Recoverit is a popular data recovery software developed by Wondershare. It allows users to recover lost or deleted files from hard drives, external storage devices, recycle bins, and more. Recoverit supports recovery from all file systems and works on Windows and Mac operating systems.
Many users wonder if there is a free version of Recoverit that they can use to test out the software’s capabilities before purchasing a license. In this article, we will provide a quick answer to this question upfront, and then dive into more details about Recoverit’s pricing and free trial options.
Quick Answer
There is no completely free version of Recoverit that users can download and use indefinitely without payment. However, Recoverit does offer a free trial that allows users to test out the software and recover a limited number of files for free before needing to purchase a license.
Recoverit Pricing Plans
Recoverit is available for purchase either as a yearly subscription or as a lifetime license. Here is an overview of the pricing options:
Yearly Subscription
– 1-Year Subscription for 1 PC – $79.95 per year
– 1-Year Subscription for 3 PCs – $199.88 per year (around $67 per PC)
Lifetime License
– Lifetime License for 1 PC – $99.95 one-time fee
– Lifetime License for 3 PCs – $149.88 one-time fee (around $50 per PC)
The lifetime license represents better value in the long run compared to the yearly subscription. However, the subscription plan allows you to try Recoverit for a lower upfront cost.
Both licensing options provide full access to all of Recoverit’s features and allow unlimited data recovery. The main difference is just the duration of access – 1 year or a lifetime.
Recoverit Free Trial
Since there is no permanently free version of Recoverit, the company offers a free trial so users can test out the software before purchasing a license.
Here are the key details about the Recoverit free trial:
Free Trial Allows Recovery of Up to 100 MB of Data
The free trial of Recoverit places a 100 MB limit on how much data you can actually recover. This allows you to test the capabilities of the software and recover a limited number of small files. However, to recover larger files or significant amounts of data, you would need to purchase a license.
Full-Featured Software
Even though the free trial limits how much data you can recover, all the features of Recoverit are available to test during the trial. This includes features like:
– Recovery from hard drives, external devices, recycle bin, etc.
– Support for 1000+ file formats
– Advanced video recovery
– Preview files before recovery
– Sorting and filtering for easy file location
– Disk imaging for recovery from system crashes
– And more…
So you get access to the full Recoverit experience to properly evaluate the software, despite the 100 MB recovery limit.
No Time Limit on Trial
Some free trials for software have a time limitation, such as 7 days. But that is not the case with Recoverit.
You can keep the free trial version installed and take as much time as you need to test out the different recovery scenarios. The only limitation is the 100 MB of data that can be recovered during the trial.
Easy Upgrade to Full Version
When you are ready to upgrade to the full paid version of Recoverit after testing the free trial, the process is quick and easy.
You don’t need to uninstall the trial version and re-install the full version. Simply purchase a Recoverit license online, enter the license key code into your trial version, and then the limitations are removed.
What Can Be Recovered for Free?
Since the Recoverit free trial allows recovering 100 MB of data, what types of files can you expect to get back for free?
Here are some examples of files that are small enough to recover with the trial:
Documents
– Word documents – .doc and .docx files are usually less than 5 MB even for long documents. So you could potentially recover 20+ Word files.
– PDF documents – Small PDFs of a few pages are only 0.5-1 MB generally.
– Text files – These very small files can be recovered in large quantities during the free trial.
– Excel spreadsheets – XLXS and XLS files containing basic tables and data are typically less than 3 MB.
Photos
– JPEG photos from phones or digital cameras are often 1-2 MB per image. Approximately 50-100 photos could be recovered.
– Lower resolution images like profile pictures or thumbnails could recover in greater amounts.
Music & Video
– Small MP3 music files can be just a few MB, allowing recovery of many songs.
– Video clips or recordings less than 10 MB might be recoverable.
Other File Types
Small email files, database files, system files, and miscellaneous file formats under 1 MB can also be recovered during the trial. However, larger files like photos, videos, archives, and disk images will likely exceed the 100 MB limit.
The free trial is best suited for recovering important documents, music, photos, downloads, and other small personal files. For very large data recovery jobs, purchasing a full Recoverit license is recommended.
Pros of the Free Trial
Trying out the Recoverit free trial has several advantages:
Test Software Capabilities
The biggest pro of the free trial is that it allows you to evaluate Recoverit’s recovery capabilities first-hand on your own system. You can run different recovery tests for deleted files, formatted drives, lost partitions etc. and see what results are possible with Recoverit before spending any money.
Recover Small Files for Free
Even with the 100 MB limit, you can recover small amounts of deleted data like documents, photos, music etc. without a purchase. For minor accidental deletions, you may be able to get your files back during the trial phase.
Learn the Software Interface
By taking time to use the free trial version, you can learn how Recoverit’s interface works, how to run scans, filter data, preview files etc. Getting familiar with the UI ahead of time is useful.
Avoid Risk
Since you don’t have to pay anything upfront for the trial version, you can eliminate the monetary risk of purchasing data recovery software that might not meet your needs or successfully recover your files. The free trial lets you make sure Recoverit works as expected before you pay.
Cons of the Free Trial
While the Recoverit free trial has clear benefits, there are also some downsides to consider:
Limited Data Recovery
The 100 MB recovery restriction will prevent you from recovering larger lost or deleted files. So in situations where you need to get back GBs worth of data, the free trial won’t be sufficient and could give a false impression of Recoverit’s capabilities.
Time Consuming
If you have a major data loss emergency due to say, an SSD failure or corrupted hard drive, the free trial’s limits could slow down the urgent recovery process. You may end up spending more time trying to recover bits of data vs. immediately purchasing the full software.
No Technical Support
Recoverit’s technical support is only provided to paid license holders. So if you need help using the trial version, you may be limited to online documentation and community forums for troubleshooting.
Can’t Access All File Types
Certain file types like ISO disk images often exceed 100 MB. So you may not be able to properly evaluate how well Recoverit can recover larger files during the free trial phase.
Conclusion
In summary:
– There is no permanently free version of Recoverit that you can use indefinitely. However, the software does offer a generous free trial.
– The free trial allows recovering up to 100 MB of data to test Recoverit’s capabilities and interface.
– All features are available in the trial version, with no time limitations. You simply need to purchase a license to lift the 100 MB restriction.
– Small documents, photos, music, and other file formats can potentially be recovered for free during the trial.
– Testing the free trial allows you to avoid the risks of purchasing data recovery software that may not work as expected. But the limited data recovery may not reveal how well Recoverit can recover large amounts of data.
So while there is no freely available full version of Recoverit, the free trial option provides an excellent way to test out the user experience and smaller-scale data recovery capabilities before deciding if purchasing a Recoverit license is right for your needs.