Best Data Migration Software

After testing seven different solutions, we've come to the conclusion that Acronis True Image offers the best data migration tool. It combines both a personal backup and an anti-malware solution. 

If you’ve ever had issues with ransomware, you’ll appreciate the significance of this feature. With both cloud and external drive backup, any files that were encrypted as a result of a malicious attack can be restored with just a few clicks. 

Acronis True Image allows users to back up their information on the cloud, external drives, network drives, and NAS devices. However, cloud storage requires an Advanced or Premium subscription. Don’t worry. This data migration software’s free trial comes with all the features available with the Essential version. This includes full image backup, file-level active disk cloning, recovery options, and antimalware protection for the drive you’re using. 

The Advanced subscription includes 500 GB of cloud storage, while the Premium starts with 1 TB for free with the option to upgrade to 5 TB. Furthermore, those plans include Microsoft 365 backups, while the Premium version has blockchain certification of files and electronic signatures for further protection and privacy. Having the option to protect both Android and iOS devices is another feature that most users will find handy. 

This disk migration software has a simple and effective interface. You can select specific files and folders or the entire drive (the default choice by the software) and the backup destination to transfer files to. It’s up to the user to choose a backup schedule. The program includes the “nonstop” option that actively backs up new and updated files.  

Even though our team recommends using dedicated antivirus software, Acronis’ AI-enhanced behavior analysis handles malicious files superbly. Keep in mind that the Advanced and Premium subscription plans include complete malware protection, while the Essential only deals with ransomware. AV-TEST, an independent IT security institute, analyzed the antivirus features, and Acronis passed with flying colors. 

As a backup, antimalware, and data migration tool, Acronis True Image provides an all-in-one package that eliminates the need for you to pay for an antivirus. However, if you’re in the market for just a migration tool or backup software, you should consider less costly options. The program also lacks any partition management features that some data migration solutions have.

Another data and OS migration software solution comes from EaseUS. The Todo PCTrans application is reliable data migration software that provides users with an easy way to transfer data between Windows-based platforms.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans offers a free version. However, most users will use it to test out the program with a small file transfer since it’s limited to two programs and up to 500 MB of data in total between two PCs or local drives. 

Home and Business users are not limited in the amount of data or programs they can migrate. In addition to data migration features, the EaseUS Todo PCTrans subscription includes data rescue and recovery options, scan and transfer program keys, and user account migration. The business plan is suitable for a workload on multiple PCs.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans does direct PC to PC transfers, app migrations, and image transfers. You can also back up your PC on an external drive by creating an image file. Furthermore, the program has a system and a large file cleanup feature. Users with clogged-up drives find these features useful, especially if you need to clean up before storage migration.

The main limitation of this hard drive migration software is that it’s only developed for Windows, so it won’t work on another operating system such as macOS or Linux. However, it does support Windows XP and above and multiple Windows Server versions from 2003 to 2019. The list of software that EaseUS Todo PCTrans supports for the application transfer feature includes Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, Photoshop, and Lightroom. 

The main downside of EaseUS Todo PCTrans is the price tag for an individual user. A monthly subscription of $49.95 for a license that includes two computers is a bit steep. For a much lower price, Acronis True Image provides malware protection and cloud storage. 

Our examination of Todo PCTrans found this data migration software for Windows 10 and below to be perfectly adequate. For businesses, this software saves plenty of time for IT admins.

Migration and backup software often go hand in hand. When you migrate data to a backup, it essentially serves the same purpose as preserving the data. Another paid and free OS migration software solution is AOMEI Backupper. The program is available for both home and business use, and depending on the subscription, you may even have more tools available. 

The Server and Technician Plus plans support Windows Server from 2003 to 2019 (including R2), while all other plans support Windows XP and newer. Home users will rarely need to use AOMEI Backupper for server-based operating systems and will do much better with the Standard freeware version, Professional, or Workstation. At the same time, it’s useful to have the option of free data migration software and the ability to try it out before you upgrade. 

As the name suggests, AOMEI Backupper can create backups of your system and data drives, then clone them, effectively migrating your information to a new drive. The software has no issues with data migration from an HDD to SSD and even backing it up on local, external, USB flash, and cloud drives. It also supports NAS devices. Paid plans include backup encryption for an extra layer of data security and a compression algorithm for backed-up data images. 

AOMEI Backupper interface is easy to navigate and intuitive to use. Even users who don’t have a great deal of experience will find it simple to set data migration software for SSD cloning while taking advantage of the SSD Alignment feature. 

You can determine the automatic backup schedule and even sync files between folders or devices. Our DataProt team also liked seeing the option to create Windows PE bootable rescue media on a USB drive, DVD, or CD. 

AOMEI’s pricing for individuals and businesses isn’t based on a subscription model, but on a perpetual license with the option to upgrade to a higher plan. For a home user, it has the best balance of extensive backup features and price you could ask for in program migration software. However, you might want to check out Acronis True Image or MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro if you’re looking for additional features.

If you’re looking for the best PC transfer software, you can’t go wrong with Paragon’s Hard Disk Manager Advanced. The program has excellent features, including data migration options that are worth checking out.

Whether you’re looking to back up your system, migrate data from a source disk to a target disk, or completely wipe your data, Hard Disk Manager Advanced can help you stay organized. 

If you want to upgrade your PC with a new SSD, the software is perfectly capable of supporting an HDD to SSD migration. Furthermore, you get to decide whether you want an OS migration or the complete disk clone. 

The program even includes a File Transfer Wizard that enables it to copy files between storage drives formatted for another operating system. This comes as no surprise since Paragon developed dedicated software for macOS and Linux as well.

Like Acronis True Image, Paragon has recovery tools in the form of its Recovery Media Builder. Users can choose to recover data from virtual backup containers like pVHD, VHD, VHDX, VMDK, and PBF images while having the option to encrypt their backup and compress it. Most users will appreciate the software’s ability to change partition sizes, delete, split, merge, format, and even reformat them to different drive formats like FAT32, NTFS, and HSF.

Windows migration software from Paragon also includes comprehensive data deletion tools with multiple algorithms to remove your data thoroughly after the migration process.

Furthermore, the Recovery Media Builder addon allows for restoring your computer in the WinPE (Windows Preinstallation Environment). It provides an excellent solution for emergencies when you can’t boot up your drive. And if that’s not enough, Paragon Hard Disk Manager Advanced even includes email notifications to let you know if the migration or other processes were successful.

The cost is another strong suit. Most software migration programs we reviewed include a subscription-based payment plan, whereas with Paragon Hard Disk Manager Advanced, home users usually pay a flat fee. With business versions, there are subscription and perpetual licensing models on offer and a 30-day free trial to see if the program is right for you.

MiniTool Partition Wizard comes with both free and paid versions. To use it as an HDD or SSD migration software, you’ll need the paid Pro option. 

Primarily MiniTool Partition Wizard is a disk management tool. However, the program does include an impressive amount of features that most demanding users will find helpful. The software has tools to migrate OS to an SSD or HDD, create bootable media, data, and partition recovery tools. Furthermore, users can run diagnostics on their disk drives, analyze read and write speed, find bad sectors, and fix file system errors.

Unfortunately, MiniTool Partition Wizard is Windows-only software. Thankfully, it still supports older versions of Windows, which even Microsoft doesn’t support anymore. Therefore, this hard drive migration software will help you migrate data from older OS versions like Windows XP, Windows 7, and above. 

MiniTool Partition Wizard has a nicely designed and user-friendly interface. Main program functions are sorted in the top tabs, with each subsection having multiple options and tools. You can queue up different operations and make changes or prioritize other tasks. If you’re not experienced with disk management features, each task launches a wizard that will guide you through the process and help you perform data migration easily.

MiniTool Partition Wizard has free, Pro, Pro Platinum, and Pro Ultimate versions. There is a considerable annual subscription cost but with licenses for fewer PCs than with Paragon Hard Disk Manager Advanced or Acronis True Image. 

The best offer for this HDD and SSD data migration software is the Pro Ultimate version with the perpetual license for up to five PCs and a somewhat reasonable price tag. Having a partition management tool is convenient, and MiniTool Partition Wizard offers users even more.

Migrating data from an old PC to a new one can be a long and arduous process. Laplink enables you to transfer software to a new PC without a hitch, including all your data, profile, and settings.

PCmover Professional is a Windows-only solution that works on Windows XP up to Windows 10. The software analyzes the files, and you can choose what to migrate based on the software’s recommendations.

PCmover doesn’t recommend migrating programs that may be incompatible with the new PC. That includes system-oriented tools like firewalls, anti-spyware tools, and even Windows antivirus solutions. Furthermore, it’s advisable not to transfer software related to your old hardware.

The data transfer software could undo changes made by the migration on the new device if any issues interrupt or corrupt the process. The system on the source disk is never affected by the transfer, so you can simply start the process again without compromising data integrity.

There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test the program out without any real risk. To assist users and enhance the offer, Laplink’s customer support team is standing by 24/7 to assist you with the migration.

When it comes to the best data migration tools, PCmover doesn’t offer an impressive list of additional features. For a similar cost, you can get an Acronis True Image yearly subscription with cloud backup and antimalware. Alternatively, Paragon’s Hard Disk Manager and MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro include disk partition management, recovery, and Windows PE bootable environment.

However, PCmover Professional offers streamlined migration, which delivers the fastest transfer available for a flat fee. If your primary focus is to easily migrate data while saving time, Laplink has you covered.

O&O DiskImage is widely regarded as one of the top data migration tools on the market. O&O Software is a German company with more than 20 years of experience. This military-grade system is an official Microsoft Partner and a NATO supplier. 

O&O DiskImage is a valuable disk imaging tool for Windows users that enables you to backup complete computer drives or create more selective backups. Since we live in an era where digital assets are as important as physical ones, having an option to restore data from your personal computer with one click is important. 

By creating a disk image, you can quickly migrate your data to a new drive, and DiskImage works smoothly throughout the entire data migration process with HDDs and SSDs alike. 

O&O DiskImage has an option to create a bootable USB or a CD/DVD to restore your Windows system. Furthermore, you can establish an O&O DiskImage RecoveryPartition, which will restore the last system image directly from it. This recovery partition provides an additional layer of security if you misplace the external recovery medium. 

Users can set up an external recovery drive, allowing for plug-and-play backups. The O&O DiskImage To Go function serves as data migration software by creating a boot medium from any external drives you choose as a backup. Each time you plug in the selected drive, the software will automatically back up your system, and if required, restore it back with just one click. 

Unlike the other software solutions we tested, O&O DiskImage doesn’t support earlier versions of Windows, focusing more on Windows 10, 8.1, and 8. However, Windows 7 backups created with DiskImage can still be restored. If you prefer to give free data migration software for Windows 10 a try, AOMEI Backupper is a better option.