Software · head to head
Rewind vs Borg Backup
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: Rewind cannot back up all QuickBooks Online data due to API limitations, excluding company info, exchange rates, and payroll data; Borg Backup linux, macOS and BSD only; Windows is not a supported platform
- They diverge on capability: Rewind covers Automated backup, Borg Backup covers Content-defined chunking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Rewind and Borg Backup actually diverge.
| Attribute | Rewind | Borg Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Unknown | free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Linux, Mac |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2015).
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 Rewind
- Automated backup
- One-click restore
- Version comparison
- Continuous protection
- Bulk restore
- Activity monitoring
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
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.
Rewind
- Data protectionnot Borg Backup
- Disaster recoverynot Borg Backup
- Business continuitynot Borg Backup
- Ransomware protectionnot Borg Backup
- Compliancenot Borg Backup
Borg Backup
- Deduplicated backups where daily full snapshots would otherwise be expensivenot Rewind
- Encrypted backup to a server you do not fully trust, since the server never sees plaintextnot Rewind
- Browsing previous versions by mounting an archive over FUSEnot Rewind
- Scripted server backups with no agent or daemon to runnot Rewind
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Rewind
- Cannot back up all QuickBooks Online data due to API limitations, excluding company info, exchange rates, and payroll data
- Backup restore speed is slow for large datasets, causing significant delays during critical recovery situations
- Cannot back up Shopify inventory tracking quantities, weight, measurement, or cost per item
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
Rewind
$29/monthNo published plan breakdown. See the Rewind review.
Borg Backup
Free- FreeFree
- Deduplication
- Compression
- Encryption
Which should you pick?
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 Rewind or Borg Backup better?
- Neither clearly leads. Rewind starts at $29/month and Borg Backup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Rewind or Borg Backup?
- Borg Backup has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Rewind and Free for Borg Backup.
- Does Rewind or Borg Backup run on more platforms?
- Rewind runs on Web. 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. Rewind starts at $29/month.
- What is Rewind best used for?
- Rewind is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what Borg Backup is typically brought in for.
- What can Rewind do that Borg Backup cannot?
- Rewind covers Automated backup, One-click restore, Version comparison, Continuous protection. Borg Backup covers Content-defined chunking, Deduplication, Compression, Authenticated encryption.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Rewind: How long does Rewind keep backup snapshots?
Rewind keeps backup snapshots for 365 days, making them easily accessible for on-demand restores. This provides over a year of recovery options.
SourceRewind: What SaaS applications does Rewind back up?
Rewind backs up Shopify, BigCommerce, GitHub, Jira, Confluence, QuickBooks Online, Trello, monday.com, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Zendesk Suite, among others.
SourceRewind: Is Rewind compliant with data protection regulations?
Rewind is SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, DORA, HIPAA, and CCPA compliant with AES-256 encryption and role-based access control.
SourceRewind: Can you restore individual items or only full backups?
Rewind supports granular, item-level recovery understanding parent-child dependencies, allowing you to restore specific files, orders, or customer information without full dataset rollback.
Source