Data recovery software can be a lifesaver when important files vanish. Stellar Data Recovery and Recuva Professional are two popular options, both offering free and paid versions. This review compares their premium subscription plans based on hands-on testing and customer service experience, helping you choose the right tool for your data recovery needs.
Pricing and Subscription Tiers
Recuva Professional stands out for its affordability, priced at $25 per year, often available at even lower prices. It’s developed by CCleaner’s creators, offering a bundle deal for those interested in PC cleanup software.
Stellar’s entry-level Data Recovery Standard plan costs $60 annually, appearing more expensive initially. However, this includes live chat support, averaging $5 per month, slightly more than Recuva Professional’s $2.
While Recuva Professional is CCleaner’s sole data recovery subscription, Stellar offers three tiers. The $90-per-year Professional plan adds lost partition restoration, and the $100 Premium plan includes advanced photo and video repair tools.
Stellar Data Recovery Premium and Recuva Professional price tiers appear in a split-screen shot.
Feature Comparison and Recovery Performance
Recuva Professional, as a budget-friendly option, delivers the basics, effectively restoring most files from HDDs. In testing, it recovered 158 out of 163 lost files, though some filenames were replaced with computer-generated codes.
Restoring HDD files was much easier for Recuva Professional.
Stellar Data Recovery Premium achieved perfect results in the HDD tests, restoring every file with original names and folder structure.
SSD data recovery is challenging. Both Stellar Data Recovery Premium and Recuva Professional failed these tests, reinforcing the advantages of HDDs for long-term storage.
Interestingly, while Stellar Data Recovery Premium supports numerous drive types, it failed to find a lost partition on a test thumb drive. Recuva Professional, on the other hand, successfully identified the thumb drive and recovered several files.
Stellar Data Recovery Premium found my internal SSD but not my thumb drive.
Customer Support and User Experience
Stellar Data Recovery Premium shines with its exceptional customer service. Live chat support is readily available, providing helpful technical assistance within minutes, 24/7 on weekdays, included in all paid plans.
Stellar
Recuva Professional offers support solely through email, with responses taking over a day. Online support documentation is also limited.
Trustpilot ratings reflect these findings. Stellar Data Recovery averages 4.7 stars from nearly 4,000 reviews, while CCleaner (Recuva’s developer) holds a 4.4-star rating.
A split-view shows Stellar Data Recovery Premium and Recuva Professional Trustpilot rating.
Both applications are user-friendly, featuring a straightforward process of drive selection, scan results display, file preview, and recovery. A preview in Stellar or an “excellent recoverability” status in Recuva generally indicates successful restoration.
Free Version Comparison
Stellar’s free version recovers up to 1GB of data, primarily effective with HDDs. Recuva’s free version has no data recovery cap but lacks access to virtual machine drives. Neither offers customer support for the free tier.
After a quick scan is complete, Stellar Data Recovery Premium shows a file list with previews.
Final Verdict
While Stellar’s outstanding customer support justifies its higher price, the premium features didn’t significantly outperform the standard version in testing. Recuva Professional nearly matched Stellar’s HDD recovery performance at a considerably lower cost and successfully recovered data from the thumb drive.
Considering Recuva Professional’s slower support, it offers better value compared to Stellar’s subscriptions. If choosing between these two, Recuva Professional emerges as the preferred option. Exploring other data recovery software is also recommended to find the best fit for your specific needs.
