Backup & Disaster Recovery · head to head
AOMEI Backupper vs Restic
AOMEI Backupper
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Complete backup and restore solution for Windows
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Restic
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Fast, secure, and efficient backup program
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: AOMEI Backupper windows only, covering Windows 7 through 11; 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: AOMEI Backupper covers System backup, Restic covers Content-defined chunking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which AOMEI Backupper and Restic actually diverge.
| Attribute | AOMEI Backupper | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Founded | 2010 | 2014 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Backup & Disaster Recovery).
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 AOMEI Backupper
- System backup
- Disk clone
- File sync
- Real-time sync
- Universal restore
- Bootable media
- OneDrive
- Google Drive
Only in Restic
- Content-defined chunking
- Cryptographic verification
- Deduplication
- Encryption
- Multiple backends
- Snapshot management
- AWS S3
- Azure
Both cover
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
AOMEI Backupper
- Free disk and file backup on a personal Windows machinenot Restic
- System image and bare metal recoverynot Restic
- Cloning a drive when upgrading to a larger disk on the paid editionsnot Restic
- Scheduled incremental backupsnot Restic
Restic
- Encrypted deduplicated backups to S3, B2, SFTP and local disk from the command linenot AOMEI Backupper
- Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot AOMEI Backupper
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
AOMEI Backupper
- Windows only, covering Windows 7 through 11
- The free Standard edition is licensed for personal use; business use requires a paid edition from $39.95
- Differential backup, cloud backup and system cloning are all withheld from the free edition, which clones data disks only
- The free edition reads from disk more slowly than the paid ones
- Email notifications on Standard are limited to Gmail and Hotmail servers
- Support on the free edition is business hours rather than 24/7
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
AOMEI Backupper
Free- Professional$40/year
- System clone
- Universal restore
- Real-time sync
Restic
Free- FreeFree
- Content-defined chunking
- Encryption
- Multiple backends
Which should you pick?
Choose AOMEI Backupper if
- You need system backup.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Windows.
- You also want disk clone.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is AOMEI Backupper or Restic better?
- Neither clearly leads. AOMEI Backupper starts at Free and Restic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, AOMEI Backupper or Restic?
- AOMEI Backupper starts at Free and Restic at Free.
- Does AOMEI Backupper or Restic run on more platforms?
- AOMEI Backupper runs on Windows. Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
- Can I use AOMEI Backupper for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is AOMEI Backupper best used for?
- AOMEI Backupper is most often used for free disk and file backup on a personal windows machine, system image and bare metal recovery, cloning a drive when upgrading to a larger disk on the paid editions, scheduled incremental backups. Of those, free disk and file backup on a personal windows machine and system image and bare metal recovery are not what Restic is typically brought in for.
- What can AOMEI Backupper do that Restic cannot?
- AOMEI Backupper covers System backup, Disk clone, File sync, Real-time sync. Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Both handle Windows support.