SpiderOak Review

Cloud computing is a great technology that allows you to transfer your data to a remote server, so you won’t need any of the hardware. The great thing here is that your data is often encrypted, leaving your files safe and secure, even more so than they’ll be safe at your home PC! The reason I’m talking about this is a SpiderOak cloud service. Just recently, SpiderOak begins to be supported by various operating systems, as it’s known as one of the best cloud services on Mac OS. Thankfully, I’m now able to use SpiderOak on my Windows PC, so I can review it for you.

As the developer says, the main focus of Spider Oak is to provide the users with a top-notch security that will keep the data safe and sound. Also, SpiderOak offers device-syncing, file-sharing and file-backup features with many options for subscriptions, with the highest being 5TB. So, is SpiderOak a great cloud storage for other users aside from Mac OS? Is it worth the money? I know you have a lot of questions about this cloud service, so let’s jump right into reviewing the performance.

SpiderOak Performance and Features

In this section, we’ll take a detailed look at how well SpiderOak performs in terms of upload and download speeds. Like always, I’ll start with the upload speeds first. I decided to try 1TB subscription that costs $129 per year and use it as my testing ground. Using my not-so-fast internet, I’ve gathered the results that speak about uploading 1TB of data in around two weeks or so. Generally, I’m satisfied with the upload results, but it could be a little better, with a few days of difference. Overall, I would definitely go with this speed.

When it comes to downloading, I was pleasantly surprised to see some great performance. The main downside to many cloud services is that they focus on creating a fast upload speed, and then the download is left behind. No, that’s not the case here, as SpiderOak recorded an astonishing result, being able to download 1TB of data in less than a week! SpiderOak is, without doubt, one of the fastest cloud services to download your data from.

As I mentioned earlier, SpiderOak boasts some great features. With this cloud service, you can sync multiple devices, share files and backup all of your files, depending on the storage subscription you take. Whatever your choice is, SpiderOak doesn’t hesitate to overwhelm you with features, right in your face. I pretty much like SpiderOak so far.

Price and Value

As with every cloud storage service, there are numerous offers that you can pick up, and here you can pay for one computer or multiple computers. The great number of offers is here, and you can pay for 2GB all the way to 5TB. Now, 2GB is for sure, very small space, so I would recommend going for 1TB, which I bought for $129 a year. If you calculate it, it’s around $13 per month, which is the cheapest offer here. BUT, you can see that the offers are expensive, just from this one. The usual price of this offer comes in $9.99, but here it’s almost $13. Not that great.

Now, about the family subscription plans. For the big family, consisting of five computers, the subscription is around $26 for each computer. If you calculate it a little bit, it’s around $130 a year which again comes at the same price for a single PC. It’s even worse for a small family, where a single PC costs $43. And the small family can be three or four PCs, making it more expensive for four PCs; a little over $170. I’m not that happy with the pricing of SpiderOak, as its value is quite above average for the feature they offer. I can count several significantly cheaper cloud services with the same, if not better features.

Ease of Use

Begining with the upload, I’m pleased to see that SpiderOak took a more simple workflow. It’s easily distinguishable where you need to press in order to upload files, and you can do that with just a few clicks, so that’s definitely okay. On the other side, downloading can be a little tricky and you’ll need to access the Manage tab to get to it. Who would guess? I had to use Google to help me find that function. I can’t say that SpiderOak isn’t simple. As I use it mostly for uploads, I’m very satisfied with how it’s realized, and once I learned how to download, it’s great to use it just like the Mega cloud.

Security

And here’s the main star of the show- the security. Every file you upload on SpiderOak is encrypted with 256-bit encryption, and because SpiderOak maintains their own servers, there is ZERO chance of you files getting corrupted. On top of that, you’ll get your own private encryption key, and as it isn’t stored on the servers, even the employees of SpiderOak can’t access your files; it’s that secure! I’m glad that security is tight here, and 256-bit encryption is surely a welcome addition, used mostly by the top cloud services out there. I was happy to upload various files that I needed for my job, as well as my favorite videos and pictures. Definitely a great user experience.

Verdict

A good review of the SpiderOak by Cloudwards

In this section, I will give you a straight answer about SpiderOak’s value. SpiderOak is a phenomenal cloud service that gave me some great time, and I was pleasantly surprised with its complex and effective encryption that kept my files safe all of the time. Also, the interface is pretty well-done, and download speeds were mind-boggling! The only thing that I dislike here is the price. I don’t know why, but SpiderOak really pumped up their prices, and not that they are bad, but there is better cloud service offering the same features for a lot less money. Still, SpiderOak is a great choice for both Windows and MacOS users.

SpiderOak