Disk Drill is one of the most well-known data recovery apps for Mac. PhotoRescue is newer, purpose-built for photo recovery with a different pricing philosophy. This comparison will help you decide which is right for your situation.
At a Glance
🖼️ PhotoRescue
- Pay only for recovered photos
- From $1.99/photo to $19.99 unlimited
- Free scan + full preview
- Powered by PhotoRec engine
- macOS 12+ native app
💿 Disk Drill
- $89/year or $149 lifetime (paid upfront)
- Preview only in free version (no saving)
- Wider file type support
- Drive health monitoring
- Windows version available
Detailed Comparison
| Feature | PhotoRescue | Disk Drill |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per recovery ($1.99–$19.99) | Subscription or upfront license |
| Free scan | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Free preview | ✅ Full thumbnail preview | ⚠️ Preview only — can't save in free tier |
| Recovery engine | PhotoRec (open-source, proven) | Proprietary |
| Photo recovery quality | Excellent | Excellent |
| Non-photo file recovery | Photos & videos (200+ formats) | All file types |
| macOS support | macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon + Intel) | macOS (various versions) |
| Windows support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Drive health monitoring | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (S.M.A.R.T.) |
| Privacy (local processing) | ✅ 100% local | ✅ Local |
Pricing Deep Dive
This is where the two apps differ most significantly.
Disk Drill charges $89/year or $149 for a lifetime license — paid before you know if the recovery will even work. The free version lets you scan and preview files, but you can't save anything without purchasing.
PhotoRescue takes the opposite approach: scan and preview are always free, and you only pay for the specific photos you choose to recover. If you only need to save 5 photos, you pay $5.99. If you need 50, you pay $14.99. If nothing is recoverable, you pay nothing.
For a one-time recovery of a few photos, PhotoRescue is dramatically cheaper. For a power user who regularly recovers files of all types, Disk Drill's lifetime license might pay off over time.
Recovery Quality
Both apps perform excellently for photo recovery. PhotoRescue uses the PhotoRec engine, which is the same engine used by data recovery professionals worldwide. Disk Drill uses its own proprietary engine and also achieves high recovery rates.
In practice, the recovery results between the two apps are very similar for standard scenarios (deleted or quick-formatted SD cards). Neither has a meaningful advantage in recovery power for typical use cases.
Who Should Choose Which?
Choose PhotoRescue if:
- You need to recover photos once (or rarely)
- You want to see what's recoverable before paying
- You only need to save a small number of photos
- You value a simple, focused workflow
Choose Disk Drill if:
- You need to recover many different file types (documents, videos, etc.)
- You want Windows support too
- You need drive health monitoring
- You expect to use a recovery tool repeatedly and want a yearly subscription
Try PhotoRescue — Scan Free
See what's recoverable before spending anything. Pay only for what you save.
⬇ Download for Mac (Free)