Online Backup
Amazon Web Services charges are extra.
Requires Mac OS X 10.8 or 10.7
More info: Arq Release Notes Arq Manual
Arq 2.x available here
Now with Amazon Glacier support!
Super-easy off-site backup
Just add your folders to Arq, and Arq will back them up automatically.
It's super easy. Just drag and drop a folder onto Arq to add it for automatic backup. Drag and drop from a backup to immediately start restoring. Watch a 30-second movie
True privacy and control
Use Arq with your own Amazon Web Services storage account. Encrypt your backups with a password only you know. Haystack Software employees have no access to your data.
All encryption is done before your data leave your computer (not using Amazon's "server-side encryption").
Your backups are stored in an open, documented format. We've also delivered an open-source command-line utility called arq_restore that's hosted at github, so you can read your data anytime without depending on Haystack Software (although we're in this for the long haul, so we'll be around for a long, long time!)
The most reliable cloud storage
Arq can back up to either Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) or Amazon Glacier.
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is the gold standard of online storage, backed by Amazon.com, Inc, a $100B company. S3 offers 99.999999999% durability of your data. It's designed to withstand the concurrent loss of 2 data centers without losing your data.
Amazon Glacier is an extremely low-cost storage service. It offers the same 99.999999999% durability. In order to keep costs low, Amazon Glacier is optimized for data that is infrequently accessed. Initiating retrieval from Glacier typically takes 3-5 hours, and Amazon charges for retrieving large amounts of data from Glacier.
Choose S3 for fast access, or Glacier for low cost. Or mix and match, backing up some folders to S3 and others to Glacier.
iOS App
Away from your Mac? Need to grab a file from your backups? Use ArqView on your iPhone or iPad to access your backups in your S3 account.
Awesome support
We believe backup is a critical function, so we strive to fix critical issues in Arq quickly.
If you have questions or feedback, please
Storage Pricing
Arq is a one-time license fee: $29 per computer.
Amazon S3 pricing includes a AWS Free Usage Tier with 5GB of free S3 storage for 1 year. Otherwise, S3 pricing is $.095/GB per month for storage, plus some very small "per-request" fees. See pricing details
Amazon Glacier storage pricing is only $.01/GB per month! However, Glacier does charge more for "per-request" fees, so the initial backup will incur an additional charge -- approximately $.05/GB in "per-request" fees. After the initial backup, the "per-request" fees are very small.
Accuracy
Arq restores all your data and metadata correctly, unlike some other online backup offerings. Backup Bouncer is a test suite independently developed by Nathaniel Gray to verify the accuracy of backup products restoring Mac file data and metadata -- in his words, to "keep the ugly backup tools out of the club." I tested Arq and some other leading online backup offerings and the results are presented here:
Backup Bouncer Test Results
| Product | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Backblaze | Failed 19 of 20 tests | View Results |
| Mozy | Failed 16 of 20 tests | View Results |
| Carbonite | Failed 20 of 20 tests | View Results |
| Dropbox | Failed 19 of 20 tests | View Results |
| CrashPlan | Failed 1 of 20 tests | View Results |
| Jungle Disk | Passes all tests | View Results |
| Arq | Passes all tests | View Results |
What do these results mean? For most scenarios, probably nothing. Any of those backup apps can restore your file contents -- photos, Office docs, music files. You'll still be able to view your restored photos, edit your restored Office docs, play your restored music. But the dates on the files might not be correct, for instance. Arq is built with the view that if everything is backed up and restored properly, then you don't have to learn or worry about what all the metadata are and whether or not they matter for your situation.
Other Features
Wayback Machine
Arq keeps multiple "versions" of your files — a backup history. So if you discover a file was corrupted or accidentally deleted, you can go back and get it.
Arq automatically backs up every hour or every day, depending on the schedule you choose. Only the changes are uploaded for each backup, minimizing network and storage usage.
No limits
Arq backs up everything you tell it to back up:
- It doesn’t skip videos or ignore certain file types.
- It backs up files of any size -- 4GB, 40GB, it doesn't matter.
- It backs up your external drives and your network drives.
- It doesn’t delete backups of your external drives just because you haven’t plugged them in lately.
- It doesn’t forcibly delete backups older than 4 weeks.
Perfect Complement to Time Machine
Time Machine works well and provides fast restore, but you have to remember to plug in your backup device (unless you have a Time Capsule), and it doesn't cover all scenarios:
- theft of computer and backup device
- backup while traveling (unless you bring your backup drive)
Arq backs up whenever/wherever there's an Internet connection.
Flexible Bandwidth Options
Arq can upload to S3 at maximum speed, or at a fixed transfer rate that you choose. Or choose automatic transfer rate to slow down uploads whenever you're using the Internet for other tasks.
The Story Behind Arq
I started thinking about Arq back in early 2009 because I wanted an easy-to-use backup program but couldn’t find one that worked well. I liked Time Machine and even bought a Time Capsule so I wouldn't have to remember to plug in an external hard drive. But it still only backed up when I was at home near the Time Capsule, and if my house burned down or someone stole my computer and Time Capsule my stuff would be gone. I wanted online backup, at least for my most important documents and photos.
I tried Mozy, Carbonite and Backblaze. They all offered “unlimited” size backup for a fixed fee, but the “unlimited” service had limits. I couldn't back up a network drive, for example. I couldn't keep backups of external drives reliably -- Backblaze promised to delete backups of external drives that haven’t been connected for 30 days. They were vague about durability and availability of my backups. And then there was the risk of the backup storage provider closing up shop and me losing all my backups. I'd seen that happen before (Upline, Xdrive, Omnidrive, Digital Railroad).
Amazon S3 seemed like a great place for my backup data. It's backed by the power of a large, profitable, public company. It offers clear durability and availability numbers and replication to multiple data centers. And it isn't an “unlimited” type of offering, so they don't add constraints to minimize the amount of backup data I have.
Backing up to S3 felt like real backup, but there wasn't any great software to do it.
I had been working on a project that used Amazon S3 for storage, and stored its stuff as a content-addressable storage (CAS) system, written in Java. I decided to rewrite those bits in Objective-C. Then I added logic to correctly back up all Mac-specific metadata, plus strong encryption, plus a simple but powerful Mac UI. Thus Arq was born.
It turns out lots of people were looking for something similar, and through word of mouth Arq has become very popular among Mac users. Now with the super-cheap Glacier storage option, Arq is set to grow even faster!
Screen Shots
Back up anything
Exclude files by name or path
Set maximum S3 storage budget
Limit network impact
Versioned backups
Restore from your other computers
Recent Tweets about Arq
dankim I still love Dropbox, but Arq + Amazon Glacier is great for giant archives. Going to save about $450/year. http://t.co/WV94WtbmH0 May 13
sgarcez I've been trying out AWS glacier backups with @arqbackup in place of crashplan. Working well so far.. May 11
johnenricco I almost lost some picture data with dropbox yesterday so I turned to @arqbackup Supports #Glacier & #S3 for data backup & archival. Sweet! May 10
Starefossen A million thanks to @arqbackup for keeping my data safe and secure #love #secure #backup May 03
lvnilesh @arqbackup makes @aws glacier hot. Backed up my 338GB aperture library with no issues. May 03
beaufour @sirmichael I used Arq as the backup tool btw, http://t.co/lWXMpQgiCm -- worked like charm for me. Apr 17
whoisvince Using @arqbackup to backup our new home networked 2TB hard-drive to @awscloud glacier…
home network & storage solution complete! :D Apr 16
andrey_butov Last night the drive holding all of our source code died a screaming, fiery death. @arqbackup saved our asses. Complete restore. Flawless. Apr 11
RecessionCone .@reedolsen I just started pushing my files to Glacier using @arqbackup. So excited to finally have a solution to this problem. Thanks! Apr 04
floriankugler @steipete @olebegemann @arepty +1 for Arq. I backup partly to S3 (smaller things which I might access frequently), the rest to Glacier. Apr 02
steipete @olebegemann @arepty Can highly recommend Arq + Amazon Glacier. http://t.co/Qv0Mf89aKe Apr 02
amine Been using @Arqbackup with my S3 acc. the past few days and loving it.. nice interface, fast upload, and I like having control over my data. Mar 19
toddeichel @jedmund I switched from @backblaze to @arqbackup plus Amazon Glacier a while back and I like it a lot better. Mar 19
JustinMurphy Wowza, @arqbackup throws data up to Glacier faster than any other backup service i've ever tried! Mar 11
willaustinphoto Just purchased @arqbackup for backing up to the Amazon Glacier service, love it! Mar 07
scientifics Arq Backup and Amazon Glacier ~~ How I backup and some details on Glacier support in @arqbackup. http://t.co/Pmq8JpHOR8 Feb 27
upbeat_linux while i usually roll my own backup solutions @arqbackup is worth every penny. effortless backups to s3/glacier and budget enforcer. kudos! Feb 24
perlguy9 200GB photo archive to Amazon Glacier with @arqbackup for $2/mo, in addition to @backblaze and Time Machine. Awesome. #photog #blahblahcloud Feb 12
cwbowron @balanon I set up @arqbackup a couple months ago, and have been very impressed with it. Feb 09
balanon Found the best and cheapest way to backup my iPhoto pics and other folders on my Mac to the cloud: @ArqBackup + Amazon Glacier Feb 09
nfarina Two weeks in, @arqbackup via Amazon Glacier has been fantastic. I never think about backup anymore. Goodbye, nagging Time Machine. Feb 07
n_randall Amazon charged me a whopping 77 this month, to keep my entire digital life backed up offsite? Outrageous!
(thanks @arqbackup) Feb 03
mmayo Sometimes I restore a backup set made by @arqbackup and verify the files vs originals. All 16386810 checksums passed tonight. Jan 27
DusanHlavaty Aaaah finally ! All my family videos and photos are backed up off-site. Thanx @arqbackup Jan 24
tdream Just installed a copy of @arqbackup version 3 on another #Mac of mine. Supports #AWS #Glacier & #S3 for data backup & archival. Happy. Jan 13
nfarina Arq continuously backs up your Mac to the super low-cost Amazon Glacier. This is what Time Machine should have been. http://t.co/9PfcHGhx Jan 04
thomas_witt I am totally in love with @arqbackup ... awesome tool for Mac OS X disaster recovery, includes Backup to AWS Glacier! It's worth its $29! Jan 04
160south @Bmiller303 For crazy-easy and cheap backups on a Mac, check out @arqbackup. I've become madly in love with it. Money well spent. Dec 29
codeguy .@arqbackup just saved my ass for the first time. Just paid for itself several times over. Dec 21
manide BTW, I really can recommend Arq (@arqbackup) from Haystack Software. Perfect solution and is very reliable. http://t.co/0MYjqdGh Dec 20
peterhajas Just bought @arqbackup by Haystack Software. The trial was very convincing. Now, all my photos live in Glacier! Dec 19
mrchrisadams If you own a mac, @arqbackup and AWS S3 (Oregon, tho, natch) is a very cheap, easy way to get peace of mind and free up disk space. Dec 16
onepixelcitizen Alright then... I'm on the way to the Safe Land thanks to @arqbackup & @awscloud #web #frontend #Webdesign #freelance #useful Dec 13
mchou Started using Arq Online Backup (@arqbackup) to easily upload my data to Amazon S3 and Glacier. Very easy to use. http://t.co/crknQcNZ Dec 11
mjleino i've been backing up to amazon glacier with @arqbackup. so cheap & easy, there's simply no reason not to do house-burns-down level backups. Dec 10
Reviews
"a terrific addition to an already excellent tool" - TUAW
"near-perfect low-cost off-site backup solution" - Webmonkey | Wired.com
"I've read great things about Arq" - Marco Arment
"The deeper I dig, the more I wish I was a Mac user" - Steve Gibson , Security Now Episode 350
"Uploading and maintaining 50 gigabytes of data on Arq will cost about $5 a month" - New York Times
"My files get backed up to S3 using Arq" - Chris Wanstrath, GitHub co-founder
"I can vouch that it's a very effective system." - Brett Terpstra
"a better way to backup critical files online" - teratalks.com
"easiest to use, most flexible, and gives me the most control" - NoodleMac
"My favorite cloud backup tool" - Practically Efficient
"a fantastic backup utility" - AppStorm's Best Mac Software of 2010
"simple and elegant and works as expected" - Macgasm
"Arq makes it easy to retrieve your Mac's files." - Mac360
"If you’re serious about backups and like the idea (I do) of having your stuff on Amazon S3, go download Arq. It’s just great." - MacStories
"I love Dropbox for its elegance and simplicity, but actually those are exactly the qualities I like in Arq too." - AppStorm
"It’s exactly as simple as it can be, and it f***ing works perfectly." - Mason Mark
"...it kicks Jungledisk’s ass when it comes to speediness." - Snipe.Net
"powerful" - Full Creative
"I love it" - Trevor Turk
"Die technische Seite von Arq macht einen sehr sauberen und vielversprechenden Eindruck." - macfidelity
"Empfehlenswerte Mac-Datensicherung" - MacMacken
"phenomenal user experience" - OS X Attack