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Head-to-head · Data Recovery Software

Recoverit vs PhotoRec

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Recoverit #4 in Data Recovery Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Recoverit
PhotoRec #6 in Data Recovery Software 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit PhotoRec

Recoverit 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 scoreRecoverit · 9.0/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresRecoverit · 4 of 4

Recoverit scores higher on our rubric for data recovery software: 9.0 against 8.7 out of 10; our editors rank them #4 and #6.

Recoverit is the better fit for media-heavy recovery and fragmented-video repair. PhotoRec is the better fit for free forensic-style file carving.

  • Recoverit fits best

    Media-heavy recovery and fragmented-video repair

  • PhotoRec fits best

    Free forensic-style file carving

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Side by side

Feature Recoverit 9.0/10 Visit ↗ PhotoRec 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.0 8.7
Ranking #4 in Data Recovery Software #6 in Data Recovery Software
Best for Media-heavy recovery and fragmented-video repair Free forensic-style file carving
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price $99.95/yr Free
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Desktop Desktop
Platforms Windows, macOS Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Email, Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Docs · 24/7 Community, Docs
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business
Features Recoverit 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 computer/laptop, internal hard disk, external hard drive, USB flash drive, camera, memory card, SD card, NAS, Linux devices, disk images, RAID arrays hard disks; CD-ROMs; memory cards; USB memory drives; DD raw images; EnCase E01 images
Operating systems Windows, macOS Windows; Linux; macOS; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; Solaris; other Unix systems
Free recovery limit Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Recovers more than 1,000 file formats across varied storage media
  • Premium adds fragmented-video recovery and corrupted video repair
  • Supports RAID, NAS, Linux devices, and bootable Windows 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
  • Platform coverage is limited to Windows and macOS
  • Advanced recovery features require the Premium annual plan
  • Paid plans start at $69.99 per year
  • 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

Recoverit is desktop data recovery software from Wondershare for recovering deleted, formatted, lost, or inaccessible files. It is suited to people working with internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, memory cards, cameras,…

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. RecoveritData Recovery Software 9.0Free plan
  2. PhotoRecData Recovery Software 8.7Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Recoverit — where it wins

    • Recovers more than 1,000 file formats across varied storage media
    • Premium adds fragmented-video recovery and corrupted video repair
    • Supports RAID, NAS, Linux devices, and bootable Windows recovery

    Where it doesn't

    • Platform coverage is limited to Windows and macOS
    • Advanced recovery features require the Premium annual plan
    • Paid plans start at $69.99 per year
  • 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

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update