Backup & Disaster Recovery · head to head
Paragon Backup & Recovery vs Amanda Enterprise
Paragon Backup & Recovery
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Professional-grade backup for Windows
- From
- $50/year
- Rated
- -
Amanda Enterprise
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Open-source backup trusted by enterprises
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Amanda Enterprise has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Paragon Backup & Recovery the free Community Edition is licensed for non-commercial use only; Amanda Enterprise amanda Community Edition is genuinely open source, released under a mix of BSD, GPLv2, LGPL and Apache licenses with source on GitHub, but the Enterprise edition that adds central management and paid support is a separate proprietary product sold by Zmanda (a Betsol company since its 2018 acquisition); Zmanda's own pricing page returned 403 to direct fetch, so no current per-client or per-agent figure could be confirmed from the vendor directly.
- They diverge on capability: Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Paragon Backup & Recovery and Amanda Enterprise actually diverge.
| Attribute | Paragon Backup & Recovery | Amanda Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $50/year | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux, Web |
| Founded | 1994 | 2005 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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 Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Incremental/differential
- Recovery media
- Virtual disk mount
- UEFI support
- Windows
- Network shares
Only in Amanda Enterprise
- Cross-platform backup
- Cloud integration
- Disk staging
- Encryption
- Web-based management
- Bare metal recovery
- AWS S3
- Azure
Both cover
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Full disk and partition backup on Windowsnot Amanda Enterprise
- Bare metal recovery from an imagenot Amanda Enterprise
- Scheduled incremental backups for a home machinenot Amanda Enterprise
- Migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editionsnot Amanda Enterprise
Amanda Enterprise
- Data protectionnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Disaster recoverynot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Business continuitynot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Ransomware protectionnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Compliancenot Paragon Backup & Recovery
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Paragon Backup & Recovery
- The free Community Edition is licensed for non-commercial use only
- Windows only, and specifically Windows 10 x64 from 1809, Windows 11 x64 and Windows 11 Arm64
- Volume and OS copying, partition management and email notifications need the Advanced edition
- Windows Server support requires the Business edition
- Paid edition prices are not shown on the product page
Amanda Enterprise
- Amanda Community Edition is genuinely open source, released under a mix of BSD, GPLv2, LGPL and Apache licenses with source on GitHub, but the Enterprise edition that adds central management and paid support is a separate proprietary product sold by Zmanda (a Betsol company since its 2018 acquisition); Zmanda's own pricing page returned 403 to direct fetch, so no current per-client or per-agent figure could be confirmed from the vendor directly.
Pricing, plan by plan
Paragon Backup & Recovery
$50/year- Community Edition$50/year
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Recovery media
Amanda Enterprise
Free- Amanda Enterprise$30/month
- Cross-platform
- Cloud backup
- Web console
Which should you pick?
Choose Paragon Backup & Recovery if
- You need full disk backup.
- You work on Windows.
- You also want file-level backup.
Choose Amanda Enterprise if
- You need cross-platform backup.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
- You also want cloud integration.
Questions people ask
- Is Paragon Backup & Recovery or Amanda Enterprise better?
- Neither clearly leads. Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year and Amanda Enterprise at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Paragon Backup & Recovery or Amanda Enterprise?
- Amanda Enterprise has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $50/year for Paragon Backup & Recovery and Free for Amanda Enterprise.
- Does Paragon Backup & Recovery or Amanda Enterprise run on more platforms?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery runs on Windows. Amanda Enterprise runs on Windows, Linux, Web.
- Can I use Amanda Enterprise for free?
- Yes. Amanda Enterprise has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year.
- What is Paragon Backup & Recovery best used for?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery is most often used for full disk and partition backup on windows, bare metal recovery from an image, scheduled incremental backups for a home machine, migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editions. Of those, full disk and partition backup on windows and bare metal recovery from an image are not what Amanda Enterprise is typically brought in for.
- What can Paragon Backup & Recovery do that Amanda Enterprise cannot?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, File-level backup, Incremental/differential, Recovery media. Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup, Cloud integration, Disk staging, Encryption. Both handle Windows support.