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Best Mac File Sync Programs For Sale, Not Rent

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
May 5, 2008
24,298
27,409
The Misty Mountains
As part of the semi-official War against software developers who want to rent their good instead of sell them...

Today, I'd like to know what good file sync program you use for MacOS? My ProSync died, is crashing on start. I can't find a new copy to download and I think I got it off the App Store, but it is no longer carried there.
So I reverted to an older product I still have on my computer, GoodSync, but then discovered it has converted to a subscription model. $39 per year, nope, not going to do that yet.
So now I'm researching. I am going to check out FreeFileSync and open source program, but I have low expectations.
www.capterra.com

FreeFileSync Pricing, Alternatives & More 2024 | Capterra

With the help of Capterra, learn about FreeFileSync - features, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other File Sync products and more.
www.capterra.com www.capterra.com
Any other non-subscription software you like for file sync?
Thanks!
 
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External harddrive, only comes with one payment up front and you're set

(I used to use Mega.co)
 
am not sure what type of app you are talking about?! I know carbon copy cloner can backup hdds and its sold not rented
 
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What are you trying to do? Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) can run backups on a schedule; and when changes have been made, based on the amount of data changed.

QRecall is designed to save copies and allow rollback to earlier versions, and has a lot of options to trigger a save, such as program opening, closing, changes to file / folder, etc. The downside is you can quickly have 30GBs+ of saved versions since it keeps older ones. CCC can save earlier versions in a separate folder as part of its backup function.

I use CCC for backups and QRecall to keep older versions in the event I screw up an edit. I guess I could also use CCC archive feature to save past versions.

The easiest to use program I’ve seen was Forever Save for saving versions of files but sadly it is no longer in development.

ChronoSync (not Express) is a one time buy and supports sync on file changes, per its documentation.
 
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Huntn said:
As part of the semi-official War against software developers who want to rent their good instead of sell them...

Today, I'd like to know what good file sync program you use for MacOS? My ProSync died, is crashing on start. I can't find a new copy to download and I think I got it off the App Store, but it is no longer carried there.
So I reverted to an older product I still have on my computer, GoodSync, but then discovered it has converted to a subscription model. $39 per year, nope, not going to do that yet.
So now I'm researching. I am going to check out FreeFileSync and open source program, but I have low expectations.
www.capterra.com

FreeFileSync Pricing, Alternatives & More 2024 | Capterra

With the help of Capterra, learn about FreeFileSync - features, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other File Sync products and more.
www.capterra.com www.capterra.com
Any other non-subscription software you like for file sync?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I can recommend SyncTwoFolders. the only such utility that I know works across the Lan as well as with External disks, etc.
See the HP for pricing, which is very reasonable (6 Euros?). https://throb.pagesperso-orange.fr/site/Prg_ApplisRB.html
The same author has another useful utility named MyPopBarrier, which lets you preview mail before it gets to your computer. Setting up SyncTwoFolders can be daunting at first, but it is actually easy once you get used to it.
I use CarbonCopyCloner for complete backups and SyncTwoFolders for quick backups of single folders.
 

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MacBH928 said:
am not sure what type of app you are talking about?! I know carbon copy cloner can backup hdds and its sold not rented
Click to expand...

I'll second this - I use CCC for "folder to folder sync" and back up - it can be scheduled and automatic and if you enable snap shots it can save older versions as well
 
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davidlv said:
I can recommend SyncTwoFolders. the only such utility that I know works across the Lan as well as with External disks, etc.
See the HP for pricing, which is very reasonable (6 Euros?). https://throb.pagesperso-orange.fr/site/Prg_ApplisRB.html
The same author has another useful utility named MyPopBarrier, which lets you preview mail before it gets to your computer. Setting up SyncTwoFolders can be daunting at first, but it is actually easy once you get used to it.
I use CarbonCopyCloner for complete backups and SyncTwoFolders for quick backups of single folders.
Click to expand...
Do you know if STF has real-time synching?
 
Huntn said:
Do you know if STF has real-time synching?
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by "Real Time Syncing". STF has a table where you can specify backup times, every 30 min. etc. It has worked for me for years. Just be careful to set the preferences as you like. I only use the "Source replaces target" setting, ignoring the Reciprocal and Source completes target Settings.
If you have it set up right, I think you could be OK by only using it. I do however, also rely on Carbon Copy Cloner.
Between the 2 apps, I believe all the bases are covered.
Ask the developer if you need some feature. He is very good at answering questions.
 
davidlv said:
Not sure what you mean by "Real Time Syncing". STF has a table where you can specify backup times, every 30 min. etc. It has worked for me for years. Just be careful to set the preferences as you like. I only use the "Source replaces target" setting, ignoring the Reciprocal and Source completes target Settings.
If you have it set up right, I think you could be OK by only using it. I do however, also rely on Carbon Copy Cloner.
Between the 2 apps, I believe all the bases are covered.
Ask the developer if you need some feature. He is very good at answering questions.
Click to expand...
Real time just means the program is running, it senses any change, and backs up what has changed automatically, immediately. Some stuff I shred after electronically scanning it, so I don’t want to wait for later to back it up.
 
Huntn said:
Real time just means the program is running, it senses any change, and backs up what has changed automatically, immediately. Some stuff I shred after electronically scanning it, so I don’t want to wait for later to back it up.
Click to expand...

In that case check out ChronSync and QRecall. Both would appear to do that; although with different approaches. QRecall is designed to save versions as they change so if you accidentally overwrite a file or make changes that cannot be reversed you still have an earlier version; ChronoSync is a traditional backup tool and you’d have to archive changed files to get versioning.

CCC does as well but uses total file size of all changes rather than change to determine when to trigger a synch.
 
jlc1978 said:
In that case check out ChronSync and QRecall. Both would appear to do that; although with different approaches. QRecall is designed to save versions as they change so if you accidentally overwrite a file or make changes that cannot be reversed you still have an earlier version; ChronoSync is a traditional backup tool and you’d have to archive changed files to get versioning.

CCC does as well but uses total file size of all changes rather than change to determine when to trigger a synch.
Click to expand...
I downloaded the trial version of CCC and am perplexed as it appears that the lowest amount of change to have a sync trigger is 1GB of file changes. Why so much? I set the threshold or tried to set the threshold to zero GB, but that does not seem to work.
 
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