Backups that actually just work
Effortless, encrypted backups — built for people who have never set one up.
For researchers & academics
You know you should be backing up. You just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Many free tools are a maze of jargon and configuration. The easy tools want a subscription or large upfront payment. So years of research, datasets, and notes sit on a single laptop — one spilled tea cup away from gone.
The usual free option
Steep learning curve
Repositories, policies, command lines, config files. A weekend project just to protect one folder.
The usual paid option
Easy, but it costs
Polished and easy to use, but their simple workflow is locked behind a fee that you can't quite justify.
Cairn
Simple and free
A simple, friendly app with a battle-tested engine under the hood — strong encryption always on by default. Just pick a folder, pick a backup location, done.
What you get
Everything you need, nothing to wrestle with
Set up in minutes
Choose folders, choose where they go, and you're protected. A short walkthrough guides your very first backup.
Encrypted before it leaves
AES-256 encryption happens on your machine with a password only you hold. Storage providers only ever see scrambled data.
Use the storage you have
An external drive, an institutional SFTP server, Backblaze B2 or any S3 bucket, Google Drive, or OneDrive. Mix and match.
Automatic & self-checking
Schedule hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. {{PRODUCT_NAME}} verifies backups on its own, so you know they'll actually restore.
Restore anything, anywhere
Recover a whole backup or a single file, back to its original spot or a new one — including files you deleted long ago.
Sensible defaults
Built-in retention and exclution presets keep useful history without hoarding caches and temp files. Tune them only if you want to.
Backups powered by the proven open-source Kopia engine.
Client-side security
Your sensitive data stays yours
For grant data, unpublished work, participant records, and anything under an ethics agreement, "trust the cloud" isn't good enough. {{PRODUCT_NAME}} encrypts everything on your computer first.
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AES-256-GCM encryptionAuthenticated, hardware-accelerated encryption with BLAKE2 integrity hashing.
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Only you hold the keyYour repository password never leaves your device. Lose it and not even we could recover the data — that's the point.
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Sensitivity tiersPick how sensitive a destination is and {{PRODUCT_NAME}} enforces matching password strength — from everyday files to highly confidential archives.
Password requirements by tier
| Tier | Min length |
|---|---|
| Private | 12 characters |
| Sensitive | 16 characters |
| Highly sensitive | 20+ characters |
Following NIST 2026 guidance, length matters far more than character variety — so longer passwords are all that's required. The tier is locked when a destination is created.
Protect your work this afternoon
Free to download. A few minutes to set up. Peace of mind that lasts.