Softwr

Backup · head to head

Restic vs Trilio

Restic logo

Restic

Backup

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trilio logo

Trilio

Backup

Backup and recovery for OpenStack, Kubernetes and Red Hat Virtualization

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; Trilio coverage is deliberately narrow, so a mixed estate with VMware and physical servers needs a second backup product and two sets of restore procedures.
  • They diverge on capability: Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Trilio covers OpenStack backup.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restic and Trilio actually diverge.

Attributes where Restic and Trilio differ
AttributeResticTrilio
Pricing modelfreePer node per year
PlatformsWindows, Mac, LinuxLinux, Web
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Restic

  • Content-defined chunking
  • Cryptographic verification
  • Deduplication
  • Encryption
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • AWS S3
  • Azure

Only in Trilio

  • OpenStack backup
  • Kubernetes backup
  • OpenShift Virtualization
  • Open format backups
  • Incremental forever
  • Self-service restore
  • Free basic edition

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 Trilio
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot Trilio

Trilio

  • A telco running an OpenStack cloud whose incumbent backup vendor supports it only through generic agentsnot Restic
  • An organisation migrating virtual machines from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization and needing protection on the new platform from day onenot Restic
  • A research institution protecting tenant workloads where each tenant should restore its own data without a ticketnot Restic
  • A platform team wanting to evaluate Kubernetes backup properly on ten nodes before committing budgetnot 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

Trilio

  • Coverage is deliberately narrow, so a mixed estate with VMware and physical servers needs a second backup product and two sets of restore procedures.
  • Trilio is a small vendor next to the backup incumbents, and buyers with ten year retention obligations should assess the risk of the company being acquired or wound down.
  • Enterprise pricing is per node or per virtual machine and is not published, which makes it hard to compare against per-terabyte competitors without going through sales.
  • The free basic edition stops at ten nodes with community support only, so the step from evaluation to production is a full commercial negotiation rather than a tier upgrade.
  • Restore performance depends on the object storage or NFS target you supply, and egress charges from a cloud object store during a large recovery sit outside the vendor quote entirely.

Pricing, plan by plan

Restic

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

Trilio

Free
  • Basic EditionFree
    • Up to ten nodes
    • No time limit
    • Community support only
  • Enterprise Edition$undefined/year
    • Priced per node or per virtual machine annually
    • No scale limits
    • OpenStack, Kubernetes, OpenShift and Red Hat Virtualization

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 Trilio if

  • You need openstack backup.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web.
  • You also want kubernetes backup.
Trilio review

Questions people ask

Is Restic or Trilio better?
Neither clearly leads. Restic starts at Free and Trilio at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restic or Trilio?
Restic starts at Free and Trilio at Free.
Does Restic or Trilio run on more platforms?
Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. Trilio runs on 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 Trilio is typically brought in for.
What can Restic do that Trilio cannot?
Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Trilio covers OpenStack backup, Kubernetes backup, OpenShift Virtualization, Open format backups.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Trilio: Is the free edition production usable?

It is functionally complete up to ten nodes with community support only. Use it to evaluate, but understand that production incidents have no vendor behind them at that tier.

Trilio: Does it support OpenShift Virtualization?

Yes, which is the main reason it appears on shortlists for organisations moving virtual machines off VMware.

Trilio: Where are backups stored?

On NFS or S3-compatible object storage you provide, in an open format rather than a proprietary vendor container.

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