Acronis sells backup and cyber-protection software. For home buyers the product is Acronis True Image, sold as an annual subscription in a few tiers, with cloud storage attached to the upper ones. The business side sells Acronis Cyber Protect, which is priced and licensed differently.
Buying Acronis well means picking the tier that matches how you back up, counting devices honestly, and reading the renewal terms before the first year ends.
Which True Image tier
Acronis True Image comes in Essentials, Advanced and Premium tiers. Essentials is local backup only: disk imaging to an external drive or NAS, plus the anti-malware layer. It suits anyone who already owns a backup drive and does not want cloud storage.
Advanced adds cloud backup with a modest storage allowance and cloud-related features such as backing up Microsoft 365 data. Premium raises the cloud allowance substantially and adds blockchain-based file notarisation, which most home users never touch.
Start from your data volume. If your photos and documents fit within the Advanced allowance, that tier is the sensible Acronis purchase. If you need to back up whole disk images to the cloud, Premium's larger pool is the only realistic option.
Counting devices
An Acronis licence is sold per computer, in packs of one, three or five. Phones and tablets can be backed up under the same subscription without using a computer slot, but each Windows PC or Mac counts.
Count every machine you will actually protect. Buying a single licence and then discovering the family laptop needs one too costs more than the three-device pack would have.
The licence follows the account, not the hardware. Replacing a PC means deactivating the old machine in the Acronis account and activating the new one.
Sizing cloud storage
Acronis cloud storage is measured against your backup set after compression, and versions add up. Keeping thirty days of versions of a large photo library can use two or three times the raw size.
Check the storage figure on the plan you are buying and compare it with the size of the folders you intend to send. Acronis lets you add extra cloud storage to a subscription, but the top-up is priced separately and adds to the renewal.
Local backup has no such limit. A cheap external drive with the Essentials tier covers most home data far more cheaply than a large cloud allowance.
Subscription, renewal and the perpetual licence question
Acronis True Image is now subscription only. The old perpetual True Image licences are no longer sold, and a subscription that lapses stops backing up but does not delete your local archives.
Auto-renewal is on by default and renews at the standard price, not the introductory one. Put the renewal date in your calendar and either switch auto-renew off in the Acronis account or renew manually when a code is running.
Acronis has typically offered a money-back window on new purchases. Check the current length before buying and test a full backup and restore inside it.
Compatibility and performance
Acronis True Image supports current Windows and macOS releases, with mobile apps for iOS and Android. Very old operating systems drop off the supported list, so check the system requirements against the machine you intend to protect before paying.
The anti-malware layer runs alongside the backup engine. If you already run another security suite, expect some overlap and check that the two do not fight; Acronis lets you disable its protection modules if needed.
Bootable rescue media is the feature that saves you when a disk dies. Build it on a USB stick the day you install Acronis, not the day you need it.
Where the Acronis savings are
Most Acronis codes come from YouTube tech creators and are worth 30% to 40% on a new True Image subscription. The 40% code is the one to try first; if it is refused, move to a 30% one rather than assuming the whole batch has expired.
Creator codes almost always apply to the first year only. The renewal comes in at full price, which is why turning auto-renew off and re-buying with a fresh code at year end is the cheapest way to stay on Acronis.
The $10 code only beats the percentage codes on the very cheapest single-device Essentials plan. On a three-device Advanced subscription, 40% is worth several times more.
Acronis runs its own sales around Black Friday and World Backup Day at the end of March. A code and a sale price generally do not stack, so compare them on the same plan.
Common questions
Which Acronis tier do I need for photos and documents?
Advanced, if the cloud allowance covers your library. Essentials plus an external drive if you are happy backing up locally.
Does an Acronis licence cover my phone?
Mobile devices are included with the subscription without taking a computer slot.
Will an Acronis code apply to a renewal?
Usually not. Creator codes cover new purchases; renew manually with a fresh code instead of auto-renewing.
Can I still buy a perpetual Acronis True Image licence?
No. Acronis sells True Image as an annual subscription only.
| Discount | Type | Get the deal |
|---|---|---|
| 10% off | Promo code | View at Acronis → |
| 40% off | Promo code | View at Acronis → |
| 10% off | Promo code | View at Acronis → |
| $10 off | Promo code | View at Acronis → |
