Software · head to head
Rewind vs Clonezilla
The short version
- Only Clonezilla 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; Clonezilla the destination partition must be equal to or larger than the source partition
- They diverge on capability: Rewind covers Automated backup, Clonezilla covers Disk/partition imaging.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Rewind and Clonezilla actually diverge.
| Attribute | Rewind | Clonezilla |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Unknown | free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Linux, Windows |
| Founded | 2015 | 2004 |
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 Rewind
- Automated backup
- One-click restore
- Version comparison
- Continuous protection
- Bulk restore
- Activity monitoring
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
Only in Clonezilla
- Disk/partition imaging
- Disk cloning
- Multicast deployment
- Multiple file systems
- Encryption support
- Unattended mode
- PXE boot
- DRBL
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Rewind
- Data protectionnot Clonezilla
- Disaster recoverynot Clonezilla
- Business continuitynot Clonezilla
- Ransomware protectionnot Clonezilla
- Compliancenot Clonezilla
Clonezilla
- Bare metal backup and restore of a whole disk or partitionnot Rewind
- Mass deployment of a disk image to many PCs over the networknot 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
Clonezilla
- The destination partition must be equal to or larger than the source partition
- Differential and incremental backup is not implemented
- Online imaging and cloning is not implemented; the partition being imaged or cloned has to be unmounted first
- The image format cannot be explored or mounted, so a single file cannot be recovered from an image
- Recovery media spanning multiple CDs or DVDs is not implemented; the recovery ISO must fit on one disc
- Clonezilla SE requires a DRBL server to be prepared in advance and the target machine to boot from the network
- Runs only on x86 or x86-64 processors and needs at least 196 MB of RAM
Pricing, plan by plan
Rewind
$29/monthNo published plan breakdown. See the Rewind review.
Clonezilla
Free- FreeFree
- Disk cloning
- Multicast
- Multiple file systems
Which should you pick?
Choose Clonezilla if
- You need disk/partition imaging.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows.
- You also want disk cloning.
Questions people ask
- Is Rewind or Clonezilla better?
- Neither clearly leads. Rewind starts at $29/month and Clonezilla at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Rewind or Clonezilla?
- Clonezilla has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Rewind and Free for Clonezilla.
- Does Rewind or Clonezilla run on more platforms?
- Rewind runs on Web. Clonezilla runs on Linux, Windows.
- Can I use Clonezilla for free?
- Yes. Clonezilla 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 Clonezilla is typically brought in for.
- What can Rewind do that Clonezilla cannot?
- Rewind covers Automated backup, One-click restore, Version comparison, Continuous protection. Clonezilla covers Disk/partition imaging, Disk cloning, Multicast deployment, Multiple file systems.
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