Softwr

Software · head to head

Restic vs Amanda Enterprise

Restic logo

Restic

Software

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Amanda Enterprise logo

Amanda Enterprise

Software

Open-source backup trusted by enterprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; 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: Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restic and Amanda Enterprise actually diverge.

Attributes where Restic and Amanda Enterprise differ
AttributeResticAmanda Enterprise
Pricing modelfreesubscription
PlatformsWindows, Mac, LinuxWindows, Linux, Web
Founded20142005

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • Backblaze B2
  • SFTP
  • REST server

Only in Amanda Enterprise

  • Cross-platform backup
  • Cloud integration
  • Disk staging
  • Web-based management
  • Bare metal recovery
  • Windows Server
  • Linux
  • Web support

Both cover

  • Encryption
  • AWS S3
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Windows support
  • Linux 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 Amanda Enterprise
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot Amanda Enterprise

Amanda Enterprise

  • 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

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

Restic

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

Amanda Enterprise

Free
  • Amanda Enterprise$30/month
    • Cross-platform
    • Cloud backup
    • Web console

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.
Restic review

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.
Amanda Enterprise review

Questions people ask

Is Restic or Amanda Enterprise better?
Neither clearly leads. Restic starts at Free and Amanda Enterprise at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restic or Amanda Enterprise?
Restic starts at Free and Amanda Enterprise at Free.
Does Restic or Amanda Enterprise run on more platforms?
Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. Amanda Enterprise runs on Windows, Linux, Web.
Can I use Restic for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Amanda Enterprise is typically brought in for.
What can Restic do that Amanda Enterprise cannot?
Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Multiple backends. Amanda Enterprise covers Cross-platform backup, Cloud integration, Disk staging, Web-based management. Both handle Encryption, AWS S3, Azure, Google Cloud.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Restic

More on Amanda Enterprise

Keep looking

Other head to heads