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Backup · head to head

Arcserve UDP vs Restic

Arcserve UDP logo

Arcserve UDP

Backup

Unified data protection for all workloads

From
$25/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restic logo

Restic

Backup

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: Arcserve UDP multiple security vulnerabilities documented in 2025-2026 including authentication bypass and buffer overflow issues; 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: Arcserve UDP covers Assured recovery testing, Restic covers Content-defined chunking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arcserve UDP and Restic actually diverge.

Attributes where Arcserve UDP and Restic differ
AttributeArcserve UDPRestic
Starting price$25/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, LinuxWindows, Mac, Linux
Founded19832014

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

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 Restic

  • Content-defined chunking
  • Cryptographic verification
  • Deduplication
  • Encryption
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • AWS S3
  • Azure

Both cover

  • Windows support
  • Linux support

What people use each for

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

Arcserve UDP

  • 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 Arcserve UDP
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot 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

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

Arcserve UDP

$25/month
  • UDP Premium$25/month
    • Assured recovery
    • Instant VM
    • Tape support

Restic

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Arcserve UDP if

  • You need assured recovery testing.
  • You work on Windows, Linux.
  • You also want instant vm recovery.
Arcserve UDP 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 Arcserve UDP or Restic better?
Neither clearly leads. Arcserve UDP starts at $25/month and Restic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arcserve UDP or Restic?
Restic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $25/month for Arcserve UDP and Free for Restic.
Does Arcserve UDP or Restic run on more platforms?
Arcserve UDP runs on Windows, Linux. 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. Arcserve UDP starts at $25/month.
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 Restic is typically brought in for.
What can Arcserve UDP do that Restic cannot?
Arcserve UDP covers Assured recovery testing, Instant VM recovery, Deep application support, Ransomware protection. Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Both handle Windows support, Linux 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.

Source
Restic: How much does restic cost?

Restic is entirely free to use and completely open source. There are no subscription tiers, paid plans, or licensing costs.

Source
Arcserve 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.

Source
Arcserve 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
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