GNU ddrescue comparisons
GNU ddrescue is compared head-to-head with R-Studio, TestDisk and Recoverit and more: 7 head-to-heads in Data Recovery Software, each with the specs and prices we checked.
GNU ddrescue head-to-head
- GNU ddrescue vs R-Studio
- GNU ddrescue vs TestDisk
- GNU ddrescue vs Recoverit
- GNU ddrescue vs Disk Drill
- GNU ddrescue vs PhotoRec
- GNU ddrescue vs DMDE
- GNU ddrescue vs UFS Explorer
GNU ddrescue vs each of them
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Recovery sources | Operating systems | Bootable recovery | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | GNU ddrescue | Yes | Free | Files, devices, partitions, optical media (CD-ROMs/DVDs), kernel-supported devices including ATA, SATA, SCSI, floppy disks, and flash media cards such as SD | POSIX systems recommended; Cygwin support is discussed in the manual | 8.4 | |
| 2 | R-Studio | No | $49.99/device one-time | Local disks, removable disks, hard drives, flash drives, SD memory cards, USB memory sticks, network disks, disk images | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes | 9.3 |
| 3 | TestDisk | Yes | Free | hard drives; USB drives; memory cards; disk images; DAS; SAN; Linux RAID devices | Windows; macOS; Linux; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; SunOS | Yes | 9.1 |
| 4 | Recoverit | Yes | $99.95/yr | computer/laptop, internal hard disk, external hard drive, USB flash drive, camera, memory card, SD card, NAS, Linux devices, disk images, RAID arrays | Windows, macOS | Yes | 9.0 |
| 5 | Disk Drill | Yes | $89/yr | Internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD/CF cards, memory cards, digital cameras, virtual hard drives, RAID arrays, disk images | macOS 10.15+; Windows 10+ | Yes | 8.8 |
| 6 | PhotoRec | Yes | Free | hard disks; CD-ROMs; memory cards; USB memory drives; DD raw images; EnCase E01 images | Windows; Linux; macOS; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; Solaris; other Unix systems | 8.7 | |
| 7 | DMDE | Yes | disks, partitions, memory cards, RAID arrays, disk images, VHD/VHDX images | Windows, Linux, macOS, DOS | Yes | 8.6 | |
| 8 | UFS Explorer | No | $69.95 one-time | internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD cards, memory cards, disk images, virtual disks, NAS devices and RAID systems | Windows, macOS, Linux | 8.5 |
Compare GNU ddrescue with any data recovery software
These are the matchups our editors wrote up. The compare tool pairs GNU ddrescue with any other product in Data Recovery Software — and up to four at once — from the same checked specs.
Compare GNU ddrescue with any tool side by side →
Every data recovery software head-to-head →
Our full GNU ddrescue verdict, pricing and fact sheet →
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Compared by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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