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Backup & Disaster Recovery · head to head

CloudAlly vs Restic

CloudAlly logo

CloudAlly

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Enterprise SaaS backup made simple

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restic logo

Restic

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CloudAlly pricing not transparently displayed; requires customer inquiry; 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: CloudAlly covers Automated daily backup, Restic covers Content-defined chunking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudAlly and Restic actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudAlly and Restic differ
AttributeCloudAllyRestic
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
PlatformsWeb, CloudWindows, Mac, Linux
Founded20112014

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 CloudAlly

  • Automated daily backup
  • Point-in-time recovery
  • Cross-account restore
  • Archive export
  • Activity logs
  • Multi-admin support
  • Microsoft 365
  • Google Workspace

Only in Restic

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

What people use each for

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

CloudAlly

  • 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 CloudAlly
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot CloudAlly

Where each one falls short

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

CloudAlly

  • Pricing not transparently displayed; requires customer inquiry
  • Limited visibility into data center locations for compliance-sensitive organizations
  • Transition to OpenText Cybersecurity branding may cause confusion

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

CloudAlly

Free
  • CloudAlly Backup$3/month
    • Daily backup
    • Point-in-time restore
    • Unlimited storage

Restic

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

Which should you pick?

Choose CloudAlly if

  • You need automated daily backup.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want point-in-time recovery.
CloudAlly 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 CloudAlly or Restic better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudAlly 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, CloudAlly or Restic?
CloudAlly starts at Free and Restic at Free.
Does CloudAlly or Restic run on more platforms?
CloudAlly runs on Web, Cloud. Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
Can I use CloudAlly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CloudAlly best used for?
CloudAlly 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 CloudAlly do that Restic cannot?
CloudAlly covers Automated daily backup, Point-in-time recovery, Cross-account restore, Archive export. Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CloudAlly: What cloud applications can CloudAlly backup?

CloudAlly backs up Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, SharePoint/OneDrive, Salesforce, Box, and Dropbox with daily automated backups and unlimited retention.

Source
CloudAlly: How is CloudAlly data encrypted and stored?

CloudAlly stores backups on AWS servers with 128-bit SSL encryption and AES 256-bit encryption, maintaining compliance certifications including ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR.

Source
CloudAlly: What recovery options does CloudAlly provide?

CloudAlly offers granular point-in-time recovery with unlimited retention, allowing three-click recovery of deleted files, and point-in-time restore capabilities for ransomware protection.

Source
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Related pages

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