Software · head to head
Paragon Backup & Recovery vs Bacula Enterprise
Paragon Backup & Recovery
Software
Professional-grade backup for Windows
- From
- $50/year
- Rated
- -
Bacula Enterprise
Software
Open-source enterprise backup solution
- From
- $500/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Paragon Backup & Recovery the free Community Edition is licensed for non-commercial use only; Bacula Enterprise pricing is not published; the vendor asks for a request rather than listing rates
- They diverge on capability: Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, Bacula Enterprise covers Modular architecture.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Paragon Backup & Recovery and Bacula Enterprise actually diverge.
| Attribute | Paragon Backup & Recovery | Bacula Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $50/year | $500/year |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux, Web |
| Founded | 1994 | 2009 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Bacula Enterprise
- Modular architecture
- Plugin framework
- Deduplication
- Encryption
- Automated recovery testing
- VMware
- Hyper-V
- AWS
Both cover
- Cloud storage
- 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 Bacula Enterprise
- Bare metal recovery from an imagenot Bacula Enterprise
- Scheduled incremental backups for a home machinenot Bacula Enterprise
- Migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editionsnot Bacula Enterprise
Bacula Enterprise
- Enterprise backup across virtual machines, databases and containersnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Multi-cloud and hybrid backup from one systemnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Backup where licensing by data volume would be prohibitive, since Bacula does not charge by capacitynot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Long-retention archival for regulated environmentsnot 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
Bacula Enterprise
- Pricing is not published; the vendor asks for a request rather than listing rates
- The differences between Enterprise and the open source Community edition are not set out on the product pages, so what the licence buys is unclear until you talk to sales
- Aimed at data centre and enterprise environments rather than small deployments
Pricing, plan by plan
Paragon Backup & Recovery
$50/year- Community Edition$50/year
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Recovery media
Bacula Enterprise
$500/year- Bacula Enterprise$500/year
- Unlimited data
- Plugin support
- Enterprise support
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 Bacula Enterprise if
- You need modular architecture.
- You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
- You also want plugin framework.
Questions people ask
- Is Paragon Backup & Recovery or Bacula Enterprise better?
- Neither clearly leads. Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year and Bacula Enterprise at $500/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Paragon Backup & Recovery or Bacula Enterprise?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year and Bacula Enterprise at $500/year.
- Does Paragon Backup & Recovery or Bacula Enterprise run on more platforms?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery runs on Windows. Bacula Enterprise runs on Windows, Linux, Web.
- 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 Bacula Enterprise is typically brought in for.
- What can Paragon Backup & Recovery do that Bacula Enterprise cannot?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, File-level backup, Incremental/differential, Recovery media. Bacula Enterprise covers Modular architecture, Plugin framework, Deduplication, Encryption. Both handle Cloud storage, Windows support.