--- title: Disk Drill canonical: https://saasranked.com/software/disk-drill/ category: Data Recovery Software points: 61 rank: 7 of 11 facts_checked: 2026-10-08 --- # Disk Drill Windows recovery program with a free edition that scans and previews, saves 100 MB, and backs up failing disks. 61 points out of 100. #7 of 11 data recovery programs. Vendor: CleverFiles. Website: https://www.disk-drill.com/ - The free Basic edition scans, previews files and recovers up to 100 MB on Windows [1][10]. - PRO costs $89 a year, or $149 once for a lifetime licence [2]. - Purchases are final: the terms state that all sales are final and offer no refund period [5][9]. - It names exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS+ and ext4 among the file systems it reads, and recovers BitLocker drives with the key [1][3]. - A PRO licence covers up to 3 devices for one user [9]. Verdict: Disk Drill suits people who want to see what a scan finds, and to copy a failing disk byte for byte, before paying [1][2][10]. It reads many file systems, RAID arrays and BitLocker drives [1][3][7]. The catch: the free edition saves only 100 MB, and the terms offer no refund [1][5][9]. Best for: People who want to preview found files and check drive health before paying. ## Points | Criterion | Line | Value | Points | Note | |---|---|---|---|---| | Price | Free recovery limit | 0.1 | 0/9 | Windows page and edition article say free recovery is up to 100 MB [1][2]. | | Price | Cheapest paid licence | $89/yr | 5/11 | PRO annual subscription, $89 a year; lifetime is $149. Cheapest uncapped edition [2]. | | Price | One-time licence | Yes | 3/3 | PRO is sold as an annual subscription or a lifetime licence at $149 [2]. | | Price | Money-back period | 0 | 0/3 | Terms say all purchases are final and give no refund period [5][6]. | | What it finds | Signature (raw) scan | Yes | 6/6 | Deep Scan identifies files by their signatures when file system data is damaged [4]. | | What it finds | Lost partition recovery | Yes | 6/6 | Windows PRO lists Lost Partition Search [2]. | | What it finds | File types listed | 350 | 2/4 | Help article says over 350 types; Windows page says 400+. Lowest stated figure used [1][4]. | | What it finds | Repairs damaged photos or videos | Not published | 0/4 | Not published on the vendor's Windows page or file-type article [1][4]. A separate online video repair tool exists. | | Drives and systems | Drives and media | Hard drive or SSD, USB drive, SD or memory card, Virtual disk (VHD or VMDK) | 4/6 | Drive article lists disks, USB, SD/CF cards and VMDK. Optical discs unsupported; Android is macOS only [3]. | | Drives and systems | File systems beyond NTFS and FAT32 | exFAT, ReFS, APFS or HFS+, ext4 | 4/4 | Windows page lists exFAT, ReFS, HFS+, APFS and EXT4 [1][3]. | | Drives and systems | BitLocker drives | Yes | 4/4 | Detects BitLocker volumes, asks for the unlock key, then scans the decrypted content [3]. | | Drives and systems | RAID recovery | Yes | 5/5 | Recovers Windows RAID 0, 1, 5, JBOD and Storage Spaces [7]; the Windows page marks RAID as supported [1]. | | Tools | Disk image before recovery | Yes | 6/6 | Byte-level backups of failing disks on Windows; the page says to use this backup rather than the failing drive to recover data [1][2]. | | Tools | Bootable recovery media | Not published | 0/5 | Not published on the vendor's Windows or edition pages [1][2]. Its recovery drive page is for Mac. | | Tools | Preview before you pay | Yes | 7/7 | Free Basic edition previews everything it finds before purchase [10]. | | Tools | Pause and resume a scan | Yes | 3/3 | Windows page says you can pause and resume the scan at any time [1]. | | Tools | Drive health check | Yes | 3/3 | Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring alerts when a drive may fail; runs while the app is open [8]. | | Tools | Runs without installing | Not published | 0/2 | Not published for Windows; the portable mode article covers macOS only [12]. | | Trust and support | Open source | No | 0/6 | The licence agreement says the source code for the product is proprietary to CleverFiles [6]. | | Trust and support | Support with a paid licence | Yes | 3/3 | Windows page lists email and live chat support as included [1]. | ## Plans | Plan | Price | Per month (USD) | |---|---|---| | Basic | Free [2][10] | $0 | | PRO subscription | $89/year [2][9][11] | $7.42 | | PRO lifetime | $149 one-time [2][9] | - | A discount on a PRO subscription applies only to the first 12 months; renewal is charged at the price valid then [11]. Prices come from the vendor's edition article and Windows page; the checkout page shows no readable price [1][2][9]. ## Strengths - Free edition scans and previews every found file before purchase [10]. - Free byte-to-byte backups of failing disks [2]. - Reads RAID 0, 1, 5 and JBOD arrays and Storage Spaces on Windows [7]. - Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring warns when a drive may fail [8]. - Lifetime licence is sold at $149 [2]. ## Limits - Free recovery stops at 100 MB on Windows [1][10]. - Terms say all purchases are final, with no refund window in days [5][6][9]. - Android phone recovery is macOS only, and optical media are not supported for undelete or deep scans [3]. - PRO subscription renews each year at the price in effect then [11]. ## Vendor claims (not scored) - CleverFiles says the Windows edition verifies 400+ supported file formats [1]. ## Sources 1. [Disk Drill for Windows](https://www.cleverfiles.com/data-recovery-software.html), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 2. [Differences between Disk Drill Basic, PRO, Expert and Enterprise](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/what-are-the-differences-between-disk-drill-basic-pro-expert-and-enterprise/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 3. [What types of drives or disks can I recover files from](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/types-of-drives/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 4. [What file formats can Disk Drill recover](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/file-types/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 5. [Terms of Service](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/terms-of-service.html), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 6. [End-User License Agreement](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/eula.html), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 7. [Is it possible to recover RAID with Disk Drill](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/raid-recovery/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 8. [Monitor S.M.A.R.T. status and disk health](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/monitor-smart-status-disk-health/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 9. [Upgrade to PRO](https://www.cleverfiles.com/pro.html), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 10. [Can I really scan for my lost files for free](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/can-i-really-scan-for-my-lost-files-for-free/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 11. [Disk Drill PRO subscription and lifetime licence](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/disk-drill-pro-subscription.html), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08 12. [How to install Disk Drill in portable mode](https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/disk-drill-portable/), CleverFiles, accessed 2026-10-08