data recovery program · CleverFiles

Disk Drill

Windows recovery program with a free edition that scans and previews, saves 100 MB, and backs up failing disks.

61/100

#7 of 11 data recovery programs
Facts checked 8 Oct 2026

In short

The free Basic edition scans, previews files and recovers up to 100 MB on Windows^1,10.
PRO costs $89 a year, or $149 once for a lifetime licence².
Purchases are final: the terms state that all sales are final and offer no refund period^5,9.
It names exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS+ and ext4 among the file systems it reads, and recovers BitLocker drives with the key^1,3.
A PRO licence covers up to 3 devices for one user⁹.

Disk Drill suits people who want to see what a scan finds, and to copy a failing disk byte for byte, before paying^1,2,10. It reads many file systems, RAID arrays and BitLocker drives^1,3,7. The catch: the free edition saves only 100 MB, and the terms offer no refund^1,5,9.

Best for: People who want to preview found files and check drive health before paying.

Where the points come from

Price8 of 26

What it finds14 of 20

Drives and systems17 of 19

Tools19 of 26

Trust and support3 of 9

Price 8 of 26 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Free recovery limit	0.1Windows page and edition article say free recovery is up to 100 MB^1,2.	0 / 9
Cheapest paid licence	$89/yrPRO annual subscription, $89 a year; lifetime is $149. Cheapest uncapped edition².	5 / 11
One-time licence	YesPRO is sold as an annual subscription or a lifetime licence at $149².	3 / 3
Money-back period	0Terms say all purchases are final and give no refund period^5,6.	0 / 3

What it finds 14 of 20 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Signature (raw) scan	YesDeep Scan identifies files by their signatures when file system data is damaged⁴.	6 / 6
Lost partition recovery	YesWindows PRO lists Lost Partition Search².	6 / 6
File types listed	350Help article says over 350 types; Windows page says 400+. Lowest stated figure used^1,4.	2 / 4
Repairs damaged photos or videos	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's Windows page or file-type article^1,4. A separate online video repair tool exists.	0 / 4

Drives and systems 17 of 19 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Drives and media	Hard drive or SSD, USB drive, SD or memory card, Virtual disk (VHD or VMDK)Drive article lists disks, USB, SD/CF cards and VMDK. Optical discs unsupported; Android is macOS only³.	4 / 6
File systems beyond NTFS and FAT32	exFAT, ReFS, APFS or HFS+, ext4Windows page lists exFAT, ReFS, HFS+, APFS and EXT4^1,3.	4 / 4
BitLocker drives	YesDetects BitLocker volumes, asks for the unlock key, then scans the decrypted content³.	4 / 4
RAID recovery	YesRecovers Windows RAID 0, 1, 5, JBOD and Storage Spaces⁷; the Windows page marks RAID as supported¹.	5 / 5

Tools 19 of 26 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Disk image before recovery	YesByte-level backups of failing disks on Windows; the page says to use this backup rather than the failing drive to recover data^1,2.	6 / 6
Bootable recovery media	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's Windows or edition pages^1,2. Its recovery drive page is for Mac.	0 / 5
Preview before you pay	YesFree Basic edition previews everything it finds before purchase¹⁰.	7 / 7
Pause and resume a scan	YesWindows page says you can pause and resume the scan at any time¹.	3 / 3
Drive health check	YesFree S.M.A.R.T. monitoring alerts when a drive may fail; runs while the app is open⁸.	3 / 3
Runs without installing	Not publishedNot published for Windows; the portable mode article covers macOS only¹².	0 / 2

Trust and support 3 of 9 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Open source	NoThe licence agreement says the source code for the product is proprietary to CleverFiles⁶.	0 / 6
Support with a paid licence	YesWindows page lists email and live chat support as included¹.	3 / 3

The rule behind each line: how we score data recovery programs.

Plans and prices

As the vendor lists them, before tax. Prices are in US dollars unless the plan shows euros; the points use US dollars, with euros converted at the ECB rate.

Plan	Price as listed	Per month	Notes
Basic1 person, personal use	Free^2,10	$0	Scan and preview; recover up to 100 MB on Windows
PRO subscription1 person, up to 3 devices	$89/year^2,9,11	$7.42	Unlimited recovery; renews yearly
PRO lifetime1 person, up to 3 devices	$149 one-time^2,9	–	Unlimited recovery; no renewal

A discount on a PRO subscription applies only to the first 12 months; renewal is charged at the price valid then¹¹. Prices come from the vendor's edition article and Windows page; the checkout page shows no readable price^1,2,9.

Strengths

Free edition scans and previews every found file before purchase¹⁰.
Free byte-to-byte backups of failing disks².
Reads RAID 0, 1, 5 and JBOD arrays and Storage Spaces on Windows⁷.
Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring warns when a drive may fail⁸.
Lifetime licence is sold at $149².

Limits

Free recovery stops at 100 MB on Windows^1,10.
Terms say all purchases are final, with no refund window in days^5,6,9.
Android phone recovery is macOS only, and optical media are not supported for undelete or deep scans³.
PRO subscription renews each year at the price in effect then¹¹.

What CleverFiles says

Vendor claims. We show them, but they earn no points.

CleverFiles says the Windows edition verifies 400+ supported file formats¹.

Other data recovery programs

1
Stellar Data RecoveryPeople who need partition, BitLocker or photo repair features and accept a paid licence
75/100
$59.99/yrcheapest paid licence
2
DMDETechnical users who want RAID, imaging and partition tools
66/100
$20.13/yrcheapest paid licence
3
Tenorshare 4DDiG Windows Data RecoveryPeople who want one program for recovery, bootable rescue and repairing damaged photos
65/100
$59.95/yrcheapest paid licence
4
R-StudioPeople who need RAID, BitLocker or virtual-disk recovery with a permanent licence
65/100
$79.99/yrcheapest paid licence

All 11 data recovery programs

Sources

Disk Drill for Windows, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Differences between Disk Drill Basic, PRO, Expert and Enterprise, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
What types of drives or disks can I recover files from, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
What file formats can Disk Drill recover, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Terms of Service, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
End-User License Agreement, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Is it possible to recover RAID with Disk Drill, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Monitor S.M.A.R.T. status and disk health, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Upgrade to PRO, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Can I really scan for my lost files for free, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Disk Drill PRO subscription and lifetime licence, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
How to install Disk Drill in portable mode, CleverFiles. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.

Website: www.disk-drill.com · Markdown version · We are not affiliated with CleverFiles.