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Backup · head to head

IBM Storage Protect vs Trilio

IBM Storage Protect logo

IBM Storage Protect

Backup

Enterprise-scale data protection platform

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trilio logo

Trilio

Backup

Backup and recovery for OpenStack, Kubernetes and Red Hat Virtualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Trilio has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: IBM Storage Protect iBM United Kingdom Limited lists IBM Storage Protect for Cloud (Microsoft 365 edition) on G-Cloud 14 at £50.64 per user per year; Trilio coverage is deliberately narrow, so a mixed estate with VMware and physical servers needs a second backup product and two sets of restore procedures.
  • They diverge on capability: IBM Storage Protect covers Progressive incremental backup, Trilio covers OpenStack backup.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IBM Storage Protect and Trilio actually diverge.

Attributes where IBM Storage Protect and Trilio differ
AttributeIBM Storage ProtectTrilio
Starting price$100/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer node per year
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Linux, WebLinux, Web
Founded1911Unknown

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 IBM Storage Protect

  • Progressive incremental backup
  • Policy-based management
  • Container protection
  • Kubernetes support
  • Data deduplication
  • Instant restore
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V

Only in Trilio

  • OpenStack backup
  • Kubernetes backup
  • OpenShift Virtualization
  • Open format backups
  • Incremental forever
  • Self-service restore
  • Free basic edition

What people use each for

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

IBM Storage Protect

  • Data protectionnot Trilio
  • Disaster recoverynot Trilio
  • Business continuitynot Trilio
  • Ransomware protectionnot Trilio
  • Compliancenot Trilio

Trilio

  • A telco running an OpenStack cloud whose incumbent backup vendor supports it only through generic agentsnot IBM Storage Protect
  • An organisation migrating virtual machines from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization and needing protection on the new platform from day onenot IBM Storage Protect
  • A research institution protecting tenant workloads where each tenant should restore its own data without a ticketnot IBM Storage Protect
  • A platform team wanting to evaluate Kubernetes backup properly on ten nodes before committing budgetnot IBM Storage Protect

Where each one falls short

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

IBM Storage Protect

  • IBM United Kingdom Limited lists IBM Storage Protect for Cloud (Microsoft 365 edition) on G-Cloud 14 at £50.64 per user per year

Trilio

  • Coverage is deliberately narrow, so a mixed estate with VMware and physical servers needs a second backup product and two sets of restore procedures.
  • Trilio is a small vendor next to the backup incumbents, and buyers with ten year retention obligations should assess the risk of the company being acquired or wound down.
  • Enterprise pricing is per node or per virtual machine and is not published, which makes it hard to compare against per-terabyte competitors without going through sales.
  • The free basic edition stops at ten nodes with community support only, so the step from evaluation to production is a full commercial negotiation rather than a tier upgrade.
  • Restore performance depends on the object storage or NFS target you supply, and egress charges from a cloud object store during a large recovery sit outside the vendor quote entirely.

Pricing, plan by plan

IBM Storage Protect

$100/month
  • Storage Protect$100/month
    • Progressive incremental
    • Container support
    • Policy automation

Trilio

Free
  • Basic EditionFree
    • Up to ten nodes
    • No time limit
    • Community support only
  • Enterprise Edition$undefined/year
    • Priced per node or per virtual machine annually
    • No scale limits
    • OpenStack, Kubernetes, OpenShift and Red Hat Virtualization

Which should you pick?

Choose IBM Storage Protect if

  • You need progressive incremental backup.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
  • You also want policy-based management.
IBM Storage Protect review

Choose Trilio if

  • You need openstack backup.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web.
  • You also want kubernetes backup.
Trilio review

Questions people ask

Is IBM Storage Protect or Trilio better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM Storage Protect starts at $100/month and Trilio at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IBM Storage Protect or Trilio?
Trilio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $100/month for IBM Storage Protect and Free for Trilio.
Does IBM Storage Protect or Trilio run on more platforms?
IBM Storage Protect runs on Windows, Linux, Web. Trilio runs on Linux, Web.
Can I use Trilio for free?
Yes. Trilio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IBM Storage Protect starts at $100/month.
What is IBM Storage Protect best used for?
IBM Storage Protect is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Trilio is typically brought in for.
What can IBM Storage Protect do that Trilio cannot?
IBM Storage Protect covers Progressive incremental backup, Policy-based management, Container protection, Kubernetes support. Trilio covers OpenStack backup, Kubernetes backup, OpenShift Virtualization, Open format backups.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Trilio: Is the free edition production usable?

It is functionally complete up to ten nodes with community support only. Use it to evaluate, but understand that production incidents have no vendor behind them at that tier.

Trilio: Does it support OpenShift Virtualization?

Yes, which is the main reason it appears on shortlists for organisations moving virtual machines off VMware.

Trilio: Where are backups stored?

On NFS or S3-compatible object storage you provide, in an open format rather than a proprietary vendor container.

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Related pages

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