There are many free data recovery applications out there, but not all of them are powerful enough to deliver the expected results and recover accidentally deleted or lost files. On top of that, there are plenty of free programs on the market that only work on certain devices or are slow, clunky, and totally unusable. For this reason, we have made the following comparison between Recuva, Stellar Data Recovery and EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro, three of the most powerful free data recovery software on the market. We have done an in-depth analysis of its main features, performance, and customer support to bring you a clear conclusion. If you're looking for more options (including paid ones), read our guide to the best data recovery software.
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(Image credit: Stellar, Recuva, EaseUS)
Features
Recuva, EaseUS and Stellar come with an impressive selection of hard drive recovery features. All three are designed with fast and deep scanning capabilities and come with amazing free tools for personal and professional users alike. For starters, Stellar and EaseUS are compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, although Recuva is only available on Windows. Also, Recuva's free plan is only available for personal use, and professional users will need to pay for a commercial license. Stellar provides up to 1 GB of free data recovery while EaseUS supports 2 GB of file recovery. If you only need to recover personal files, Recuva is a great option. It supports restoring reformatted and damaged drives and comes with quick scan tools to reduce downtime and improve efficiency. Recovered files can be restored directly to a virtual hard drive (VHD), and it even supports damaged VHD recovery. Sensitive or confidential files can be destroyed with secure replacement tools. EaseUS is possibly even more powerful, with impressive Windows and Mac features. It allows you to recover damaged or inaccessible data and supports a variety of external storage devices. Files can be restored during a scan and you can even preview recovered files before saving. Finally, Stellar supports all known file formats and allows you to add custom formats if needed. Optical media recovery is possible, while RAID, non-bootable, encrypted and virtual drive scanning is fast and simple. Overall, Stellar stands out here because it supports a wide range of devices and all kinds of files.
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Stellar Data Recovery allows you to recover any file from almost any device. (Image credit: stellar)
To facilitate an accurate comparison between Stellar, EaseUS, and Recuva, we intentionally removed a selection of files from the hard drive of our Windows test laptop (which has 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive). We then ran standard and in-depth analyzes with all three programs to determine their effectiveness. They all successfully recovered the test files, along with thousands of others that had been deleted in the past. EaseUS was the fastest of the three programs, with a standard scan done in less than a minute. A full scan took just over two and a half hours, and none used more than 30% CPU or 250MB of RAM. Stellar was a bit slower, but it used a lot more computing resources. A quick scan took just under four minutes, and the deep scan took just over 12 hours. But both used more than 75% CPU power and around 200MB of RAM, which means you might have trouble running Stellar with other programs. Finally, Recuva's quick scan was also very fast, finishing in just over a minute. However, it took almost 24 hours to complete a thorough scan, which is quite slow. Saying this, neither used more than 600MB of RAM or 10% of the CPU, meaning it could comfortably run in the background. In general, EaseUS has the best performance, simply because of its very fast deep scan capability and low CPU usage. However, all three programs worked very well during testing and recovered all test files. Today's Best EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro Deals
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EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro provides fast and efficient recovery of lost files. (Image credit: EaseUS)
Support
All three programs offer a selection of support services. Recuva has email support, but keep in mind that paid subscribers will have priority over free users. Fortunately, it also comes with great technical documentation, detailed video tutorials, and an easy-to-use community forum. Meanwhile, EaseUS offers live chat, email, and phone support options. Live chat is available from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5:30 pm (UTC+8). Offline documentation and an informative knowledge base are also available. However, Stellar stands out as the hands-down winner for best support services. Their live chat agents are friendly and knowledgeable, global phone support in English is available, and complex issues are handled through an online ticketing system. The self-help options are also great, with an in-depth knowledge base containing amazing videos, how-to guides, and a variety of other resources.
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Stellar Data Recovery is supported by a selection of great support options. (Image credit: Stellar) The best Stellar Data Recovery deals today
Verdict
In the end, Recuva, EaseUS, and Stellar stand out as exceptional free data recovery software. However, as expected, the free versions have their limits. Recuva offers unlimited recovery, but its free plan is only available for personal use and only Windows devices are supported. EaseUS is a powerful option with support for both Mac and Windows, a range of powerful features, and fast and efficient performance. And finally, Stellar allows data recovery from almost any device and offers powerful support services. In general, we recommend Recuva for personal users who need to recover a large number of lost files, and Stellar for professional users. Business users who want to restore more than 2 GB of data may need to upgrade to a paid plan.