Backup · alternatives
Alternatives to rustic
21 backup tools sit alongside rustic in this directory. Below is what separates each from rustic on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 12
- Cheaper to start
- -
- rustic starts at
- Free
Why people look past rustic
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the rustic entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
rustic publishes a single plan, rustic at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Fast, secure, and efficient backup program
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where rustic does not.
- Sold on a free model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Open source deduplicating backup with client side encryption and a repository on almost any storage
Priced and rated the same as rustic on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where rustic does not.
- Sold on a free model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Kubernetes application backup with a free tier up to one terabyte
- Publishes an entry price of $0.2/node hour, where rustic does not.
- Sold on a Per node hour model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to rustic's 1.
Open source backup and migration for Kubernetes cluster resources
Priced and rated the same as rustic on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Backup and recovery for OpenStack, Kubernetes and Red Hat Virtualization
- Sold on a Per node per year model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to rustic's 1.
Every rustic alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rustic (this page) | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | |
| ResticThe reference implementation of the same format, with a longer track record and a much larger user base | Free | Free | 1 | vs rustic |
| KopiaIf you want compression by default, a desktop interface and packing that suits per operation billed storage | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs rustic |
| Borg BackupStronger deduplication for a single machine, if the repository can live on a filesystem rather than object storage | Free | Free | 1 | vs rustic |
| Portworx Backup | Free, then $0.2/node hour | Per node hour | 2 | vs rustic |
| Velero | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs rustic |
| Trilio | Free | Per node per year | 2 | vs rustic |
| Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes | Free | Per worker node | 2 | vs rustic |
| CloudCasa | Free, then $69/month | Per node per month | 3 | vs rustic |
| UrBackup | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs rustic |
| Proxmox Backup Server | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs rustic |
| AOMEI Backupper | Free, then $39.95/one-time | One-time | 3 | vs rustic |
| Bacula | Free | Open-source | - | vs rustic |
| Redstor | On request | Quote | 1 | vs rustic |
| Clumio | $0.01/month | Per GiB-month protected | 3 | vs rustic |
| AvePoint Cloud Backup | On request | Quote | 1 | vs rustic |
| HYCU | On request | Quote | 1 | vs rustic |
| BDRShield | On request | Quote | 1 | vs rustic |
| Comet Backup | $19/month | Subscription | 4 | vs rustic |
| Backupify | $29/month | - | 2 | vs rustic |
| Commvault Complete Data Protection | On request | - | 4 | vs rustic |
| Datto Backup | On request | Subscription | - | vs rustic |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the rustic badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (12)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Restic , Free
- Kopia , Free
- Borg Backup , Free
- Portworx Backup , Free, then $0.2/node hour
- Velero , Free
- Trilio , Free
- Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes , Free
- CloudCasa , Free, then $69/month
What you would be giving up
rustic is most often brought in for an existing restic user who wants configuration files rather than long command lines in cron, backing up a memory constrained machine where the reference implementation is uncomfortably heavy, writing to append only or cold object storage where the default tooling assumes rewritable buckets, keeping a second implementation available so a long lived archive does not depend on one codebase. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If rustic is broadly right and the question is cost, the rustic pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Backup category lists everything the directory holds, and best backup tools ranks them.
rustic runs on linux, macos, windows. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about rustic alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to rustic?
- 21 other backup tools are listed in this directory, led by Restic, Kopia, Borg Backup, Portworx Backup. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to rustic?
- 12 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Restic, Kopia, Borg Backup, Portworx Backup, Velero.
- Why do people look for an alternative to rustic?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from rustic?
- rustic is most often brought in for an existing restic user who wants configuration files rather than long command lines in cron, backing up a memory constrained machine where the reference implementation is uncomfortably heavy, writing to append only or cold object storage where the default tooling assumes rewritable buckets, keeping a second implementation available so a long lived archive does not depend on one codebase. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to rustic?
- Bacula is recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these rustic alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Backup, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare rustic against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against rustic covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every backup tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Backup category, 21 tools beside rustic. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.