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Backup · head to head

Amanda Enterprise vs Vagrant

Amanda Enterprise logo

Amanda Enterprise

Backup

Open-source backup trusted by enterprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vagrant logo

Vagrant

Cloud

Development environments made easy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amanda Enterprise minimum 10 workloads required for most use cases; Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup, Vagrant covers Box management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amanda Enterprise and Vagrant actually diverge.

Attributes where Amanda Enterprise and Vagrant differ
AttributeAmanda EnterpriseVagrant
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
PlatformsWindows, Linux, WebLinux, Windows, Mac
CategoryBackupCloud
Founded20052010

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Amanda Enterprise

  • Cross-platform backup
  • Cloud integration
  • Disk staging
  • Encryption
  • Web-based management
  • Bare metal recovery
  • AWS S3
  • Azure

Only in Vagrant

  • Box management
  • Provider support
  • Multi-machine setups
  • Provisioners
  • Networking
  • Synced folders
  • Snapshots
  • Plugins

Both cover

  • Windows support
  • Linux support

What people use each for

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

Amanda Enterprise

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

Vagrant

  • Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Amanda Enterprise
  • Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Amanda Enterprise
  • Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Amanda Enterprise

Where each one falls short

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

Amanda Enterprise

  • Minimum 10 workloads required for most use cases
  • Per-device pricing may increase costs for large deployments with many servers
  • Enterprise plan requires contacting sales for custom quotes
  • NAS/File share backups charged separately at $4.99-$5.99/TB/month after first 10 TB free

Vagrant

  • Vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
  • Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
  • Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor

Pricing, plan by plan

Amanda Enterprise

Free
  • Business$5.99/monthly
    • Linux/Windows backup
    • Database backup
    • M365 backup
  • Business Plus$6.99/monthly
    • Everything in Business plus: 24/7 premium support
    • 10 hours pro services
    • 8 hours training
  • Enterprise$undefined/quote
    • Everything in Business Plus plus: Integrated data resiliency
    • Expert consultation & design
    • Bulk automation scripts

Vagrant

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Development environment provisioning
    • Multiple providers
    • Provisioner support

Which should you pick?

Choose Amanda Enterprise if

  • You need cross-platform backup.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
  • You also want cloud integration.
Amanda Enterprise review

Choose Vagrant if

  • You need box management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want provider support.
Vagrant review

Questions people ask

Is Amanda Enterprise or Vagrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Amanda Enterprise starts at Free and Vagrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amanda Enterprise or Vagrant?
Amanda Enterprise starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
Does Amanda Enterprise or Vagrant run on more platforms?
Amanda Enterprise runs on Windows, Linux, Web. Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac.
Can I use Amanda Enterprise for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amanda Enterprise best used for?
Amanda Enterprise is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Vagrant is typically brought in for.
What can Amanda Enterprise do that Vagrant cannot?
Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup, Cloud integration, Disk staging, Encryption. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners. Both handle Windows support, Linux support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amanda Enterprise: How much does Zmanda Pro backup software cost?

Zmanda pricing starts at $5.99/month per device for the Business plan and $6.99/month per device for Business Plus with 24/7 support. Enterprise plans are custom-priced. Pricing estimator available at zmanda.com/pricing to calculate costs based on workload count and storage. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128003646/https://www.zmanda.com/pricing/

Source
Vagrant: Is Vagrant free to use?

Vagrant is a free, open-source command-line utility for managing virtual machine lifecycles.

Source
Amanda Enterprise: Is Zmanda's licensing model flexible?

Yes, Zmanda's licensing is flexible, you can change your server or client license midway if your backup environment changes and only pay the difference. Additional professional services cost $200/hour for consulting.

Source
Vagrant: Does Vagrant offer a paid tier?

Vagrant itself is free. HashiCorp offers a HCP Vagrant Registry with a free tier for use with Vagrant.

Source
Amanda Enterprise: What payment options does Zmanda accept?

Zmanda offers multiple payment options including electronic fund transfers (EFTs), wire transfers, and credit card payments with flexible 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year license periods available.

Source
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