The best freeware alternative I've found is AutoVer, I've been using it for quite a while now and it just simply works as I expected it to.
http://beanland.net.au/autover/Features
Select any number of separate folders or folder trees (including sub folders) to watch for changes - each folder tree has its own independent settings
Select straight backup or one of two versioning modes
Select any folder, drive or FTP to backup to (including memory sticks and network drives)
Option to create an initial backup before the automatic backup starts and ensure it is current on every startup
Backups can be checked automatically, at a set time or manually
Restrict which files and folders to include and exclude (by file mask) & maximum size
Change the versioning date/time stamp format and versioning rate.
Zip or delete old versions after a specified time (or just keep storing the files)
Optionally delete backup files on original file deletion permanently or to the Recycle Bin
Fault tolerance in case your backup folder/drive goes off line or source files are locked. Drives re-sync'ed when they come online
MS Office, Visual Studio plus many others supported (temp file creation, delete then rename is treated as original file change)
Backup file & version explorer included
Open backups or file versions directly (file extensions are preserved) or via inbuilt explorer
Compare file versions (using an external application)
Restore file versions one at a time or all at once via inbuilt explorer or manually
Run a program on each file change so you can encode, resize or do anything to the file - just use AutoVer for the change detection
Runs discretely in the Windows System Tray & and can be 100% portable (AutoVer can be installed on removable media)
x86/x32 (32 bit) and x64 (64 bit) support (Windows 2000 to Windows 7+)
AutoVer is FREEWARE. If you find this product useful, please consider making a small donation to continue its development.