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Backup · head to head

Clumio vs rustic

Clumio logo

Clumio

Backup

Serverless AWS backup with published per-gigabyte rates and explicit restore charges

From
$0.01/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
rustic logo

rustic

Backup

Rust reimplementation of restic that reads and writes the same repository format

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only rustic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Clumio restore is charged at $0.040 per GiB plus data transfer out, so recovering a hundred terabytes in an incident costs thousands of dollars on top of the storage fee, a bill nobody budgets for.; rustic the project is small with a short list of active maintainers, so bus factor is a genuine consideration for software whose job is to still work in five years.
  • They diverge on capability: Clumio covers Air-gapped backups, rustic covers restic format compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Clumio and rustic actually diverge.

Attributes where Clumio and rustic differ
AttributeClumiorustic
Starting price$0.01/monthFree
Pricing modelPer GiB-month protectedOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APILinux, macOS, Windows

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 Clumio

  • Air-gapped backups
  • Fifteen-minute recovery points
  • S3 SecureVault
  • Backtrack
  • Terraform provider
  • Compliance attestations

Only in rustic

  • restic format compatibility
  • Configuration profiles
  • Deduplicated encrypted backups
  • Cold and append only storage support
  • Multiple back ends
  • Library crates

What people use each for

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

Clumio

  • An AWS-native company needing backups outside its own account so a compromised root credential cannot delete themnot rustic
  • A team that has to model recovery cost before an incident rather than discover it during onenot rustic
  • An organisation protecting billions of S3 objects where per-object charges dominate per-gigabyte chargesnot rustic
  • A regulated business needing SOC 2, HIPAA and PCI-DSS attested backup without running backup serversnot rustic

rustic

  • An existing restic user who wants configuration files rather than long command lines in cronnot Clumio
  • Backing up a memory constrained machine where the reference implementation is uncomfortably heavynot Clumio
  • Writing to append only or cold object storage where the default tooling assumes rewritable bucketsnot Clumio
  • Keeping a second implementation available so a long lived archive does not depend on one codebasenot Clumio

Where each one falls short

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

Clumio

  • Restore is charged at $0.040 per GiB plus data transfer out, so recovering a hundred terabytes in an incident costs thousands of dollars on top of the storage fee, a bill nobody budgets for.
  • Per-object charges of $1.50 per million managed objects per month mean estates with billions of small objects pay far more than a per-gigabyte estimate suggests.
  • The archive tier is cheaper to store but restores begin only after 24 to 48 hours, which is incompatible with most recovery time objectives, and early deletion inside six months incurs a fee.
  • It is an AWS product; Azure workloads are on the roadmap rather than shipping, so multi-cloud organisations still need a second backup platform.
  • The Commvault acquisition means Clumio now overlaps with Commvault own cloud protection, and buyers should ask directly how the two portfolios converge before signing multi-year terms.

rustic

  • The project is small with a short list of active maintainers, so bus factor is a genuine consideration for software whose job is to still work in five years.
  • It inherits the restic repository format, so design limits in that format, including the cost of pruning large repositories, are inherited rather than fixed.
  • Command names, flags and behaviour do not map one to one onto restic, so scripts and runbooks need rewriting rather than a binary swap.
  • Far fewer people have performed a real restore from it under pressure, and backup software is one of the few categories where being second most used is itself a risk.
  • Alternating between rustic and restic against one repository works but doubles the surface for a version incompatibility to corrupt state, so most operators should pick one and stay with it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Clumio

$0.01/month
  • S3 SecureVault Standard$0.025/month
    • $0.025 per GiB-month plus $1.50 per million managed objects per month
    • Restores $0.040 per GiB instant access and $0.09 per GiB retrieved
    • $0.025 per 1,000 API requests, data transfer out charged separately
  • S3 SecureVault Archive$0.01/month
    • $0.010 per GiB-month plus $1.50 per million managed objects per month
    • Restores begin after 24 to 48 hours
    • $0.040 per GiB restored plus data transfer out
  • Backtrack$undefined/month
    • $1.50 per million managed objects-month, included free with SecureVault
    • $0.50 per million objects processed on restore
    • Metadata change tracking rather than full backup

rustic

Free
  • rusticFree
    • Full functionality, no data limit
    • All supported storage back ends
    • Community support via GitHub

Which should you pick?

Choose Clumio if

  • You need air-gapped backups.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want fifteen-minute recovery points.
Clumio review

Choose rustic if

  • You need restic format compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want configuration profiles.
rustic review

Questions people ask

Is Clumio or rustic better?
Neither clearly leads. Clumio starts at $0.01/month and rustic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Clumio or rustic?
rustic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.01/month for Clumio and Free for rustic.
Does Clumio or rustic run on more platforms?
Clumio runs on Web, API. rustic runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use rustic for free?
Yes. rustic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Clumio starts at $0.01/month.
What is Clumio best used for?
Clumio is most often used for an aws-native company needing backups outside its own account so a compromised root credential cannot delete them, a team that has to model recovery cost before an incident rather than discover it during one, an organisation protecting billions of s3 objects where per-object charges dominate per-gigabyte charges, a regulated business needing soc 2, hipaa and pci-dss attested backup without running backup servers. Of those, an aws-native company needing backups outside its own account so a compromised root credential cannot delete them and a team that has to model recovery cost before an incident rather than discover it during one are not what rustic is typically brought in for.
What can Clumio do that rustic cannot?
Clumio covers Air-gapped backups, Fifteen-minute recovery points, S3 SecureVault, Backtrack. rustic covers restic format compatibility, Configuration profiles, Deduplicated encrypted backups, Cold and append only storage support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Clumio: What does a restore cost?

$0.040 per GiB for instant access, $0.09 per GiB retrieved from archive, $0.025 per 1,000 API requests, plus AWS data transfer out. Model this before an incident.

rustic: Can it read my existing restic repository?

Yes, that is the point of the project. Take a copy and verify before you rely on it, as with any change to backup tooling.

Clumio: Does it support Azure?

Not yet. Azure workloads are listed as on the roadmap. Today it is AWS, with some Google Cloud Storage coverage.

rustic: Should I switch from restic?

Only for a specific reason such as configuration profiles, memory use or cold storage handling. Compatibility means there is no cost to trying and no cost to going back.

Clumio: Is it still Clumio after the Commvault acquisition?

Yes, sold as Clumio by Commvault with its own pricing page and product line, but ask about portfolio convergence on a multi-year deal.

rustic: Is it production ready?

It is used in production by a small community, but it is younger and less exercised than the implementation it is compatible with. Test restores accordingly.

rustic: Does it support the same back ends?

The common ones, including local, SFTP, S3 compatible storage and rclone. Check the current list before committing to an unusual target.

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