Is Kopia or UrBackup better?

Neither clearly leads. Kopia starts at Free and UrBackup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Kopia or UrBackup?

Kopia starts at Free and UrBackup at Free.

Does Kopia or UrBackup run on more platforms?

Kopia runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker. UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.

Can I use Kopia for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Kopia best used for?

Kopia is most often used for backing up laptops and workstations to cheap object storage with a desktop interface rather than a cron job, deduplicating backups of several similar machines into one repository so common content is stored once, replacing a chunk based tool whose per object charges made a cheap bucket expensive, keeping an encrypted offsite copy where the storage provider must never be able to read the contents. Of those, backing up laptops and workstations to cheap object storage with a desktop interface rather than a cron job and deduplicating backups of several similar machines into one repository so common content is stored once are not what UrBackup is typically brought in for.

What can Kopia do that UrBackup cannot?

Kopia covers Content defined chunking, Global deduplication, Pack blobs, Client side encryption. UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery.

Backup · head to head

Kopia vs UrBackup

Kopia

Backup

Open source deduplicating backup with client side encryption and a repository on almost any storage

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

UrBackup

Backup

Open source client server backup doing both file and whole disk image backups of Windows machines

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Kopia space is only reclaimed when maintenance runs, and in a shared repository full maintenance is owned by one client, so if that machine goes away the repository grows for ever while every backup still reports success.; UrBackup backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.
They diverge on capability: Kopia covers Content defined chunking, UrBackup covers Windows image backups.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kopia and UrBackup actually diverge.

Attributes where Kopia and UrBackup differ
Attribute	Kopia	UrBackup
Platforms	Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker	Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), 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 Kopia

Content defined chunking
Global deduplication
Pack blobs
Client side encryption
Desktop and command line
Repository verification

Only in UrBackup

Windows image backups
File backups
Web interface
Client discovery
Internet mode
Filesystem deduplication

What people use each for

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

Kopia

Backing up laptops and workstations to cheap object storage with a desktop interface rather than a cron jobnot UrBackup
Deduplicating backups of several similar machines into one repository so common content is stored oncenot UrBackup
Replacing a chunk based tool whose per object charges made a cheap bucket expensivenot UrBackup
Keeping an encrypted offsite copy where the storage provider must never be able to read the contentsnot UrBackup

UrBackup

A small office with Windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensingnot Kopia
Schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverablenot Kopia
Backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can usenot Kopia
Replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraintnot Kopia

Where each one falls short

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

Kopia

Space is only reclaimed when maintenance runs, and in a shared repository full maintenance is owned by one client, so if that machine goes away the repository grows for ever while every backup still reports success.
The repository format has changed across versions and mixing client versions against one repository is discouraged, so a fleet must be upgraded together rather than machine by machine.
There is no central orchestration or reporting for many machines, so monitoring a fleet means building your own alerting around exit codes.
Restoring many small files is slower than the backup was, because content must be reassembled from pack blobs, and this is rarely tested until the day it matters.
Encryption is client side with no escrow, so a lost repository password means the data is unrecoverable and there is no vendor to appeal to.

UrBackup

Backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.
Deduplication relies on filesystem features such as hard links, btrfs or ZFS, so a server built on the wrong filesystem silently consumes far more space and the fix is a rebuild rather than a setting.
There is no native object storage target, so offsite copies mean replicating the server storage with another tool rather than backing up to a bucket directly.
Restoring a full Windows image requires booting a restore environment, which is a manual, on site procedure that needs to be rehearsed before the day it is needed.
A single server holds everything and there is no built in clustering, so its own failure removes every recovery point at once unless you have separately solved replication.

Pricing, plan by plan

Kopia

Free

KopiaFree
- Full functionality, no data limit
- Desktop application included
- Any supported storage back end

UrBackup

Free

UrBackupFree
- Full functionality, unlimited clients
- File and image backups
- Web administration interface

Which should you pick?

Choose Kopia if

You need content defined chunking.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker.
You also want global deduplication.

Kopia review

Choose UrBackup if

You need windows image backups.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.
You also want file backups.

UrBackup review

Questions people ask

Is Kopia or UrBackup better?: Neither clearly leads. Kopia starts at Free and UrBackup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kopia or UrBackup?: Kopia starts at Free and UrBackup at Free.
Does Kopia or UrBackup run on more platforms?: Kopia runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker. UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.
Can I use Kopia for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Kopia best used for?: Kopia is most often used for backing up laptops and workstations to cheap object storage with a desktop interface rather than a cron job, deduplicating backups of several similar machines into one repository so common content is stored once, replacing a chunk based tool whose per object charges made a cheap bucket expensive, keeping an encrypted offsite copy where the storage provider must never be able to read the contents. Of those, backing up laptops and workstations to cheap object storage with a desktop interface rather than a cron job and deduplicating backups of several similar machines into one repository so common content is stored once are not what UrBackup is typically brought in for.
What can Kopia do that UrBackup cannot?: Kopia covers Content defined chunking, Global deduplication, Pack blobs, Client side encryption. UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kopia: Is a partly corrupt repository still restorable?

Partly. Deduplication means one damaged pack blob affects every snapshot referencing its contents, but unaffected files still restore. Run verification regularly rather than assuming.

UrBackup: Does it back up Linux servers as well?

File backups yes, image backups no. The image path is Windows only through volume shadow copy.

Kopia: How does it compare with restic?

Similar guarantees, with packing that behaves better on per operation billing, a desktop interface, and compression enabled by default.

UrBackup: Is the data encrypted?

Transport can be encrypted, and there is optional client side file encryption, but the default server storage is not encrypted at rest. Use full disk encryption on the server.

Kopia: Do I need to run maintenance manually?

It is scheduled automatically by default, but you must ensure the client that owns full maintenance keeps running, otherwise deleted snapshots never free space.

UrBackup: Can I back up to Amazon S3?

Not directly. The server writes to local or mounted storage, so cloud copies are made by replicating that storage separately.

Kopia: Can several machines share one repository?

Yes, and that is where deduplication pays off, but they should run compatible versions and only one owns full maintenance.

UrBackup: How many clients can one server handle?

Dozens is routine on decent hardware. The limit is usually storage input and output during overlapping backup windows rather than client count.

Kopia vs UrBackup

Kopia

UrBackup

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Kopia

Only in UrBackup

What people use each for

Kopia

UrBackup

Where each one falls short

Kopia

UrBackup

Pricing, plan by plan

Kopia

UrBackup

Which should you pick?

Choose Kopia if

Choose UrBackup if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Kopia

More on UrBackup

Keep looking

Other head to heads