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Head-to-head · Data Recovery Software

Disk Drill vs PhotoRec

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Disk Drill #5 in Data Recovery Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Disk Drill
PhotoRec #6 in Data Recovery Software 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit PhotoRec

Disk Drill leads on 0 checks, PhotoRec on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreDisk Drill · 8.8/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresDisk Drill · 4 of 4

Disk Drill scores higher on our rubric for data recovery software: 8.8 against 8.7 out of 10; our editors rank them #5 and #6.

Disk Drill is the better fit for windows and macOS recovery with protection features. PhotoRec is the better fit for free forensic-style file carving.

  • Disk Drill fits best

    Windows and macOS recovery with protection features

  • PhotoRec fits best

    Free forensic-style file carving

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Side by side

Feature Disk Drill 8.8/10 Visit ↗ PhotoRec 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.8 8.7
Ranking #5 in Data Recovery Software #6 in Data Recovery Software
Best for Windows and macOS recovery with protection features Free forensic-style file carving
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price $89/yr Free
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Desktop Desktop
Platforms Windows, macOS Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Email, Phone, Docs Community, Docs
Built for Solo, Small business, Enterprise Solo, Small business
Features Disk Drill 4/4 · PhotoRec 2/4
Memory card recovery ✓ ✓
RAID recovery ✓ ✓
Bootable recovery ✓ (best) Not checked yet
File preview ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Recovery sources Internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD/CF cards, memory cards, digital cameras, virtual hard drives, RAID arrays, disk images hard disks; CD-ROMs; memory cards; USB memory drives; DD raw images; EnCase E01 images
Operating systems macOS 10.15+; Windows 10+ Windows; Linux; macOS; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; Solaris; other Unix systems
Free recovery limit 100 GB Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Recovers from drives, memory cards, RAID arrays, NAS, and mobile devices
  • Includes Quick and Deep Scan, previews, partition search, and RAID reconstruction
  • Adds Recovery Vault, byte-to-byte backups, and bootable macOS recovery
  • Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Recovers files from damaged or reformatted filesystems
  • Supports disk images, RAID devices, and command-line automation
Cons
  • Basic recovery is limited to Windows and 100 MB
  • Paid access starts at $89 per year or $149 for a lifetime license
  • Supports Windows and macOS, with no other desktop platforms listed
  • Does not provide verified file previews before recovery
  • Does not provide bootable recovery media
  • Signature-based carving may not preserve original filesystem structure
Our verdict

Disk Drill is data recovery software for Windows and macOS computers. It is designed for recovering deleted or lost files from internal and external drives, USB flash drives, SD memory cards, digital cameras, smartphones, RAID arrays, and…

Read the review →

PhotoRec is free, open-source file recovery software for retrieving photographs, videos, documents, archives, and other file types. It is designed for people recovering data from hard disks, optical media, memory cards, USB drives, and…

Read the review →
  1. Disk DrillData Recovery Software 8.8Free plan
  2. PhotoRecData Recovery Software 8.7Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Disk Drill — where it wins

    • Recovers from drives, memory cards, RAID arrays, NAS, and mobile devices
    • Includes Quick and Deep Scan, previews, partition search, and RAID reconstruction
    • Adds Recovery Vault, byte-to-byte backups, and bootable macOS recovery

    Where it doesn't

    • Basic recovery is limited to Windows and 100 MB
    • Paid access starts at $89 per year or $149 for a lifetime license
    • Supports Windows and macOS, with no other desktop platforms listed

  • PhotoRec — where it wins

    • Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux
    • Recovers files from damaged or reformatted filesystems
    • Supports disk images, RAID devices, and command-line automation

    Where it doesn't

    • Does not provide verified file previews before recovery
    • Does not provide bootable recovery media
    • Signature-based carving may not preserve original filesystem structure

More comparisons

All data recovery software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update