Backblaze Personal Backup vs BorgBackup
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Backblaze Personal Backup and BorgBackup.
Quick Verdict
4.3/5
Backblaze Personal Backup
0 reviews
4.3/5
BorgBackup
0 reviews
Both Backblaze Personal Backup and BorgBackup are equally rated at 4.3/5. Backblaze Personal Backup offers unlimited computer backup for $9/month. Backs up your Mac or PC continuously in the background. No file size limits, no throttling. BorgBackup is a free, open source, deduplicating backup program for Linux/macOS with compression, encryption, and deduplication. Pairs with BorgBase for managed repository hosting. Our long-standing pick for self-hosters.
Backblaze Personal Backup Unlimited Mac/PC backup for $9/month | BorgBackup Open source deduplicating backup — free self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.3 (0 reviews) | 4.3 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $9/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Individuals and home workers with one data-heavy Mac or PC plus external drives wanting set-and-forget unlimited backup | Technical users and self-hosters who want deduplicated, encrypted, versioned backups to storage they control, without per-gigabyte vendor fees |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | mobile app | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Backblaze Personal Backup → | Visit BorgBackup → | |
Backblaze Personal Backup
Pros
- + Truly unlimited backup per computer — no capacity cap, no file size limit
- + Connected external drives included under the same license
- + One-year version history is free to enable; Forever retention metered at $0.006/GB/month
- + Restore by mailed encrypted USB drive (1–8 TB), refunded when returned within 30 days
- + Simple, stable pricing ($9/month or $99/year) with a 15-day no-card trial
Cons
- - One license per computer — multi-machine households pay full price each
- - No NAS, network drive, or server support
- - 30-day default version window is short for late-detected ransomware
- - No availability SLA for personal accounts
- - Monthly plans carry no refund; external drives must reconnect every 30 days
BorgBackup
Pros
- + Deduplication plus per-repo compression makes repeated backups far cheaper in storage than full-image schemes
- + Authenticated encryption with a documented untrusted-server model; append-only mode defends backup history against compromise
- + Free BSD-licensed software with a decade-long public track record and detailed on-disk format documentation
- + Runs against any filesystem or SSH target — no lock-in, no required vendor
- + Mature companion ecosystem: Borgmatic for config-driven runs, Vorta for desktop GUI, BorgBase for hosted repos
Cons
- - Command-line only with no official GUI; keyfile and retention semantics take real learning
- - No native S3/object-storage repository mode in 1.4.x — cloud-object workflows need rclone-style workarounds
- - File-level tool: consistent database or VM backups need hooks or snapshots; no bare-metal restore agents
- - Support is community-based unless you pay for consulting or a hosting provider's SLA
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