Software · head to head
Paragon Backup & Recovery vs Borg Backup
Paragon Backup & Recovery
Software
Professional-grade backup for Windows
- From
- $50/year
- Rated
- -
Borg Backup
Software
Deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Borg Backup 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; Borg Backup linux, macOS and BSD only; Windows is not a supported platform
- They diverge on capability: Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, Borg Backup covers Content-defined chunking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Paragon Backup & Recovery and Borg Backup actually diverge.
| Attribute | Paragon Backup & Recovery | Borg Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $50/year | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Windows | Linux, Mac |
| Founded | 1994 | 2015 |
Identical on both: 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 Borg Backup
- Content-defined chunking
- Deduplication
- Compression
- Authenticated encryption
- Pruning
- Mount archives
- SSH
- BorgBase
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 Borg Backup
- Bare metal recovery from an imagenot Borg Backup
- Scheduled incremental backups for a home machinenot Borg Backup
- Migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editionsnot Borg Backup
Borg Backup
- Deduplicated backups where daily full snapshots would otherwise be expensivenot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Encrypted backup to a server you do not fully trust, since the server never sees plaintextnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Browsing previous versions by mounting an archive over FUSEnot Paragon Backup & Recovery
- Scripted server backups with no agent or daemon to runnot 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
Borg Backup
- Linux, macOS and BSD only; Windows is not a supported platform
- Command-line only, with no graphical interface in the project itself
- Version 2.0 is still in beta, so production use means staying on the 1.4 line
- Restoring requires the Borg tooling, since archives are a deduplicated chunk store rather than plain files
Pricing, plan by plan
Paragon Backup & Recovery
$50/year- Community Edition$50/year
- Full disk backup
- File-level backup
- Recovery media
Borg Backup
Free- FreeFree
- Deduplication
- Compression
- Encryption
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 Borg Backup if
- You need content-defined chunking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac.
- You also want deduplication.
Questions people ask
- Is Paragon Backup & Recovery or Borg Backup better?
- Neither clearly leads. Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year and Borg Backup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Paragon Backup & Recovery or Borg Backup?
- Borg Backup has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $50/year for Paragon Backup & Recovery and Free for Borg Backup.
- Does Paragon Backup & Recovery or Borg Backup run on more platforms?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery runs on Windows. Borg Backup runs on Linux, Mac.
- Can I use Borg Backup for free?
- Yes. Borg Backup 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 Borg Backup is typically brought in for.
- What can Paragon Backup & Recovery do that Borg Backup cannot?
- Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, File-level backup, Incremental/differential, Recovery media. Borg Backup covers Content-defined chunking, Deduplication, Compression, Authenticated encryption.