Data recovery software compared

The longest feature list does not win. The tool that can actually read your source does.

A free tool is enough for many cases. There are cases where it systematically fails.

PhotoRec is free, open source and good. It is simply not built for every case.

Recuva is a solid Windows tool for everyday files. For camera media it lacks two things.

There is a point beyond which every further scan attempt harms rather than helps.

Broad coverage against narrow specialisation — both have their place.

Data loss is a single event. A subscription rarely fits a single event.

When a paid job sits on the card, the hit count does not matter. Completeness does.

Two tools, two different kinds of damage. The question is not which is better, but what is broken on your side.

A toolbox for specialists against a tool for one single case.

A program built for the workshop against one built for the card reader.

Breadth does not help you in breadth. It helps you in your one case — or it does not.

Of all the comparisons on this site, this is the closest one: Stellar aims at the same people we do.

A specialist for torn-apart video against a tool that verifies every recovered file.

Three licence models, seven vendor pages, and a difference that lives in the small print.