If you’re looking for the best data recovery software, two names will pop up at the top of the results: EaseUS and Recuva. Both are well-known and popular apps that can help you recover lost files.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro appears in our best data recovery software guide, along with Recuva Professional. Each is rated differently, but in a head-to-head comparison of price, features, and customer support, one comes out on top.
Tiers and Pricing
If price is the only important detail, Recuva Professional is the clear winner. A one-year subscription costs just $25. Recuva can be installed on up to three computers, making the subscription even more worthwhile.
Because Recuva is owned by the same company that makes CCleaner, you’ll be presented with the option to purchase a bundle that includes Recuva Professional, CCleaner, and Speccy software. The last two are handy utilities, but have nothing to do with recovering files.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro is a much more expensive subscription but a more complete solution. There are three options available on the website: $70 per month, $100 per year, and $150 for lifetime use and upgrades.
An annual subscription to EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro equates to $8.33 per month, which is a significant discount if you think you’ll need to recover your files again within that same 12-month period. The lifetime subscription is obviously the best value plan, as you’ll never have to pay again.
Please note that EaseUS license is for one computer only, if you are upgrading to a new computer, please contact support to get help moving your license.
You may see a pop-up window with a weekly subscription offer. We saw a price of $40 for one week, but since data loss should be rare with modern technology, this is a good option.
Features
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro is very reliable. In tests, it recovered all recently deleted files and folders from hard disk drive (HDD) files and fully restored data after a quick format.
Recuva Professional found and restored all of my deleted HDD files and folders, although about a third of the file names were lost and replaced with computer-generated names.
Scan and recovery times were roughly the same for both. I used an old, slow external USB drive for testing, so I won’t judge the slow speeds too harshly.
I also tried it on my solid-state drive (SSD) partition, and the process was very fast with both apps, taking just a few seconds to scan and less than a minute to restore.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro failed to recover deleted SSD files, and Recuva Professional also reported that the files were not found. Unfortunately, this is quite common with SSDs, and is one of the reasons why HDDs are better for long-term storage.
After quick formatting the SSD partition, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro found and restored all files and folders. Recuva Professional was unable to find any files in either the quick or deep scan.
In the fifth test, I plugged in an old thumb drive that couldn’t be read by any device. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro found the lost partition and restored the lost files and folders. Recuva Professional also successfully recovered data from the corrupted thumb drive.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro recovers files more completely in more situations than Recuva Professional.
Customer Support and Ease of Use
I was impressed with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro’s customer support – I only had to wait a minute to connect with a live agent, who answered my questions promptly and helpfully with minimal delays, allowing me to get on with my day.
The cheaper Recuva Professional only offers email support, and it took just over a day to get a response. My questions were simple and didn’t require constant email back and forth, but more complex issues could require lengthy email back and forth and could take days to resolve.
The reviews on Trustpilot match my experience, with EaseUS rated at 4.7 stars, while CCleaner, makers of Recuva Professional, has a high average rating of 4.4 stars. Each company has over 20,000 reviews.
Thankfully, both data recovery apps are easy to use and have support articles on their websites to answer frequently asked questions, but EaseUS offers a more responsive and accessible customer service with a live chat option.
Free version
The free version of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro has the same features as the paid version, but it has usage limitations: you need to purchase a subscription to recover files over 2GB, which is still plenty of data and may be all you need.
Recuva also has a free version, but it only gives you a preview of what you can potentially recover: you can see a list of file names, but you can’t access those files until you purchase a subscription.
If you try the free version of Recuva, check the status column for your files. If recovery chances are “excellent,” the paid version will usually recover your files, but that’s not guaranteed.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro has a better free app because you can actually recover a lot of files before you hit the threshold that requires a subscription.
Which data recovery app is best?
Recuva Professional is very affordable at $25 per year, but its recovery capabilities aren’t as good as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro. If you’ve lost files that are essential to your work or filled with irreplaceable memories, EaseUS is worth the extra cost.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro also comes with live support, which can be extremely helpful in difficult situations. If you can’t get the data you need, it can be frustrating to have to wait until tomorrow or spend days emailing back and forth to get the answers you need.
The best file recovery app is EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro, which we also featured in our guide to the best data recovery software for Mac. Recuva doesn’t have a version for macOS.
That being said, that’s where Recuva Professional comes in. If you think the free version is likely to help you recover the files you need, it might be worth giving one of their lower-priced subscriptions a try.
If you are thinking of trying both, make sure you do not save any files or organize folders on the drive where you lost data, as any changes you make may overwrite the files you want to recover.
It is also worth making a note of the best data recovery apps for iPhone and Android phones to restore files.
Editor’s Recommendation
