Is UrBackup or Velero better?

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

Which is cheaper, UrBackup or Velero?

UrBackup starts at Free and Velero at Free.

Does UrBackup or Velero run on more platforms?

UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD. Velero runs on Linux.

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 Velero is typically brought in for.

What can UrBackup do that Velero cannot?

UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery. Velero covers Cluster resource backup, Volume snapshots, File-level backup, Cross-cluster restore.

Backup · head to head

UrBackup vs Velero

UrBackup

Backup

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

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Velero

Backup

Open source backup and migration for Kubernetes cluster resources

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.; Velero there is no vendor support contract from the project itself, so a failed restore during an outage is resolved by your team reading source code and GitHub issues.
They diverge on capability: UrBackup covers Windows image backups, Velero covers Cluster resource backup.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which UrBackup and Velero actually diverge.

Attributes where UrBackup and Velero differ
Attribute	UrBackup	Velero
Platforms	Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD	Linux

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), 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 UrBackup

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

Only in Velero

Cluster resource backup
Volume snapshots
File-level backup
Cross-cluster restore
Backup hooks
Scheduled backups
Object storage targets

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 Velero
Schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverablenot Velero
Backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can usenot Velero
Replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraintnot Velero

Velero

A platform team needing namespace-level restore after an accidental deletion, with no budget for a backup productnot UrBackup
Migrating workloads between Kubernetes clusters or between cloud providers using backup and restorenot UrBackup
Capturing cluster configuration before a risky upgrade so the previous state can be reinstatednot UrBackup
An organisation proving a Kubernetes recovery capability to an auditor before deciding whether to buy a commercial productnot 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.

Velero

There is no vendor support contract from the project itself, so a failed restore during an outage is resolved by your team reading source code and GitHub issues.
Application consistency depends on backup hooks you write and maintain, and a database backed up without a correct hook restores to a state that may not be usable.
Restore ordering across dependent resources such as custom resource definitions and operators needs manual attention, and complex applications frequently need a documented runbook rather than a single restore command.
Corporate engineering investment became uncertain after Broadcom acquired VMware, which is a real consideration for anyone building a long retention policy on the project.
Object storage egress charges apply on restore and are billed by your cloud provider, so a full cluster recovery from another region carries a cost discovered during the incident rather than during planning.

Pricing, plan by plan

UrBackup

Free

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

Velero

Free

VeleroFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed
- No cluster or capacity limits
- Community support via Kubernetes Slack and GitHub

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 Velero if

You need cluster resource backup.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux.
You also want volume snapshots.

Velero review

Questions people ask

Is UrBackup or Velero better?: Neither clearly leads. UrBackup starts at Free and Velero at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, UrBackup or Velero?: UrBackup starts at Free and Velero at Free.
Does UrBackup or Velero run on more platforms?: UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD. Velero runs on Linux.
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 Velero is typically brought in for.
What can UrBackup do that Velero cannot?: UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery. Velero covers Cluster resource backup, Volume snapshots, File-level backup, Cross-cluster restore.

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.

Velero: Can we buy support for Velero?

Not from the project. Several commercial Kubernetes backup products package or extend it and sell support, which is the practical route to an accountable vendor.

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.

Velero: Does it back up persistent volume data?

Yes, through cloud or Container Storage Interface snapshots, or through file-level upload where snapshots are not available.

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.

Velero: What does it cost?

Nothing to licence. You pay for object storage capacity and for egress on restore, both billed by your cloud provider.

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.

UrBackup vs Velero

UrBackup

Velero

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in UrBackup

Only in Velero

What people use each for

UrBackup

Velero

Where each one falls short

UrBackup

Velero

Pricing, plan by plan

UrBackup

Velero

Which should you pick?

Choose UrBackup if

Choose Velero if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on UrBackup

More on Velero

Keep looking

Other head to heads