BorgBackup vs Hetzner Storage Box
A detailed comparison to help you choose between BorgBackup and Hetzner Storage Box.
Quick Verdict
4.3/5
BorgBackup
0 reviews
4.1/5
Hetzner Storage Box
0 reviews
BorgBackup is rated higher (4.3 vs 4.1). 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. Hetzner Storage Box is a managed online storage service offering 1 TB to 20 TB capacity with access via SFTP, SCP, rsync, Samba/CIFS, WebDAV and HTTPS, plus native BorgBackup, Restic and Rclone support. Built for developers, small businesses and content creators needing cost-effective backup and file hosting.
BorgBackup Open source deduplicating backup — free self-hosted | Hetzner Storage Box Affordable managed online storage with SFTP, rsync, WebDAV and Samba access | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.3 (0 reviews)✓ | 4.1 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | free | paid |
| Starting price | Free✓ | From $3.2/mo |
| Best for | Technical users and self-hosters who want deduplicated, encrypted, versioned backups to storage they control, without per-gigabyte vendor fees | European teams and developers who need cheap, predictable backup storage or file hosting over standard file protocols, especially as a Borg/Restic target for Hetzner workloads. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | — |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | 1,024 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | — | 2 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | Falkenstein (DE)Helsinki (FI) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostable | eu datacentergdpr compliant |
| Visit BorgBackup → | Visit Hetzner Storage Box → | |
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
Hetzner Storage Box
Pros
- + Predictable flat pricing: 1 TB from €3.20/month up to 20 TB for €40.60/month, with hourly billing and no retrieval or request fees
- + Unlimited traffic and free transfers to Hetzner Cloud and dedicated products at the same location
- + Protocol breadth: SFTP/SCP/rsync/WebDAV/Samba plus first-class BorgBackup, Restic and Rclone support
- + 10–40 snapshots included per tier with a scheduler, 100 sub-accounts, no minimum contract, cancel immediately
- + German/Finnish storage (GDPR-friendly) on Hetzner's own ISO 27001:2022 certified infrastructure
Cons
- - No S3 API and no NFS on Hetzner's published protocol list — cloud-native tooling needs workarounds
- - Data is not mirrored to other servers: RAID plus checksums only, so snapshots are the sole built-in recovery
- - 10 concurrent connections per box and a 20 TB ceiling per box; no per-user quotas or documented encryption at rest
- - No published throughput figures and no product-level SLA or credits
- - Email support only for this product line
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