Software · head to head
Restic vs Altaro VM Backup
Altaro VM Backup
Software
Simple and powerful VM backup for SMBs
- From
- $595/perpetual
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Restic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 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; Altaro VM Backup limited to small and medium-market businesses with up to 50 host servers
- They diverge on capability: Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Altaro VM Backup covers Augmented inline dedup.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Restic and Altaro VM Backup actually diverge.
| Attribute | Restic | Altaro VM Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $595/perpetual |
| Pricing model | free | Unknown |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows Server |
| Founded | 2014 | 2009 |
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 Restic
- Content-defined chunking
- Cryptographic verification
- Deduplication
- Encryption
- Multiple backends
- Snapshot management
- Google Cloud
- Backblaze B2
Only in Altaro VM Backup
- Augmented inline dedup
- WAN-optimized replication
- Boot from backup
- Granular restore
- Cloud management
- Continuous CDP
- VMware
- Hyper-V
Both cover
- AWS S3
- Azure
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Restic
- Encrypted deduplicated backups to S3, B2, SFTP and local disk from the command linenot Altaro VM Backup
- Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot Altaro VM Backup
Altaro VM Backup
- Data protectionnot Restic
- Disaster recoverynot Restic
- Business continuitynot Restic
- Ransomware protectionnot Restic
- Compliancenot Restic
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Altaro VM Backup
- Limited to small and medium-market businesses with up to 50 host servers
- Perpetual license model outdated compared to modern cloud-based backup solutions
- Lacks enterprise-grade features for large-scale deployments
- Offsite backup to cloud requires additional setup and configuration
Pricing, plan by plan
Restic
Free- FreeFree
- Content-defined chunking
- Encryption
- Multiple backends
Altaro VM Backup
$595/perpetualNo published plan breakdown. See the Altaro VM Backup review.
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Altaro VM Backup if
- You need augmented inline dedup.
- You work on Windows Server.
- You also want wan-optimized replication.
Questions people ask
- Is Restic or Altaro VM Backup better?
- Neither clearly leads. Restic starts at Free and Altaro VM Backup at $595/perpetual, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Restic or Altaro VM Backup?
- Restic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Restic and $595/perpetual for Altaro VM Backup.
- Does Restic or Altaro VM Backup run on more platforms?
- Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. Altaro VM Backup runs on Windows Server.
- Can I use Restic for free?
- Yes. Restic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Altaro VM Backup starts at $595/perpetual.
- What is Restic best used for?
- Restic is most often used for encrypted deduplicated backups to s3, b2, sftp and local disk from the command line, scripted server backups with snapshot retention policies. Of those, encrypted deduplicated backups to s3, b2, sftp and local disk from the command line and scripted server backups with snapshot retention policies are not what Altaro VM Backup is typically brought in for.
- What can Restic do that Altaro VM Backup cannot?
- Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Altaro VM Backup covers Augmented inline dedup, WAN-optimized replication, Boot from backup, Granular restore. Both handle AWS S3, Azure, Windows support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Altaro VM Backup: What is the price per host for Altaro VM Backup?
Altaro VM Backup pricing starts at $595 per host for the Standard Edition, with the Unlimited Edition at $695 per host and Unlimited Plus at $875 per host. Pricing includes the first year of priority support and updates.
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