Is UrBackup or Vault better?

Neither clearly leads. UrBackup starts at Free and Vault at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, UrBackup or Vault?

UrBackup starts at Free and Vault at Free.

Does UrBackup or Vault run on more platforms?

UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD. Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.

Can I use UrBackup for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is UrBackup best used for?

UrBackup is most often used for a small office with windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensing, schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverable, backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can use, replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraint. Of those, a small office with windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensing and schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverable are not what Vault is typically brought in for.

What can UrBackup do that Vault cannot?

UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery. Vault covers Secrets management, Encryption, Authentication, Authorization.

Backup · head to head

UrBackup vs Vault

UrBackup

Backup

Open source client server backup doing both file and whole disk image backups of Windows machines

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Vault

Cloud

Manage Secrets and Protect Sensitive Data

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: UrBackup backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.; Vault vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
They diverge on capability: UrBackup covers Windows image backups, Vault covers Secrets management.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which UrBackup and Vault actually diverge.

Attributes where UrBackup and Vault differ
Attribute	UrBackup	Vault
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	open-source
Platforms	Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD	Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud
Category	Backup	Cloud
Founded	Unknown	2015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 UrBackup

Windows image backups
File backups
Web interface
Client discovery
Internet mode
Filesystem deduplication

Only in Vault

Secrets management
Encryption
Authentication
Authorization
Audit logging
API access
High availability
Replication

What people use each for

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

UrBackup

A small office with Windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensingnot Vault
Schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverablenot Vault
Backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can usenot Vault
Replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraintnot Vault

Vault

Centrally storing and rotating secrets, API keys and database credentialsnot UrBackup
Issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwordsnot UrBackup
Encryption as a service and PKI certificate issuancenot UrBackup

Where each one falls short

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

UrBackup

Backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.
Deduplication relies on filesystem features such as hard links, btrfs or ZFS, so a server built on the wrong filesystem silently consumes far more space and the fix is a rebuild rather than a setting.
There is no native object storage target, so offsite copies mean replicating the server storage with another tool rather than backing up to a bucket directly.
Restoring a full Windows image requires booting a restore environment, which is a manual, on site procedure that needs to be rehearsed before the day it is needed.
A single server holds everything and there is no built in clustering, so its own failure removes every recovery point at once unless you have separately solved replication.

Vault

Vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vault to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vault
Each version only converts to MPL 2.0 four years after that version is published, and the Change Date is tracked per version
Replication, HSM support, namespaces, performance standby nodes, FIPS builds, control group authorisation, multi-factor authentication, secrets sync and lease count quotas all require a Vault Enterprise licence
A Vault Enterprise licence must be applied to the cluster before any Enterprise feature can be used

Pricing, plan by plan

UrBackup

Free

UrBackupFree
- Full functionality, unlimited clients
- File and image backups
- Web administration interface

Vault

Free

Open SourceFree
- Secrets management
- Encryption as a service
- Identity management
EnterpriseFree
- Advanced features
- Premium support
- Dedicated updates

Which should you pick?

Choose UrBackup if

You need windows image backups.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.
You also want file backups.

UrBackup review

Choose Vault if

You need secrets management.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
You also want encryption.

Vault review

Questions people ask

Is UrBackup or Vault better?: Neither clearly leads. UrBackup starts at Free and Vault at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, UrBackup or Vault?: UrBackup starts at Free and Vault at Free.
Does UrBackup or Vault run on more platforms?: UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD. Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
Can I use UrBackup for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is UrBackup best used for?: UrBackup is most often used for a small office with windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensing, schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverable, backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can use, replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraint. Of those, a small office with windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensing and schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverable are not what Vault is typically brought in for.
What can UrBackup do that Vault cannot?: UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery. Vault covers Secrets management, Encryption, Authentication, Authorization.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

UrBackup: Does it back up Linux servers as well?

File backups yes, image backups no. The image path is Windows only through volume shadow copy.

Vault: Is HashiCorp Vault free to use?

Yes, Vault is available as a free, open-source project. The community version includes secrets management, certificate generation and rotation, encryption services, and credential management. Vault Enterprise is a commercial offering with additional features.

Source

UrBackup: Is the data encrypted?

Transport can be encrypted, and there is optional client side file encryption, but the default server storage is not encrypted at rest. Use full disk encryption on the server.

Vault: What are the differences between open-source Vault and Vault Enterprise?

Open-source Vault is free and self-hosted. Vault Enterprise includes additional features and commercial support. HashiCorp also offers Vault Dedicated on the HashiCorp Cloud Platform as a fully managed cloud option.

Source

UrBackup: Can I back up to Amazon S3?

Not directly. The server writes to local or mounted storage, so cloud copies are made by replicating that storage separately.

Vault: Can I try HashiCorp Cloud Platform Vault without payment?

Yes, HashiCorp offers a free trial option for HCP Vault Dedicated. New users also receive a $500 credit to use across HashiCorp Cloud Platform services.

Source

UrBackup: How many clients can one server handle?

Dozens is routine on decent hardware. The limit is usually storage input and output during overlapping backup windows rather than client count.

Vault: What does Vault manage and protect?

Vault provides identity-based secrets management for users, machines, services, and AI agents. It automates authentication and authorization for access to secrets, passwords, certificates, encryption keys, and other sensitive data across your infrastructure.

Source

UrBackup vs Vault

UrBackup

Vault

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in UrBackup

Only in Vault

What people use each for

UrBackup

Vault

Where each one falls short

UrBackup

Vault

Pricing, plan by plan

UrBackup

Vault

Which should you pick?

Choose UrBackup if

Choose Vault if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on UrBackup

More on Vault

Keep looking

Other head to heads