Having an Apple account affords you 5 GB of free iCloud storage, which can be used to back up and sync your data across Apple devices, but that isn’t enough to cover an at-capacity iPhone, so you’d need to pay for additional storage.
iCloud backups can be done from anywhere with stable WiFi. They cover all the information and settings on your iPhone that aren’t already independently syncing to iCloud. They also contain your device settings, home screen layout, app organization, and any data from downloaded apps. Data backed up via iCloud will always be encrypted. The process can be done manually or automatically run on your iPhone at regular intervals.
Meanwhile, computer backups don’t sync across other Apple devices. Instead, they are stored locally on a Mac or a PC and include almost all your iPhone’s data and settings, but won’t have certain content from iTunes or the App Store.
To create a computer backup of your iPhone, you’d need physical access to the machine you’re manually saving it on. The necessary space won’t cost extra but would depend on how much is available on your computer. Data encryption is also available but needs to be enabled.
For convenience purposes, it’s smart to back up an iPhone using iCloud. To avoid spending on a subscription or to have a backup of your backup that doesn’t live on the web, storing one on your computer is a wise option.
