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Software · head to head

Altaro VM Backup vs Restic

Altaro VM Backup logo

Altaro VM Backup

Software

Simple and powerful VM backup for SMBs

From
$595/perpetual
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restic logo

Restic

Software

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Restic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Altaro VM Backup limited to small and medium-market businesses with up to 50 host servers; Restic cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag
  • They diverge on capability: Altaro VM Backup covers Augmented inline dedup, Restic covers Content-defined chunking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Altaro VM Backup and Restic actually diverge.

Attributes where Altaro VM Backup and Restic differ
AttributeAltaro VM BackupRestic
Starting price$595/perpetualFree
Pricing modelUnknownfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows ServerWindows, Mac, Linux
Founded20092014

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Altaro VM Backup

  • Augmented inline dedup
  • WAN-optimized replication
  • Boot from backup
  • Granular restore
  • Cloud management
  • Continuous CDP
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V

Only in Restic

  • Content-defined chunking
  • Cryptographic verification
  • Deduplication
  • Encryption
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • Google Cloud
  • Backblaze B2

Both cover

  • Azure
  • AWS S3
  • Windows support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Altaro VM Backup

  • Data protectionnot Restic
  • Disaster recoverynot Restic
  • Business continuitynot Restic
  • Ransomware protectionnot Restic
  • Compliancenot Restic

Restic

  • Encrypted deduplicated backups to S3, B2, SFTP and local disk from the command linenot Altaro VM Backup
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot Altaro VM Backup

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Altaro VM Backup

  • Limited to small and medium-market businesses with up to 50 host servers
  • Perpetual license model outdated compared to modern cloud-based backup solutions
  • Lacks enterprise-grade features for large-scale deployments
  • Offsite backup to cloud requires additional setup and configuration

Restic

  • Cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag
  • A Windows file whose name contains a character Windows treats as invalid cannot be read by restic and has to be renamed
  • Antivirus real-time protection degrades performance on Windows unless the restic binary is added to an exclusions list
  • On large repositories the built-in five minute stuck-request timeout fires during file listing and has to be raised manually with --stuck-request-timeout

Pricing, plan by plan

Altaro VM Backup

$595/perpetual

No published plan breakdown. See the Altaro VM Backup review.

Restic

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Content-defined chunking
    • Encryption
    • Multiple backends

Which should you pick?

Choose Altaro VM Backup if

  • You need augmented inline dedup.
  • You work on Windows Server.
  • You also want wan-optimized replication.
Altaro VM Backup review

Choose Restic if

  • You need content-defined chunking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux.
  • You also want cryptographic verification.
Restic review

Questions people ask

Is Altaro VM Backup or Restic better?
Neither clearly leads. Altaro VM Backup starts at $595/perpetual and Restic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Altaro VM Backup or Restic?
Restic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $595/perpetual for Altaro VM Backup and Free for Restic.
Does Altaro VM Backup or Restic run on more platforms?
Altaro VM Backup runs on Windows Server. Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
Can I use Restic for free?
Yes. Restic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Altaro VM Backup starts at $595/perpetual.
What is Altaro VM Backup best used for?
Altaro VM Backup is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Restic is typically brought in for.
What can Altaro VM Backup do that Restic cannot?
Altaro VM Backup covers Augmented inline dedup, WAN-optimized replication, Boot from backup, Granular restore. Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Both handle Azure, AWS S3, Windows support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Altaro VM Backup: What is the price per host for Altaro VM Backup?

Altaro VM Backup pricing starts at $595 per host for the Standard Edition, with the Unlimited Edition at $695 per host and Unlimited Plus at $875 per host. Pricing includes the first year of priority support and updates.

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Related pages

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