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Backup · head to head

CloudCasa vs rustic

CloudCasa logo

CloudCasa

Backup

SaaS Kubernetes backup and migration with published per-node pricing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
rustic logo

rustic

Backup

Rust reimplementation of restic that reads and writes the same repository format

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CloudCasa at $69 per node per month, a fifty-node estate costs over forty thousand dollars a year at list, which is more than many teams expect from a product marketed on its free tier.; rustic the project is small with a short list of active maintainers, so bus factor is a genuine consideration for software whose job is to still work in five years.
  • They diverge on capability: CloudCasa covers SaaS control plane, rustic covers restic format compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudCasa and rustic actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudCasa and rustic differ
AttributeCloudCasarustic
Pricing modelPer node per monthOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsKubernetes, WebLinux, macOS, Windows

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 CloudCasa

  • SaaS control plane
  • Free tier
  • Cross-cluster restore
  • Managed service support
  • Bring your own storage
  • Velero compatibility

Only in rustic

  • restic format compatibility
  • Configuration profiles
  • Deduplicated encrypted backups
  • Cold and append only storage support
  • Multiple back ends
  • Library crates

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CloudCasa

  • A team wanting Kubernetes backup running this afternoon without deploying and maintaining a backup servernot rustic
  • A small cluster of five nodes or fewer that needs real backup at no licence costnot rustic
  • An organisation running Velero already and wanting a managed control plane and catalogue over the topnot rustic
  • Migrating workloads between EKS and AKS where the tool must restore into a different distributionnot rustic

rustic

  • An existing restic user who wants configuration files rather than long command lines in cronnot CloudCasa
  • Backing up a memory constrained machine where the reference implementation is uncomfortably heavynot CloudCasa
  • Writing to append only or cold object storage where the default tooling assumes rewritable bucketsnot CloudCasa
  • Keeping a second implementation available so a long lived archive does not depend on one codebasenot CloudCasa

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CloudCasa

  • At $69 per node per month, a fifty-node estate costs over forty thousand dollars a year at list, which is more than many teams expect from a product marketed on its free tier.
  • The control plane is SaaS, so cluster metadata and backup catalogues sit with the vendor, which rules it out where policy prohibits external services holding infrastructure detail.
  • Per-node pricing punishes clusters built from many small nodes, so the licensing metric can push architecture decisions in directions the platform team would not otherwise choose.
  • The free tier stops at five nodes with no intermediate step, so growth from five to six nodes moves you from nothing to a full commercial rate.
  • Catalogic is a much smaller vendor than Veeam or Commvault, which matters for procurement risk assessments and for long-term support commitments on a system you may depend on for years.

rustic

  • The project is small with a short list of active maintainers, so bus factor is a genuine consideration for software whose job is to still work in five years.
  • It inherits the restic repository format, so design limits in that format, including the cost of pruning large repositories, are inherited rather than fixed.
  • Command names, flags and behaviour do not map one to one onto restic, so scripts and runbooks need rewriting rather than a binary swap.
  • Far fewer people have performed a real restore from it under pressure, and backup software is one of the few categories where being second most used is itself a risk.
  • Alternating between rustic and restic against one repository works but doubles the surface for a version incompatibility to corrupt state, so most operators should pick one and stay with it.

Pricing, plan by plan

CloudCasa

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Up to 5 nodes at no cost
    • Daily backup schedules for clusters and namespaces
    • Basic and advanced restore options
  • CloudCasa Pro$69/month
    • Per node per month
    • Advanced backup policies
    • Application-aware backups
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Volume pricing negotiated
    • Dedicated support and SLAs
    • Custom retention and residency arrangements

rustic

Free
  • rusticFree
    • Full functionality, no data limit
    • All supported storage back ends
    • Community support via GitHub

Which should you pick?

Choose CloudCasa if

  • You need saas control plane.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want free tier.
CloudCasa review

Choose rustic if

  • You need restic format compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want configuration profiles.
rustic review

Questions people ask

Is CloudCasa or rustic better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudCasa starts at Free and rustic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CloudCasa or rustic?
CloudCasa starts at Free and rustic at Free.
Does CloudCasa or rustic run on more platforms?
CloudCasa runs on Kubernetes, Web. rustic runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use CloudCasa for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CloudCasa best used for?
CloudCasa is most often used for a team wanting kubernetes backup running this afternoon without deploying and maintaining a backup server, a small cluster of five nodes or fewer that needs real backup at no licence cost, an organisation running velero already and wanting a managed control plane and catalogue over the top, migrating workloads between eks and aks where the tool must restore into a different distribution. Of those, a team wanting kubernetes backup running this afternoon without deploying and maintaining a backup server and a small cluster of five nodes or fewer that needs real backup at no licence cost are not what rustic is typically brought in for.
What can CloudCasa do that rustic cannot?
CloudCasa covers SaaS control plane, Free tier, Cross-cluster restore, Managed service support. rustic covers restic format compatibility, Configuration profiles, Deduplicated encrypted backups, Cold and append only storage support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CloudCasa: What does it cost?

Free for up to five nodes. CloudCasa Pro is $69 per node per month. Enterprise arrangements are negotiated.

rustic: Can it read my existing restic repository?

Yes, that is the point of the project. Take a copy and verify before you rely on it, as with any change to backup tooling.

CloudCasa: Where does the backup data go?

Typically to your own S3-compatible bucket. The vendor hosts the control plane and catalogue, not necessarily your data.

rustic: Should I switch from restic?

Only for a specific reason such as configuration profiles, memory use or cold storage handling. Compatibility means there is no cost to trying and no cost to going back.

CloudCasa: Does it work with Velero?

Yes. It can manage existing Velero installations, which makes it a lower-friction upgrade than a rip and replace.

rustic: Is it production ready?

It is used in production by a small community, but it is younger and less exercised than the implementation it is compatible with. Test restores accordingly.

rustic: Does it support the same back ends?

The common ones, including local, SFTP, S3 compatible storage and rclone. Check the current list before committing to an unusual target.

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