Is cloud backup or local backup better?

They are better together. Local backup to your own drive is fast, cheap for large amounts, and works without internet. Cloud backup is automatically offsite, surviving a fire or theft at home. The ideal setup uses both: local for speed and convenience, cloud as the offsite copy.

Is cloud backup safe enough on its own?

It is a strong offsite copy, but relying on it alone has risks: account lockouts, lapsed subscriptions, and slow restores for large data. A local copy you control restores instantly and is not tied to a provider, which is why both together is safest.

Do I need local backup if I use the cloud?

Ideally yes. A local backup restores far faster than downloading everything from the cloud, especially for large amounts of data, and works even when your internet is down. It complements the cloud rather than replacing it.

Cloud Backup vs Local Backup: Which Is Better?

Published: September 10, 2026

Live answer · Amazon.com

Pulling live prices…

Live data across PricePerGig listings. Prices may change; Updated every few hours.

📊 As of 28 September 2026, the typical NAS on Amazon.co.uk is £153/TB or £0.153/GB across the 3,350 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £61.6/TB or £0.062/GB. The best deals on Amazon.co.uk start from about £299 for 8TB (£37.4/TB), £367 for 14TB (£26.2/TB) and £612 for 20TB (£30.6/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly £26.2 per TB.

Sourced from real discussions on r/DataHoarder and r/backup, cross-checked against live PricePerGig listings.

Trying to decide whether to back up to the cloud or to your own drives? Here is the honest answer that surprises people.

You want both. They are not rivals, they are two halves of a complete backup.

Local backup gives you speed and cheap capacity. Cloud backup gives you an automatic offsite copy. Together they cover each other’s weaknesses.

The table above shows the live price per TB on your marketplace for the local side of that setup.

What local backup does well

Backing up to your own drive or NAS has real strengths.

It is fast. Restoring from a local drive is far quicker than downloading everything from the internet.
It is cheap for large amounts. Once you own the drive, there is no monthly fee, and big capacities cost little per TB.
It works offline. No internet needed to back up or restore.
You control it completely, no account or subscription to depend on.

The weakness is that a local backup lives in the same building as your computer. A fire, flood or theft could take both at once. Which is exactly where the cloud comes in.

What cloud backup does well

Backing up to the cloud covers the local copy’s blind spot.

It is automatically offsite. Your data is safe somewhere else, surviving a disaster at home.
It is hands-off. Set it once and it runs in the background.
It needs no hardware of your own to maintain.

The weaknesses are that restoring large amounts can be slow over the internet, costs are ongoing, and you depend on an account staying active and accessible. Great as a safety net, less ideal as your only copy.

Why both is the right answer

Notice how neatly they complement each other.

Local backup is fast, cheap and offline, but in one place. Cloud backup is offsite and automatic, but slower and subscription-based.

Use both, and you get the best of each. A quick local copy for everyday restores, and a cloud copy as the offsite insurance against fire, flood and theft. That is literally the offsite part of the 3-2-1 rule, which we cover in the 3-2-1 backup rule.

A simple setup

Here is how most people put it together.

Local backup to an external drive or NAS, automated, for fast everyday recovery.
Cloud backup of your most important data as the offsite copy.
For huge libraries that are awkward to cloud, a second local copy kept at another location works too.

Buy the local drives at the best price per TB from the live table above, and let the cloud handle the offsite layer.

The bottom line

Cloud backup and local backup are not an either-or choice. Local is fast, cheap and offline but in one place. Cloud is offsite and automatic but slower and ongoing. Together they form a complete, resilient backup.

Set up a local backup for speed and a cloud copy for offsite safety, and your data survives almost anything. Grab cheap local storage from the live prices above, add a cloud layer, and you are properly protected. Belt and braces beats either alon.

What local backup does well

What cloud backup does well

Why both is the right answer

A simple setup

The bottom line

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