We publish pricing for all of our data recovery services, rather than providing quotes on an individual basis, so you can check ours against anyone else's. Four things set the price, and the amount of data is not one of them — recovering 40GB and 4TB from the same failed drive is the same work. Our price bands reflect the full scope of our hard drive recovery service; these include diagnosis, obtaining spare parts to replace those which have failed mechanically, the mechanical work, and finally the actual data recovery. Each band reflects the full range of services that we offer with respect to any given failed storage media.
Once we have completed your complimentary diagnostic evaluation, you will receive your final price quote in writing. We do not quote until after we have completed the complimentary diagnostic evaluation. All prices listed below are exclusive of VAT.
Worth knowing, because it accounts for the great variability in quotes provided across the data recovery industry.
The prices listed exclude VAT and are fixed in writing after a complimentary 48-hour diagnosis.
£250 — memory cards and USB sticks
£300 — single hard drives, SSDs and NVMe, laptops, desktops, external drives, and Macs with removable storage
£550 flat — Fusion Drive Macs, because that is two devices recovered and recombined into one volume
from £500 — RAID arrays, NAS units, servers and databases
£800 flat — BitLocker-encrypted drives
£400 flat — CCTV, DVR or NVR footage
from £800 — virtual machines and forensic examination
from £1,250 — enterprise SAN, quoted after scoping
As these quotes are published they will be the same quotes we provide over the phone and those provided on each service page. When looking at a quote for data recovery provided by another company that is dramatically lower than ours, please ask what happens to their price when the drive is physically opened.
This is stated in plain terms instead of being used as an advertising slogan.
Most of our work has no charge at all if we cannot successfully recover your data. A diagnostic is free; no invoice is issued on failed recoveries.
When we need to do drive level physical labour — open the drive, install donor components, fix boards at the part/component level — we take a 50% deposit up front, because these costs are incurred as soon as we start doing the work regardless of what the platters end up looking like. We will only bill you for the remainder if we successfully recover data from your media.
There are three exceptions to this rule, charged whatever the outcome: forensic examination, where the fact that nothing wrong was done is a valid result and one that has value; CCTV and DVR recovery, where extracting the original format requires the same number of days whether or not your footage survived the overwrite loop; and data destruction, where the product of our work is the only reason we were hired. You will be informed prior to hiring us which service applies.
Not complaints — just something to think about before shipping off your drives.
A quote that can change once it is open. Very common, and ultimately, it means you have committed to an unknown cost. Find out if there is a single number quoted as your total cost. Our costs are single numbers, and do not change.
A percentage of what is recovered. This gives a company a vested interest in what your data is worth to you, and in you believing that recovering your data is possible. Both are going the wrong direction.
A charge to look at it. A diagnostic fee is a charge to tell you whether you can be helped. Our diagnostic is free, so we will never ask for money to find out if we can help recover your lost files. We also do not obligate anyone who asks us how we may help them — even if our advice tells you to use free software to fix your problem by yourself.
Most frequently asked questions regarding cost.
Prices for data recovery start at £250 plus VAT for memory cards and USB devices, £300 for one hard disk, solid-state drive, laptop or Mac with detachable storage device, £550 flat rate for a Fusion Drive, prices begin at £500 for RAID systems and servers, £800 flat rate for BitLocker, £400 flat rate for CCTV systems, and prices begin at £1250 for enterprise storage area networks (SAN).
No. The work is the same regardless of whether you lost 40GB or 4TB of data. We don’t price based on how much data can be recovered, since that would be pricing by how much you could lose rather than by what the job involves.
Yes – one figure is agreed in writing after the free diagnostic and will never change. If an issue arises prior to completion of work we contact you before proceeding and charging.
On most work, if there is no successful recovery, you pay nothing. On physical drive level work, as a result of committing donor parts & lab time prior to starting, a 50% deposit is taken upfront, with the balance only on success. Forensics, CCTV and data destruction fall outside this completely.
Yes. With no obligation to hire us. You receive a written explanation of what was wrong with the device, what you may be able to recover & one price which remains fixed. If our honest assessment determines that free tools would accomplish the task, then that is what you will be told, in lieu of a quote.
Generally they are not fixed. Commonly, a low figure increases upon opening of the hard drive, therefore it is always best to ask if the quote provided has room for price movement.
Start with our free written diagnostic. We determine exactly what can be recovered and what the recovery will cost. The final decision is now up to you. Bring your device into Manchester for drop-off, or send it via postage, fully insured.