4% above category average
Versioning8.750 Ratings9.09 Ratings
Video files9.270 Ratings9.36 Ratings
Audio files9.267 Ratings8.56 Ratings
Document collaboration8.963 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Access control8.461 Ratings9.311 Ratings
File search9.766 Ratings7.29 Ratings
Device sync9.473 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
8.7
70 Ratings
1% above category average
Azure Backup
8.9
11 Ratings
3% above category average
User and role management8.654 Ratings9.311 Ratings
File organization8.266 Ratings9.09 Ratings
Device management9.467 Ratings8.58 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
9.4
74 Ratings
10% above category average
Azure Backup
9.0
11 Ratings
6% above category average
Performance9.674 Ratings9.311 Ratings
Reliability9.674 Ratings9.311 Ratings
Storage Reports9.158 Ratings8.511 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 10.0 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(74 ratings)
9.3
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(21 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.5
(20 ratings)
9.7
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apple iCloudAzure Backup
Likelihood to Recommend
Apple
iCloud is also great to keep access to photos synced across devices. Ex: I can snap a photo at a job site and have access to that photo on my desktop when I return to my office. I can then drop the photo into a document that is stored in iCloud and have instant access to that document on my iPad at a client's office later in the day. Seamless transitions make life much easier.
Read full review
Microsoft
Azure Backup is suitable for companies of various sizes, with varying amounts of data. The cost of the investment should be thought out carefully so that there are no bad surprises with unnecessary files going to Azure Backup. The interface is friendly and easy to configure and it does not require your company to have a backup expert. It is highly recommended for companies with smaller number of servers and better if the servers are already running in an Azure environment.
Read full review
Pros
Apple
  • Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I'm away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa.
  • It stores files (e.g photos) nicely
  • Once it's set up, it's fairly easy to use.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Azure Backup is fast! Coupled with the fact that Microsoft created Azure and Windows - these two operate phenomenally together!
  • Administering the backups inside of Azure is a breeze. The ability to mount, restore entire backups, or recover files, has been made very easy. You do not have to download any media to recover something, you do this all in the cloud and it gets mounted in Microsoft's systems. Making this process less than a quarter of the time you would have spent with your 'other' backup solutions.
Read full review
Cons
Apple
  • Customization - iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people.
  • Remote use - Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly.
  • Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors
Read full review
Microsoft
  • backup schedule calendar would be cool
  • Backup vaults should ask if you want to send notifications when you first set it up, there have been a couple of times when I noticed a month later that, backup job failures were not configured to send email notifications.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Apple
It's so seamless that I can't imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I'm confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I'm a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Usability
Apple
While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem.
Read full review
Microsoft
This Justifies that usability of azure is at huge extent
Read full review
Performance
Apple
Occasionally, large files that haven't yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I've rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Apple
Apple customer service is fantastic. iCloud is built with Apple in mind and its design is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, whenever our team has encountered issues, the speed of Apple support has been more than timely in addressing our issues and solving our request. We have encountered relatively few issues in my time with the platform and this only improves our overall score for those who keep the platform stable.
Read full review
Microsoft
One of the differentials of the solution is the high level of guarantee and support of the Azure Backup solution. Microsoft is a reference in a technology company with a highly trained support team and helps us with any questions or technical problems with the tool. Service is fast and efficient with trained engineers.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Apple
Apple does offer an alternative to Office & the Google Docs family but trusting to use it with both internal and external parties is tough. Google is more universal and easier for 3rd parties to collaborate with. Apple works well for a closed internal group that is native to Apple's ecosystem. Google offers more storage space than Apple
Read full review
Microsoft
Azure Backup works on Azure, the most famous of the cloud systems that the whole world has switched to, which is now a very large part of the Microsoft ecosystem that we have been used to using for years. Therefore, it is less tiring to use the additional service of an infrastructure that we already use, even if it is a part of it, which can be easily integrated with existing systems, which is one of the most important issues we IT professionals pay attention to. For this reason, we wanted to swim in familiar waters instead of another brand.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Apple
  • If I lose track of my credentials or my continuing education documentation, I could end up not being able to renew my certification. This would lead to a major loss in revenue.
  • Time is money and having all of my required documents easily accessible in iCloud saves me time and allows me to work more efficiently.
  • My Apple devices were certainly not cheap purchases. iCloud has allowed me to maximize my productivity through synchronizing my work no matter which device I'm working on.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It allowed us to have our VMs protected very quickly and with simple implementation.
  • It saved us from taking backups from Azure workloads from the on-prem environment, or even deploying a Backup environment on the cloud.
  • It has a low/'controlled' cost as you "pay-as-you-go."
Read full review
ScreenShots