Backup & Disaster Recovery · head to head
Arcserve UDP vs Paragon Backup & Recovery
Arcserve UDP
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Unified data protection for all workloads
- From
- $25/month
- Rated
- -
Paragon Backup & Recovery
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Professional-grade backup for Windows
- From
- $50/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Arcserve UDP multiple security vulnerabilities documented in 2025-2026 including authentication bypass and buffer overflow issues; Paragon Backup & Recovery the free Community Edition is licensed for non-commercial use only
- They diverge on capability: Arcserve UDP covers Assured recovery testing, Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Arcserve UDP and Paragon Backup & Recovery actually diverge.
| Attribute | Arcserve UDP | Paragon Backup & Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $25/month | $50/year |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux | Windows |
| Founded | 1983 | 1994 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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 Arcserve UDP
- Assured recovery testing
- Instant VM recovery
- Deep application support
- Ransomware protection
- Tape backup
- Hardware snapshots
- VMware
- Hyper-V
Only in Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Incremental/differential
- Recovery media
- Virtual disk mount
- UEFI support
- Windows
- Network shares
Both cover
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Arcserve UDP
- Data protectionnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Disaster recoverynot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Business continuitynot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Ransomware protectionnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Compliancenot Paragon Backup & Recovery
Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Full disk and partition backup on Windowsnot Arcserve UDP
- Bare metal recovery from an imagenot Arcserve UDP
- Scheduled incremental backups for a home machinenot Arcserve UDP
- Migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editionsnot Arcserve UDP
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Arcserve UDP
- Multiple security vulnerabilities documented in 2025-2026 including authentication bypass and buffer overflow issues
- Slow restore speeds for large backup tasks and recovery operations
- Requires full backup when changing drive sizes, causing extended backup windows
Paragon Backup & Recovery
- The free Community Edition is licensed for non-commercial use only
- Windows only, and specifically Windows 10 x64 from 1809, Windows 11 x64 and Windows 11 Arm64
- Volume and OS copying, partition management and email notifications need the Advanced edition
- Windows Server support requires the Business edition
- Paid edition prices are not shown on the product page
Pricing, plan by plan
Arcserve UDP
$25/month- UDP Premium$25/month
- Assured recovery
- Instant VM
- Tape support
Paragon Backup & Recovery
$50/year- Community Edition$50/year
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Recovery media
Which should you pick?
Choose Arcserve UDP if
- You need assured recovery testing.
- You work on Windows, Linux.
- You also want instant vm recovery.
Choose Paragon Backup & Recovery if
- You need full disk backup.
- You work on Windows.
- You also want file-level backup.
Questions people ask
- Is Arcserve UDP or Paragon Backup & Recovery better?
- Neither clearly leads. Arcserve UDP starts at $25/month and Paragon Backup & Recovery at $50/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Arcserve UDP or Paragon Backup & Recovery?
- Arcserve UDP starts at $25/month and Paragon Backup & Recovery at $50/year.
- Does Arcserve UDP or Paragon Backup & Recovery run on more platforms?
- Arcserve UDP runs on Windows, Linux. Paragon Backup & Recovery runs on Windows.
- What is Arcserve UDP best used for?
- Arcserve UDP is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Paragon Backup & Recovery is typically brought in for.
- What can Arcserve UDP do that Paragon Backup & Recovery cannot?
- Arcserve UDP covers Assured recovery testing, Instant VM recovery, Deep application support, Ransomware protection. Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, File-level backup, Incremental/differential, Recovery media. Both handle Windows support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Arcserve UDP: What licensing model does Arcserve UDP use?
Arcserve UDP uses a capacity-based subscription model (Managed Capacity Program) where you license based on total front-end terabytes of protected data rather than per-device. Available in Standard, Advanced, and Premium editions.
SourceArcserve UDP: Does Arcserve UDP support cloud backup?
Yes. Arcserve UDP integrates with multiple cloud providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Wasabi for offsite backup and disaster recovery storage.
SourceArcserve UDP: What hypervisors does Arcserve UDP support?
Arcserve UDP supports multiple hypervisors including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM, and others, allowing granular recovery at the VM level with instant boot capabilities.
Source