CrashPlan vs BorgBackup
A detailed comparison to help you choose between CrashPlan and BorgBackup.
Quick Verdict
3.7/5
CrashPlan
0 reviews
4.3/5
BorgBackup
0 reviews
BorgBackup is rated higher (4.3 vs 3.7). CrashPlan provides unlimited endpoint backup for businesses. Deploy to employee laptops and workstations centrally. No file size limits, unlimited versioning, and forensic restore capabilities. 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.
CrashPlan Unlimited endpoint backup for businesses | BorgBackup Open source deduplicating backup — free self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.7 (0 reviews) | 4.3 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $7.33/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | IT departments at businesses under a few hundred employees that want centrally managed, unlimited-version endpoint backup with self-serve restore | 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 | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | CrashPlan cloud; enterprise can use Azure, AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze or their own S3 | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | team features | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit CrashPlan → | Visit BorgBackup → | |
CrashPlan
Pros
- + Endpoint backup at $7.33/user/month (annual) with unlimited cloud storage and unlimited versioning — retention length and restore count do not change the bill
- + Published small-business pricing with self-serve signup, 14-day full-function trial, and no per-server license on the enterprise tier
- + Long track record: continuous product since 2007 (ex-Code42), 900+ enterprise and 120,000+ small-business customers cited at the 2022 carve-out
- + Enterprise tier supports bring-your-own storage (Azure, AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze or your own S3) plus SSO, legal hold, immutable copies and audit logging
Cons
- - Vendor pages contradict themselves on endpoint storage ('unlimited' on the plan page vs 50 GB pooled in the pricing FAQ) — resolve before rollout
- - Cost scales per user and the governance features (SSO, legal hold, immutable copies, dedicated CSM) sit above the 250-user / quote-only line
- - No personal plan, no free tier, no published uptime SLA, and endpoint deleted-file retention caps at 90 days
- - Server tier's 250 GB pooled storage with $90/year per 250 GB add-ons is stepped pricing that grows quietly with data volume
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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