Swift Backup vs Google One backup

Android phones can back up to your Google account from the Settings app. Google's help pages call this Backup by Google One. It saves apps and app data, call history, contacts, device settings, and SMS and MMS messages. You restore it while you set up a new phone or after a reset.

Keep it on. It needs no root, and it costs nothing within your Google storage. Swift Backup adds what Google's backup doesn't do: Backups on storage you choose, older versions of each app, and app restores any time.

We make Swift Backup, so read this with that in mind. Every fact about Google's backup on this page comes from Google's own help pages and developer docs, listed at the end and read on 14 November 2026.

• It's in your Settings. Turn it on in your phone's Settings app, under Google.
• It restores during setup. Sign in on a new phone or after a reset and follow the steps to bring your data back.
• It includes app data and needs no root. Apps that take part come back with their data. Swift Backup needs root for app data.
• It covers contacts and device settings. Swift Backup doesn't back up contacts or device settings.

• Apps decide what it gets. Apps take part by default, but an app can switch off Android backup in its manifest (allowBackup). Google's backup then skips that app's data entirely.
• Apps can leave files out. An app can list the files and folders to include or exclude. Its cache, code cache and no-backup folders are always left out.
• 25 MB per app. When an app's data is larger, Android doesn't back it up to the cloud until it's back under the limit. For app data, only the latest backup is kept.
• App data, settings and messages restore only while you set up a phone. To restore them later, you reset the phone.
• If you don't use a phone for 57 days, its backup is erased, except photos and videos.
• You can't restore a backup onto a phone with an older Android version.

Keep Google's backup on for contacts and settings. Add Swift Backup for the parts you want to control.

• Choose where backups go. Your phone, an SD card, a USB drive, cloud drives or your own server. Cloud backups of apps and folders need Premium.
• Restore any time. Restore an app whenever you want, without resetting your phone.
• Keep older backups. Free keeps your previous app backup when an app updates. Premium keeps up to 10 per app.
• Root users get more. With root, Swift Backup copies each app's private data folders, even for apps that opt out of Android backup or leave files out of it. It skips the code cache, and the app cache unless you turn on Backup app cache. Some apps still refuse restored data, as Common issues explains.