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Backup · head to head

Paragon Backup & Recovery vs Restic

Paragon Backup & Recovery logo

Paragon Backup & Recovery

Backup

Professional-grade backup for Windows

From
$50/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Restic logo

Restic

Backup

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Restic 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; Restic cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag
  • They diverge on capability: Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, Restic covers Content-defined chunking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Paragon Backup & Recovery and Restic actually diverge.

Attributes where Paragon Backup & Recovery and Restic differ
AttributeParagon Backup & RecoveryRestic
Starting price$50/yearFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindowsWindows, Mac, Linux
Founded19942014

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 Paragon Backup & Recovery

  • Full disk backup
  • File-level backup
  • Incremental/differential
  • Recovery media
  • Virtual disk mount
  • UEFI support
  • Windows
  • Network shares

Only in Restic

  • Content-defined chunking
  • Cryptographic verification
  • Deduplication
  • Encryption
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • 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 Restic
  • Bare metal recovery from an imagenot Restic
  • Scheduled incremental backups for a home machinenot Restic
  • Migrating an installation to a new drive on the paid editionsnot Restic

Restic

  • Encrypted deduplicated backups to S3, B2, SFTP and local disk from the command linenot Paragon Backup & Recovery
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot 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

Restic

  • Cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag
  • A Windows file whose name contains a character Windows treats as invalid cannot be read by restic and has to be renamed
  • Antivirus real-time protection degrades performance on Windows unless the restic binary is added to an exclusions list
  • On large repositories the built-in five minute stuck-request timeout fires during file listing and has to be raised manually with --stuck-request-timeout

Pricing, plan by plan

Paragon Backup & Recovery

$50/year
  • Community Edition$50/year
    • Full disk backup
    • File-level backup
    • Recovery media

Restic

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Content-defined chunking
    • Encryption
    • Multiple backends

Which should you pick?

Choose Paragon Backup & Recovery if

  • You need full disk backup.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want file-level backup.
Paragon Backup & Recovery review

Choose Restic if

  • You need content-defined chunking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux.
  • You also want cryptographic verification.
Restic review

Questions people ask

Is Paragon Backup & Recovery or Restic better?
Neither clearly leads. Paragon Backup & Recovery starts at $50/year and Restic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Paragon Backup & Recovery or Restic?
Restic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $50/year for Paragon Backup & Recovery and Free for Restic.
Does Paragon Backup & Recovery or Restic run on more platforms?
Paragon Backup & Recovery runs on Windows. Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
Can I use Restic for free?
Yes. Restic 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 Restic is typically brought in for.
What can Paragon Backup & Recovery do that Restic cannot?
Paragon Backup & Recovery covers Full disk backup, File-level backup, Incremental/differential, Recovery media. Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Both handle Windows support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Paragon Backup & Recovery: Is Paragon Backup & Recovery still available?

No, Paragon Backup & Recovery has been unavailable since October 8, 2025, and is marked as a legacy product. Business customers are directed to explore alternative products for business use.

Source
Restic: How much does restic cost?

Restic is entirely free to use and completely open source. There are no subscription tiers, paid plans, or licensing costs.

Source
Paragon Backup & Recovery: How much does Paragon Backup & Recovery cost?

No pricing information is published. The product is restricted to home use only and customers must contact Paragon's sales team directly for any inquiries.

Source
Paragon Backup & Recovery: What should business users do if they used Paragon Backup & Recovery?

Business customers are recommended to explore the company's other products designed for business use and contact the sales team for alternative solutions.

Source
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