Disk cloning software copies a drive, a partition or a running system into an image file or onto another disk, so a failed SSD or a row of identical machines needs no reinstall.
This guide ranks by who sells the tool, ninety-day setup effort, the real licence bill, how images can leave it, and which operating system it serves.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What disk cloning software does
Disk cloning software copies a drive or partition, sector by sector or by used blocks, into an image or onto a second disk, then restores it.
Ranking criteria for this disk cloning tool list, applied top to bottom: effort to get started, cost in practice, data return, ability to leave, buyer fit. Top three places belong to challengers outside the best-known brands whenever possible, and incumbents follow from four. We explain on how we work why the tests are these five and why no product receives a score.
Three editions of a GPL imaging tool, from one PC to multicast
Ranked #1 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
The project page lists Clonezilla live, the lite server and Clonezilla SE, with live needing an x86 or x86-64 processor and 196 MB of RAM. It handles MBR and GPT, unattended mode and image encryption, and can restore one image to several local devices.
Images go to a local disk or to SSH, Samba, NFS and WebDAV servers. Multicast belongs to SE and BitTorrent to the lite server, so large rollouts need the right edition chosen first.
What stands out
Three editions
PXE and USB boot
Image encryption
Where it costs you
Online imaging or cloning is not implemented, so the machine has to be booted from separate media first.
Differential and incremental backup are not implemented, and single files cannot be recovered from an image.
Right for
Technicians cloning many machines from one image over a network
Wrong for
Anyone wanting scheduled in-Windows backups with file-level restore
Not stated by the vendorFree to use under the GNU GPL version 2; the project page shows no paid plans
Graphical imaging app that reads and writes Clonezilla images
Ranked #2 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
The site presents a graphical app for imaging that boots from USB or CD-ROM, so nothing is installed on the target. Because it is fully interoperable with Clonezilla, images made in either tool can be used in the other, which keeps an exit open.
Listed recovery features include recovering deleted files, mounting supported images to copy files out (beta) and reaching files when you cannot log in. Support is voluntary, paid monthly through Patreon.
What stands out
Clonezilla-compatible
Bootable USB or CD
Deleted-file recovery
Where it costs you
Mounting images to copy files out is marked beta on the vendor page.
The site names no company or country, only an optional Patreon for support.
Right for
Home users and repair benches wanting Clonezilla results without a text menu
Wrong for
Estates needing scheduled, unattended backups from inside the operating system
Not stated by the vendorOpen source GPL release with no price stated; optional monthly support through Patreon
Canadian imaging suite with a freeware Lite edition and tiered licences
Ranked #3 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
The price list runs from Personal Standard at 49.00 for three PCs, through Business Professional at 109.00 per licence, to Enterprise editions at 2,795.00 and 5,499.00 with unlimited installs.
An image can be an exact sector copy or only occupied clusters, which shortens the job while keeping the raw option. AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256 encryption and scheduled backups are listed. A free Lite edition sits under freeware, so testing costs nothing.
What stands out
Sector-by-sector image
AES-256 images
Licence per PC
Where it costs you
The currency is not named next to the prices on the page.
The trial length is not stated.
Right for
Small offices needing a priced per-PC licence with image encryption
Wrong for
Teams wanting one flat price whatever the size of the fleet
CanadaPer-licence prices published from Personal to Enterprise; a Lite edition is listed as freeware; trial download
Mac cloning with snapshots, scheduling and a household licence
Ranked #4 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The 30-day trial is offered from the product page, and the household licence stretches one purchase across every Mac in one home. Scheduling can be hourly, daily, weekly or monthly, or fire when changes are detected, and backups can be paused and resumed.
Cloud-only files from syncing services can be temporarily downloaded so that the local backup is complete. Snapshots on the destination give point-in-time states beyond the latest copy.
What stands out
Smart Copy
Household licence
Destination snapshots
Where it costs you
The price is not shown on the page, only a Buy Now button to the store.
Commercial use falls outside the household licence.
Right for
Mac owners wanting scheduled incremental copies across several family machines
Wrong for
Businesses, or anyone who needs to copy non-Mac machines
Not stated by the vendorPaid licence bought through the vendor's store, price not shown on the page; 30-day trial; household licence for personal use
Mac clone tool with Smart Update and APFS snapshot copying
Ranked #5 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The Classic page names version 3.12 (v137) and lists scheduling plus AppleScript support, so clones can be driven from scripts. Smart Wake lets backups run while the Mac sleeps, and APFS snapshots give point-in-time copies.
It sits beside Time Machine rather than replacing it, including copying an HFS+ Time Machine disk to a bigger drive. The licence is paid, but the page shows no figure.
What stands out
Smart Update
Smart Wake
AppleScript support
Where it costs you
Neither the price nor the trial length is stated on the page.
It requires macOS 10.13 or later, which excludes older Macs.
Right for
Mac users wanting scriptable clones that still run while the machine sleeps
Wrong for
Windows or Linux estates, and buyers who need a price up front
Not stated by the vendorPaid licence whose price is not stated on the page; a trial is offered, length not given
Windows imaging that runs on the fly and saves to cloud drives
Ranked #6 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The product page names five plan types: Standalone, Corporate, Technician, Commercial and an OEM kit, with prices starting at 44.95 in an unnamed currency. A 30-day download is offered.
Beyond imaging a live Windows system, it verifies image files for errors and mounts them read-only as virtual drives, so single files can be copied out. Unattended scheduling is listed, and cloud destinations include Dropbox and Amazon S3 as well as Google Drive and OneDrive.
What stands out
On-the-fly images
Cloud targets
Mountable images
Where it costs you
The licence basis, perpetual or per seat, is not stated on the main page.
No country is given for R-Tools Technology Inc.
Right for
Windows administrators wanting unattended images pushed to cloud storage
Wrong for
Mac or Linux users, and anyone needing the licence model upfront
Not stated by the vendorStarting price published, with Standalone, Corporate, Technician, Commercial and OEM kit names; 30-day download
Windows backup and clone suite with Delta Clone and a free edition
Ranked #7 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Version 6.0 lists three backup modes, full, incremental and differential, plus scheduling with retention policies. Delta Clone and Delta Restore copy only changed blocks, which cuts repeat runs.
Image files can be compressed, encrypted, split, merged, checked, mounted and protected. Supported file systems are FAT, NTFS, exFAT and ReFS on Windows Vista or Server 2008 and later. The site describes a free edition and leaves paid ones without figures.
What stands out
Delta Clone
Differential backup
ARM64 support
Where it costs you
The page gives no paid prices or plans, and no trial period.
File system support is listed as FAT, NTFS, exFAT and ReFS, so Linux volumes are not covered.
Right for
Windows technicians wanting incremental and differential clones, including on ARM64 hardware
Wrong for
Anyone cloning Linux filesystems or needing a published price list
Not stated by the vendorA free edition is described; paid prices, plans and trial length are not stated
Used-block partition imaging with one program per filesystem
Ranked #8 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
Partclone writes only used blocks, so an image of a mostly empty partition stays small. The filesystem list is wide: ext2, ext3, ext4, hfs+, reiserfs, reiser4, btrfs, vmfs3, vmfs5, xfs, jfs, ufs, ntfs, fat12, fat16, fat32, exfat, f2fs and nilfs.
Thomas Tsai is named as project admin with three co-developers, and no country is given. The licence is the GNU GPL, and the page says it costs nothing.
What stands out
Used blocks only
Per-filesystem programs
ext4 and NTFS
Where it costs you
The page describes a separate program per filesystem, so the right one must be chosen for each partition.
No scheduling, console or graphical interface is described.
Right for
Linux administrators scripting partition images across many mixed filesystem types
Wrong for
Users wanting a wizard, a schedule or one tool for whole disks
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source under the GNU GPL; the page states no paid plans
Debian-based live USB for snapshots and bare-metal recovery
Ranked #9 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
The GitHub page describes a backup image made in a few clicks from a live environment, so it works even on machines that will not boot. Bare-metal recovery puts back the master boot record and partition table, and selective restore returns only chosen parts.
VNC access allows remote assistance. The repository is not marked archived, yet it shows no release or date, so the freshness of the build is something a buyer has to test.
What stands out
Live CD or USB
UEFI Secure Boot
VNC assistance
Where it costs you
No release version or date is shown and the releases section is empty.
The official website failed its certificate check when reached.
Right for
Repair technicians wanting a simple live disc with remote VNC assistance
Wrong for
Anyone needing a dated release or vendor support behind the tool
Not stated by the vendorGPL v3 licence on the repository page, which shows no price
Backup and disk management from Germany, with secure erase and GPT conversion
Ranked #10 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Four editions are listed: Workstation at 199 and Server at 499 as perpetual licences, Technician at 699 and Enterprise at 1,199 as subscriptions. Backups can be scheduled daily, weekly or monthly.
The toolbox also converts GPT to MBR and MBR to GPT, offers secure erase with a choice of sanitisation algorithms for HDD, and encrypts with AES-256. A 30-day trial is available, and the page names Germany as global headquarters.
What stands out
Perpetual or subscription
Secure erase
GPT and MBR conversion
Where it costs you
Hyper-V support is limited to the Server version.
The page shows from prices with a dollar sign but names no currency code.
Right for
Technicians who want erase, GPT conversion and backup under one licence
Wrong for
Buyers who only need a one-off clone of a single PC
GermanyFrom prices published for four editions, two perpetual and two subscription; 30-day trial
Windows backup tiers from a free Standard edition up to Technician Plus
Ranked #11 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
The page ties each edition to a use: Professional to personal use, Workstation to business use, Server to Windows Server, Technician to unlimited PCs within one company and Technician Plus to unlimited PCs and servers.
Standard offers automatic, incremental and event-triggered backups to local or external drives, NAS or a network share. It also clones disks and partitions. The copyright line reads 2009 to 2026 AOMEI.
What stands out
Free Standard
Technician licences
WinPE boot disc
Where it costs you
No prices are shown for any edition on the page.
The page does not state the company's headquarters country.
Right for
Home users starting on the free edition before moving to business tiers
Wrong for
Procurement teams that need prices and a vendor country before shortlisting
Not stated by the vendorFree Standard edition; Professional, Workstation, Server and Technician tiers are named but no prices are shown
Free, Home and Enterprise tiers for one-click system and disk backup
Ranked #12 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
The vendor's page presents Todo Backup as Windows backup freeware at the entry level, with Home and Enterprise tiers above it. Functions stated are one-click system, disk and file backup and recovery, framed as complete data backup and restore.
Nothing on the page gives a price, a currency or whether licences are perpetual or by subscription, and no country is named, so costs and jurisdiction remain open questions.
What stands out
Free tier
One-click backup
Enterprise tier
Where it costs you
The page read names backup and recovery but not cloning as a function.
Currency, licence basis and any trial go unmentioned.
Right for
Home users wanting a no-cost starting point for system backup
Wrong for
Buyers who must verify cloning, price and country first
Not stated by the vendorThree tiers named Free, Home and Enterprise; no prices, currency or licence basis on the page
Linux partition backup and drive-to-drive cloning with a simple interface
Ranked #13 of 13 in Best Disk Cloning Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The site describes compressed imaging of partitions on a hard disk or SSD, and each backup also saves the partition table and bootloaders, which helps rebuild a bootable disk. Direct drive-to-drive cloning is offered as an alternative to image files.
Filesystems named include ntfs and ext4, so Windows partitions can be handled from a Linux machine. No licence, price or developer is given, which makes it a try-it-first choice.
What stands out
Partition imaging
Drive-to-drive
Bootloader backup
Where it costs you
Licence, price and developer are all missing from the site.
The site lists no scheduling, encryption or incremental mode.
Right for
Linux users wanting a simple graphical way to image or clone partitions
Wrong for
Buyers who need named terms, a licence or a priced support route
Not stated by the vendorPrice, licence and developer are not stated on the site
Disk cloning software copies a drive or partition, sector by sector or by used blocks, into an image or onto a second disk, then restores it. Products in this area look alike on a feature list, so we would decide these questions first.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
Prices are public at 8 products (Clonezilla, Active@ Disk Image, R-Drive Image, Hasleo Backup Suite, Partclone, Paragon Hard Disk Manager, AOMEI Backupper, EaseUS Todo Backup) and on request at the remaining 5, so budget time for quotes if your favourite is in that second group.
02
Look at where the vendor sits
Look at the contracting entity: these 13 vendors sit in 3 countries, split by region as Elsewhere 11, North America 1, Europe 1. The servers can be anywhere; the legal obligations follow the company.
03
Check the open source options
4 of these are open source: Clonezilla, Rescuezilla, Partclone, Redo Rescue. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Disk cloning software: booting from media versus imaging a live Windows
The first split in this market is when the copy happens. Clonezilla, Rescuezilla and Redo Rescue boot from USB or disc and work on a machine that is not running, and Clonezilla states that online imaging is not implemented. R-Drive Image, Hasleo Backup Suite and AOMEI Backupper work from inside Windows, with R-Drive Image creating images without a restart.
Rescuezilla reads Clonezilla images, so the two can be mixed. Setup effort follows the same line: a boot stick is quick for one repair but awkward for a weekly schedule, while installed tools schedule unattended runs. Decide whether your need is a one-off migration or a recurring protection job before you compare anything else on the list.
Write down whether the job is a single migration or a repeating schedule
Check whether the tool images a running system or needs a reboot into media
Test an image made by one tool in a second tool to prove the exit
Mac cloning: Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper and what the licence covers
Mac buyers get a short list, and the terms differ more than the features. Carbon Copy Cloner 7 comes with a 30-day trial and one household licence for every Mac in a home, but that licence is for personal, non-commercial use, so a company with several Macs should not count on it. SuperDuper!
Classic offers a trial of unstated length, needs macOS 10.13 or later and lists no price on its page. Both copy only changed files, Smart Copy in one and Smart Update in the other, and both work with snapshots. Rescuezilla supports Mac machines as well, but as a boot-media imager rather than a scheduled backup. Confirm your macOS version and the licence scope before buying.
Confirm your macOS version against the minimum the page states
Read whether the licence is personal, household or business
Use the trial to run one scheduled copy and one restore
What a disk image really costs: Active@ Disk Image, Paragon and R-Drive Image
Prices in this category are published by only a few vendors, and none of them name the currency beside the figures. Active@ Disk Image lists Personal Standard for three PCs, per-licence business editions and unlimited-install Enterprise editions. Paragon Hard Disk Manager mixes perpetual Workstation and Server editions with subscription Technician and Enterprise ones.
R-Drive Image shows a starting price and five plan names, but not whether licences are perpetual. AOMEI Backupper and EaseUS Todo Backup name their tiers and show no prices at all. Clonezilla, Partclone and Rescuezilla cost nothing to license but cost hours to learn. Compare per-PC, per-licence and subscription terms against your actual machine count, and ask each vendor to name the currency.
Count machines and servers before choosing a per-PC or per-licence model
Ask every vendor which currency the quoted figures are in
Price the hours of setup for the free tools as well
Getting data back: encryption, mounting and filesystem coverage
A clone is only worth the restore, so read what each tool lists on that side. Clonezilla supports image encryption but offers no single-file recovery, while R-Drive Image mounts images read-only and Hasleo Backup Suite can mount and check them. Rescuezilla lists image mounting as beta. Active@ Disk Image encrypts with AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256.
Partclone covers a long list of filesystems, from ext4 to ntfs, f2fs and nilfs, whereas Hasleo names FAT, NTFS, exFAT and ReFS. Redo Rescue rebuilds the boot record after bare-metal recovery, and FoxClone saves the bootloaders with each backup. Match the filesystems you run, and the way you will recover a single file, to the list before you commit.
List every filesystem on the disks you plan to clone
Decide if you need single-file recovery or only whole-disk restore
Check whether images can be encrypted and mounted for inspection
What goes wrong most often when buying disk cloning software
Assuming Clonezilla can image a running Windows machine, when the project says online imaging and incremental backup are not implemented.
Buying Carbon Copy Cloner on a household licence for an office of Macs, when that licence covers personal, non-commercial use only.
Trusting a dollar sign on the Paragon or Active@ Disk Image price lists as a currency, when neither page names one.
Choosing Redo Rescue or FoxClone for a fleet without checking the missing release date or the missing licence and developer terms.
07
Frequently asked questions
7 answers
What is the best disk cloning software in 2026?
Clonezilla takes first place among the 13 we reviewed. Clonezilla comes as live, lite server and SE editions, booting from CD, DVD, USB, PXE or hard drive on your own hardware, and the site names no company behind it.
It is open source under the GPL version 2. The catch is stated by the project itself: online imaging, incremental backup and single-file recovery are not implemented, so it clones and restores whole targets only.
Which disk cloning tools publish their pricing?
Published pricing exists for 8 products on this page:
Clonezilla: Free to use under the GNU GPL version 2; the project page shows no paid plans.
Active@ Disk Image: Per-licence prices published from Personal to Enterprise; a Lite edition is listed as freeware; trial download.
R-Drive Image: Starting price published, with Standalone, Corporate, Technician, Commercial and OEM kit names; 30-day download.
Hasleo Backup Suite: A free edition is described; paid prices, plans and trial length are not stated.
Partclone: Free and open source under the GNU GPL; the page states no paid plans.
Paragon Hard Disk Manager: From prices published for four editions, two perpetual and two subscription; 30-day trial.
AOMEI Backupper: Free Standard edition; Professional, Workstation, Server and Technician tiers are named but no prices are shown.
EaseUS Todo Backup: Three tiers named Free, Home and Enterprise; no prices, currency or licence basis on the page.
The other 5 quote per organisation.
Is there a free disk cloning tool?
Clonezilla, Partclone, AOMEI Backupper, EaseUS Todo Backup offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these disk cloning software vendors established?
The headquarters are spread over 3 countries and 3 regions, Elsewhere 11, North America 1, Europe 1:
Clonezilla: Not stated by the vendor.
Rescuezilla: Not stated by the vendor.
Active@ Disk Image: Canada.
Carbon Copy Cloner: Not stated by the vendor.
SuperDuper: Not stated by the vendor.
R-Drive Image: Not stated by the vendor.
Hasleo Backup Suite: Not stated by the vendor.
Partclone: Not stated by the vendor.
Redo Rescue: Not stated by the vendor.
Paragon Hard Disk Manager: Germany.
AOMEI Backupper: Not stated by the vendor.
EaseUS Todo Backup: Not stated by the vendor.
FoxClone: Not stated by the vendor.
Which disk cloning tools are open source?
Clonezilla, Rescuezilla, Partclone, Redo Rescue.
What should you use instead of Clonezilla?
Rescuezilla and Active@ Disk Image are the next two on this page. Rescuezilla is for Home users and repair benches wanting Clonezilla results without a text menu; Active@ Disk Image is for small offices needing a priced per-PC licence with image encryption.
Who should not buy Clonezilla?
Anyone wanting scheduled in-Windows backups with file-level restore. Online imaging or cloning is not implemented, so the machine has to be booted from separate media first..
Makers of disk cloning software products can ask us to look at theirs. Say what it does and who uses it. We choose what to add, and nothing can be bought; see software advice for what a listing means.
