TestDisk vs Disk Drill

TestDisk9.1Visit Disk Drill8.8Visit

Higher score TestDisk #3 in Data Recovery Software 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit CGSecurity

vs

Disk Drill #5 in Data Recovery Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Disk Drill

• TestDisk fits best

  Free partition and filesystem recovery

• Disk Drill fits best

  Windows and macOS recovery with protection features

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Side by side

Feature	TestDisk 9.1/10 Visit ↗	Disk Drill 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	8.8
Ranking	#3 in Data Recovery Software	#5 in Data Recovery Software
Best for	Free partition and filesystem recovery	Windows and macOS recovery with protection features
Pricing model	Free	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Free plan	$89/yr
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Phone, Docs
Features TestDisk 4/4 · Disk Drill 4/4
Memory card recovery	✓	✓
RAID recovery	✓	✓
Bootable recovery	✓	✓
File preview	✓	✓
Specs
Recovery sources	hard drives; USB drives; memory cards; disk images; DAS; SAN; Linux RAID devices	Internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD/CF cards, memory cards, digital cameras, virtual hard drives, RAID arrays, disk images
Operating systems	Windows; macOS; Linux; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; SunOS	macOS 10.15+; Windows 10+
Free recovery limit	Not checked yet	100 GB
Our review
Pros	Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux Supports partition repair, boot structures, RAID, and disk images Can inspect files before copying and run from a live USB	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
Cons	Command-line workflows may require technical recovery knowledge Filesystem undelete support is limited to listed supported filesystems Less feature-rich than DMDE for advanced reconstruction and diagnostics	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
Our verdict	TestDisk is free, open-source data recovery software from CGSecurity for recovering lost or deleted partitions, repairing partition tables and filesystem boot structures, and undeleting files. It is suited to people recovering data from… Read the review →	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 →

Strengths and trade-offs

• TestDisk — where it wins

  • Free and open source across Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Supports partition repair, boot structures, RAID, and disk images
  • Can inspect files before copying and run from a live USB

  Where it doesn't

  • Command-line workflows may require technical recovery knowledge
  • Filesystem undelete support is limited to listed supported filesystems
  • Less feature-rich than DMDE for advanced reconstruction and diagnostics

• 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

• TestDisk9.1/10 · Free plan

  A capable free choice for partition repair, filesystem recovery, and file undelete.

  Visit CGSecurityFull verdict →
• Disk Drill8.8/10 · Free plan

  A broad recovery toolkit with free Windows recovery and paid unlimited access.

  Visit Disk DrillFull verdict →