Abstract: A method for pricing data recovery for a sequence of time periods based on an estimate of the amount of data that will be recovered. For the first period, the price is the backup capacity times a price rate times an assumed recovery rate, which is a pre-determined number. For subsequent periods, the price is the backup capacity times the price rate times the actual amount of data recovered in the prior time period. The method also includes a data backup and recovery method using the data recovery pricing method, which provides tracker software to measure the amount of data recovered.