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Backup · head to head

Comet Backup vs rustic

Comet Backup logo

Comet Backup

Backup

White-label backup software for service providers

From
$19/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: Comet Backup per-endpoint costs ($2/month per endpoint) can add up for large deployments with many protected machines; 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: Comet Backup covers White-label branding, rustic covers restic format compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Comet Backup and rustic actually diverge.

Attributes where Comet Backup and rustic differ
AttributeComet Backuprustic
Starting price$19/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxLinux, macOS, Windows
Founded2017Unknown

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 Comet Backup

  • White-label branding
  • Bring your own storage
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Chunking deduplication
  • Delta compression
  • Multi-tenant
  • AWS S3
  • Azure

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.

Comet Backup

  • MSP backup and disaster recovery solutionsnot rustic
  • Cloud-to-cloud backup automationnot rustic
  • Ransomware protection with immutable storagenot rustic

rustic

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

Where each one falls short

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

Comet Backup

  • Per-endpoint costs ($2/month per endpoint) can add up for large deployments with many protected machines
  • Advanced and Enterprise tiers with additional management capabilities are significantly more expensive than base tiers
  • Platform-specific features (SQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Microsoft 365) have separate per-unit pricing

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

Comet Backup

$19/month
  • Starter$19/month
    • 1 self-hosted license
    • Endpoint scaling at $2/endpoint/month
  • Growth$49/month
    • 2 self-hosted licenses
    • Primary/replica setups
    • Endpoint scaling at $2/endpoint/month
  • Advanced$99/month
    • 5 management console licenses
    • Audit logging
    • Air-gap management console
  • Professional (Cloud-Hosted)$49/month
    • 1 cloud-hosted console license
    • Endpoint scaling at $2/endpoint/month

rustic

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Comet Backup if

  • You need white-label branding.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want bring your own storage.
Comet Backup 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 Comet Backup or rustic better?
Neither clearly leads. Comet Backup starts at $19/month and rustic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Comet Backup or rustic?
rustic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $19/month for Comet Backup and Free for rustic.
Does Comet Backup or rustic run on more platforms?
Comet Backup runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. 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. Comet Backup starts at $19/month.
What is Comet Backup best used for?
Comet Backup is most often used for msp backup and disaster recovery solutions, cloud-to-cloud backup automation, ransomware protection with immutable storage. Of those, msp backup and disaster recovery solutions and cloud-to-cloud backup automation are not what rustic is typically brought in for.
What can Comet Backup do that rustic cannot?
Comet Backup covers White-label branding, Bring your own storage, End-to-end encryption, Chunking deduplication. rustic covers restic format compatibility, Configuration profiles, Deduplicated encrypted backups, Cold and append only storage support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Comet Backup: How much does Comet Backup cost?

Self-hosted plans start at $19/month (Starter) and go up to $99/month (Advanced), with cloud-hosted plans starting at $49/month (Professional). All plans charge $2 per endpoint per month for additional protected machines beyond the base license count.

Source
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.

Comet Backup: What is the price difference between self-hosted and cloud-hosted deployments?

Cloud-hosted plans start at $49/month (Professional) versus self-hosted which starts at $19/month (Starter). The main advantage of cloud-hosted is Comet manages the console infrastructure, though both models charge the same per-endpoint fees.

Source
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.

Comet Backup: Does Comet Backup charge for additional protected machines?

Yes, all plans charge $2 per endpoint per month beyond the licensed endpoints. For example, the Growth plan includes 2 self-hosted licenses, but each additional protected machine costs $2/month.

Source
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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