You could check Macrium Reflect Free Edition. Its just been retired in January - the free edition only - and will get security updates until January next year, but if its still available in the Jaunary 23 version right now and you do not plan to clone your HD every couple of weeks or months, this might save you money.
I like an exchange frame in my rigs, where you just shove in a HD like a cassette into a player and then can access it without opening the PC and needing to do wiring magic.
Consider TWO SSD, one for Windows, one for other stuff. Over time, memory cells in SSD will go off duty, and the device autmatically detects that and then activates replacements from the free pool of memory cells. Now, if the pool of replacment cells is limited due to the SSD beign full, so is the time the system can work around damaged memory cells. So, its not bad to have a SSD for windows that is lets say twice as big as Windows and System folders need it. You buy time that way. On my rig, I only have an SSD for Windows and System, it is 256 GB and half of it is used. After five years , last time I checked last year around 5% of the memory cells were reported to be faulty. But - no problem the way I described!
USB sticks, SSDs, they all get faulty over time, they are not for eternity. For long time storage of precious data, a dual strategy of a stored-away HD and storage on - CDs
is what i recomemnd and use myself. I have self-burnt CD's twenty-plus years old, working perfect. However, every couple of years, both data formats get renewed, to be sure.
Nothing beats cave paintings and paper and ink when you need long durability.
